Broadband Speed

[Ashley]

Got the net here a few weeks ago and its always seemed slow and just checked on thinkbroadband and it says:

 

Date 07/11/07 21:06:56

Speed Down 85.75 Kbps ( 0.1 Mbps )

Speed Up 316.96 Kbps ( 0.3 Mbps )

Port 8095

Server speedtest1.adslguide.org.uk

 

I take that with somewhat of a pinch of salt but the downloads are really slow. General use ain't bad.

 

Anything I can do to improve this, or think I should contact Virgin and ask them what gives?

[Charlie]

Try http://www.speedtest.net

 

Then if that shows sucky speeds too contact Virgin and give 'em hell. You're paying for a good service with broadband speeds.

[Ashley]

Speedtest had this to say:

 

 

Good or bad?

[gaggle64]

Bad. Very, very bad. If you download a lot they might be throttling your speed because you went over your monthly download limit, but otherwise that's just poor, even at peak time.

[Ashley]

Bad. Very, very bad. If you download a lot they might be throttling your speed because you went over your monthly download limit, but otherwise that's just poor, even at peak time.

 

Its been like that since the beginning though, and I don't think my housemates use it that much. Anyway to check usage? I'll speak to them and then email Virgin.

 

Tried again this morning and got:

 

 

Which is better. What kind of results should I be looking for?

[Rummy]

Hmm, you're not filling me with much confidence over the fact we've just taken bband with VM. How fast is it supposed to be, and are you running it through an actual cable line or a BT line? The results should in theory be in line with the speed of the package you're sposed to be getting, I'd complain if they were less than 75% of that, though I'm a little iffy on the grounds of what is acceptable when they say 'upto XX Mbps'.

I dunno how you can monitor the usage on a shared connection, Virgin recommend using DUMeter to monitor usage on their page, but I'd have thought that monitors a single connection. The only other idea I would have is to look at WAN traffic on the router's log, though I dunno how packets translate into data and if it's always the same.

VM have a 'traffic shaping' policy which I linked to in my other thread, basically if you exceed a certain amount of data(relative to what package you have) between 4pm and 12am(their 'peak time'), then they'll slap a limit on it for four hours.

[Guest Jordan]

Er... Ash? What connection are you even on?

 

Your first results are dire, the latter is far better. Since where you live is a hurrendously old NTL network its basically a case of accepting it.

[Ashley]

Hmm, you're not filling me with much confidence over the fact we've just taken bband with VM. How fast is it supposed to be, and are you running it through an actual cable line or a BT line? The results should in theory be in line with the speed of the package you're sposed to be getting, I'd complain if they were less than 75% of that, though I'm a little iffy on the grounds of what is acceptable when they say 'upto XX Mbps'.

I dunno how you can monitor the usage on a shared connection, Virgin recommend using DUMeter to monitor usage on their page, but I'd have thought that monitors a single connection. The only other idea I would have is to look at WAN traffic on the router's log, though I dunno how packets translate into data and if it's always the same.

VM have a 'traffic shaping' policy which I linked to in my other thread, basically if you exceed a certain amount of data(relative to what package you have) between 4pm and 12am(their 'peak time'), then they'll slap a limit on it for four hours.

 

Think its through a BT line but not sure to be honest. But we have it at my parents too and its much faster there.

 

Er... Ash? What connection are you even on?

 

Your first results are dire, the latter is far better. Since where you live is a hurrendously old NTL network its basically a case of accepting it.

 

8MBs.

 

But I don't want to accept it, I'll just complain.

[McPhee]

Hmm, you're not filling me with much confidence over the fact we've just taken bband with VM. How fast is it supposed to be, and are you running it through an actual cable line or a BT line? The results should in theory be in line with the speed of the package you're sposed to be getting, I'd complain if they were less than 75% of that, though I'm a little iffy on the grounds of what is acceptable when they say 'upto XX Mbps'.

I dunno how you can monitor the usage on a shared connection, Virgin recommend using DUMeter to monitor usage on their page, but I'd have thought that monitors a single connection. The only other idea I would have is to look at WAN traffic on the router's log, though I dunno how packets translate into data and if it's always the same.

VM have a 'traffic shaping' policy which I linked to in my other thread, basically if you exceed a certain amount of data(relative to what package you have) between 4pm and 12am(their 'peak time'), then they'll slap a limit on it for four hours.

 

Thats the case with nearly every broadband service now. It's less a case of them trying to rip you off and more to do with people wanting more out of the internet but at a lower price.

With the increased demand from users caused by downloading loads of files, playing online games and partaking in other bandwidth heavy activities ISPs are finding that they can't cope. The increased demand on they're networks is too much, hence why they have started to limit useage

[Shorty]

8MBs.

 

But I don't want to accept it, I'll just complain.

I'm on 8MB with talktalk adsl and this is my results

Bearing in mind I have a "Fair" signal strength to my router. Unfortunately, you don't really have room to complain, because their terms and conditions will state that the speed is 'up to' and will vary depending on the distance from the exchange.

[Charlie]

Think its through a BT line but not sure to be honest. But we have it at my parents too and its much faster there.

 

 

 

8MBs.

 

But I don't want to accept it, I'll just complain.

 

Very roughly speaking, you should hope for about 100kb/s down for each "MB" you have (yeah, I know it's a little bit over that).

 

So with an 8mb connection you should be wanting 8000kb/s down.

 

 

I'm on a 2mb connection at Uni and its working great at the moment - especially upload speeds.

[tapedeck]

My internet (and wii) won't download anything as of late so i did a test too...this is the reult

 

 

Maybe I should give AOL a call? I'm on there "silver" package.

This is:

Speed

2 Mb

Minimum contract length

18 months

Setup cost

£0.00

 

Am I being ripped off?

 

I did that test through my ethernet cable too!

Just confused

[Charlie]

My internet (and wii) won't download anything as of late so i did a test too...this is the reult

 

 

Maybe I should give AOL a call? I'm on there "silver" package.

This is:

Speed

2 Mb

Minimum contract length

18 months

Setup cost

£0.00

 

Am I being ripped off?

 

I did that test through my ethernet cable too!

Just confused

 

That's absolutely ridiculous. Phone them up and complain, threaten to leave. They're not giving you the service you're paying for.

[McPhee]

Thats terrible! Im with AOL too and they suck ass

 

 

Theres mine, not sure of the package though because it's my dad's doing

[MadDog]

 

Im on a 2MB connection

[Shorty]

Did anyone watch the gadget show today? There was a section about the whole 'up to' claims from ISPs and how most people aren't getting the speeds they expect.

 

You can do a test here http://gadgetshow.five.tv/jsp/speed_test.htm and then rate your ISP, which will, I assume, lead to features later on about the most reliable ISPs and what to do if your speed isn't what you expect. They suggested in the show that if you're not getting what you should be, ring and complain, and if they do something about it, let the gadget show know about that too

[tapedeck]

What is the difference if im using wireless internet because this is what I got today after speaking to AOL:

 

85K DOWNLOAD

233K UPLOAD

 

It's got worse!!

 

So on the phone they said it's because I'm using wireless internet.

 

Should it really be that low though?? Or is that high because wireless router is 56k? If anyone could help I'd love to fathom it out

[Mr_Odwin]

Your router is probably 54Mbps which shouldn't present a bottleneck.

Try using a wire and see if the speed changes.

[tapedeck]

I ethernetted it up and NO difference. So I went schizo on the phone and they said a speed upgrade has been added to my account and within 7-10 days it will be up to speed. I argued with the time frame but they said it will be done asap.

[Rummy]

Did anyone watch the gadget show today? There was a section about the whole 'up to' claims from ISPs and how most people aren't getting the speeds they expect.

 

You can do a test here http://gadgetshow.five.tv/jsp/speed_test.htm and then rate your ISP, which will, I assume, lead to features later on about the most reliable ISPs and what to do if your speed isn't what you expect. They suggested in the show that if you're not getting what you should be, ring and complain, and if they do something about it, let the gadget show know about that too

 

Did they happen to mention what 'up to' actually entails? I really want to know if it has any sort of specific definition from an independant regulator or if ISPs can just use it willy nilly. I've just done a test on my brand newly setup virginmedia 20Mbps line and it was like 11000ish, which was nice to know.

 

EDIT:That was on speedtest.net, the gadgetshow site gives me 13950 for d/l, 738 for u/l. Turns out I was wrong about my wireless too.

[Ashley]

I am going to ring up and complain (because you can't email for some reason) when I get back to my parents house and I don't have to pay for phoning.

 

I know its up to but why offer 8MB and make me pay for it if I seem to only be able to get 1-2.

[Sanchez]

The speed you get on MAX products depends on your distance from the exchange because the signal deteriorates.

So up to depends on how close you are to the exchange, the max being 8mb or 24mb, which is effectively about 7.2mb or 22mb after taking into account overhead. You can find out how close to the exchange you are on http://www.samknows.com

 

Ashley you're on cable so what I said above doesn't apply to you.

 

Another reason you might be getting slow speeds is due to faulty equipment or a poor contention ratio. In highly populated areas there can be 200+ people using the same line which becomes a problem if they all decide to use it at once, this should only really effect you at peak times. I don't know if this effects cable as well.

[Kurtle Squad]

 

I'm glad this came up...now I can tell my Mum there's definately something wrong.

 

 

I think it could be partly my router though.

It doesn't help that the village has too many people to ameneties and such though; which I would assume includes the phonelines and what they can take....though my mates connections are fine.

[Rummy]

The speed you get on MAX products depends on your distance from the exchange because the signal deteriorates.

So up to depends on how close you are to the exchange, the max being 8mb or 24mb, which is effectively about 7.2mb or 22mb after taking into account overhead. You can find out how close to the exchange you are on http://www.samknows.com

 

Ashley you're on cable so what I said above doesn't apply to you.

 

Another reason you might be getting slow speeds is due to faulty equipment or a poor contention ratio. In highly populated areas there can be 200+ people using the same line which becomes a problem if they all decide to use it at once, this should only really effect you at peak times. I don't know if this effects cable as well.

 

He might not be on cable, cos they do offer it to people in non-cable areas with a BT line(the 8Meg offer is only for BT people, it's either 2, 4 or 20 otherwise) I dunno at which point it runs over cable or if it does at all if it goes through a BT line.

 

EDIT: Looks like you aren't the only one with problems Ash, I stumbled across this coincidentally.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=560009

[ReZourceman]

My works connection isnt bad.