‘Up to 8 meg’, but what is your ACTUAL broadband speed?

If you look carefully most services are advertised at "up to 8meg". Although many suppliers previously left out the "up to", but they aren’t now.
A recent Ofcom investigation into ADSL Max (up to 8meg service) found that the nationwide average download speed was 3.6meg.

This is basically the speed as it leaves the box in the exchange, but its not usually possible to get more than about 7meg due to data losses and other stuff. The speed of your service is dependant on several factors (this applies to BT copper lines, what 90% of people have).
1) Length of the copper line into your house from the exchange.
2) The quality of your copper line.
3) The contention (number of users all using the same ‘box’ in the exchange.

There is a finite length of line before the broadband (DSL) signal degrades to the extent that its not possible for it work reliably, taking into account the other factors also. Its also very difficult to predict accurately what speed you should get, hence the "up to".
Im about 600m from my local exchange and usually get 6-6.5meg download speeds.
If you want to get a decent idea of what you can expect to get, go to http://www.samknows.com/broadband/checker2.php
and you’ll get a reasonably accurate idea of your lines capabilities.

Clearer now?

Bwahahahahahaa! Work is the daddy!

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Mind you, my home speed thing is shiiiite. On an "up to 8 meg" service, but last night was barely getting 150kb/sec. It’s toss as the exchange is almost visible from my house and only about 2500m away.

willard – So you’re 2.5km from the exchange??
Hmmm, at a push you’ll get 3meg tops!

My 8Mb ADSL connection at home:

I remember last time we did this willy-waving exercise on here. Speedtest.net was reporting my 8Mb download speed as over 20000kb/s at times, so I’m not sure it’s really that accurate…

Yes, as questionable as ever. Last time I suggested it’s just a random number generator:

I’m about 200m (as the crow flies) from my (rural) exchange by the way.

I get about 4mbit down and 768k up, on my alledgedly up-to 16mbit connection from Sky.
I’m quite a way from the exchange, however until they artifically limited my line recently I was getting 5 or 6.

-m-: Bit odd that. At a guess I’d say you are getting a cached version of the download file from a local proxy for some reason. Speedtest should be set up to bypass that possibility though.

not bad considering there’s five of us all downloading HD porn for 8hours a day

It is supposedly a 20 Megabit connection.

On peak I get ~1meg. Off peak I get 7meg (I sync at 7.6).

It appears the sheep must have been munching on the line again….

There are some actual facts on this thread and some complete bollocks too

The speed does to some extent rely on the distance from the exchange,also the cable conductor size and in some much rarer cases whether its copper or aluminium.
It states up to 8meg, not that it will be

BT have never been allowed to lower prices due to restrictions placed upon them or to roll out some technology that has been available to them for some time. All this was done in the name of fairness to other operators who doubtless would never want or have afforded to maintain an obsolete and decaying network.

You may or may not have heard about something called 21CN, this should hopefully make the copper based PSTN and ADSL technology a thing of the past and bring speeds up to a level unseen before and also make VOIP the way we communicate in the near future

I admit BT have made mistakes especially with their customer care, but when you have a workforce decimated by over 50% and the ever present pressure from the city and shareholders to make more profit its no wonder something had to give.

Not sure how to do the paste thing…..

speedtes results
download 483kbs, upload 368kbs in Devon.

This is cr*p.
I’m on Tiscali. ‘up to 8meg ‘ and before we took up the offer, was getting sometimes 7.5Mb, usually 4.5-6.5Mb when our line should only have been at 2Mb/sec!!!!
I’ve noticed recently and at this time of day, it gets very slow. It’s definitely slowed considerably to what it was.
Q

i’m still the slowest [:D]

Not any more…

One of the guys I used to work with was forever ranting about this, kept saying he was goignt o sue, it was a shambles blah blah. He was getting about 1-2 mbps out of an "up to 8mbps" service but that’s how they cover themselves.

Mine was shite for a while but then they upgraded the local exchange and BT changed all the wiring in the streets too, mine (TalkTalk up to 8mbps) runs at a consistent 6 (so says my computer anyway…)
The local bike shop runs at 7.6mbps but he’s about 10yds from the exchange!

NOt too bad… up to 8meg on sky, upload speeds a bit shabby though

I’ve just bought one of these BT IPlate for £8.50. My sync speed improved from about 4meg to 6meg.
Well worth the investment! I’m on a 20meg package from O2, but it only costs me about £4.75 a month so I’m not complaining! I’m at least 3km from the exchange.

Happy with that

Hmm – less impressive than the uni from home, but then I am now halfway up a mountain in north Wales…

Meh…

but if i look out of my window i can see trees and fields and stuff

Yeah me too – plenty of them between me and the exchange, but I still get
which can’t be bad for 1 mile from the exchange!

There are some actual facts on this thread and some complete bollocks too

…including your post…

Where in the 21CN plans is there anything definitive about replacing copper to the home? Until that happens we will still be dependant on equivalent technologies to ADSL to provide data over across the local loop, with the same factors affecting connection speed.

I’m on Orange mobile brodband and it’s f*cking useless! Spoke to someone at their tech-dept who told me that nowhere in North Devon can actually get a 3G service. Been trying for months to get out of it but because I’m able to download something (hotmail takes ~7-9mins to open), I’m receiving a sufficient service.

W*ankers!

never tested it, but out BT conection in sheffield could run DT vision streeming the football, an internet phone, skype, and 5 computers, without being too slow (could still streem porn, but no downloads).

Checked my home speed last night. Plugged actuall Cat-5 cable into the router and started the test.

Got a _MASSIVE_ 128k/sec download speed. I am not about to complain to PlusNet.

Interseting responses. Very interesting to note that one or two people live in remote places, yet still receive a good service. So, I’m imagining that the problem with slow connection speeds is probably down to line contention. 50+ people per ADSL line does not add up to a fast and efficient service. I’ve had the wires checked, and they are fine. BT simply won’t admit they are jamming more and more people onto the same lines. As i’ve said, it’s possible they are sticking residential customers onto very busy lines, to free up more for business.

I would get cable, but Virgin have told me that BT won’t allow them to install the technology fully, in this area.

Time for the Government to nationalise the exchanges. They should never have privatised them anyway.

Hmm, I wonder who did privatise the entire network? 🙄

I would get cable, but Virgin have told me that BT won’t allow them to install the technology fully, in this area.

More likely that Virgin don’t have any intention of making a big investment to install more cable. It’s probably more convenient to blame BT than be honest about it…

8meg here. On o2. I’m fairly near the exchange, about 1/2 a mile, and I had the phone line into the building upgraded first. But it’s 8 meg for £7 a month, if you have an o2 contract as well, which works out as cheap as anyone else…

m; quite the opposite. Virgin would love to install more cable, as they can deliver more spensive packages to people. More like BT are planning to do the same thing, albeit in about 6 thousand years, and want the monopoly on that, too.

Govt has to end BTs stranglehold on the telecommunications network. It’s unfair practice, and just means higher prices for everyone.

Are we talking about the same thing? BT couldn’t stop Virgin deploying its own cable network (any more that any other company could); the Virgin cable network is independent of and separate from the BT network. There hasn’t been a large scale deployment / expansion of cable-laying in this country since the 90’s when all the regional cable co’s were desperately trying to increase the number of homes passed… whilst completely overlooking the need for those homes to actually buy service from them… The resulting consolidation in the industry was a result of a desperate scramble to try and build a viable business model.

Very interesting to note that one or two people live in remote places, yet still receive a good service.

Small village in Northumberland countryside and I get:

As i’ve said, it’s possible they are sticking residential customers onto very busy lines, to free up more for business.

Yep that’s what happened to my dad. New build house in a new development – **** awful phone quality that is barely usable to speak on, never mind get broadband.

Did you find what the Noise was reported as on your modem? That will tell you if it is actual contention at the exchange or dodgy lines between you and the exchange.

Apparently you can find out how far you are from the exchange by:

"dialling (on your intended ADSL line) "17070", The response will tell you the number of your circuit. Then enter "3", then "1" (you ARE authorised, aren’t you?), then " 2". If you then hang up, the test system will call you back and tell you the approximate distance from your exchange."

I would get cable, but Virgin have told me that BT won’t allow them to install the technology fully, in this area.

Agree with -m-: what have BT got to do with whether Virgin can install cable or not?
I thought you were in London RudeBoy? Surely the glorious capital is cabled throughout.

Alternatively, if you put your phone number in to http://www.samknows.com/broadband/checker2.php and click on "BT ADSL" it will tell you your exhcange and give you a map.

According to that I am 256 metres from my exchange. 🙂

Most of London does have cable coverage, but not this little pocket, apparently. It’s a pretty sh1t housing estate, with lots of poor people, so maybe Virgin won’t bother, as it’s not worth the investment. But I know BT have been very obstructive with allowing the connection of other companies technology to this exchange. I’ve hear this from BT staff, as well as other sources. It’s because of the Canary Wharf area. An absolute goldmine that BT want to monopolise. Bastards.

‘Noise’ levels are fine. Router gives a connection speed of 7680 kbps. It’s simply down to too many other people on the line. Greedy Bastard Telecom…

It’s a pretty sh1t housing estate, with lots of poor people, so maybe Virgin won’t bother, as it’s not worth the investment.

Yep.. poor people all have Sky anyway 😈

Router gives a connection speed of 7680 kbps. It’s simply down to too many other people on the line.

Yep sounds like it. Does it get faster at certain times, like late night or early morning?

Much faster late at night.

from my other office 😆

Definitely contention then RudeBoy, not much you can do except hope that BT upgrade the exchange capacity, move, or go for a business package that guarantees lower contention. 😕