Problem with internet speeds - what does it all mean?

Soldato
Joined
26 May 2009
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5,415
I have a sneaky suspicion that BT are stiffing me.

First, let me see if I've got this right. My connection is up to 8Mb, I'm actually getting 4.5Mb, according to the BT postcode checker - yet they'll complain if I pay 'up to' the amount I'm billed monthly. Anyway, that would make it 4.5 Megabits, or 0.5625 Megabytes. Is this not the maximum download I should be able to obtain, with nothing else drawing off bandwidth and a capable server? And yet BT speed tester gives me this:

speed.jpg


Note the lower-case 'b' - if I remember my GCSE IT this means bits, not bytes, correct?

As it is, I'm maxing out at 60kB/s. I've only connected to BT recently, about a week ago, and previous to that Pipex was providing a dependable 200kB/s. I'm currently on the phone to a BT employee who sounds like he collected tokens from crisp packets and sent off for his IT qualification, so any advice?
 
Caporegime
Joined
16 May 2003
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::1
Your IP profile is 500kbps. That's what's limiting your throughput to 60kB/s and it's got nothing to do with your ISP.

Ignore the postcode checker - it's an estimate which bears no reflection on what you're actually getting. That speedtest result says that BT Wholesale think you're connected at 672kbps, which makes that profile correct.

If you want to fix that, you need to deal with why your modem is connected at that speed. Is it connected to the master socket with any extensions filtered?
 
Soldato
Joined
12 May 2005
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12,631
As Tolien suggested, I would take a look at your line quality. Long extensions cables that become kinked / damaged internally have given a friend problems before. To be honest they were also experiencing connection loss to.

Sorry I can't be of much more help than that, I never have been on ADSL so can only echo the importance of your line / what Tolien mentioned.
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Sep 2003
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10,916
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London
To expand on what tolien and Dark_Angel said, it would be good if you could post any line statistics that your router gives you. You're mainly looking for attenuation and noise margin (SNR or SNRM).
 
Caporegime
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::1
It should also give the speed it's connected at. Does it, or any of those statistics you've posted, change if you restart your modem?
 
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
90,805
Something doesn't tie up...

If you have a 672kbit downstream sync and a 3.4 dB SNR yet 36db attenuation something is really screwed - ring wire connected, badly wired extension or missing/faulty microfilters.
 
Soldato
Joined
12 May 2005
Posts
12,631
It really sounds like something is physically damaged?

Are you sure that your phone lines aren't messed up? If you have spare filters that would be a good and easy starting point.
 
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