Broadband Speeds

mattlfc79

Just a rant from most ISP's in general....

Why do they offer you upto 20mb broadband when your line will only support 5mb?????

Surely the should just only allow you to have the upto 8mb speed they offer!!!

I wonder how many people have been caught out by this expecting to get faster broadband???

Is there anything we can do at home to get a faster down the phoneline connection? Cable broadband is expensive and Virgins customer service is pants!

Should BT start improving there cabling so that homes can support faster interweb speeds?

Good dammit, sick of 5mb broadband..... and thats on a very good day!!

Guess I should be greatful though as others still have dial up!

kwikbreaks

> Why do they offer you upto 20mb broadband when your line will only support 5mb?????
> Surely the should just only allow you to have the upto 8mb speed they offer!!!

Most ISPs do offer plain ADSL (up to 8Mbps) as well as ADSL2+ (up to 24Mbps) products. It doesn't actually cost them any less to supply ADSL than ADSL2+ though unless you use the potentially higher speeds to download significantly more.

> I wonder how many people have been caught out by this expecting to get faster broadband???

Probably lots because few people take the trouble to gain even a basic understanding of technology.

> Is there anything we can do at home to get a faster down the phoneline connection?

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/socket.htm will ensure that you get the best connection speed that your line can support. Doing some basic research into ISPs and avoiding the absolute lemons (sadly this does mean the majority) will ensure you get the best download speeds too.

> Cable broadband is expensive and Virgins customer service is pants!

I don't know about CS but it is certainly a lot more expensive than my ADSL.

> Should BT start improving there cabling so that homes can support faster interweb speeds?

They are rolling out FTTC in some areas which offers upto 40Mbps. There is no real incentive to offer better unless they can charge a premium price for that and most people's priority seems to be cheap rather than good.

> Good dammit, sick of 5mb broadband.

What benefit would faster bring you? Websites wouldn't load noticeably faster. 5Mbps is fast enough for any videa streaming services out there. You would be able to download faster but how much download do you need - at 5Mbps you can download a couple of GB in an hour.

web_ferret

6mb is plenty fast enough for me - what are you downloading that requires such a speed?

There's a sticky that explains about decent microfilters and associated wiring.

mattlfc79

Download the usual, music from itunes etc, PS3 updates/ downloads, BBC iplayer etc.

PS3 update took over an hour the other day for a 120 mb update! seriously slow!

I am not the most patient person when it comes to downloading so like things to come down quick!!

mrtom21

mattlfc79 wrote: »

Just a rant from most ISP's in general....

Why do they offer you upto 20mb broadband when your line will only support 5mb?????

Surely the should just only allow you to have the upto 8mb speed they offer!!!

I wonder how many people have been caught out by this expecting to get faster broadband???

Is there anything we can do at home to get a faster down the phoneline connection? Cable broadband is expensive and Virgins customer service is pants!

Should BT start improving there cabling so that homes can support faster interweb speeds?

Good dammit, sick of 5mb broadband..... and thats on a very good day!!

Guess I should be greatful though as others still have dial up!

Why do companies inform anyone of the maximum potential speed? It would make sense for a company to only tell you your estimate speed from the start and not refer to up to 8 or up to 20mb. That way there is no confusion and you don't feel so ripped off.

kwikbreaks

mattlfc79 wrote: »

PS3 update took over an hour the other day for a 120 mb update! seriously slow!

In that case you aren't getting the 5Mbps speed you said you were and would be better of starting a thread to help you find out why rather than making a pointless one like this moaning about the way ADSL is marketed.

mattlfc79

kwikbreaks wrote: »

In that case you aren't getting the 5Mbps speed you said you were and would be better of starting a thread to help you find out why rather than making a pointless one like this moaning about the way ADSL is marketed.

Thanks but I dont see it as completely pointless.....

If you bought a car advertised as having upto 200 bhp and realistically you only got 100 would you be happy?

If you think my thread is pointless why respond? Apologies for wasting your time Sir. I thought this was a forum for open discussion?

But thanks for the usueful info above fella! Appreciated!

gonzo127

the reason for the upto 20mb is because of advertising, some people CAN get 20mb broadband but only if they live VERY close to the phone exchange, therefore it would be incorrect to state less.

you can not expect them to do a national advert which states the speed that EVERY phoneline in the country can do (althought they should be a bit more clear about the fact most people will get lower)

Gloomendoom

When I signed up to 8mb broadband with my current home ISP they informed me at the start that the maximum I would get would be 7mb. So far, the fastest speed I have recorded is 6.5mb and the average is over 6mb. I'm happy.

IMHO the speed thing is slightly overrated. True, I was at my wits end getting 80kb on O2 Access (:mad:), but I'm currently using a 40mb+ connection and I can't say it really offers any noticable improvement over my home connection.

It doesn't matter how fast you are if you are downloading from a constipated server.
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Stompa

It's not very hard to find out what your maximum theoretical speed is likely to be before deciding which package to go for.

kwikbreaks

mattlfc79 wrote: »

Thanks but I dont see it as completely pointless.....

So what exactly have you achieved by starting this thread?

Has it improved your speed? No

As I suggested you would be better served asking for help improving your speeds because that is more likely to help than a pointless rant.