TalkTalk 8MB Broadband Package - only 500kb download speed?

shadowknightz

Hi all,

I've been on the TalkTalk 8MB Broadband package for ages now but the contract is coming to a close so I've been giving some thought to other 'Net providers. I was considering whether the speed I'm currently getting with TalkTalk is satisfactory or not. I'm on their 8MB package and I usually only download files at around 550kb per second. A program I'm using to download multiple files at once manages to boost this to 1.70MB split amongst however many files but that's still at odds with the "8MB."

Should I be getting faster download speeds? Is there anything I can do to boost them?

spike7451

The speed you get depends on two factors;

1-Age & Condition of the drop from the BT exchange to your Master socket.
2-Distance from the BT exchange to your Master socket,that is how the cable runs,not straight line distance.

The are some other factors but they are mainly set up,wireless over wired connection,number of PC's ect but those two are the main.If you're only getting 500Kbps then you are quite a way from the exchange.Any other SP you move to won't better this by much,if at all.

If you put your phone number in the link below,it will tell you your line speeds.

http://www.btwholesale.com/pages/static/Community/Broadband_Community/Coverage/ADSL_Availibility_Checker.html#

macman

It's not a '8MBps' service. It's an up to 8Mbps service. Even 0.25Mbps is still considered to be a broadband service.
As spike says, if that's all your line will support, mainly for reasons of distance, or possibly poor internal wiring, then there's nothing TT or any other ISP can do about it.

cgk1

That actually sounds about right for downloading files because remember you are limited by whoever is providing the file, you will never or very rarely get file download of 8mb simply because people's upload speeds are nothing like that fast.

spud17

Some confusion between Mbits and Mbytes?

Roughly, 8Mbit/s gives a download of around 1 MB/s.

A download of 550KB/s is roughly 4.4Mbit/s.

shadowknightz

I'm on TalkTalk Unlimited which was sold to me over the phone as having an 'unlimited download limit.' Over the past few weeks, I've downloaded quite a few files, probably over 250GB worth of stuff - and everything was fine until yesterday when I noticed that my Web surfing speed seemed very slow, and when I tried downloading more files, I was only getting around 170kb instead of my usual 500kb. It's the same today! Is it likely that TalkTalk have lowered my Internet speed and not said anything? I'm probably going to call them tomorrow but am expecting a letter saying I've gone over a limit. If they try and charge me a fee, do I still have to pay even though the service was sold to me as "Unlimited"? :eek:

Thanks.

poly1

I am assuming you are on the talktalk Plus package? If so their website says:

How much can I download if I am on TalkTalk Plus?

With TalkTalk Plus you can enjoy unlimited downloads but this subject to our Fair Usage Policy.

Fair Usage Policy is this:
Talk Talk’s policy towards Fair Usage is that Customers should be able to use the Service in an appropriate manner to meet their needs. A very small number of Customers use an excessive amount of the network bandwidth at peak times, to the extent that it can impair the performance of others. We therefore have a fair usage policy, which is designed to ensure your Service is fast and reliable 24 hours a day. This only involves monitoring the amount Customers download and managing non-time critical traffic on our network, such as Bittorrent or other Peer-to-Peer sharing applications. If Customers usage is continually either excessive, unfair, inappropriate, affects other users enjoyment of our broadband Service, or is not consistent with the usage we would typically expect on the Customers current package, we reserve the right to upgrade customers to a package more suited for their usage or, in extreme cases, suspend or terminate their ability to access Talk Talk broadband. We also manage the use of file sharing applications as these services often involve huge files being uploaded and downloaded, which can cause network problems and for Customers Internet Service to be slower than normal. Currently, TalkTalk Customers have no restrictions on Bittorrent or other file sharing activity between midnight and 3pm. At peak times, however some TalkTalk Customers can still use those services but they may find Bittorrent or file sharing is a little slower as we limit the amount of this traffic to ensure we can maintain a high quality Internet service for all our Customers. However, all TalkTalk Customers have no restrictions on time-critical web traffic such as surfing, gaming, streaming content from applications like BBC iPlayer or using VOIP packages like Skype at any time.

HTH

shadowknightz

Yes I am on TalkTalk Plus. Given what I've said so far, do you think it's likely they're deliberately hampering my Internet speed or is it possible it's just a rough patch that will rectify itself? I'll give them a ring if I have to but I hate calling these clueless call centres and getting passed from pillar to post.

poly1

If you are downloading during 'peak' hours you may find it is slow because they say "TalkTalk Customers have no restrictions on Bittorrent or other file sharing activity between midnight and 3pm. At peak times, however some TalkTalk Customers can still use those services but they may find Bittorrent or file sharing is a little slower as we limit the amount of this traffic" in other words they deliberatly slow down all file downloading at peak times. They suggest that surfing should be unaffected by this though so I don't know why this might be (I am no expert by any means).