BT broadband speed

Rex_Mundi

If it was only one computer, then the network card may be a problem, but 5 computers I find hard to believe that they all have a problem.

Have you tried changing cables? A small possibility, but worth a try.

On your network. Have you tried transfering a file between computers. Monitor the speed of the transfer. This could possibly point out a problem with the network if you get slow transfer speeds.

Any chance of getting hold of a different modem to try? This would eliminate problems in this area.

If I was in your position, after all you've tried so far. I would be inclined to think the problem was with BT.

newfoundglory

vultura wrote:

If the router is reporting the speeds correctly then it would sound like a network issue, rather than the BT line/Broadband being at fault.

A nice idea, but unfortunately the router only detects the maximum speed of the line (in our case approx 2200 Kbit/s)... that doesnt say anything about how fast BT are actually transferring the data at their end. The line might be capable of 2 mbit, but that doesn't mean BT is actually transmitting at that speed at the exchange.

I'm quite sure we have narrowed it down to either BT, or the router. It could be the router, but I don't have a spare another I can try... but I find it hard to believe packets are being slowed down by the router...

vultura

Have you tried checking it with BTs own speedtest - http://speedtester.bt.com

Note that it states- BT would regard the speed ranges shown below as normal service:

For 250kbps End Users speeds between 50 - 250kbps.
For 500kbps End Users speeds between 100 - 500kbps.
For 1000kbps End Users speeds between 200 - 1000kbps.
For 2000kbps End Users speeds between 400 - 2000kbps.

Do also bear in mind that ADSL is a contended system, where you share potential bandwidth with many other users and so it can vary.

Viz_2

It could be the actual phone line. I think most are capable of taking 2mb. But some can't. You could mention that to BT. Altough they probably have checked.

aliasojo

Lord knows I'm no expert, but I've recently upgraded from a 1 meg to 2 meg connection and we had no end of issues similar to yours. (We're not with Bt though). We were connecting at less than a 512 speed, usually around 350ish which is atrocious for a 2 meg connection.

The advice was that 2 meg lines are subject to a much higher degree of noise and it may be that our line had noise issues. We were advised to unplug everything, Sky, phones, extension cables etc and do a speedtest plugged into the master socket.

We did have some spyware which we dealt with, and we disconnected/uninstalled router and modem and reinstalled. This made a slight difference for 1 day, then our speeds dropped again, so coincidence must have played a part.

I was getting obsessed and was doing speedtests throught most days which all still showed really low speeds. I was considering changing ISP although everyone reckoned the problem was at BT's end and would therefore affect most ISP's. I looked on a lot of forums and there's a high percentage of people having the same problem. They can't all have hardware issues so it really must be a problem with BT.

However one day, just over 2 weeks after upgrading, my speeds have magically jumped and I normally connect at between 1500/1700 now. There are still times when they dip, but I'm putting that down to contention issues.

I agree with NellyLock, give it a couple of weeks and you may see a change. Ridiculous that you should have to, mind you, but that seems to be the case for loads of people who were having speed probs.