Faster Internet Connection

GrizzlyAdams_2

Hi

I currently have the sky 2mb wireless broadband that you get free if you have sky tv. I am thinking of upgrading to the 8mb.

I mainly use my laptop to access the Net and the speed never goes higher than 54mbps. Will it be faster if I upgrade? I have checked the speed via a online speed checker and it is currently about 1.5mb downstream.

I assume the pc card in the laptop has a maximum speed or something?

Thanks.

Donnie

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/checker2.php

hobo28

The 54Mbps connection from your laptop to your wireless router will never change. In practice its not 54Mbps but lets not get too hung up on that for now.

As long as you don't live too far away from your local exchange then the upgrade up to 8Mbps will in practice be much quicker for you.

There are ways of checking but perhaps asking a neighbour what speeds they are on will give you an idea. bear in mind though that "up to 8Mbps" is really marketing rubbish and you won't get that unless you pretty much live next door to the telephone exchange.

More likely, people get between 3-6Mbps which should be fast enough for most users.

BillScarab

54mbps is the standard 8011.g connection speed and will not be any faster if you increase your broadband speed. Going for 8mb broadband will be faster than 2mb but remember on ASDL it is 'up to' 8mb so you may not get the full speed.

BTW when they talk about 8mb broadband they mean 8mbps so you're wirless connection is far faster than broadband.

sleep2much

I was promised speeds up to 8mb, nice I thought, I upgraded to the new service paying more, then found that my connection speed was the same, I phoned up and was told "your line only supports 2mb" thanks I thought, why not tell me before, plus they said because I'd changed my contract I was signed up for another year, check this site http://speedtest.broadbandgenie.co.uk/ it will tell you how fast your line can go, most lines will go faster one day, but they never say when.

GrizzlyAdams_2

sleep2much wrote: »

I was promised speeds up to 8mb, nice I thought, I upgraded to the new service paying more, then found that my connection speed was the same, I phoned up and was told "your line only supports 2mb" thanks I thought, why not tell me before, plus they said because I'd changed my contract I was signed up for another year, check this site http://speedtest.broadbandgenie.co.uk/ it will tell you how fast your line can go, most lines will go faster one day, but they never say when.

It says I am getting between 1.2/ 1.3 Mb. And that I should be able to get 5.4 Mb on my line.

I suppose 5.4Mb is worth an extra fiver, which is what sky will charge me.

So, I assume that the fact I am using my laptop wirelessly won't affect the speed, i.e I will get about 5.4 mb on both the pc (wired) and the lappy?

BillScarab

Yes, because the wireless connection is 54mbps which is 10x 5.4mbps.

Donnie

:rolleyes: It's ok....you don't have to thank me.

sleep2much

Donnie wrote: »

:rolleyes: It's ok....you don't have to thank me.

your link and my link were differant, yours just shows the connection speed, where mine shows BT's estimate of the line your on depending on the exchange.

superscaper

I use the samknows site as well because of its abundance of useful info. I'd definitely disagree with the "just shows the connection speed" remark. It shows available services, nearest exchange, distance to exchange, even a nice map, people sharing the exchange, speeds avaiable according to each service etc.

Donnie

sleep2much wrote: »

your link and my link were differant, yours just shows the connection speed, where mine shows BT's estimate of the line your on depending on the exchange.

Really?
I thought mine showed all of the services available in the area, including the speeds available from your exchange and a map illustrating your proximity to the exchange as well as the distance. :rolleyes: