Sky Broadband

fermi

Try doing it again and click on the little triangle for the London Server.

I find that although the Maidenhead one is closer to me it normally doesn't give a true indication of the real speed.

Do you know how to check the connection stats in you router?

Mine shows this:



Your maximum download speed should be around 80-90 % of the DownStream Connection Speed.

fermi

OK. Instructions for getting the full connection stats from your sky router are here:

http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/view-routerstats.html

Using these stats you can work out what you max speed is according to these from here:

http://www.dslzoneuk.net/maxspeed2.php

System

Thanks Fermi, Ive clicked the link and got the stats, what do I do now??

fermi

At http://www.dslzoneuk.net/maxspeed2.php

Enter your "downstream attenuation" into the box in the link, and it should tell how fast your line should go.

What does it say?

System

It says 16-20mb??

System

Would using the firewire cable increase the speed if I connected from the router to the laptop?

System

Thanks for you help fermi, I'm off for a run now but will be back shortly.

fermi

Since you are on "up to 8 Mbps" connect package you should probably be going faster than you are. (only probably though).

I should add that it is very difficult to work out exactly what your line should really support. These online tools can only give an indication really.

The actual speed you get will depend upon your exchange, your distance from it and the resulting line attenuation, the signal to noise ratio on the line etc etc....

This is why ISP's always fudge their advertising by putting "up to ? Mbps". :rolleyes:

Your best bet is to have a good look around the skyuser forum, since there is loads of info there to help you work out whether you are getting what you should from sky.

There is loads of info here:

http://www.skyuser.co.uk/tools/

http://www.skyuser.co.uk/support/

http://www.skyuser.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Important_Information_And_Step_By_Step_Guides

Plus if you go to the forum at:

http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/

there is all the wisdom in the world for working out whether you are getting what you should, and what you can do about it if not.

As other have said, the first thing is to try and see whether there is any point switching, since you may be getting all you can get.

TOBRUK

fermi, what I don't understand is what lennymfo said in first post:

lennymfo wrote: »

I've Sky broadband but I aint getting 8mb I'm getting 54mpbs. Sky tell me that it isn't in my area yet but they are charging me for 8mb.

This tells me that lennymfo is on SKY CONNECT as SKY is not in the network area:

A great option for customers who aren't in our network area

• • Get up to 8Mb ¹ download speeds for £17 a month
• • Up to 448Kb ¹ upload speed
• • 40GB usage allowance
• • £30 one-off standard set-up cost5

lennymfo, are you on SKY CONNECT? If this is the case fermi wouldn't this make a difference?

fermi

TOBRUK wrote: »

If this is the case fermi wouldn't this make a difference?

Yep. Sky connect is effectively BT. Since it's used on an exchange which isn't LLU it's using BT equipment and would have an 8 Mbps max, but lenny isn't getting this.

However, the maximum speed you can can still depends on your line.
If your line should be capable of more than the 2.6 Mbps according to the line stats then it's worth investigating rather than switching only to find you get no better.

That's why I suggested checking out the skyuser forum. There is an amazing amount of info and knowledgeable people there who can help work out whether you are getting what you should whether you are on the base/mid/max or Connect package.