Broadband question

bobsalot

Boooooooooooooooooooom
Joined
5 Jun 2005
Messages
1,584
I was wondering what is the maximum broadband speed that i can recieve. Because on some broadband packages it says speeds may vary on area. How can i find out this? Thanks.
 
It depends on the ISP and your area, there isn't a set answer.

Some ISPs put a cap on connections in busy neighborhoods so that no one user can suck the allocated bandwidth for that particular section.

Best bet would be to call the ISP you are interested in getting service from and ask them.
 
Even then they can't say what speed you will get, only the theoretical maximum. BT say we can get 2 Meg but our router is connected at nearly 3! With no restrictions the router/modem will work to the fastest speed it can.
 
Our initial test on your phone line indicates that you should be able to have BT Broadband with a likely maximum speed of up to 5Mb (Megabits per second).

Funny ... I'm connected happily at 8mb ;)
 
You may be able to get 8mb then. BT have to cover their ass really, if they say you can get 7mb, then you sign up and get a maximum of 2.5mb, you wouldn't be happy. Though I'm sure they've got disclaimers and small print everywhere covering that ;)

The only real way of telling is to get a BT engineer to check your line, or check the line attenuation and noise margin, if your modem/router provides that information.

If you're not too far from your local exchange you should be fine, provided the lines running from there to your home aren't total arse.

I've been quite lucky in the fact that I live relatively close to my exchange (Can walk there in under 10-minutes) and all our phone lines are underground. :)
 
I know what speed im getting. I want to know the max i can get.
 
Considering you're in the UK, the max you can get is 8mb if you're connected via ADSL, and 24mb if you're connected via ADSL2+.

Realistically though, you're looking at about 2-7mb and 10-16mb, on average. Some people are lucky, some aren't.
 
Well basically in the UK there are a lots of different providers, each have a capacity to serve DSL at either 2mb, 8mb, or 24mb. Of course, you'll never (or at least, very rarely) get those top speeds reflected in your download rates.

Thanks to our wonderful phones lines, over which the DSL is served, some areas have rather sh**y connectivity even though they're getting 24mb pumped at them from their provider.

There are just too many factors which can adjust the speed between your ISP, and your modem, but 2mb, 8mb and 24mb, are the theoretical max speeds you should be seeing over a DSL connection in the UK :)

unless you're on some really obscure ISP who still serves at 256k, 512k or 1mb
 
I might sound really nooby but is there cable internet?
We don't have a phone line so mine comes through a cable from a big green box at end of our street.It is then buried under our front garden and in through a hole in the wall :laugh:
 
I might sound really nooby but is there cable internet?
Yes there is Cable, however whilst BT (Our monopolistic telco) have vowed for 99.9% ADSL coverage, cable just hasn't took off at all. Coverage is extremely limited, and only a very small percentage of the UK are able to get it.

Cable speeds over here don't exactly give it a huge advantage over DSL either, with speeds being 4mb and 10mb.
 
Quite possibly. Though due to NTL (main cable provider) being fools, they sometimes get the same degradation across their network due to their power control, and choice of cable-modems.

The way forward is just for BT to enable all exchanges for ADSL2+, which is capable of handling around 24mb down, and 1mb up, then ram that into every home they can, thus giving the highest possible speed across the country.

It's the best option they have, other than replacing their entire infrastructure of wiring across the country, which could cause quite a bit of upset (due to the amount and scale of work) and no doubt, cost a fair bit. :)
 
Im moving to sky broadband. Its only £10 a month for up to 16mb (depending on area lol). Its so cheap because my parents are sky sports subscribers ^^

And you get a free wireless router, and 12months antivirus.
 
16mb is what they've capped it at then to stop people from moaning they're not getting the full 24 ;) even with that though, some still won't even get 16.

I'd be tempted to go with one of these free/cheap providers, but I've heard nothing but bad things, plus they always enforce a rather strict cap/limit.
 
well im on 1mb at the moment, so id be happy with 16. lol.
 
At least from what you guys are saying, it sounds like you have options.

Where I'm at, Comcast or nothing. Normally not bad, but they are a bit expensive ($44.95 with a cable package, $49.95 without), and would be nice to have alternatives.

DSL is so darn hard to get because of distance limits from CO's.
 
well im on 1mb at the moment, so id be happy with 16. lol.
Ouch, I thought most ISP's had automagically upgraded to 8mb when BT enabled the exchanges.

At least from what you guys are saying, it sounds like you have options.

Where I'm at, Comcast or nothing. Normally not bad, but they are a bit expensive ($44.95 with a cable package, $49.95 without), and would be nice to have alternatives.

DSL is so darn hard to get because of distance limits from CO's.
Well thanks to the UK being littered with telephone exchanges, DSL is available pretty much everywhere, except extreme outward locations, even then, wifi is being implimented to get more broadband coverage.

We only have choice due to laws in place which allow other companies to use hardware which BT put into place to re-sell there own wares. There are quite literally hundreds of DSL ISP's to chose from, the downside is that over 95% of them are total assbags.

Kc,
Why you only pay 44.95.
I pay 52. with phone and digi cable :(

I pay around 55 USD for my ADSL, and then about another 30 USD on top of that for the phone line to run it through... of course, the cost of calls goes on top of that too! plus there's no TV included in that price, that would be even more.

You guys in the states have it cheap, even if it doesn't seem like it... try coming to live here for a while ;) :D
 
Kc,
Why you only pay 44.95.
I pay 52. with phone and digi cable :(

It's just what I pay, it varies depending on where you live.

Well thanks to the UK being littered with telephone exchanges, DSL is available pretty much everywhere, except extreme outward locations, even then, wifi is being implimented to get more broadband coverage.

We only have choice due to laws in place which allow other companies to use hardware which BT put into place to re-sell there own wares. There are quite literally hundreds of DSL ISP's to chose from, the downside is that over 95% of them are total assbags.

Assbags or not, at least you have options. I could cry all day to Comcast and they could basically say "hey, you don't like it, try dial-up"

:(

that's an incredible link

one question';

how do you convert your tel number into "post code"?

That is only for UK numbers, doesn't apply for USA people ;)
 

Members online

No members online now.

Latest profile posts

Also Hi EP and people. I found this place again while looking through a oooollllllldddd backup. I have filled over 10TB and was looking at my collection of antiques. Any bids on the 500Mhz Win 95 fix?
Any of the SP crew still out there?
Xie wrote on Electronic Punk's profile.
Impressed you have kept this alive this long EP! So many sites have come and gone. :(

Just did some crude math and I apparently joined almost 18yrs ago, how is that possible???
hello peeps... is been some time since i last came here.
Electronic Punk wrote on Sazar's profile.
Rest in peace my friend, been trying to find you and finally did in the worst way imaginable.

Forum statistics

Threads
62,015
Messages
673,494
Members
5,621
Latest member
naeemsafi
Back