BT speed

[Mike-M]

I used to be with NTL. But at the time they could only offer 1Mb internet. So I looked at changing to BT. I went to their web site and couldn't enter my cable phone number as the speed checker didn't recognize it, so I used my postcode instead which showed I could expect to get around 5Mb. Much better I thought, so I rang BT and the person I spoke to confirmed I could expect the same so I signed up. But, now I have a BT number which the speed checker will accept it shows the speed I can expect is only 1.5Mb. Strange that in'it :rolleyes:

[robocop]

BT's line check says I can receive up to 2.5mps, but I actually receive 4.5mps.

[Singh400]

For me...

Post Code = Tells me 5.5mbps
Telephone = Tells me 7.5mbps

What I actually get is 7.5mbps :) Hope that helps.

[leaky5]

I have been getting very strange results in the last few days.

When I took out BT BB a year ago, the web site said I would get 4.5meg. Once installed the router showed it as 7meg.
This was fine until a day or 2 ago, started noticing drop outs, checked the router and it show 4-5meg. Rang BT they ran a line check and said my actual speed was only 1.7meg, but unless it dropped below 1.5 they would not check it !!
Checked on the BT web site, it now says that my No. should only be able to get 2meg. My neighbour 20m away shows as 4.5 meg. Indian helpdesk tried to explain this, but as usual did not make any sense.
Left the router off overnight and it has come back at 5.6 meg in the morning.

I have read somewere that if you have a lot of drop outs and after you resync at a low speed, that this can effect your IP profile and your speed will drop. You need to leave the router connected for at least 3 days and it should bring the speed back up.

I work at BT and I have recently been speaking to the Head of retail BB compliants about another problem I have had, I am going to make sure she reads this forum and Digital spy so that she realises the level of dissatifaction with BT BB and the lack of help desk knowledge.

I will keep you informed.

[Mike-M]

I have run a speed checker on a number of occasions which has only ever peaked at 2Mb. I'm not expecting to get the 5Mb they said, I'm sure they "egg the pudding" as all others do, but I would think around 80% of what they say to be a reasonable expectation.

[cassidy]

My problem is a nightmare and tech services are just not helping. Been using the Homehub for about 4 months now Speed has been a constant 4-6 Meg.

As of Sunday night and last night I'm now down to 15Kbps :( Not even dialup speeds. Tried the previous router/modem and thats got the same problem. Reset homehub, reset to factory settings and no joy. I think its either the line has a problem or the microfilters arent working.

Xbox live now slow, Wireless the same and Direct downloads, torrents and Newsgroups all Downloading at a max of 15kbps.

I have to phone BT again tonight to attempt some more fixes. Which I've already done and just want an engineer round now.

[K86]

Hey

I've had speed drop too over the past couple of days and at first I just thought it was the Home Hub but even with a Netgear router my speed has dropped by less than half

Normally on tests I get about 4 or 5MBps (sometimes up to 7 when downloading files) but yesterday this dropped right down to about 1.5MBps and today it's a little better but not much

K86

[BenchyUK]

My speed is around 1.8meg although Home Hub software says 2.3meg

[john watters]

Hi, I have been with BT TotalBroadband for over a year now, and have only this week attempted a speed check and an only receiving .5 Mb (Upto 8Mb?) I contacted BT and was told that I should only be able to achieve a max of 2Mb? I know all the drivel about distance from the exchange and traffic online, but I had an engineer here this morning for an hour and after testing all the system, isolating an extension, all was at initial .5 Mb again. He then did a test with his laptop and explained that he was accessing another avenue, he achieved 3.8Mb. He then told me the line was capped and he would attempt to call BT (he I suppose was a sub contractor) and get the cap lifted.

I later checked with BT Tech Desk and after conference calls and lengthy investigations, new numbers and being on hold for some 30 minutes I was connected to the line fault department who couldn't wait to get rid of me and explained that the engineer didn't get 3.8 Mb (which he seemed really pleased with some 4 times?) as this was impossible. I am awaiting a call back at 4pm today to get to the bottom of this. After a call to the Broadband sales department I was actually told that if I wanted a higher speed, Virgin Cable could achieve 20Mb...good on yer BT.

Just thought I would share this any similar out there?

Cheers
John

[beerhunter]

If you are receiving .5Mb/s then you are receiving an up to 8Mb/s Broadband service. However where are you measuring this? Try www.speedtester.bt.com and post the results.

Distance from the exchange resulting in lower line speeds is not drivel it is a function of how ADSL works. BT base their estimate of what you line can achieve based on distance from the exchange. You can too at: http://www.adslchecker.bt.com/pls/adsl/adslchecker.welcome. Although the state of the cabling can reduce this figure. The state of your internal wiring can also affect your speed so how is your modem/router connected?

An engineer cannot tell if a line is 'capped' (whatever that means) by running line tests. However I have noticed a tendency recently for some of the newer (semi-trained it seems) BT technical staff to make things up.

Virgin can achieve 20 Mb/s because they use a completely different technology.

[beerhunter]

My speed is around 1.8meg although Home Hub software says 2.3meg
Sorry that this is months old but I only just spotted it. The Home Hub is measuring your ADSL Line Speed (raw bits per second with no IP overhead). Second BT always run a line slightly lower than the sync speed. In your case it would run at 2000 kb/s. When you put the overhead of actual data frames on then 1.8 Mb/s is about right.

[john watters]

My Home hub is connected with ethernet (Mac) and the engineer checked all wiring and OK'd everything but as you say, he did mention that it was just only 6 months on Broadband after a move from telephony.

I am awaiting a response from BT about capping.

John

[Rygar]

He may have ran the old BT Wholesale speedtest which would bypass any contention or shaping on the BT retail circuit.

Just guessing though.

A good place to start would be posting your line stats from your HUB (click 3rd link in my sig for help) & also running the BT Wholesale speedtest to see what it says.

http://speedtester.bt.com/

[beerhunter]

He may have ran the old BT Wholesale speedtest which would bypass any contention or shaping on the BT retail circuit.

]

Contention, Congestion and/or shaping do not occur at the line speed level.

[Rygar]

Contention, Congestion and/or shaping do not occur at the line speed level.
I know, they occur at the IP throughput level. What I'm speculating is that this guy may have ran the old wholesale speedtest@speedtest_domain test. Just that he said "accessing another avenue" This is one possible thing he may have meant.

[beerhunter]

I know, they occur at the IP throughput level. What I'm speculating is that this guy may have ran the old wholesale speedtest@speedtest_domain test. Just that he said "accessing another avenue" This is one possible thing he may have meant.

My point was though. The Line Speed is the Line Speed you can't go faster than the Line Speed.

[john watters]

I have now had BT come back and there has been an undetected fault at the exchange and now instead of .5Mb I am now getting upto 3Mb a vast improvement and they say over the next 10 days it could speed up? Well, it was worth all the argie bargie with them and have asked for a compensatory offer? But I may have to wait a while!

John