it is possible, but cannot tell unless an engineer carries out an APTS test using his laptop and modem at the exch. firstly you need to optimise your own wiring at home, what telephone wiring setup do you have (from where the telephone wire enters you home to where the modem or router is plugged in)

 

As others have said, move to Virgin there connection is Fibreoptic in the main now, see if you can get that, speed is not dependant on how close you are to an exchange

 

not really, it's not too bad although to find out how fast you CAN go, test it at 3 or 4 a.m. when no-one is sharing the bandwith (contention ration).

 

Absolutely pointless changing providers unless you are moving away from the BT line itself and going cable...

Right, first thing to check is that it isn't your internal telephone wiring causing the issues. All old telephone cables have five or so wires but you only need two of them now a days and it's the spares left connected that really mess with the signal quality.
There is a site on the net somewherethat will show you step by step which wires you can pull the plug on.. Everyone I've seen do this has seen an improvement in speed.
Definitely the first thing to try as it's free.


Me..

 

Found one of the websites / forums..

ADSL2+ for DUMMIES - The ADSL2+ User Forum

 

If BT are throttling the line or are congested during busy times there is EVERY point in changing, assuming of course the congestion is not at the exchange (could see if others around him are seeing this). Checking internal wires and the like can help but the OP has suggested this is a recent thing, which would sugest congestion or throttling

Unless of course the OP has changed the internals in his house? Wired connection to wireless even?

My mate was on Virgin ADSL and the line slowed to a crawl, migrated him over to Zen and the difference was night and day

 

As others have said there's no point changing provider (unless cable is available) if he has an internal wiring or socket(s) issue. Also check your micro filters are ok. It could even be a problem with one of the internal wiring extensions from the main ring, which wouldn't be picked up by a BT check on the main line. I suffer from this sometimes.

 

Yup.

Broadband.org - find the best broadband isp compare prices and services uk

put in your postcode and it'll find your local exchange. It also shows what BB services *should* be available.

Moving ISP can make a difference if the speed problem isn't due to the local loop. Some ISPs have a higher/lower contention ratio and that can affect things.

I was with BT for a while, most the time it was 3/5meg connection on their *up to 8meg* product. It gradually went down to under 1 meg and despite them making many checks and so forth they couldn't get it back to 3/5 meg. I left and went to Virgin. Now get 20meg ALL the time (all the tests are 19meg + anyway) but that does assume you have cable facilities in your street.

 

Samknows Broadband - Exchange Search

will tell you what you can get

 

to check if contention ratio is a problem, do a speed test at silly hours in the morning, compare it to peak times (typically early evening on weekdays) that will give you an idea of how congestion is affecting your speed......a throttled line will show as a consistant speed (almost almost always low) no matter what time you test. also remember that if you suspect that you have improved your wiring, then reset your router or modem too. for the vast majority of ADSL users, your line (or more specifically your line loss) is the reason your speed is what it is.

 

And don't forget, you may only live a mile from the exchange (for example) but this doesn't mean your phone line takes a direct route. It could go round the houses a bit.

 

The wiring hasn't changed at all ..... even the SN pages take ages to load ... it really is almost back to my old Dial-Up days!

 

Just because the wiring hasn't changed, doesn't mean it hasn't developed a fault somewhere. Mine did.

 

I work as a Telecomms engineer myself, and mostly work on ADSL faults around my localarea.
The distance you are from the exchange DOES make a vast difference to the speed you get, the further you are from the exchange the lower your speed/adsl rate will be, but usually there is not a problem unless your line is above 8km (5 mile). I live 3 miles from the exchange and get 3Meg at home here, which is plenty for me


Internal extensions in your home will also affect the speed of your BB too, and if you live far from the exchange and on the 'line limits' as they talk about, say for example your line is 8.2km long, internal extensions may even stop the bb modem synching up at all, in which case your SP (service provider) could arrange for an SSFP (Service specific front plate) or an i-plate which is now available to be fitted at your main telephone socket....this will isolate your extensions from the adsl and they will still be able to be used for making/recieving calls, sending faxes, but will no longer be able to be used for adsl services. The only problem with this is that you would have to situate your modem at the main socket, usually in the hall for example, but nowadays most modems are wireless anyway so this isn't a problem If you fit an ssfp or i-plate, you will no longer require line filters on your other telephone sockets either.

Have you tried isolating the extensions and plugging in the modem at the main test point on your main socket? It could be that an internal extension has gone faulty or something like that, which could be causing your problems

You'd be surprised how many peoples houses i arrive at to check out a fault, only to discover that the cat has chewed through the telephone extension line to the sky box or a socket in the kitchen has a short circuit on it due to a splash of water from a tap hitting it.... ....worth a check.

If you need any help on how to check at the main socket test point or anything like that, drop me a PM matey

Kevin

 

Which service should you be on?

 

Oh dear - I think I broke the WWW

 

Try the BT Speedtester:

Test Result

Speedtest.net has limitations IMHO.

 

Thanks all .....

The wiring thing has got me thinking ....

The main BT junction box is in the porch at the front of the property - a cable runs from here, into the garage, along the garage wall about 20 foot and then turns into the kitchen, it then terminates. A cable goes upstairs from this point and I have a 30 foot lead to another terminal box at the back of the PC - this has the telephone hanging off it too.

Not sure if the above is ideal for top speeds, probably not - but it has been like that for 20 years ...... I was getting reasonable speeds up until recently. I will check for faults.

 

Can you not use a wireless router to connect your PC directly to the main socket ? bypassing all the wiring ? Might be worth a try!

 

this is what i get from sky mid package (£5) a month,when i was with bt it would not go over 1mg ever ,they told me that was all my line would support i live about a mile from the exchange and i was paying just over £20 a month for that !

 

you could also upgrade to a wireless phone setup, with a single master phone plugged and the satellite phones connected to it. This is how we have ours setup so there are minimal secondary connections onto the BT line. I just ripped everything out apart from the one master phone connection.

 

Worth a look alright mate, all that extra cable and extensions comming off it wont be doing you any favours. If the cable is in the garage something may have damaged it, maybe something has fell on it or something....maybe it has been eaten by a mouse

Get checking....

 

I have a wireless router, hard wired into the PC and a Laptop around the house.

If my PC was wirelessly equiped then I could place the router right by the incoming box.

Anyway - BT have offered to half my monthly charge .... I have accepted - at least I am now paying for what I have actually got, rather than what I wished I had.

Whenever BT offer to do something like this there is a catch - I have been caught out by them before ...... they are also offering to send me a new wireless router (but I have one anyway?!) what do I do with the old one? has it any value? It's one with the telephone on it - less than 12 months old.

 

can you get your line attenuation and noise margin form your router?

 

You only need a usb wireless adapter and your away. Move your router into your porch, where your 1st point is, then stick your adapter in a spare usb and 'bobby is your uncle'.

Heres what you need PC world I know how much you like shopping there

 

2862/335 Sky cheap package !

dunx

I can get BE for £21.50 a month, ten times faster (?) Hmmmm

 

And, in English, that would be what??

 

::. Kitz - Get your adsl line stats .::

 

SOME GIVE REC/LOOP

 

I did this a while back pulled out the 3rd wire on all ports (ring wire) and went from 1.5mb to 4.5mb