Networks Problems With ISP and Connection Speeds

So, back home we've been with Demon for years, and it's always been crap. Interestingly, the line has always reported speeds of ~7.6Mb down / ~800Kb/s up. Speedtests of several calibres have confirmed it. But the internet itself has always been atrociously slow regardless of activity. Torrents, surfing, rapidshare, FTP - all struggle to exceed about 1/10th of the reported line speeds, both ways. Pragmatic limits were around 800Kb/s down / ~35Kb/s up.

Suspecting lazy/overtrafficked ISPs, I recommended we upgrade to a business package - prioritized traffic, optimal speeds, no limits, all that. The problem remains: on a reported 2Mb/s down / 500Kb/s up high priority connection, the realistic limits of the line in all scenarios are ~200Kb/s / ~30Kb/s.

After extensive phone calls and whining, they resorted to blaming the local wiring. It was all redone not long ago and the problem existed on both sides of the rewiring, so I seriously doubt it's the cause. We don't seem to have a leg to stand on; they can just plead ignorant and say it's not their problem, which is hugely unfair. We're basically paying £40/mo for ISDN speeds. It's laughable. What can we do?

edit - it also spans 3 machines, 3 operating systems and 2 routers, so hardware is inculpable.

 

You will always get around 1/10th of the speed, usually because ISPs report their speeds in megabits per second. Theres 8 bits in a byte, and you lose a bit extra from wiring etc, which takes it to 1/10th.

 

see? A screenshot from my router.

 

Just to be clear, are you saying it's perfectly normal to pay for an 8Mb connection and only be able to download at 0.8Mb/s? This bytes/bits distinction is news to me vis-à-vis ISP advertising. I assumed 8Mb meant 8 megabytes.

edit - Phased, what's the screenshot supposed to illustrate?

 

It's kinda like your Ethernet connection whats advertised as 100 mbs is only ~10 megabytes per second. Or gigbit is only ~120 megabytes per second IIRC

 

internet connections are advertised as megabits, but most file transfers are rated in megabytes. an 8Mb/s line should allow you downloads of 1MB/s.

 

Thats exactly what I'm saying. Altho for notation, your paying for a 8Mbs (8 Megabits) connection, and you are downloading at 0.8MB/s (0.8 Megabytes). The screenshot is showing my router with a 3 megabit download speed, which translates to a 300/250KB/S download speed my end.

Ignoring the technical explanation, it is horribly misleading by the ISPs to continue advertising in this manner. And of course, so few people working for the ISPs or buying the service actually understand this megabit/megabyte distinction. I can't believe to be honest that ISPs can advertise "upto x speeds" and use this measurement to basically give the impression that your internet is faster than it really is.

 

kbps = kilo BITS per second
kBps = kilo BYTES per second

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_rate_units

 

If you were getting 800kb/sec Down there was no problem with your line

 

Ph4ZeD is spot on. On my 10mb Virgin connection my downloads max out at around 1.1MB/s which is normal and what I pay for.

Exactly and all you've ended up doing is 'upgrading' to a slower business connection which is costing you more per-month.

 

Uh yes I know that, thats why I screenshotted it and circled it for the OP's benefit.

 

Mistook you for the OP My bad, hadn't had morning coffee

 

Ugh. Well, thanks for the elucidation guys, very much appreciated...but I feel like my ISP has been touching me in inappropriate places now

I mean...god dammit...countless tech calls and speedtests and complaints, and none of them even mentioned this distinction. It didn't occur to them to clarify. ****in' assholes.

 

I used to be with Demon, when you could dialup with ISDN64k and pay BT £5.99 for unlimited calls to a dialup ISP. When I had faults it was answered by some Scottish people.

When ADSL came around they made them all redundant and outsourced it to India. And they suck.

 

They really do. It's not their fault, demon just don't inform or train them properly. I called earlier today and the guy I was talking to didn't know about the bits/bytes distinction: he sounded nervous and had to put me on hold while he asked the team. So that explains why they never mentioned it previously: none of them know about it or understand it.

The good news is, they recently released a new contract that offers 20Mb/s and no caps for £21 a month. The hilariously depressing news is we're locked into a 12-month contract with this £46 per month 2Mb/s connection. We can't switch, upgrade or downgrade. It's ****ing con-artistry.

 

I'd explain the situation to them, and they may let you change back down.

 

They may let you pay the same but receive upto 8mb at least.

 

Your exchange is unbundled - I'd seriously think about paying an early cancellation fee and using a different ISP. You can get a TalkTalk line with 24Mb broadband and a phone package for £28.48 in Lancaster. There's a similar thing from Sky too, and if you're really brave you could try AOL.

 

Plus.net do a homephone/DSL service with upto 24mb. Its not LLU, its WLR.

(LLU = ISP's own equipment in exchange, WLR = wholesale line rental, they rent your line off BT at wholesale prices and charge you less).

 

ISPs get around this by advertising it as UP TO 8Mb/s. It's a joke really, but there's nothing we can really do about it. I'm on BT Option 3 and we are said to get 'up to 8Mb/s' The Home Hub's page tells me that downstream I should be getting around 6.5Mb/s, and once in a blue moon I do. But some speedtests I've got less than 0.2Mb/s. Also they can throttle your connection if they feel your a long way from the exchange, they slow the speed to guarantee a more reliable connection. Well, some of the time.