Truth or Fiction ?

[Cranfield]

I am with Orange, via Freeserve, then Wanadoo and its a 4 mbps package.

 

For quite a few weeks I have experienced slow Internet access and movement.

Checked all the obvious, no spyware or virii, nothing running in the background , all connections tight etc. etc.

 

I finally rang Orange today, after I dropped below 200 kbps last night (McAfee speed check).

 

They asked me what Internet Explorer I was running, I told them version 7, but I actually use Mozilla Firefox version 2.

They replied that they don't support IE version 7 and I should revert to version 6 and see if the problem goes away.

 

When I reminded them that I use Firefox to browse, they claimed this made no difference.

 

Now, I am not a Techie and I didn't want to get into an argument with an inhabitant of the Indian sub continent, without being sure of my facts.

 

Does any of this sound right ?

[Andy_1984]

I am with Orange, via Freeserve, then Wanadoo and its a 4 mbps package.

 

For quite a few weeks I have experienced slow Internet access and movement.

Checked all the obvious, no spyware or virii, nothing running in the background , all connections tight etc. etc.

 

I finally rang Orange today, after I dropped below 200 kbps last night (McAfee speed check).

 

They asked me what Internet Explorer I was running, I told them version 7, but I actually use Mozilla Firefox version 2.

They replied that they don't support IE version 7 and I should revert to version 6 and see if the problem goes away.

 

When I reminded them that I use Firefox to browse, they claimed this made no difference.

 

Now, I am not a Techie and I didn't want to get into an argument with an inhabitant of the Indian sub continent, without being sure of my facts.

 

Does any of this sound right ?

 

not true, although some browsers may be slower than others it could only be within like 5kb, try a download accelerator like getright and as this is not a browser and just a downloader you can compare, also getright is good because you can use download mirrors ( downloads the same file as 4 seperate downloads and merges them all together at the end cutting download speed to half the time )

[billy50000]

Hi all

 

andy i use getright also due to having a 56k connection and ive never looked back as its a damn good tool when you consider windows own doesnt resume

 

and you can continue your download anytime you want:)

 

 

sg

 

i thought that ie7 was responsible for my recent kbps loss but since my linebox was sorted its all ok so i wouldnt have thought ie would be an issue but as for any other browser i wouldnt know but i did recently consider firefox to test the theory but all is ok so i didnt bother:)

 

good luck with india:)

Edited January 12, 2007 by billy50000

[Steve Walker]

Does any of this sound right ?

 

No, it's horsesh1t. IE7 can feel slow, but (a) you aren't actually using IE7 and ( you aren't saying it feels slow, you've measured it, it *is* slow.

 

Try using a few online speed tests to verify your McAfee test. Try several, see how the results stack up.

 

This one seems to give consistent results for me:

 

http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/

 

There are more here:

 

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/speeds.htm

[IanR]

Hi

 

In addition to those posted by Steve, there's a basic speed test here: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d.h.wal...l?1110656677700

 

 

Cheers

 

Ian.

[Peter Sharpe]

Just tried the bbmax speed test. I'm on IE7 and I'm getting 1850kbps on download and 241kbps on upload. This is on a 2mb Tiscali connection. I have no idea if this is typical.

[IanR]

With overheads, download speed is fine.

 

I can't comment on the upload because I don't know what it's supposed to be, but, typically, upload is much less than the download.

 

 

Cheers

 

Ian.

[chesters1]

you want slow i got it! netscape 7

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 18:47:52 GMT

1st 128K took 71392 ms = 1836 Bytes/sec = approx 15 kbits/sec

2nd 128K took 67578 ms = 1940 Bytes/sec = approx 16 kbits/sec

3rd 128K took 45285 ms = 2894 Bytes/sec = approx 24 kbits/sec

4th 128K took 36592 ms = 3582 Bytes/sec = approx 30 kbits/sec

 

IE 7?

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 18:55:50 UTC

1st 128K took 35131 ms = 3731 Bytes/sec = approx 31 kbits/sec

2nd 128K took 41389 ms = 3167 Bytes/sec = approx 26 kbits/sec

3rd 128K took 37094 ms = 3534 Bytes/sec = approx 29 kbits/sec

4th 128K took 37354 ms = 3509 Bytes/sec = approx 29 kbits/sec

 

strangely though the similar speeds netscape took 5mins 5 secs to "finish" (including connecting to the site)

IE 7 took 8mins 2 secs !!!!

Edited January 12, 2007 by chesters1

[wanzelbin]

It's extremely unlikely to have anything to do with having IE7 installed, and you don't need to do any more speed tests cos you already know it's slow!

 

Most of the ISP support teams are the same - they have their standard list of questions and supported software, and will refuse to provide anything beyond that.

I always now tell them I've replaced any router / modem, swapped out cables / microfilters, reverted to standard software etc. every time whether I have or not, as you stand a much better chance of getting an answer and the ultimate goal - a line test!

 

Most of the time they can't do any more than a line test anyway, but this approach certainly saves you countless hours sitting on hold, only waiting for them to come up with another excuse not to look into things for you.

 

Personally I wouldn't do a thing except phone them back and say you've gone back to IE6 (and anything else they want) and it's still slow.

 

Sadly it's probably down to the contention ratio on your local exchange, which is the effect of multiple local users using the service at the same time, and there's nothing you can do about it.

 

David

[corydoras]

Cranfield.

 

How is your PC connected to broadband? How many phones do you have in your gaff?