Broadband basics.

[Cranfield]

Could someone please confirm my understanding, or explain to me how this works.

 

As I have mentioned before, I am still suffering cut-offs from Orange since I went to, "up to 8mbps" from 2mbps.

These disconnections start when the Internet gets busy (say 4-5 pm onwards).

Orange have problems "stabilising" my speed.

 

If Orange have a certain line allocation and there are lots of Orange customers, will the speed allocated to each user reduce at busy times ?

Is this , combined with my "speed stabilising" problems, why I am getting disconnected.

Would capping my speed at 2mbps help this problem ?

 

If I change ISP to a smaller provider, with less customers, would this help my problem ?

 

I am definitely changing ISP, but I don't want to go with someone who can't "stabilise" my speeds, or give me a permanently connected service.

 

All simply worded answers who be greatly appreciated, as usual.

Edited March 23, 2007 by Cranfield

[steve good]

Could someone please confirm my understanding, or explain to me how this works.

 

As I have mentioned before, I am still suffering cut-offs from Orange since I went to, "up to 8mbps" from 2mbps.

These disconnections start when the Internet gets busy (say 4-5 pm onwards).

Orange have problems "stabilising" my speed.

 

If Orange have a certain line allocation and there are lots of Orange customers, will the speed allocated to each user reduce at busy times ?

Is this , combined with my "speed stabilising" problems, why I am getting disconnected.

Would capping my speed at 2mbps help this problem ?

 

If I change ISP to a smaller provider, with less customers, would this help my problem ?

 

I am definitely changing ISP, but I don't want to go with someone who can't "stabilise" my speeds, or give me a permanently connected service.

 

All simply worded answers who be greatly appreciated, as usual.

 

Hi Cranfield

 

Snap same ear, and lots of people I know to, I have 4 mbps, and I know someone who has 6 mbps still the same problem

 

steve

[chesters1]

i am on 864k (on 8mb) at the moment and the router is disconecting severa times an hour ,i blame bt ,bt blames the line but does nothing to improve it ,if bt cannot make it better then a 3rd party surely can't so no point changing isp's as bt certainly wont improve the line if their not making money from it

"up to" ,"use as nescessary" and "could" are the biggest get out clauses out there ,no-one would buy a car if it was stated as a unknown % of a car you were buying and you only found out how much you got once you signed the contract and it was delivered ,in fairness (unknown in business today) if you order 8mb and get 1 mb then you should pay an eighth of the bill!!!!! after all its the line renters fault you cannot get the full deal!

had you ordered a whole car and you only got the bonnet and bumper trading standards would be on the case in a shot!

Edited March 23, 2007 by chesters1

[corydoras]

Cory's guide to hassle free broadband.

 

Rule 1) Buy your broadband from an ISP. This means don't go for 'free' broadband from Sky, Orange or anyone else. Either buy from BT or only buy from a company whose main business is selling internet connections. I use Demon. I can't tell you what their support is like, I have never had need to use it.

 

Rule 2) Buy a faceplate type filter like this one.

 

Rule 3) If you must fit those horrible little microfilters to your phone sockets, remember that you need one for every socket that has a telephone, fax, answering machine, sky box etc attached.

 

Rule 4) If you are using one of those wretched USB modem things for your internet access, do yourself a huge favour, buy yourself a proper router and punt your ADSL modem in the nearest bin.

[chesters1]

whats a proper router?

[corydoras]

i am on 864k (on 8mb) at the moment and the router is disconecting severa times an hour ,i blame bt ,bt blames the line but does nothing to improve it ,if bt cannot make it better then a 3rd party surely can't so no point changing isp's as bt certainly wont improve the line if their not making money from it

"up to" ,"use as nescessary" and "could" are the biggest get out clauses out there ,no-one would buy a car if it was stated as a unknown % of a car you were buying and you only found out how much you got once you signed the contract and it was delivered ,in fairness (unknown in business today) if you order 8mb and get 1 mb then you should pay an eighth of the bill!!!!! after all its the line renters fault you cannot get the full deal!

had you ordered a whole car and you only got the bonnet and bumper trading standards would be on the case in a shot!

I agree with you up tp a point chesters. If the problem is with the line, then only BT can improve the line as they own it. The 'up to 8 megs' is a different issue. The first rollout of ADSL to BT exchanges could only deliver up to 2Mbps. Now that BT have upgraded their exchanges to MAX ADSL they can deliver up to 8Mbps, but nobody can tell you what your true speed will be. I get between 3 and 5 Mbps, I have a friend round the corner who most times has about 5-6 Mbps. It is unlikely that one will get anywhere near the full 8 unless your house is next door to an exchange.

 

One can improve the cabling inside ones premises though. Ripping out old unused extensions and installing a faceplate type filter can make a big difference, as can throwing out USB modems and fitting proper routers.

[chesters1]

but what is a proper router?

[corydoras]

whats a proper router?

 

Any ADSL router. I recommend Netgear, Linksys or D-Link. Don't buy Belkin.

[chesters1]

so a adsl voice router isnt a proper router ?

it can use usb or a network cable but strangely not firewire.

i'm a little confused over using it on an extention ,the phone extention has thicker cables than a network cable of the same length ,so if i plug the router directly into the main socket and run a network cable to the pc the resistance in the cable will be more than the phone extention! (measured them both on a multimeter)

theres no difference in usb or network cable (tried them both)speed wise both are dismally slow as its the phoneline thats bad

Edited March 23, 2007 by chesters1

[corydoras]

but what is a proper router?

I installed one of these for an acquaintance last weekend. I replaced his USB connection with this beastie. When I sat him in front of his PC to have a play after I was all done he said "Wow!". I just love it when they say "Wow!".