Anyone know about internet routers?

[Mr Speirs]

I have done all those things with the master socket etc. I even went as far to get a new router sent to me along with all new cabling.
I have a feeling that BT have screwed summat up.

Looks like an external line fault then, get onto BT!

I have had quite a few broadband providers over the last 5 years and o2 seem to me by far the best.. I'm on the up to 10Mb/s plan and constantly get speeds from 9-11(!)Mb/s - regularly tested via the speedtest site.

Only when we moved to our current address and took our o2 broadband with us it seemed very slow and inconsistent. That was until I found out that our internal line wiring was just appalling. Once I rewired it properly, o2 speeds became so much faster and consistent.

Your problem sounds to be a BT fault..

Originally Posted by boot

Hmmm....

We were on O2 Access. What plan are you on? Are you on an out usual area plan (i.e. an unbundled exchange).

O2 are monkeys for throttling access plans, if you download a lot, that makes it worse. If you're assigned a 188 ip address through them when you switch router off an on again, you should notice a considerable speed difference.

We used to switch off and on again until we got a 188 ip address. Eventually cancelled the contract and went with plus.net. They're more expensive if you need the bigger quotas of monthly allowance, but a change to our downloading times and we're reasonably happy.

Moral of the story - if you didn't change something, they probably did.

90% of ADSL problems can be tranced back to BT's antique copper wire network. Probably best to call them an report a fault with them. I am not 100% sure but O2 could order a line test for you as well.

Cable all the way my friends!

[timwilky]

Originally Posted by hongman

Cable all the way my friends!

except, pi55 poor upload speeds, single dhcp address only, indian call centres.

Nothing is perfect in this world. I had hopped that the BT fibre solution would be available to replace my virgin media. But guess what, they are not rolling it out in areas that haven't got ADSL yet. Seems stupid. they should put it where they cannot currently get customers.

So stuck with virgin on 50Mb and a pathetic 1.6Mb upload.

One day I dream of a symmetric data model with IPV6 addressing

[flymo]

in addition to speedtest.net, run through the tests on pingtest.net. It takes only a few seconds and will give you information about the quality of your connection by doing a test upload and download.

I ran through a similar test on a friends broadband configuration the other day after he complained of very slow iPlayer performance. He was suffering 96% packet loss! We elliminated the computer, the router and his DIY telephone line extension before calling BT to investigate.

I dont find a problem with upload speeds, but then I dont do a lot of uploading

I've sworn by cable since I got internet at 16. Experiences vary I guess but for me its been absolutely faultless, and Virgin as an ISP are pretty good for things like download capping etc.

Speeds are always good, even during peak times.

Single DHCP address can be easily gotten round by the use of something like dyndns.

[Mr Speirs]

Gave O2 a call. They could see I had crap speeds so they ordered a reset of my port at the exchange, I am not at home right now so cant see whether it has worked or not but they said if it doesn't work give them a call back in 24hours.

I don't really use the internet that extensively just browsing and online gaming. It was only when my online gaming became jittery and laggy and I had an appauling game where even though I was aiming and shooting at the fella he still managed to turn around and shoot me.

[timwilky]

Originally Posted by hongman

I dont find a problem with upload speeds, but then I dont do a lot of uploading

I've sworn by cable since I got internet at 16. Experiences vary I guess but for me its been absolutely faultless, and Virgin as an ISP are pretty good for things like download capping etc.

Speeds are always good, even during peak times.

Single DHCP address can be easily gotten round by the use of something like dyndns.

We are in danger of going off topic.

Cable as a technology, is potentially quite good for home use. But the asymmetric network design has always made it a poor technology for those like me who work from home. I need decent upload speeds. 50Mb down just to get 1.5Mb upload is poor. the big issue for me is that I cannot get proper routing from virgin. As a company we have a class B network allocation and I could quite easily get a decent subnet (/24) assigned for my use. But virgin will not route it. They insist I can only have a single IP address assigned and not a range despite their technology being able to handle it. When they were telewest I paid extra for a second network address.

Unfortunately I have had to use the call centres despite being more than a bit network savvy ( I put the first privately owned satellite earth station for data/voice into China, I have established data networks between the UK and Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, France, Germany, Switzerland, USA, South Africa etc.) It is hard work when you are talking to non English script monkeys, who treat you as if you are an idiot.

The daft thing is I do not live in the back of beyond. However I am too far from my "Local" exchange to get a DSL based service. I used to have to use ISDN before Telewest came along. when fibre to the home becomes a reality, I will be off.