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Blacksword View Drop Down
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Points: 16130 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Internet advice needed!
    Posted: August 14 2010 at 04:49
For about six months now, my Internet connection has been unreliable. BT is my service provider and my download speed is 2m. This had been perfectly sufficient for the last 4 years (ever since I got my current laptop) I'm still running Windows XP.

I'm not unable to watch anything on Youtube. The clip starts playing and then just stops and endlessly buffers. I cant watch BBC IPlayer for the same reasons, indeed, anything that requires any kind of 'Flash player'

My question is, does this sound like a download speed issue?

I have tried the following:

1) Using different browsers (Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer 8) IE8 was by far the worst!!

2) Defragmenting my hard drive

3) Running registry clean up tools

4) Running numerous virus checkers

I may just need to change my ISP, but I'd like to make sure there isn;t something easy I can do first.
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Snow Dog View Drop Down
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Points: 32995 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 04:54
BT are a bloody disgrace mate. The problem is their "up to" claim...it coukl mean anything.....try testing your REAL speed.

I'll give you a link soon.
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Points: 32995 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 04:55
http://www.speedtest.net/

I had a freind with BT and his speeds were nowhere near waht should have been. And he complained again and again to no avail.

I'm with Virgin...one of the best braordband providers around for speed.


Edited by Snow Dog - August 14 2010 at 04:57
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Mr ProgFreak View Drop Down
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Points: 5195 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 05:02
You can go to http://www.adobe.com and try to update your flash player, if you haven't done so already. 
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Points: 415 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 05:02
1. Could be malware. A lot of the machines I fix have spyware and malware problems related to internet speed.

I'd run malwarebytes and superantispyware. Both are free. If they find anything I'd also run CCleaner- free also.

2. Do you run any P2P. Torrent clients are notorious for setting up a default upload limit (not download) that is too high. This slows internet to crawl because because your packets received can't be acknowledged as being received. If no P2P this is obviously not the reason.

3. Have you complained to BT that your speeds are low. You may have a line problem.
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Points: 32995 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 05:06
Good luck with complaining to BT..but check your speed first......listen to Iancc







Tsk! He asks for advise then buggers off!


Edited by Snow Dog - August 14 2010 at 05:19
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Points: 20029 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 05:36
I think you need to upgrade your line Andy. Unfortunately 2Mb means "up to" 2Mb which clearly includes bugger all. Try the speedtest site than Ian gave the link for. I'm on a 10Mb connection which is currently showing as being around 6Mb! However I can generally watch YouTube and iPlayer ok.

Personally I would switch to Virgin - even though they're crap at times (when I had problems at the end of last year they just blamed it on my router) they use fibre optic cables which can be upgraded more than the phone lines that BT use. You can also switch your phone and TV to them as well in one package.

I use the Firefox browser but that shouldn't affect things too much.

You could also try the Microsoft Network Monitor tool (which is free) to see what's going on with your connection. Are you using a WiFi connection? Is it secure?

btw - I've just found out where your sig quote comes from!
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Points: 5195 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 05:44
If you have a 2Mbps line but in reality you have lower bandwidth, upgrading to a 6Mbps will most likely not change anything - the limitation is caused by the quality of your telephone line and usually depends on the distance (length of cable) between your DSL router and the access point, and on how many people (households) are sharing the cable.
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Points: 20029 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 05:51
Originally posted by Mr ProgFreak Mr ProgFreak wrote:

If you have a 2Mbps line but in reality you have lower bandwidth, upgrading to a 6Mbps will most likely not change anything - the limitation is caused by the quality of your telephone line and usually depends on the distance (length of cable) between your DSL router and the access point, and on how many people (households) are sharing the cable.




Switching to Virgin would resolve that though.

Oops, I'm starting to sound like a Virgin salesman. Confused

I would also suggest a free download program called CCleaner - I doubt it will help your Internet speed but it will get rid of some of the crap on your PC (that's what the first C stands for).
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Points: 3658 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 06:07

I use TalkTalk as my ISP after experiencing nothing but trouble with BT. I find TalkTalk dead cheap with a decent enough download speed. I also clean out my computer on a regular basis with AdAware and Avast. All this is free and highly recommended.

 

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Mr ProgFreak View Drop Down
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Points: 5195 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 06:33
Originally posted by chopper chopper wrote:

Originally posted by Mr ProgFreak Mr ProgFreak wrote:

If you have a 2Mbps line but in reality you have lower bandwidth, upgrading to a 6Mbps will most likely not change anything - the limitation is caused by the quality of your telephone line and usually depends on the distance (length of cable) between your DSL router and the access point, and on how many people (households) are sharing the cable.




Switching to Virgin would resolve that though.

Oops, I'm starting to sound like a Virgin salesman. Confused

I would also suggest a free download program called CCleaner - I doubt it will help your Internet speed but it will get rid of some of the crap on your PC (that's what the first C stands for).


It will not change anything if the problem is related to your telephone line. But of course there may be ISPs which have bandwidth problems of their own, and in those cases switching your provider will obviously help.
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Points: 32995 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 06:35
Originally posted by Mr ProgFreak Mr ProgFreak wrote:

Originally posted by chopper chopper wrote:

Originally posted by Mr ProgFreak Mr ProgFreak wrote:

If you have a 2Mbps line but in reality you have lower bandwidth, upgrading to a 6Mbps will most likely not change anything - the limitation is caused by the quality of your telephone line and usually depends on the distance (length of cable) between your DSL router and the access point, and on how many people (households) are sharing the cable.




Switching to Virgin would resolve that though.

Oops, I'm starting to sound like a Virgin salesman. Confused

I would also suggest a free download program called CCleaner - I doubt it will help your Internet speed but it will get rid of some of the crap on your PC (that's what the first C stands for).


It will not change anything if the problem is related to your telephone line. But of course there may be ISPs which have bandwidth problems of their own, and in those cases switching your provider will obviously help.

Virgin don't use  telephone lines they have cable layed.
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Mr ProgFreak View Drop Down
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Points: 5195 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 06:45
^ Ok - that of course changes the situation. But isn't that rather expensive then?  
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Points: 32995 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 06:53
Originally posted by Mr ProgFreak Mr ProgFreak wrote:

^ Ok - that of course changes the situation. But isn't that rather expensive then?  

Virgin laid all their cable (as CableTel) years ago....if you are not in an area where it was laid then you simnply can't have it. Probably LOndon and all around there has been done though. Blacksword will know.

Trouble with Virgin is you get the full Broadband, TV and telephone package and he might not want that.
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Points: 3658 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 08:10
I am paying around £ 20 a month with broadband and phone at TalkTalk. I think that is OK for my use. 
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Blacksword View Drop Down
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Points: 16130 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 08:27
Thanks for the advice everyone. I suspect it is download speed that is the problem. 2mb had been sufficient up until 6 months ago. I've not yet complained to BT, and by the sounds of it that'll get me nowhere! A few months ago I consulted them on another issue relating to what turned out to be a trojun, which wouldn't let me get to my desktop. They were insistent it wasn't a virus of anykind, but I ended up Googling a fix from another PC. It was a very well know virus that was doing the rounds, their support team should have known about it!! I fixed the bloody thing myself, and I'm hardly Mr IT.

I tought for a while it may have been this virus, that was causing the problems but I had 'apparently' successfully removed it, and all the virus checkers I ran didn't detect it, so I guess I'm in the clear with that.

Ian, thanks for the speed test link. That will be my first check, I think. I'll then go to war with BT. I'll see how much it is to get out of my contract. Virgin has been recommended by others too. Everyones experiences with ISP's seem to differ, as they do with makes of cars! I get junk mail from Virgin every week. Maybe 'll read it next time.

Mr ProgFreak I installed the latest Adobe Flash Player yesterday, so that shouldn't be an issue.
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Snow Dog View Drop Down
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Points: 32995 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 08:30
Try this antimalware programme. Its good.
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Blacksword View Drop Down
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Points: 16130 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 08:34
mmm, Download speed of 1.46MB..

Time to chew someones ear off at BT!
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Snow Dog View Drop Down
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Points: 32995 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 08:37
Well thats  not bad actually. Maybe your PC IS at fault.
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Points: 32995 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2010 at 08:39
Mine is 9.92 mb/s I just checked...but of course i do have a 10mb/s connection. Maybe you want to upgrade?
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