cannot run speedtester.bt.com and slow internet

Hi all,

i was refered to plusnet by a friend because i was having problems with sky. i expecteed all my problems to go away once i had been transfered over to them. it can take up to 2 mins to load a web page and the xbox isnt worth using. i have been estimated at getting 7meg but surely im not on that.

i phoned up plusnet to be told i need to do a speed test at www.speedtester.bt.com and then submit my results to them. i have tried at least 50 times and i get the same error message.
The Performance Tester is currently unable to run a speed test for your broadband connection. Please try again shortly, however if this problem persists, raise the issue with your service provider.

i let plusnet know and they told me to just use another site and so i did. it come up with no problems and the speed of 6397kbps download and 380kbps upload. they have then said that is fine and case closed. my internet is still slow. what should i do? its pointless me having the internet this slow. a video can take 5mins before it plays then stops several times to buffer.

if i cant use the bt speed test then does that mean i have a fault?

i shouldnt have to change to BT for my internet to get a problem sorted. Any advice welcome.

thanks

John

Edited by deleted (Wed 13-Apr-11 19:12:22)

check your machine for malware
separately, are you using any antivirus software ?

How long is it since you transferred, and were you on an LLU phone service with Sky?

i have done a full sweep of my computer and i am using microsoft security essentials. i did have norton 360 but i decided to change to see if it fixed the problem.

even if i had anything on my laptop it wouldnt stop the xbox from working at a decent speed? thanks for your reply

i had both the land line and internet with sky and now both transfered with plusnet. i must have been with plusnet for 3 weeks maybe now. what does llu mean?

Most ISPs your physical connection is to BT Wholesale equipment at the exchange, and that is what is called a "BT Line" by ISPs.

LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) is when you are physically connected to the ISP's equipment at the exchange for broadband, in which case your phone can be either left as a BT line (partial LLU) by being connected from the ISP's equipment back into the BT network, (even though you may be paying the line rental to your ISP), or it can be LLU'ed as well (full LLU) so it gets handled at the ISP end instead of the exchange end.

If the phone line is Full LLU'ed like this, it doesn't count as a BT line and the BT speed test doesn't recognise the number.

If you were on full LLU it can take a while after it is reverted to a "BT line" for the database the BT speed tester uses to get to recognise the number, though three weeks should be enough.

Do you know what your broadband package with Sky was called? If it was "Connect" then nothing was LLU so the above is all irrelevant.

What does samknows say about your exchange, (the URL of the result is best), as that might help work out what happened.

If you want a fuller explanation of LLU, see this page.

Great response robertoS, i was on connect so it doesnt apply. and i dont think i am on LLU now either.

samknows says plusnet and sky are not on the ULL. only orange and talk talk

cheers

Edited by deleted (Wed 13-Apr-11 20:18:14)

Regarding the BT speedtest this is a known problem but BT haven't fixed it yet http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,9364...

i could do it when i was on sky only 3 weeks ago. i cant remember the results tho but it was poor enough for sky to give me a full refund from the start of the contract and end my contract after only 6months. i dont know if this makes a difference

Have you tried changing your DNS settings? Could be that you are having problems with DNS servers resolving addresses. Have a look at switching to OpenDNS to see if it improves matters.