Very limited download speed

On BT option 3.

Only noticed it over the last week or so and now its unbearable!!!

I dont seem to have much download speed.

I have also been able to download torrents easily and i have always been able to download from Microsoft at about 600k per second.
I use Microsoft .com as a benchmark for speed because never have i ever downloaded somehting from them and it has never virtually maxed out my connection.

Anyhow over the last week i have not been able to download torrents at anything above 30k a sec!!!

Thought i was going mad and maybe it was a problem with the torrent.

However gone to download various programs tonight and cant get anyhting above 25k per sec download!!! Even Microsoft i cant get above 45k per sec!!!!!!

This is ridiculous.

Btspeedtester.com says that my throughput is anywhere between 5.5meg and 6.3meg.

if i run speedtester.bbmax.com though i get a quicker upload speed than download and the same on speedtester.net (avergae taking is about 280k download)

My linksys router says my downstream is 8128 and upstream 448 like it always has been.

Well i say always has been i spent 5 whole weeks when i first migrated to BT to gewt my profile unstuck from 2000k.

I dont want to have to go down that path again.

What can possibly be worng, everything was fine until about Friday last week!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cant even download a program of download.com or such!!!!!

Not the first speed problem I have heard from a few different ISP's. Could be exchange congestion. Torrents are shaped by BT so they will not go above 40kb/s at peak time but outside peak time they should be fine. As for downloading I seem to be able to download ok with no problem. It all depends on the server, MIcrosoft may not be running at full capacity in their European data centre or it may be maxed out and you are going to Singapore or one of their many centres in the US.

its more serious than that Paul, i cannot download anyhting from anywhere above the 45k i got from Microsoft.com

I just got my mate who is also on Option 3 who lives 1/2 mile down the road from me to download something off MS and he is fine, he is also d/l a torrent for me that i cannot at 200k + speeds.

Our exchange is Red and has been since October last year, but that wont be the problem as i have had no issues until the last few days.

Web pages still show up almost instantaniously but i just cannot download anything!!!

Strange is the problem long term, it may just be exchange congestion finally affecting your MSAN or DSLAM which you are connected to at the exchange. Your friend down the street may be connection to an uncongested one.

I had the same issues, red status but broadband working fine. Then it stopped working, this was when I was with another ISP.

Edited by deleted (Wed 07-Mar-07 22:15:47)

are you sure torrents are caped i get full speed all the time?

Well most of th forum seem to think they are, I don't use them that much myself as I don't have any great need to. I will admit whne I was doing them earlier they were not capped, but last week when the last time I downloaded one it was not going any faster than 40KB/s.

They used to cap speeds between 7pm-12 but lately ive been getting max speeds whenever i use a torrent. And I am a heavy downloader.

Capping may be on some parts of capacity into BT Retail and not offers, i.e. depends on how busy the segments are

If www.speedtester.bt.com shows actual throughput of 5 to 6Mbps, it suggests your IP Profile is correct, and if this is consistent suggests not exchange congestion.

Maybe congestion at the BT ISP end of things, or the effects of the traffic shaping kit (Ellacoya)

Maybe it has been removed then.