Sure, personally I would also do what you suggested

Thanks for the suggestions fellas. It seems a little complicated for me, especially as socket is quite hard to get to. I think I'll just struggle on with good old 530kpbs.

One supplementary question: what does an upload speed significantly higher (e.g. 2x) than the download speed indicate?

Anon,

If you are certain that the master socket in your flat is truly the master socket and it has been previously wrongly wired at the back, on the BT/OR side, then I would assume it's BT/OR's responsibility to fix it. Maybe you could report a voice fault to BT, not mentioning anything about broadband issues, and they may be able to sort out the wiring problem free of charge...if you are persistent!

4M2.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

what does an upload speed significantly higher (e.g. 2x) than the download speed indicate?

That you are on Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) like most people.

I always assumed the download speed was meant to be higher, considering they advertise 'up to 8meg download, 1meg upload' or whatever...

I'm not certain of either of those things unfortunately!

Because the upstream uses lower frequencies which are attenuated by distance less.

i.e. it is not unusual to find the upstream is faster than the downstream on long lines

Ah, I see. Thanks for the explanation.

If x < 8 & y < 1 does not imply x > y

You assume wrong or "meant to be" is not "is". With long enough or noisy lines it could be the reverse and still be asymmetric.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

I always assumed the download speed was meant to be higher, considering they advertise 'up to 8meg download, 1meg upload' or whatever...

Yes, downstream is meant to be higher than upstream - there is far more bandwidth available downstream, many more data bins.

Sounds like your line has got a problem, could be some sort of low pass filter trying to eliminate some noise.