Slow internet connection

Hi

I've been having problems with my internet slowing down and feeling like dial-up at times. I use a 3com router on virgin media and should be getting speeds of upto 8mbps when I run the speed checker on this site (I left the link at home) I got in the region of 250-500kbps download and a similar upload.

I called virgin and followed their advice and updated the firmware on my router and also used the bt speedchecker:

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
IP profile for your line is - 6500 kbps
DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 8128 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 1833 kbps

If you wish to discuss these results please contact your ISP.

If you are experiencing problems with specific applications, servers or websites please contact your ISP for assistance.

Your test has completed please close this window to exit the performance tester


Now from this I take it that the actual speed my IP will allow is 1.8mbps?? Is that correct? Should I be getting 6.5-8Mbps? I ran the speedchecker again from this site and still get the same 200-500kbps. which I don't understand.

I am tempted to change providers from virgin to sky in the hope that I can get a quicker connection (and cheaper), could this be the case? I should also get a new router with the provider which could eliminate any router problems my 1.5year old 3com router.

Has anyone got any comments on what I should do?


Thanks
Sorry for the war and peace post, lol

You should get upto 6.5Mbps (6500Kbps)

If the throughput is low as it looks you may be suffering exchange congestion, i.e. lots of people using the service in your area, or depending on how your provider has its network set-up you may be seeing effects of the providers network when running this test.

You are connected to the exchange at a speed that is as fast as is possible with ADSL, if you go to Sky and an ADSL2+ service you will most likely connect faster, and probably get faster downloads (but that last bit carries no guarantee)

IP profile for your line is - 6500 kbps

- seems reasonable, 7150 is the highest.

DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 8128 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)

- doesn't get better than that on BT provided ADSL

Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 1833 kbps

- looks like it has a 2M limit applied to it somewhere (ISP ?) or it is very congested. Also check the RWIN value with a tweak tester site (see link in sig below).

Thanks for the help (I've registered now)

I still don't believe I get 1.8Mbps because the internet here seems very very slow.

I did another speed test from the main page and this was the results

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results/id/119341602565025819968.html

Would this indicate there was a problem with the router or my pc?

Cheers
Steve

Unfortunately your problems are more likely to be caused by the oversubscribed Virgin Media ADSL network.

Check out this forum http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=virgin_adsl

Thanks Yarwell

This is the results

Tweakable settings:
RWIN: -1
Window scaling:
PMTUD: NO
Time stamping:
SACKS:
MSS requested: -1
TTL remaining:

Results of download test:
Data bytes we sent: -1 bytes
Data packets we sent: -1
Retransmitted data packets: -1
Transfer efficiency: 0%
Max packet size you sent (MTU): 39
Max packet size you received (MTU): 39
Data transmit time: -1 seconds
Maximum idle time: -1 milliseconds
Transfer rate: -1 bytes/sec (-0.0 kilobytes/sec)

Ping test:
86.27.59.235 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 10/0/100%

--------------------------------------------------------------------

NEW! Suggestions based on these results

This bit is under development, please ignore all the suggestions below for the time being :-)

Your RWIN is a multiple of your MSS
Few retransmits, looks OK
Path MTU discovery is disabled Your chosen RWIN value will limit your throughput to:
25094 kb/s (3136.7 kB/s) to UK sites (assuming 20ms RTT)
5576 kb/s (697.0 kB/s) to US (East Coast) sites (assuming 90ms RTT)
3346 kb/s (418.2 kB/s) to US (West Coast) sites (assuming 150ms RTT)
2281 kb/s (285.2 kB/s) to Japanese sites (assuming 220ms RTT)



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Not that I understand these, lol

Wow john, so I'm not the only one!!! That makes me want to switch providers more now. I'm not tied because I've been with them over two years but I'm not sure who to go to, sky is the obvious choice as it's the cheaper option, O2 was another choice but they are not providing near me.

RWIN: -1

it failed, try a different one

I used to be with Virgin Media ADSL and shared your experience of slow speeds. From reading posts in the Virgin forum nothing seems to have changed for the better in the 6 months or so since I left.

If Sky have unbundled your exchange and you have or want Sky TV then Sky broadband is very good value. There seem to be very few speed related complaints.