speed test

just done a speed test but being a total newbie to this need a little help,
it says i have a speed down 5.5 mbps,speed up 377kbps, i have bt broadband upgraded to 8 meg but not to sure what all this means totally new to computing but willing to learn . thanks for any help. adam.

You won't get 8Mbps.....Nobody does.
Because of the way BT implement ADSLmax (the "upto" 8 meg product), the most you'll get on a really short line is around 6.7 - 6.9 Mbps.

The key things to note:
1. The service is advertised as "upto 8meg" not "8meg".
2. The details on the BT (and most other ISP websites) state the actual speed you will receive is dependent on many factors (the distance from the exchange, and the state of your internal phone wiring being the main ones).
3. The speed will go up and down a bit, due to ISP congestion, exchange congestion, and the quality of your line.

Basically, if you're getting 5.5Mbps, that implies an "IP profile" of 6000kbps or greater.
The IP profile is set by BT according to how fast your router (or modem) is connected to the exchange.

A few of things you can do:
1. Tell us if you're using a USB modem, or a Ethernet/Wireless router.
2. Post your line stats (line attenuation, noise margin, connection speed) - Check out http://www.dslzoneuk.net/adsl_line_stats.php to find out how to access these.
3, Tell us how your modem (or router) is physically connected to the phone line (is it into a master socket, or an extension; do you have any extensions; does every one with anything plugged in have a microfilter?).

As adebov says, we need your line stats to comment further Actual download of 5.5Mb is quite good, but from your line stats we can see whether you could do better.

You say upgraded to 8MB - when? If today, then your connection will be in a 10-day training period while it decides on the Maximum Stable Rate and the Fault Tolerance Threshold. You might find it stabilises a bit lower than you are getting right now.

This page explains how it all works in simple terms .