I thank you for the time you are spending helping me.

I put my number in that link and it said BT Infinity isn't currently available but

You can choose BT Broadband now offering: 17Mb *
Estimate download speed 10Mb-19.5Mb

Back to that again. Then it says

Can I get fibre optic BT Infinity in the future?
Getting BT Infinity at your property depends on a number of factors including whether or not your telephone exchange currently supports BT Infinity and whether your street cabinet and line have been enabled.To find out more you can look up your telephone exchange on the Openreach website. Your property is connected to EXETER telephone exchange.

So I looked up my postcode on the openreach checker and it says it is 'accepting orders' however it also says
because some postcodes are served by more than one exchange, the postcode checker can't identify the specific exchange serving your property

So I think its safe to say its more than likely that my cabinet isn't fibre'd up though I wish there was a sodding easier way of finding out

Yep if the BT checker says fibre is not available, then fibre is not available usually.

I find it interesting that all of the post code checkers think you should be getting 10Mbps+
Either your lines got an issue which is causing slower speeds or it's just pretty damn poor (more likely). Are you using the master socket etc? The estimates are based on your post code so that'll be an estimate on a new line etc. Perhaps you're on a bad e side / d side.

I think I remember plugging into the master socket a while back right inside the door where the line comes in and nothing of any difference was spotted. Maybe its just a poor line in general.

I think I'll go Virgin Cable!

thanks for your efforts to help me out

If Virgin is available 10000000000000% go for it

In reply to a post by sorethumbs:

I put my number in that link and it said BT Infinity isn't currently available but
You can choose BT Broadband now offering: 17Mb *

That's an impossible estimate with the router stats you gave earlier. Same with the BT Availability Number Checker you did earlier. The BT Checker is not usually that far off.

Are you sure when you did the router stats from the master socket, that you used the hidden test socket behind the removable faceplate?

Switching to the test socket should not massively affect attenuation, and to get 17 Meg it would have to be a fairly large change

No, it shouldn't but it might. A faulty faceplate for example. No harm in eliminating the possibility.

'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' (S. Holmes)

Something must be accountable for the surprisingly high BT estimate. It not as tho' line has no BB history, altho' you could argue it has no BTw BB history being on O2 LLU. Even when I was on Orange LLU, BT estimated my line accurately at 15-17 Meg.

Edited by XRaySpeX (Wed 14-Aug-13 00:16:07)

I will try the main socket this evening.

I rang O2 out of interest today and was told I've not actually been switched over to Sky yet as part of the buyout. They tested my line and also said 4mb is pretty much all I can get although I guess they are contacting my router so if there is any fault inside my house slowing things up they wouldn't be able to tell me.

In reply to a post by sorethumbs:

I will try the main socket this evening.

Make sure it's the hidden test socket behind the removable faceplate.

ok I have removed the plate from the socket inside our front door it looks the same as the pic here http://www.hmmm.ip3.co.uk/bt-master-socket-nte5.shtml

Previous test (where router usually is)

Link Information
Uptime: 4 days, 10:47:15
DSL Type: G.992.5 annex A
Maximum Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 884 / 6,173
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 858 / 4,968
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/kB]: 0.00 / 0.00
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.5 / 19.0
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 34.0 / 54.5
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 6.5 / 6.0
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / BDCM
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 16 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 890 / 12,159,647
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 890 / 3,446
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 867 / 2,484

Tonights test in the master socket

Link Information
Uptime: 0 days, 0:13:40
DSL Type: G.992.5 annex A
Maximum Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 863 / 6,796
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 858 / 5,230
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/kB]: 0.00 / 0.00
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.5 / 18.5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 33.5 / 55.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 7.0 / 6.5
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / BDCM
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 277
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 0
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 939 / 0

I can't see much difference