What to do...?

Currently I am with Pipex on 7.5mb and living rurally in Scotland. Recently I had a dispute with Pipex and they offered me a MAC code and to leave their service freely. After taking them up on their offer I called various providers (BT, Zen, Madasafish, Tiscali, UKOnline to name but a few) and they all said that my line at home could only handle 256kb connection, which I found quite strange as I currently have 7.5mb and before Pipex I received 5mb from BT.
Now I do not pretend to know everything nor am I that dumb (mind you girlfriend would argue that one). I understand that different companies have their own setup and technology but I also know that living 35 yards from exchange, all new wiring inside the house and a current speed of 7.5mb means that somewhere something is wrong. I've even called BT Wholesale and they say same thing as the rest - 256kb MAX connection. How can this be??
I have had nothing but trouble since I started my telecom service and even in the first few days of Pipex service I had my line reporting one thing and doing the opposite.
Personally, I thought that by phoning and using a MAC code it'd be similar to when you transfer from one bank to another, a little bit of computer programming and voila! new account same speeds, different company.
When I phoned Tiscali they said that they wouldn't even attempt to give me internet service, fair enough that's their policy but I would like to know how come at the moment I am near the top end of connections speeds for a rural area yet as soon as I try and move elsewhere they all claim it'd be 256kb max.
To say it's frustrating is an understatement.
I would like to move to someone like UKFSN or similar as I am a heavy downloader ;-)
Thanx in advance

Edited by zed2010 (Thu 19-Apr-07 08:40:57)

Do you currently have an ADSL service active on your line? If so pull off the stats from your router connected to this line and that will be able to tell you what speeds you are capable of.

In the past ISP's have been known to be wrong as they all base their estimation on the same database.

If you previously received 7.5M from Pipex there is no reason why your line should not be capable of that now.

What's the problem ? If you go for ADSL Max, your line will perform to the top limits of its capacity, despite what the predictions say.

Thanx for your replies guys.
My main concern was if I went to another ISP and my connection speed drops too much. I mean I have lived with 5mb for over a year and that wouldn't be bad but anything less would be too slow and I feel like I am stuck between a rock and a hard place, so to speak.
Do I........
A) Stay on 15gb Pipex MIDI package (can't get unlimited) or
B) Move to another isp and possibly lose my current 7.5mb connection for something too slow or
C) Dump broadband and get Sky+ instead?

Your physical telephone line will not change with a change of ISP, so your Attenuation, SNR margin and therefore sync speeds possible should not change. You may notice changes in the way they shape traffic but this will not affect your line stats.

& Sky+ still uses the same telephone line as the rest of them, even if they use their own (Easynet) equipment in the exchange.

Thanx again for the info, gives me more ammo to use just as soon as I google those things you mentioned ;-)

Thank you.