http://www.speedtest.net/android/399396866.png

I couldn't actually believe this result when I saw it. I did this before 8am yesterday.

I got better performance on ISDN in 2004 or even my last dial-up modem!

Sad reality is that as we all increasingly use and rely upon bits and bytes in our daily lives the shiny new DSL infrastructure of 2004/2005, which promised us blazing speeds of 8MBps downstream, are just a distant memory.

The infrastructure, outside of big cities, is patently incapable of supporting current demand. We used to get pretty decent performance on our 8 MB DSL line back in 2005, but now that everyone and their dog is sharing the pipe, the pipe's not up to to the task. Given so many of us also spend some, or all of our time working from home, it's a perfect storm. This last week the cracks have really begun to show...

If I thought I could be confident that moving to a different ISP would make a whit of difference I'd move in a heartbeat but a next door neighbour is on a different mainstream ISP and is in just as bad a situation!

Is this the lot of someone living 15 minutes drive from Scotland's capital?

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/ESPCD





Ralph

Change provider to one where broadband is a key product rather than just another commodity

UW is cheap because does mot buy much capacity

OK

Given I'm on a rural exchange that's not even slated for an upgrade at the moment you'll understand, I hope, my scepticism that things can be improved by changing provider on what will still be a BT wholesale non-unbundled exchange... but what have I got to lose?

With a budget of about £20 p.m, (maybe a little more) who would you recommend?

Cheers

Ralph

If unlimited is important, then BT or Plusnet

While the connection speed is limited to probably just ADSL at the exchange, the throughput can vary between providers. One clue is to ask around and see what others have, or just use maps.thinkbroadband.com and enable the speed test layer - tests are no more than a few months old.

A Quick and simple way to TEST if your traffic is being shaped

If it seems like your connection is being throttled by your ISP you can easily take a test across multiple protocols (HTTP / BitTorrent/ P2P) on this website.
The test system can be found on the Max Planck Institute - For Systems Software Its called Glasnost
http://broadband.mpi-sws.org/transparency/bttest.php.

This will try to determine if you are being effected by such techniques.

I Hope this goes some way to putting your mind at ease/or not ?

Give it a try to see for yourself.

Thanks

I Changed the router to the first phone port and used a new filter. It does appear to have improved the headline numbers but the date download is still very slow in practice on real world sites...

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/button/13637...

Ralph

The SO is on a rural exchange http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/NDGOU and she's about 2km from the exchange as the crow flies. Connection speed is a little under 6Mb and with a 5Mb IP profile she's getting download speeds of just under 5Mb regardless of the time of day. She's with Plusnet and paying £17/month I think.