no need to be rude!!

what others are TRYING to tell you is that if you did infact get over 13Meg + then you were DEFINITELY on a partial LLU provider, when you say "about a year ago something changed" well that change was probably adsl24 moving you to a TalkTalk wholesale product which was PARTIAL LLU NOT FULL LLU

on this service here you are only ever going to get 8meg with 6.5meg real world usage any time of the day (unless exchange is congested) where im afraid IP STREAM products really do fail, you would be better looking around for some other provider and lots can do Partial LLU which will more than double your speeds.

again no need to be rude just because you have found out you have made the wrong choice, you asked for help and info and that's what you received

good luck

At last a constructive comment, thank you jchamier.
I didn't include the table as there was very little in it but I've added it below. There is no mention of cabinets etc. Looks nothing like the link you sent me.

Caley.

Featured Products Downstream Line Rate(Mbps) Upstream Line Rate(Mbps)


Downstream Range(Mbps) Availability Date
ADSL Max Up to 8 -- 7 to 8 Available
Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available

For all ADSL and WBC Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) services, the stable line rate will be determined during the first 10 days of service usage.

Throughput/download speeds will be less than line rates and can be affected by a number of factors within and external to BT's network, Communication Providers' networks and within customer premises.

The Stop Sale date for Datastream is from 30-Jun-2012; the Formal Retirement date for Datastream is from 31-Mar-2014.

I am not being rude I just don't like being told something that I know is wrong and you are wrong. If you read the posts from the start you will see I am quite happy with 8mg connection. And no I've not made the wrong choice I knew my speeds would decrease but not by the amount they did. Up to 8mg is fine. I'd rather you didn't comment on this thread if you can't be more civil. In fact I'll end it here.

Oh dear, without a cabinet, you'll be unable to get fibre-to-the-cabinet. Going back to LLU would be your only way to get better speeds.

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

Oh dear, without a cabinet, you'll be unable to get fibre-to-the-cabinet.

Highlands Enterprise are investing in the area (probably working with BDUK) and so there is now an RFS date for FTTC in that exchange area of 1st March 2014.

The OP needs to put his postcode into the broadband Scotland website:
http://www.digitalscotland.org/superfast-broadband/

I was only looking earlier for my colleague who works in Forres.

Would it be possible for you to post a screen grab of the results from that checker, removing or masking your telephone number please, as we need to see the information that you see (excuding your phone number)

The plus side is that the product that you are subscribed to with zen will be a 1 mth rolling contract, so you ain't tied in for 12 or more months, but as said unless youre exchange is equiped with wbc adsl2+ (21cn) kit which is unlikely, then the max sync possible would be 8128kbps that is the technical limitation of adsl g.dmt upto 8mb ip stream 20cn products

So if no fiber FTTC in the forseeable, if you want faster speeds you will have to choose an isp that has their LLU equipment in your exchange, samknows lists only 2 C &W and Talk talk, talk talk sell retail and wholesale products, if you where to go direct with tt,(Retail) then they would want to take over the telephone (voice ) as well ,
But as already said if you where to choose one of the smaller isp's like comm's or xilo ,aquiss ,vivaciti ,aaisp to name only some, all i think now offer tt wholesale llu products some offer c &w as well, tt wholesale offer a more flexible service if compared to c &w, as tt allow profile changes which could boost your speed and lower latency, if you line is able to support the tweaks , and the only way to find that out is by trying different profiles
The advice has been given up to you what you do

In reply to a post by caley:

I know where my phone line and BB are situated and it's not LLU.

Yes, you may know now (it's BTw for both) but you haven't the faintest idea previously.

It's an incontestable fact that the is only 2 ways to get speeds well above 8 Meg over a fully copper phone line (thereby I'm excluding fibre which you can't get there). They are either LLU (Partial in your case, as you don't need to have phone taken over) or BTw 21CN WBC which is not available at your exchange. So unless you moved exchange overnight you were on Partial LLU ADSL2+ early this A.M. after which you downgraded to BTw 20CN IPStream ADSL Max.

It is very common for ISPs not to tell their users by what means they are providing the contracted service; sufficient to say just what service speeds they will provide.

You asked for help here, particularly why your speed has gone so much. Numerous posters have told you this identical reason but, in your greater knowledge of the technology, you choose to disbelieve them. Why, then, bother to ask us if you know better?

In reply to a post by caley:

you will see I am quite happy with 8mg connection.

One of the disadvantages of a 20CN ADSL Max exchange is that it can get heavily congested at peak times. So altho' you may be syncing at 8 Meg all the time, you may see much slower actual throughput much of the day. This, I think, is what you are experiencing and it may well continue. You'll just have to wait and see whether you eventually attain your expected 6.6 Meg throughput for a sufficient period to satisfy you.

Otherwise your only way to faster reliable speeds is to move back to a reseller selling ADSL2+ Partial LLU, as everyone else here has suggested.

Where's the line above this, with your phone # blanked?

In reply to a post by caley:

Featured Products Downstream Line Rate(Mbps) Upstream Line Rate(Mbps)

I've already told you it is very important. Yet you keep copying that 'For all ADSL and WBC Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) services' bumph that we can all see on our own reports.

In reply to a post by caley:

Well I can post the speed test logs for you if you like. Something happened about a year ago and my speed increased to around the 13400kbps. I was amazed but didn't complain. The speed fluctuated but very very rarely went under 9000kbps. Got the logs to prove it. ADSL24 couldn't do LLU here because I did ask at the time they started providing it.

Sounds like the time when ADSL24 migrated their customers over to LLU where it was possible and either increased usage/decrease price. If you didn't notice the email, it may have just gone over and you didn't have to do anything but did see the speed increase.

Matt