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Download Speed Query

I've been looking for a new cheaper ISP than my current provider.:)

When I go onto the ISP sites and enter my number to check availability and speed I get the following results;

Estimated Download Speed - 2.5 Mbps

When I use Speedtest.net my current download speed result for my current ISP is around 6.35 Mbps. I am on an upto 8Mbps package.

Why is there such a difference in these speeds?

When chosing a new ISP how can I know what speed I am likely to get?

Thanks
 
Two speeds involved - the IP profile for the line, and the actual throughput achieved. The first one is normally the barrier in most cases.

If you're on ADSL MAX "up to 8Mbps" and your exchange doesn't have ADSL2 or ADSL2+ services, then the IP profile with any other ISP *should* be the same if it's a BT Wholesale connection also on ADSL MAX.

If LLU services are available, then an upgrade to ADSL2+ might see you go from perhaps 6meg up to 9meg. With detailed statistics from your router it's possible to estimate the likely speed change you might see.

The throughput then depends on the ISP e.g. what percentage of the speed that can be delivered, is delivered which relies on how much bandwidth they have to offer. So if your IP profile were say 6500 as it is now, your current ISP is delivering well against that.

The 2.5Mbps result is a bit of a mystery - as above, the sync rate should remain the same if you change from one ADSL MAX BT Wholesale supplier to another.
 
Thank you DTMark for your reply.

Router Stats (DG834PN):

Downstream
Connection Speed: 7789 kbps
Line Attenuation 45.5 db
Noise Margin 8.4 db

Upstream
Connection Speed: 448 kbps
Line Attenuation: 23.4 db
Noise Margin: 14.1 db


Exchange Details:

BT Wholesale information

ADSL status: Enabled as of 31/03/2000
ADSL Max status: Enabled as of 31/03/2006
SDSL status: Enabled as of 14/02/2005
21CN WBC status: Enabled as of 31/05/2009
FTTC status: Available in some areas

The following services are available in your location:

BT Wholesale ADSL
BT Wholesale ADSL Max
BT Wholesale WBC (21CN)
BT Wholesale SDSL
BT FTTC
AOL LLU
O2 / Be LLU
Bulldog LLU
TalkTalk (CPW) LLU
Sky Broadband / Easynet LLU
Pipex LLU
Tiscali LLU
Orange LLU (Formerly Wanadoo)

I am about 2 miles by road from my exchange, if this helps.
 
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6.3Mbps looks about right for those stats, it might even be able to go a bit faster. Not sure why the checkers suggest something so much lower for your line.
 
6.3Mbps looks about right for those stats, it might even be able to go a bit faster. Not sure why the checkers suggest something so much lower for your line.

That's why I'm confused.

I've checked again this morning and it's still estimated 2.5Mbps. It's an ISP that is highly recommended but pricey. Say I chose this ISP, how do I know what speed I might actually get?

I did a check on a well known LLU operator and the result was: It's probably going to be this fast: 7meg*

So this looks good!

Also went on the BT Performance Tester site. These are the results:

Download speedachieved during the test was - 6894 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speedsis 2000-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :7788 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 6500 Kbps
The throughput of Best Efforts (BE) classes achieved during the test is - 17.31:22.63:60.06 (SBE:NBE:PBE)
These figures represent the ratio while sententiously passing Sub BE, Normal BE and Priority BE marked traffic.

The results of this test will vary depending on the way your ISP has decided to use these traffic classes.
 
Hi Mike,

Sometimes, rarely, the BT Wholesale availability checker is incorrect, and does not update 'live' as it is supposed to. This means there is a configuration error on the BT Wholesale systems that has not updated to reflect the speed your line is either

a. Currently running at

or

b. Is able to achieve.

In fact we currently have a fault open with them for one of our customers for that exact reason, where the checker shows the speed available is less than 150k even though another line in the same premises can achieve over 15 M bps!

You can talk to your current ISP and request they contact BT Wholesale and ask them to update the availability checker, which should correctly show the speed your line can achieve.

One reason for this happening is it has not updated the availability checker since the number has been given to some one else, meaning the availability checker is still giving the results for the number at the OLD premises, for the person/company using that number prior to you receiving it.

However, your ISP should be able to speak to BT Wholesale to ask them to update their records and/or the availability checker.

Hope this helps.
 
Hi Mike,

Sometimes, rarely, the BT Wholesale availability checker is incorrect, and does not update 'live' as it is supposed to. This means there is a configuration error on the BT Wholesale systems that has not updated to reflect the speed your line is either

a. Currently running at

or

b. Is able to achieve.

In fact we currently have a fault open with them for one of our customers for that exact reason, where the checker shows the speed available is less than 150k even though another line in the same premises can achieve over 15 M bps!

You can talk to your current ISP and request they contact BT Wholesale and ask them to update the availability checker, which should correctly show the speed your line can achieve.

One reason for this happening is it has not updated the availability checker since the number has been given to some one else, meaning the availability checker is still giving the results for the number at the OLD premises, for the person/company using that number prior to you receiving it.

However, your ISP should be able to speak to BT Wholesale to ask them to update their records and/or the availability checker.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info, explains why I'm getting confusing results!

Is there any way of getting the availability checker updated without contacting my current ISP? If I ask them they will know I'm looking to change ISP and I don't want them to know yet. I'm sure they will try and convince me to stay!
 
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It's sort of irrelevant really.

The speed an ISP gives you is an estimate only. The ISP is under no obligation, as I understand it, to fulfil the estimate anyway, so delivering 2Mbps against an estimate of 7Mbps won't do the ISP any favours with the customer, but the customer doesn't have right of rejection anyway on that basis (unless the ISP gives you that right in addition to your statutory rights, e.g. VM's 30 day guarantee). 2Mbps is "up to 8Mbps".

So that being the case, what the checker says is not really relevant to the speed you get. It's supposed to reflect the speed you can have (are you really 2 miles by road from the exchange on a near full 8Mbps sync??!! As I'd have thought the realms of 2Mbps much more normal than 7Mbps at that distance and would have thought the checker realistic - except you know it isn't)

So given you know it can sync faster than the availability checker says it can, you can ignore the availability checker anyway.

Second opinions anyone - is the above right?
 
Ok, I will ignore the availability checker and go with the figure from the BT Performance Tester site which are what my Router stats are also showing.

Yes, I am about 2 miles by road to the exchange. (I've double checked this using google maps as well.)
 
DTMark, that's not always true. If the ISP is a member of Ofcom's v2 speed code of practice then the estimate they give is crucial to whether or not you might be allowed an early exit from your contract (i.e. when the performance is radically below what has been initially estimated). So if the ISP checker is showing way below what you can already achieve then that could be a problem if your line suffers issues later on as you'd already be close to the minimum and potentially unable to escape.

I've also just thought of another situation where BT's database might be out of sync. For example, if you had a slower service before on a BT Wholesale line and then moved to a faster fully unbundled (LLU) platform later. BT doesn't always take full account of this and will only display the results from its own BT Wholesale lines and not the latest LLU information.
 
I knew about the LLU lines not factoring into the BT Profile information (or thought I did, nice to confirm!)

I never knew about the ability to escape a contract if the estimate isn't fulfilled, for example. That's really useful to know.

So if I sign up for ADSL with say Virgin Media (it's cheap) who give an estimate of 3.5Mbps (they seem to take the ADSL MAX prediction and then optimistically just add 1 meg to it) and I get the same pair as last time which only does less than half that, can I escape that free of charge - would give me the chance to see if I get a more useful pair than the last time at no cost to me :)
 
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You are giving only estimated results.It may be not correct.Last monday when i checked my provider's speed then it was 0.8 mbps and on tuesday it was 1.8 mbps.I have 2Mbps DSL flatrate scheme.I am satisfied with my provider.
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