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Pipex Max

A couple of weeks ago, my 12 month contract with Pipex was coming up for renewal. I decided to call Pipex to see what they could offer, to keep me as a customer, given that £23.99 for a 1Mbps is no longer a competitive deal. They offered me two options, one was to stay on the 1Mbps service and they would reduce the charge to £14.99 per month, the other option was to be upgraded to Pipex Max. The guy checked my line, and stated that preliminary test showed that I could receive up to the max 8Mbps line speed, so, of course, I opted for the upgrade.

After about a week, I switched on the PC, and up popped the connection balloon, showing a connection speed of 5.8Mbps. I wasn't really expecting to be lucky enough to receive the full 8Mbps, due to my distance from the BT exchange, so I was quite pleased to be getting nearly 6Mbps. However, as the guy had warned me, I then experienced a morning of constant dropped connections (while BT "sorted things out" on the line). I launched a torrent download, so as to keep the connection active, and to automatically redial when dropped, and after a couple of hours, the connection seemed to stabilise at around 4.1Mbps. OK, not quite what I had hoped for, but if that's it, then I suppose it's acceptable.

Over the next few days, my connection speed has gradually reduced, according to the Windows connection pop up balloon, and is now showing anything from 3.1 to 3.7Mbps. I have also tried the speeds tests on http://www.adslguide.org.uk/tools/speedtest.asp and http://www.speedguide.net/ which produce results of between 1.9 and 2.2Mbps. My surfing experience does not seem to be that much faster, and downloads only seem marginally quicker. How accurate are these speed tests, and why is there such a difference between the speed reported by the online tests, and with what Windows reports the speed to be connected at?

Does anyone else have Pipex Max, and what sort of speeds are you getting? Should I be thinking of contacting them? We all know what a drama this can be. The fact that Pipex Max (and other ISP 'Max' packages) claims to deliver up to 8Mbps, is quite ambiguous, as it really leaves the customer with no leg to stand on, if they are not receiving the full speed. My problem is that if I am realistically only receiving around 2.2Mbps, I could get a much cheaper deal at this level of service. Do I have any comeback on Pipex, who will stringently adhere to their 12 month minimum term, if I am not getting the line speed they claimed I could receive?

Any thoughts appreciated.

01-cheers-sig.gif
 
With ADSL max there is a noticeable amounts of overheads, meaning that your throughput will not match your sync rate. ADSL max is dependent on your router/modem being any good, maybe try using the latest drivers. In some cases people gain 1mb.

Internal wiring plays a major factor, and also make sure you are using the master BT socket.

ADSL MAX is a pain in the back side, and BT and ISP's are struggling. I'm impressed that the agent you spoke to warned you about disconnections, very good indeed.
 
I'm still using the original Fujitsu FDX310 ADSL modem which Pipex supplied 4 years ago, when I first joined them. I wonder if this is the problem? The annoying thing is, if I was a new customer, they would have given me a free new modem. :rolleyes: I might knock out a quick email to them and see what they come back with, but I suspect they will just say it's limitations with the BT line, unless they want to give me a new modem out of good will.
 
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A router usually has a built in hardware firewall and uses far less cpu time to operate than a usb adsl modem, making everything that bit faster.
 
I hear what you're saying, but they are also about twice the price of a USB ADSL modem. Furthermore, I have just purchased new security software, licenced for a year. Can you run a software firewall as well as a hardware one? I have heard this can cause problems in some cases. I have to be a bit careful what I am spending at this moment in time, as I have just had to buy a new bed, and I also have to sort out some proper shelving for my DVDs! What I'm saying is, I don't want to buy a router, then find it won't work with the security software I have just bought.
 
The other problem with going with usb is during the first 10 days you should not turn the cpe (customer equipment) off, using a usb modem means that when you turn off the computer you also shuts down the device.

Too many disconnections will mean that dlm process will see an issue and will set your msr and ftr lower than it should be, which is not good as you will not get the best possible speeds.

So go with a router, usb is not recommened even by BT.
 
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