Advertised & Actual Broadband Speeds.

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I am with tiscali, my broadband is 2.2Mbps, when doing a speed test i never get higher than 900kbps and usually not higher than 350kbps in the evenings due to their fair usage policy (which has been like this now for a few months) which they slapped me with, but taking the 900kbps, that is only 40.9% of what is advertised.

Is this due to tiscali?
Phone lines?
Fair usage policy?
A fixed loss with any broadband?
Is there something on my computer, firewall/router, that is limiting it?

If i go onto Sky's 16Mbps broadband, am i still going to get stuck at 900kpbs due to the type of phone line i have?
 
Soldato
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It's almost certainly Tiscali. They're reknowned for being awful, so it's the first place I'd point the finger.

If you're still on BT's network then it could be congestion at the exchange. You could also run a speedtest by connecting to BT's speedtester (see the FAQ - think the site is http://speedtester.bt.com/ , and you have to change the user/pass on your modem/router). Chances are you're on Tiscali's LLU, in which case you can't do any of this.

The line is physically connected at 2Mb, so it's perfectly possible to get that much.
 
Soldato
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Download speeds are often greatly limited by the place you are downloading from.

So even on a 16Mb connection you will possibly not see any increase in download speed from the sites you use.
 
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div0 said:
Download speeds are often greatly limited by the place you are downloading from.

So even on a 16Mb connection you will possibly not see any increase in download speed from the sites you use.

I am limited to about 110kb/s which is about 900kpbs, if i have some torrents on, the overall download speed will always topout at 110kb/s whether i have one or ten torrents downloading.
 
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div0 said:
I'm not saying that it is the cause of your problem - I'm just saying that it is something to be aware of :)

My download speeds are appropriate for the results of the speed test, my problem is why those results are so low, i doubt the speed test is limited by my computers router/firewall, so it must be either the line or tiscali, might make a phone call, see what they say.
 
Soldato
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Firstly they state 'up to' 8mbit so you have no reason to expect you'll get 8mbit but anything between sweet fa and 8mbit, this can be due to the distance/line stats/training period/enviromental conditions.

Seccondly you will find no matter how many torrents you have on the go you will never obtain more than Tiscali are willing to limit you to.

Thirdly Tiscali .... WHY ?
 
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El_Watcher said:
Tiscali + Torrents = You're having a laugh.

Don't know how long you have been with them, but see if you can migrate to someone else asap, doesn't really matter who else.

Care to elaborate?
 

4T5

4T5

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I tested my NTL 10mb last night & got nearly 11mb :D I haven't bothered testing it for a while as it is so rock solid stable and fast as ****. I am reminded of a Homer quote that goes " How can so much pleasure come from one little cable "
I am getting pings of 20 on BF2 and last night it was 11, since day one NTL has been as above.
Just about everyone i know has slow downs drop outs with Tiscali. In my area what NTL advertise you get and in my case usually more.
 
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Avalon said:
Firstly they state 'up to' 8mbit so you have no reason to expect you'll get 8mbit but anything between sweet fa and 8mbit, this can be due to the distance/line stats/training period/enviromental conditions.

The OP is cleary on a 2mbit product so this doesn't really apply. Training periods and BRAS profiles don't come into play (at least not in the same way as with Max DSL).

Go to www.samknows.com and fill in the 'phone search' option. Then click on the exchange link and look at the VP status..if red, it's probably the problem. You can also run the BT speedtest if you're not on Tiscali LLU and see if it's a problem with Tiscali or with the exchange.

To be honest, as others have said, migrate away from Tiscali asap as they suck. If possible, go for an LLU ISP like Be (about the only good LLU ISP atm) or someone like Zen as you'll have a MUCH better connection and customer support.
 
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Aekeron said:
The OP is cleary on a 2mbit product so this doesn't really apply. Training periods and BRAS profiles don't come into play (at least not in the same way as with Max DSL).

Go to www.samknows.com and fill in the 'phone search' option. Then click on the exchange link and look at the VP status..if red, it's probably the problem. You can also run the BT speedtest if you're not on Tiscali LLU and see if it's a problem with Tiscali or with the exchange.

To be honest, as others have said, migrate away from Tiscali asap as they suck. If possible, go for an LLU ISP like Be (about the only good LLU ISP atm) or someone like Zen as you'll have a MUCH better connection and customer support.

LLU?
 
Soldato
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Aekeron said:
The OP is cleary on a 2mbit product so this doesn't really apply. Training periods and BRAS profiles don't come into play (at least not in the same way as with Max DSL).

Replace 8 with 2 or any other given speed, i'll edit it to x if it'll make you happy though I prefer n for some reason ? ;)
 
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