How can 8MB BB be so slow?

thenashlegend

Hi,

A couple of months ago I signed up to 8MB broadband after upgrading from 3MB. For a while I noticed a slight improvement but I don't know if it was ever as good as it should have been. After opening a thread in the broadband forum I was sent here to see if the issue could be resolved. 

On occasion I get download speeds of around 500KB but it's rare. I was given a link to download a Linux distro earlier on and could only get 135KB on wireless, when I used a cable it dropped to 75KB. It has been so slow this evening that the speedtest site will only load in stages!

I've connected the laptop to the router at the main socket and the secondary socket and both give the same results.

I've got a Netgear Gigabit switch connecting a few bits around the house but even with it removed I can never see any difference in speeds.

Any help would be appreciated..

gerryk

You need to determine which is the weak link in the chain.

The WAN configuration page on your router should tell you what speed you are connected at. It should also tell you what your signal/noise ratio is... that is the primary decider what your speed over the wire to the exchange will be.

Next, you need to determine if there is any local congestion... disconnect ALL devices from your local network. Plug one, known good PC into a switchport in your router and run a speedtest. The results of this, and the connection speed on your WAN page should be reasonably close to each other... +/- 20% anyhow. If they are not, I would look at your PC first. Make sure there are no processes cosuming bandwidth.

The likelihood is you will find an issue here... if not, then post your results.

gerryk

Also, when you state you get download speeds of 500KB, is that KiloBytes or Kilobits? 500KiloBytes/s is ~ 4Mbits/s which is pretty damn good to sustain over an 8Mb connection.

thenashlegend

Thanks for the info there, I haven't put anything back up here because I was talking to someone in eircom bb support and they're sending me a new modem as the current one is there since '05 or there about, when we first got broadband.

Apparently that should solve my issues as it sends a stronger wireless signal. Will have to wait until Tuesday to find out what the results are!

eircom: Alan

thenashlegend wrote: »

Hi,

A couple of months ago I signed up to 8MB broadband after upgrading from 3MB. For a while I noticed a slight improvement but I don't know if it was ever as good as it should have been. After opening a thread in the broadband forum I was sent here to see if the issue could be resolved. 

On occasion I get download speeds of around 500KB but it's rare. I was given a link to download a Linux distro earlier on and could only get 135KB on wireless, when I used a cable it dropped to 75KB. It has been so slow this evening that the speedtest site will only load in stages!

I've connected the laptop to the router at the main socket and the secondary socket and both give the same results.

I've got a Netgear Gigabit switch connecting a few bits around the house but even with it removed I can never see any difference in speeds.

Any help would be appreciated..

Hi thenashlegend

I see you have contacted broadband support about this. Hope the new modem improves things for you.

Thanks

Al

thenashlegend

eircom: Alan wrote: »

Hi thenashlegend

I see you have contacted broadband support about this. Hope the new modem improves things for you.

Thanks

Al

New modem arrived today, complete with broken antenna. Modem number 2 en route at the minute.