ISP recommendations and recent bargains

[charlesr]

Is it a cross over cable? You need one. Different from normal ethernet.

Don't you have a router? If not, get one.

[eastyy]

have a router and its a ethernet cable i had used before and it worked fine....will have to shell out for a wireless adapter i think

[charlesr]

Ah right. You said "to PC". Ignore the cross over idea then.

Is it a new router with the new broadband? Try putting the 360 into the DMZ.
Oh, hang on. Is the router not even giving it an IP?

[eastyy]

solved it "slaps head" was just forgot to share internet connection anyways now will finally be able to play online games for the first time ever

[Malc]

Can anyone give me some advice on what to do about our family internet connection?

We've recently realised just how slow our internet connection is and we need a faster service.

Here is our speed test results through a wired PC connection:



The thing is, we only ever achieve a maximum of around 240kbps, and that's in optimum conditions during the morning, afternoon and very late at night.

During what i presume is peak times around 6pm to 10pm it drops to an abysmal 100kbps.

How come a load of speed checkers that i use always say we have a better download speed than what we actualy get? It's more like the upload speed is what we end up getting for downloading?

[eastyy]

are there many computers on the internet connection ?

[Malc]

We currently have a desktop PC, 2 laptops, 2 ipod's and 2 xbox 360's.

We normally don't have them running all at once, and when we do we obviously expect it to be less kbps if 2 360's are playing COD at the same time.

We have had a lot more devices than that in the past though, but we don't own them anymore like old laptops/old PS3's etc that weve since sold.

[Malc]

Just had a quick google around, and found out Mb is different from MB (Megabits and MegaBytes respectively).

We are probably on some stupidly low 2Mb/s limit, so 2/8=0.25 MB/s (or 250kbps) which is what I always get in optimum conditions.

I think a change of ISP is in order, anyone got any good suggestions, BT, Virgin or Sky any good?

[charlesr]

Yes, you are getting a good speed if you are on a 2Mb connection.

Go here:

https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/main.html

This will tell you how fast you can go.
Post the results here.
Then you can start choosing.

[Malc]

Results:

Your exchange is ADSL enabled, and our initial test on your line indicates that your line should be able to have an ADSL broadband service that provides a fixed line speed up to 2Mbps.

Our test also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL Max broadband line speed of 8Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 7Mbps and 8Mbps.

So I'm looking for no more than a 10Mb package?

Other important info is that I live out in the sticks, which doesn't help anything...

[charlesr]

Your exchange (like mine) is not enabled for anything above ADSLMAX which is 8Mb top.

If you can afford it, this is the best you'll get:

https://vivaciti.net/product/2/office-internet/19/business-100

25+vat pcm
This will get you ~75KB/s upspeed, ~750KB/s down ("Max 100GB FUP - offering a 100GB FUP" and then "ADSL Max Office" during the signup process).
Also find out how far you are from the exchange. If you don't know then order by phone instead of online and ask them what they recommend for the "interleaving" option - they will advise you on the best option for that. If you are close to the exchange you want it off for lower pings.

Why would you pay this much?
It's a monthly contract so if you aren't happy you can cancel easily (finding other people with monthly contracts is virtually impossible).
You will be happy.
Your line speed will never drop at different times of day (based on my experience).
You get double the normal upspeed that you get on "home" packages.
Combined with the constant line speed you will be able to stream HD films real time on the 360 etc. and the stable lowish pings will give you a chance in online gaming.
Their customer service knows what you are talking about.
I only had to call them once near the start.

[Malc]

Isn't that specifically for businesses? This is a home/personal network.

[charlesr]

No, it's available to anyone, but it's marketed as "business/office" because normally it's only businesses that are interested in higher upload speeds and low pings (for voip). As part of the package though, you get your traffic prioritised over the "home" users. Win.

[koopatroopa90]

Virgin bloke has just left. After a year of mobile broadband, the words "f@*#" and "yes" come to mind

[charlesr]

Nice!