1 mega adsl subscription - can I call this a grievance?

Question

According to speed tests, my 1 mega subscription is actually never faster than 880 kbs - is that normal?

Cheers!

Answer 1

Yes. I have "Up to 8 meg" from BT but get around 6. The speed rating you pay for is maximum potential speed, not average. The determining factor, I believe, is the quality of the phone line serving your house.

Answer 2

I suspect not. It's probable that your line only supports this speed, or that the bottleneck is elsewhere on the network.

For example I pay for "up to" 24 Mbps ADSL but my router only syncs at 18 due to my poor phone line and downloads are about 17 Mbps.

Answer 3

Yes, all adsl lines info will state upto a certain speed, this depends on a lot of things. How far away from your local exchange are you, how many extensions do you have in your house, what type of modem do you use, there are a lot of variables. I have adsl max 8meg, but since I live a number of miles from the exchange and I have a lot of extensions in the house, so I get around 4 meg. These speeds can never be guaranteed due to amount of variables, hope this helps.

Answer 4

the speed is advertised as UP TO... so you will never get the full advertised speed...

also, other factors determine the results of your speed test.. when doing a speed test, you should choose a server that is located close to you...

the amount of internet traffic to the server where you are doing your speed test will affect the speed at which you connect to that server..

the amount of internet traffic on the node that you are on for cable modems and fiber optic internet connections (like FiOS) will affect your internet speed. (not a factor with DSL)

the amount of internet activity on your local network will affect your network and internet speed...

the distance from the central office will affect your speed with DSL...

the quality of your phone lines inside your home, and the line outside your home to the central office will affect your speed with DSL..

I use speakeasy.net and choose the closest server to my location for my speed tests... I pay for 30/5 speeds... usually only get around 20/4.5 but on occasion have had speeds of 45/5.5 but that is on a cable modem... DSL will NEVER run faster then the advertised speed, and rarely reach the advertised speed, except in the most ideal situations..