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Slow internet speeds?
I know this probably in the correct section, but there are some smart people on this forum who have probably experienced the same problem as me. So for a few weeks now my download speed has been around 100 KB/s - 200KB/s. I finally managed to get through the 50 minute wait calling time. And they said my speed SHOULD be 7mb/s. They directed me to their speed test and i got a result of 1.42 MB/s.
I told the guy on the phone i get download speeds of 142 KB/s not 1.42 KB/s and he couldn't even give me an answer why i was getting that kind of speed either.
So does anyone have an idea what i could do to remedy this problem? Could it be a PC problem or router problem thats taking away my speed?
Its fine if this thread gets closed because it isnt related to hardware etc, but it would be extremely helpful.
ISP: Plusnet (UK)
Comments
These are the worst tech issues to have cause network problems can have so many points of origin.
More info is required either way, what router are you using, network adapter (if any), when was the last time you updated router firmware, did your ISP do a reset (not of the hardware but of your connection)?, any changes at all in your hardware set up? Do you have a password on your router?, if wireless have you checked/used inSSIDer to keep track of how many people are using each channel?
I dunno, list goes on but those are the easy ones to solve, once you start getting into more technical issues it opens up dozens more possiblities.
Are you sure that the test and your download speed indicator are using same units?
Download speeds are usually displayed in bytes per second, whereas net speed is normally displayed in bits per second. Since one byte equals 8 bits, if that 1.42 would be megabits per second it would mean download speed of about 178 kilobytes/second and be in range with what you're getting from elsewhere.
7 mb/sec = 7168 kb/sec = 896 KB/sec = 0.875 MB/sec.
If their test, and your use of multipliers are correct you are getting 1.42 MB/sec which equals 11.6 mb/sec. That is more than 7mb/sec.
mb = megabit
kb = kilobit
KB = kilobyte
MB = Megabyte
1 byte = 8 bits
At least with the original calculations where kilobyte = 1024 Bytes and megabyte = 1,048,576
You and the phone support are talking 2 different multipliers. In the end until you two start talking the same language you wont know what you are getting.
And upload/download speeds are advertised in bits per second not bytes per second as the above poster states. That lets them put bigger numeric values in their ad.
http://www.bit-calculator.com/
It's also helpful if you eliminate as many causes as you can - otherwise the ISP loves to just say "It's your router" or "It's your computer" or "You have a virus" or some such nonesense.
If you need a modem, make sure it's from a clean reset, and you plug a single computer in it directly into it with a wired ethernet cable that you know is good, also from a clean reboot - nothing else, no WiFi, no other computers, no other devices at all. If you don't need a modem, set your computer ethernet jack using the settings provided by the ISP and go straight into your ISP jack (still making sure to go from a clean reboot).
Run the speed test in that configuration. That eliminates as many possible causes of interference as you can possibly eliminate. Also, tech support may point you to a specific speed test to run - do run that one, but also make sure to run something third party (their test will only make sure you have a good connection to the ISP, a third party test will also test your ISP's connection to the internet). If you are getting good results on one but not the other your ISP definitely needs to know that.
To expand a bit on what Grunty posted, he's correct. Most speed tests will show MB/sec
For instance, my service is 3Mb/sec. It's capable of much faster, but it's throttled by the ISP to just the rate tier I pay for (or rather, work pays for, since it's provided by them).
If I run the test right now at speedtest.net, it comes out to 2.8Mbps - which is pretty close to what I'm paying for, 3Mb/sec (bits). Which in the real world, means I see download rates of around 375KBps (bytes), which is exactly what I see, and which is what most browsers and download tools report speeds in.
I don't work for Plusnet but I may or may not work for the company that bought them a while back...
First of all, if you're on wireless change to a cable.
Once you've done that you'll want to find whatever socket in your house is the 'master socket' (it should look something like this) and remove the front faceplate from it, there should be a port on the bottom right corner of it that you can plug your filter into. Get a new filter and plug it in and then connect whatever router/modem you have to that. Make sure there's nothing else plugged in and you're not using any extension cables.
You'll then wanna run another test and see if it's still slow. If it's not then the problem is either your wireless or maybe some other socket or extension. If it's still slow you'll want to phone the plusnet tech support then and run through the diagnostics again with them. If they are telling you that you should be getting 7Mbps the first question to ask is what package you are on and what you are getting just now. Your package will either be up to 8Mpbs or 20Mbps unless you are on a FTTC product but those are only the speeds you'll get if you have a good quality line. If you're not on an unlimited package make sure you haven't went over your usage as they might slow your connection down if you have.
Things that you'll want to know in order to ascertain if you're getting the right speed or not;
Line length (Just how long the physical line is)
Line Attenuation (The higher the number the worse the connection speed, need to be careful if it's single digit figures though as that can cause issues as well)
SNR (Signal to Noise)
Target SNR (Target SNR level for the line, this being set incorrectly is a common cause of line issues)
Retrains (This is usually measured in 24hr snapshots, generally there should be no retrains on your line unless you've been messing with the modem yourself)
Line Profile (if it's capped at a certain rate then you'll never get more than that until they reset it)
While none of that will make any sense to you anyone that has done broadband support in the UK should be able to tell you how your line is doing if they have those details. Plusnet might even be able to give you a screenshot of the test results (or copy/paste them for you into an online ticket). If they do that for you then feel free to PM me a link to the screenshot, they use the same tool I use in my work so I should be able to tell you what's wrong (if anything).
another thing you can try to see if its you or the internet company themselves is run a tracert test. This is done by opening your command prompt and typing Tracert (insert random website here) google.com is easy enough this will test the routes your data is traveling along and is similar to a ping test but this will identify if any of those routes are leaking packets off somewhere. The way you'd know is an asterisk ( * ) along one of the 15 hops that is typically run by default settings. Another thing you can try in your command prompt is /ipconfig or iprenew however you may want to do a little more research on running commands in the command prompt to understand what it is these commands are doing and as well as the information you can gather from them.
Another thing is isp's have this one catch most ppl miss and thats where they say "UP TO" 10 mbs and so on which basically means you can have anything in between and at peak performance/network traffic times you may get the most out of your isp's service.
Btw on the 10-15 hops on that tracert command the first 9 or 14 will be the routes your isp uses to direct your network traffic to such and such website the 10th or 15th (depending on your computers default settings) will be your own computer. If its the isps trafficing routes that show asterisks then its something on their end and they're the only ones that have any way of fixing it however if its the very last one that shows an asterisk its your computer on your end bleeding packets and you'll have to trouble shoot a way to fix it yourself.
Here are few tips that works for me:
1.(computer)- delete unnecessary files and videos. and for internet--reboot your internet modem every once in a while (like every week or month) and try not to have too many tabs. and choose a fast browser like chrome or firefox.
2. Do not open too many programs, it consume lots of resources thereby slow down your computer.
3. Upgrade your internet speed plan to higher and speedier one.later check your speed from ScanMySpeed.com you will definitely see the difference.
I never liked the use of capitals for bytes. Even ads get this wrong sometimes. To prevent misunderstandings, people could write mbit/s or mbyte/s. This would also show more clearly to ppl that there is actually a difference.
Please refrain from posting if you aren't knowledgeable on the subject. You're just adding confusion and adding make believes than actual helping. I know you are doing it out of kindness but it's really not helping at all.
I suspect you don't realise there is a difference between bit/s and byte/s and how the official notation for that works. Someone else in this thread explained that already, so I suggest that you first figure out what is what. For example 200KB/s is roughly about 1.6mb/s.
Then the advertised speed is 7mb/s, which translated into download speeds (as usually shown in windows programs) to a max of about 850KB/s (depending on line quality). But this doesn't mean that every source that you download from can also provide that max. To get a better estimation of your current max download speed, you have to try different download sources. Preferably speedtests that are suggested in the country that you live. To compare with advertised speed which is in megabits/second and not megabyte/second. Multiply your download speed with 8. It is not a precise number, but close enough.
If it then shows you have way lower speed then advertised, call your ISP and explain to them what you observed.
One thing to consider is check your line SNR.
Cable companies especially will twiddle their thumbs for quite a long time to fix it when the signal is weak, but you will have to press them to either lay new wiring down, or try to boost the signal from the office. Sometimes the only upgrade is to get the best plan to get off a usually overloaded frontend, to a commercial line.
No computer or router tweaking will fix a line up/down low (or even overly high) signal to noise ratio issue. Always clear that up first. Let them come over and test it with their line tester and get the SNR ranges. If it is a line noise problem, read them the riot act.
I had that problem for years until the frontend blew taking the whole street down. And almost like magic, it was cured. They knew it was a weak signal but delayed fixing it until they had no choice (when their own techs botched an instal and dozens of customers lost both TV and cable internet).
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