Down+upload speed ?

[in a mo]

Hi I am confused, when I click on the monitor icon it shows the speed being 100.0mps,I have run a test and it shows 1799kbps in and 33.96kbps ,In simple terms can you explain what this means, our incoming speed via BT Broadband is advertised at 8Mb.

I would be very grateful for a\ny help Thank you

[ChuckFickens]

the 100Mbs is how fast your computer is connected to your modem or router, nothing to do with your Internet speed at all.

Where did you do this speed test, they are not very good results, but I'd rather not comment on the figures you got until I know they come from a reliable test site.

http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/

[Rollo]

The speed advertised bt BT is NOT 8Mb, it is UP TO 8Mb.

What speed you get depends on a number of factors.

For example your distance from your telephone exchange, the quality of the wires connecting your phone line, how many other people are cotemporanously downloading/uploading.

[VHG]

M usually means MILLIONS and K usually means THOUSANDS.

The 8mb you are advertised is 8 MEGA BITS PER SECOND (8 MILLION BITS PER SECOND or 8,000,000 bps)

The 1799 measure KBPS is KILO (thousand) BYTES PER SECOND. So 1,799k bps or 1,799,000 BITS PER SECOND.

This can also be shown as 1.8 (rounded up) MEGABITS PER SECOND.

So you are advertised 8mbps but in this case getting just under 2mbps.

[VHG]

The 33.96kbps is 34,000 (rounded up) BITS PER SECOND

The upload speed is always for lower than a download speed.

However this does sound very low.

[in a mo]

Hi Chuck I have just tried the speed test again ,I was using the BBMax system revised figures are 1835kbps and 328 kpbs.
I would be grateful for your help .
Thank you

[Mobius1]

Although your speed isn't great, it sounds pretty much normal, though it does depend what area you live in. Ofcom have been criticising companies like BT recently for their "up to..." type speed advertising. Here's an article about ADSL speed degradation from BBC news:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8171984.st m

If you have neighbours on the same service, or friends living very close by that have their broadband through the phoneline, ask them what sort of speeds they get, and see if they're comparable. As stated, it may just be your distance from the exchange.

Before I moved house earlier this year, I had BT Broadband and was getting 6Mb roughly. When I moved here I was told the max I could get was 1Mb, even though I live in a town centre in the Midlands, simply because I'm at "the end of the line" even though I'm physically close to the exchange. I ended up having to ditch BT and get fibre optic cable installed. I now get 9Mb + pretty much constantly.

[ChuckFickens]

Mobius1 has covered it pretty well, all I'll add is that, if it's not already, it can make a huge difference plugging your router into the BT master socket and not an extension elsewhere in the house (that said, if it's a decent quality extension it will make no difference at all, only way to know is try it)