Internet very slow despite being on broadband

[speedyjaney]

Hi there

I am having a mare with my PC and Im unsure what the problem is.

Doing things other than the internet seem ok...(not that it gets used for much tho  )

But when using the internet I feel like I am back on pay as you go dial up.......it is painfully slow.  We use cable (Virgin Media) and pay 24.99 a month so I am sure it should be better than it is.

It has a 60gig hard drive and 31gig is free.....unsure what DDRRAM (or whatever) it has but its only 2 yrs old.

I have virus scanned it and spyware checked and killed off any nasties....I have cleared all cookies and temp internet files....aswell as run a defrag and it doesn't appear to have helped.

I can't/won't run Windows updates as I have a SHHHHH *copied* version of XP but I do have SP2 too!

I have had to stop trying to download stuff as it takes an age.

I am connected using a wireless PCI card (DWL G520) with the router upstairs. Its a D-Link Airplus DI624 that says it can run at 108mbps. I dont think I am getting 40 KPS......

Any ideas to speed it up - other than wiping it and starting it again!?

Janey

editted to add that after hitting post it took 90 secs to do it with 2 page cannot be displayed errors (where I had to go back and rehit post!)

[Cob-Web]

What connection speed are you paying for? You can check how fast it is compared with what you are paying for by searching for "broadband speed test" in Google, and running one of the '000 of free online tests there are available 

Depending on what type of connection you have, it may not be your PC at all, but the link between your house and the exchange - the further away you live, the slower it is, and if there are lots of you using the same connection (neighbours in your street, for instance), then it will have a high "contention ratio" which makes it slower, too 

[speedyjaney]

OOOO Rachel I didnt think of that...I thought that the distance to the exchange thing only affected ADSL not cable 

[Cob-Web]

OOOO Rachel I didnt think of that...I thought that the distance to the exchange thing only affected ADSL not cable 

In theory, its not supposed to....BUT - we had huge problems a couple of years ago, when they rerouted the traffic in a cable which was a actually mile away from us due to someone destroying a junction box with their car one night  , I am sure someone more technical than me will tell me it's not possible (I know its not the same as ADSL) but from experience, I know that it can make a difference 

[speedyjaney]

Wellnone of our estate can have ASL as our BT exchange hasnt been upgraded and is over 4 miles away from us so anyone with broadband will be using Cable (Virgin Media as we dont have anyone else   ) so maybe this is the issue.

Are there any other things I can do to try and speed it up? It should be OK with 50% of the hard drive empty shouldn't it?

Janey

[Cob-Web]

Wellnone of our estate can have ASL as our BT exchange hasnt been upgraded and is over 4 miles away from us so anyone with broadband will be using Cable (Virgin Media as we dont have anyone else   ) so maybe this is the issue.

Are there any other things I can do to try and speed it up? It should be OK with 50% of the hard drive empty shouldn't it?

Janey

Contention definitely affects Broadband - has their been a lot of new customers lately, that would make a noticable difference   ?

If you have tested you connection speed and it shows that you have significant reduction is service, you may be able to lodge a complaint with their customer service.....as long as your hardware is working properly, your PC will have very little effect on the speed of downloads 

[speedyjaney]

thanks Rachel - we pay for their middle service which is 4meg 

Will test the connection and complain if necessary!

Janey

[suki1964]

Virgin are throttling speeds

http://speedtest.net/ - run a few tests at different times of the day and night. Im usually fine up untill 6pm when I start slowing down till 10pm when i come to a standstill. Im not on cable here - virgin adsl and its so bad they have just had to upgrade me to a business user(20:1 contention instead of 50:1) to keep me online

Check your mail box, Virgin have sent out emails informing of the new terms and conditions

[Luvly]

 

[speedyjaney]

Thanks everyone - I ran a couple of tests last night and was appalled at the speeds - the highest was 184kps.......and we are paying for 4meg 

Will do the tests in the office upstairs too (where the modem is) and see if its the same rubbish...I expect it will be but PC there doesn't use wireless its using an ethernet cable.

Once we've done this we will begin to complain I think......but we can't move as we can't do the ADSL method 

Janey

[Gilly]

I'm with Virgin Media too but haven't noticed any speed issues 

[suki1964]

Janey are you sure your exchange hasn't been upgraded yet?

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/phoneno.php

most exchanges have been enabled now and for adsl max.

Would also check out http://www.btwholesale.com/getbroadband to see what BT say your lane is capable of achieving.

Howeve adsl isn't great, you are restriced by length of line, noise on the line etc - stuff that doesn't have any bearing on cable. If you have an LLU isp at your exchange go for them - worth paying that wee bit extra

[speedyjaney]

Just done the speed test Suki recommended above and Im getting 284 kb/s download and 271 kb/s.

Is this OK? Should I be getting better?

[suki1964]

Diabolical speeds - Im getting better on a 512 connection.

Have you looked at your router stats? see what you are syncing (connecting)at?

It may be worth rebooting your router see if that improves things (un-plug it for 3 mins), if no improvement time to get on the phone to Virgin

[speedyjaney]

Hi Caroline

I have tried calling them tonight but I am just listening to some really depressing musak waiting for them to speak to me......makes it worse thats it a 0845  number

How do i look at the router stats? I have rebooted both the modem and router several times tonight  in the hope things would get better....i was wrong!

J