Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Lowestoft Online Forum
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length

    Advanced search

Lowestoft Online > Community > Strictly Lowestoft > Services & Tradesmen > Topic: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below.
0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this board.
Pages: 1 2 3 ... 6 [All] | Go Down
Print
Author Topic: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below.  (Read 6520 times)
benbird7
Junior Member
**
Posts: 20
As you are reading this I assume you have an internet connection which will more than likely be broadband rather than the good ole dial up, I was recently reading an article that Suffolk is having a hard time getting up to the modern day internet speeds that are available in most other populated parts of the country. I read on that the Lowestoft exchange has recently been upgraded to "up to 24mb services". Is this cause for celebration?

Well if I lived where I used to, off the Norwich Road area of town, yes, I would be seeing speeds of about 14-16mb as I relatively close (about 600m) to the BT Telephone exchange (next to Natwest), however given that fact that 3 years ago I moved to a property on the outer regions, the distance I now am from the exchange is 4.6km. In essence I am now 8 times further away.

Given the fact that the a lot of people it serves are on a line length of over 3km a dramatic increase in speed is unlikely. The reason is that over the length of the line loss in signal gradually increases and your speeds become less. For my 4.6km line, I did see an improvement from about 1mb to 1.5mb, but the new 1.5mb speed was a bit more finicky and would be subject to disconnections in the evenings.

Why? Because of the way that the modulation is transmitted over the network, to get the “up to 24mb” it has to transmit at double the frequency of your standard ADSL connection. On longer lines, this has a negative impact and allows it to pick up more interference.  See here http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/adsl_technology.htm#frequencies for the frequencies ADSL (up to 8mb), ADSL2(up to 12mb) and ADSL2+(up to 24mb) operate on.

I have however asked my ISP to change the modulation of my line to ADSL2 (not ADSL2+) this operates on a very similar way to that of the standard ADSL (up to 8mb) products and on longer lines, is a saviour. My ISP is Xilo http://www.xilo.net/adsl_broadband/ (on their Pro 16 H package) and out of the 6 ISP’s I have had, these guys have by far been the best, I pay £14.99 a month +vat (£17.61) there are no download limits or port throttling and it goes through the Cable and Wireless LLU (I’ll mention more about LLU later), I also get good ping times, which as I mentioned previously, being a gamer are important. There are other operators out there though so take a look.

I have also used various routers to see which offers the best and most stable connection, out of 5 routers, for the average user with little experience on setting them up etc, I have found that the Netgear DG834GT performs well (also very stable), along with a Thomson Speedtouch 585v6. There is also a router known as BT Business Hub, this in essence is a 2Wire router by the name of 2700HGV, this router is amazing at gaining a high speed without the need for any tweaking on the line, albeit you may need to ask for the adsl2 speeds, however I found this router was more prone to a few disconnections and being a keen gamer in my mid 20’s don’t like it when that happens! So would suggest possibly other routers.

I now achieve (BT wouldn’t guarantee 0.5mb) a connection speed of just over 2.5mb, which is the governments minimum target speed set, this has now been online for over 96hrs showing a stable connection. However what about all these poor users being served off the Lowestoft exchange that can’t get that speed? (A speed that allows the viewing of BBC IPlayer or download a file in a reasonable time.)

This http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/socket.htm is a good link to see how you can check your line to try and optimise your Broadband speed, I would also suggest fitting a filtered faceplate at the master BT socket at your property as this will help reduce interference and obtain a better speed. As mentioned another tip would be to utilise the LLU from the exchange. LLU stands for Local Loop Unbundling and allows other operators to put their equipment in the exchange so you connect to the network through them. You can see the Lowestoft exchange here - http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/EALOW and the various LLU operators on the lower right hand side. By using LLU you do not get involved with BRAS (explained here - http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/IPprofile.htm) profiling which BT uses to control the speed throughput available through your line, when I was on this at my current house my speed would vary from as low as 128kb down up to a maximum of 1mb. Be aware you still need to pay either as I do BT your line rental, or you can bundle both from the likes of talktalk or similar, please note that they do throttle speeds and congestion at the exchange can mean the quality of the service you receive will decrease, also imposing download restrictions. Also be aware that talktalk don't have too good reputation, another ISP may be worth looking at is Sky if you have sky tv, you can get a good deal with them.

I really think that the only way forward would be Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC), on this heavily expanded town, this will mean replacing the traditional copper wires (that are not the best solution for Broadband) with Fibre Optic cables, that have very little signal loss over distance, these would be brought into the little green BT boxes you see on some street corners. Then the last leg would remain as it is, via the copper telephone wire that already feeds into your property from the green box.

I see various posts on exchanges that have been set in BT’s pipeline to have FTTC installed, Lowestoft, is not one of them. I also understand that a lot of more rural users within the region are finding it difficult to achieve even the very low speeds and even that is intermittent.

Anyway, hope this helps some of you, any specific questions just ask and I’ll try to help.  Wink
Logged
We're not all inbreds are we?
Jinksy
Lowestoft Online Addict
*******
Gender: Female
Posts: 1504
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft « Reply #1 Posted: 21 January 2010 at 07:48 AM »
I've just checked & I'm currently getting 7.6 Mbps, which is plenty fast enough for me. My ISP [Orange] offers a 20 Mbps Service, but I don't see the point of faster and faster Broadband.
Logged
Gary
Lowestoft Online Addict
*******
Gender: Male
Posts: 2018


KEEP LOWESTOFT CHAV FREE - Close Sportsworld!
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft « Reply #2 Posted: 21 January 2010 at 09:38 AM »
Faster broadband is always useful and the UK is way behind the rest of the world as far as broadband speeds go.
If you can download files, upload files, stream data and browse at much faster speeds then this has to be a good thing in my opinion.
My ISP "Zen Internet" are currently in the process of switching people over to the faster service ASAP and all at no extra charge!

Why settle for up to 8mbps speeds when you can have up to 20mbps or 24mbps speeds at no extra cost?
Logged
benbird7
Junior Member
**
Posts: 20
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft « Reply #3 Posted: 21 January 2010 at 05:51 PM »
Quote from: Jinksy on 21 January 2010 at 07:48 AM
I've just checked & I'm currently getting 7.6 Mbps, which is plenty fast enough for me. My ISP [Orange] offers a 20 Mbps Service, but I don't see the point of faster and faster Broadband.

Good for you for living (which in most cases is luck of the draw unless where you buy your house does primarily depend on how fast the internet is) where you can receive faster broadband, if you lived somewhere that only received 512mb like I used to get and through some minor tweaking managed to enhance that to 2mb, to allow for the streaming of bbc iplayer and faster downloads then that surely is a good thing?

I do see some people on forums stating that they are only getting 12mb and their line should support up to 16/18mb and that is greedy, but then again I suppose it's human nature.

This post was aimed at people on the outer edge of Lowestoft not receiving a great broadband connection, not for those of us relatively close acheiving fairly decent speeds. I also didn't ask what speeds you were currently acheiving and whether or not you were happy with them..

Take a look here http://www.broadband-notspot.org.uk/coverage-map.html#12,52.474739,1.753642,all,2 at the number of people around the Lowestoft area getting substandard speeds, obviously this is a national thing, but for keeping on topic we are looking around the Lowestoft area.

Have changed subject to clarify.
Logged
We're not all inbreds are we?
caz2
Guest
this brillient info i going look into this tomorrow.my sister lives in very backward place outside downham.she had bad trouble but she using the hub now and it improved signifcantly...thanks for info
Logged
JustStu
Veteran Member
******
Gender: Male
Posts: 993
According to that map my current 6meg speed is classed as a slow-spot.  icon_scratch
Logged
I told my girlfriend I had a job in a bowling alley. She said 'Tenpin?' I said, 'No, permanent.'
Jinksy
Lowestoft Online Addict
*******
Gender: Female
Posts: 1504
Quote from: benbird7 on 21 January 2010 at 05:51 PM
This post was aimed at people on the outer edge of Lowestoft not receiving a great broadband connection, not for those of us relatively close acheiving fairly decent speeds. I also didn't ask what speeds you were currently acheiving and whether or not you were happy with them.

Have changed subject to clarify.

When you post a Topic any Member is entitled to post a reply, stating anything they want (within Moderation limits). It's only Admin/Mods who decide if a reply is totally inappropriate.  evil6

I posted my speed as a comparison for any people living in Kirkley, who might want to check their speeds & chase up their ISP, if not getting what they're paying for.
Logged
benbird7
Junior Member
**
Posts: 20
The way that the BT network routes means that people in theory could get wildly different speed although they are a stones through from each other - I just love using the bold too Smiley

So your post on your current speed is irrelevant, as congestion at the exchange along with different ISP's routing through different LLU will make an even bigger difference to what you or your neighbour acheive speedwise. You state your on orange, well orange LLU may be up to 24mb, but other ISP's won't offer that service or modulation, you also have the issue of the type of cabling to each property, for some years BT started using aluminium instead of copper, again this will affect overheads and overall speed.

The best place to look if you want a conservative best estimate on your lines potential is to go here - http://www.samknows.com/broadband/checker2.php as this uses BT database on where the cables are routed, type where available and how long the line length is to your property.

Simply stating I live in Kirkley and get 8mb doesn't help anyone, You also made the pointless statement that you don't see the point in faster and faster broadband - of course you don't as your already on a reasonable connection speed!

Caz2 - I hope this does help you any problems just pm me.

Juststu - you lucky devil Smiley

Gary - Zen are renowned for their great service, although that does come with the price in comparison, as for sports world, I agree it is a tip Tongue
Logged
We're not all inbreds are we?
Meryl
Forum Moderator
Lowestoft Online Addict
*****
Gender: Female
Posts: 7904
How do you check your speed?
Logged

JustStu
Veteran Member
******
Gender: Male
Posts: 993
Quote from: Meryl on 27 January 2010 at 06:46 PM
How do you check your speed?

http://www.speedtest.net/

just click on the yellow star and choose a location near you. It will then automatically check your connection and tell you at the end.
Logged
I told my girlfriend I had a job in a bowling alley. She said 'Tenpin?' I said, 'No, permanent.'
robbie2010
Veteran Member
******
Gender: Male
Posts: 493
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below. « Reply #10 Posted: 27 January 2010 at 08:42 PM »
My son, who lives close to Gisleham has given up on broadband. After countless phone calls and visits from enginners BT have given up trying to provide him with a broadband connection. His only alternative is a mobile connection and that isn't too good either!!
Logged
A Scot who owns a little bit of Lowestoft

Education is what you get when you read the fine print - Experience is what you get when you don't!!
Meryl
Forum Moderator
Lowestoft Online Addict
*****
Gender: Female
Posts: 7904
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below. « Reply #11 Posted: 28 January 2010 at 06:45 AM »
Thank you.
Logged

Gary
Lowestoft Online Addict
*******
Gender: Male
Posts: 2018


KEEP LOWESTOFT CHAV FREE - Close Sportsworld!
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below. « Reply #12 Posted: 28 January 2010 at 09:22 AM »
I have just looked at some of those links and tests and my area atop the town is apparently quite good. My download speed is 910 mbps, upload speed was 230 mbps and I am approximately 756 metres from the exchange. All the cables here are overhead and probably "as the crow flies" so there's no turning around corners (like with underground cables). I think that generally the longer the cable is to your home from the exchange, then the slower the speed you can expect!
Logged
benbird7
Junior Member
**
Posts: 20
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below. « Reply #13 Posted: 28 January 2010 at 10:48 AM »
For the most accurate results go here - http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest.html for some reason speedtester.net results can fluctuate, although I have never really had too much of an issue with it, I think it's because the server quality can vary and therefore affect your results.

In terms of IP profiling, if you are on a standard BT ipstream product (i.e. not LLU) go to this link http://speedtester.bt.com/ enter your telephone number and let it run, it will do a test showing the connection speed of your line along with what IP profile you have currently in place, the more stable your line and longer the connection that will increase your profile, if your on LLU like orange, sky etc then there is no profiling in place and you won't be able to run that test.

Gary you're on a 9.1Mb down 0.23Mb upload for claficiation, although I would expect given your speeds a higher upload, normally its up to 1Mb up and your only on a quarter of that, are you sure Zen are not capping your upload speed? Your certainly right on the longer the distance of cabling the less speed you get, I quote :

"Attenuation is a term used to describe the reduction of the adsl signal strength that occurs on the copper pair over distance and is measured in dB decibels. The further you are away from the exchange the higher your attenuation figure will be as the signal loss increases."

Read more: http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/linestats.htm#ixzz0du5YAjGJ

I think I was about 450m from exchange when I lived in town centre, so could get quite a bit there now.

For anyone that is interested my ISP - http://www.xilo.net/adsl_broadband/ is offering free migration over to their LLU up until 31st March, you just need to complete your order and enter the coupon code FREEDSLMIG, its for the Pro16H option and if your in Lowestoft you'll connect via the C&W llu, going LLU can really help on longer lines as it cuts out the bras profiling. I can vouch for these guys after about 6 ISP's over the course of about 8 years. First one being Tiscali - AVOID.

On another note - I got myself a Vodafone suresignal yesterday and plugged it in (minimum requirements of 1Mb) as my Vodafone signal downstairs at home is very poor, I now get an excellent full 3g signal throughout the house Smiley.

I said I was going to go back to o2 as poor signal indoors, was on sim only but had recently brought sim free N97 so didn't need new phone, managed to get the Suresignal free (meant to be £150), 600 anytime mins, unlimited texts and unlimited internet, 50mms for £15 a month on 12month contract (totalling £180), also found out you can upgrade 60days before the end, so will be November Smiley will go for Noka N900 then I think Tongue as by then Nokia should have ironed out all the firmware issues!
Logged
We're not all inbreds are we?
Gary
Lowestoft Online Addict
*******
Gender: Male
Posts: 2018


KEEP LOWESTOFT CHAV FREE - Close Sportsworld!
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below. « Reply #14 Posted: 28 January 2010 at 12:07 PM »
I have used the "thinkbroadband" website many times and I am also a member there! I am still currently on Zen's up to 8mb service and I know that I am just about getting the limit of what that service can provide. (I think about 7.1 would be the absolute tops?) They are just about to transfer me (free of charge) to their up to 20 mb service and I am expecting to get downloads speeds of around 17 mbps judging by my routers attenuation and noise margin results.

Zen don't cap or do traffic shaping of any kind which is why they charge a premium for their services. Having heard many horror stories from people who have been with the likes of Tiscali (I concur that you should avoid these like the plague!), I am happy to pay a premium for Zen's quality service. The speeds I get are more or less constant throughout the day and evening with no drops or drop-outs in service either. Their customer service should you ever need them, are just superb! You can also migrate to Zen free of charge and there is no closing date!

In my opinion broadband is a commodity and like anything else, you really do get what you pay for! If you see a broadband offer where the prices look too good to be true, then they probably are just that! Cool

* 2010-01-28_115753.jpg (72.61 KB, 584x558 - viewed 459 times.)
Logged
benbird7
Junior Member
**
Posts: 20
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below. « Reply #15 Posted: 28 January 2010 at 12:29 PM »
Sorry, that's why I don't like speedtest.net, that last link looked like you were already on adsl2+ hence I thought you should be getting a better upload, the new speedtest does show under 8Mb therefore the 0.4Mb upload relates correctly. When you move over to the 20Mb with Zen your upload should hit 1Mb nearly then Smiley

I agree that you do get what you pay for and certainly Zen user experiences and reviews reflect that, but I have found the service (in the 6 months I have now been with them) not only from customer service perspective with Xilo great but also consistant speed, truely unlimited bandwidth allowance, if you do feel like making a saving, then Xilo would be a good choice, working out at £17.61 a month I find it extremely good value for money. You would also be connected at adsl2+ which would give you up to 24Mb download speeds and 1Mb upload speeds, the same that you will be moving over to Zen with.

I expect you may be in the same situation as my Dad though, he is still with his ISP, mainly as his Email is with them. I have hotmail and gmail email addresses along with a couple of domains in my name so I can get mail through them too. Gmail for a free email account should suit most.
Logged
We're not all inbreds are we?
Alice
Administrator
Lowestoft Online Addict
*****
Gender: Female
Posts: 5263


I need to change this pic.
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below « Reply #16 Posted: 28 January 2010 at 10:23 PM »
I've moved this to Services and Trades, as this really isn't a Debate issue, but discussion about a service, it's fees and it's reliability.

alice
Logged
benbird7
Junior Member
**
Posts: 20
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below. « Reply #17 Posted: 10 February 2010 at 04:56 PM »
Quote from: Gary on 28 January 2010 at 12:07 PM
I am still currently on Zen's up to 8mb service

Worth noting Gary if you see the link here

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/review/top10.php

You'll see Xilo are ahead of Zen etc, I can certainly recommend them on the Lowestoft exchange, great connection speeds at all times, no usage allowance, it is truely unlimited, have hit 200gb on a couple of occasions and no one batters an eyelid.

Works out at £17.61 (inc VAT) on their Pro16H which is the product you would want they are also offering free migration atm (saves you £40) new subscribers simply need to complete their order and enter the coupon code FREEDSLMIG. Valid until end of March.
Logged
We're not all inbreds are we?
benbird7
Junior Member
**
Posts: 20
Good link here to see speeds others get in your location within Lowestoft, enter your postcode and take a look http://www.top10-broadband.co.uk/speedtest/streetstats/#home_lowestoft_download_0_all_all_3_1
Logged
We're not all inbreds are we?
PaulBM
Super Member
*****
Posts: 216
Quote from: benbird7 on 10 February 2010 at 04:56 PM
You'll see Xilo are ahead of Zen etc, I can certainly recommend them on the Lowestoft exchange, great connection speeds at all times, no usage allowance

You certainly put a good case forward for Xilo. Are you an employee? Wink

I am with Zen too and find the connection first rate. They did dump us off for 8 hours or so when  they swapped us over to the new ADSL2+ equipment, not the 15 minutes their email informed us of. Of course, it wasn't really Zen doing the swap, but dear ol' BT.  Smiley

I haven't had any further communication from Zen about upgrading to ADSL2+, but as I see it, all that will do is allow us to get to our cap faster.
I have also noticed that our speed has dropped a bit since the swap.

From our router tonight...
DSL Modulation Mode:      GDMT         
DSL Path Mode:      INTERLEAVED         
Downstream Rate:      7616 Kbps         
Upstream Rate:      448 Kbps         
Downstream Margin:      10 db         
Upstream Margin:      26 db         
Downstream Line Attenuation:      28         
Upstream Line Attenuation:      17         
Downstream Transmit Power:      0         
Upstream Transmit Power:      0

We'd save about a tenner a month with Xilo and we wouldn't need to be careful on the odd occasions we do run close to our current monthly cap. Hmmmm.
Logged
http://easttown.co.uk
benbird7
Junior Member
**
Posts: 20
lol no not an employee, work for a house builder Tongue I have had rubbish ISP's, okay ones and in comparison this ones superb so thought I'd spread the word Smiley others agree more reviews here - http://www.ispreview.co.uk/review/products/726.html

You would actually go over to the adsl2+ product if you re connected to the Lowestoft exchange, with that info I would of thought you can guestimate line speeds of at least 16mb and up probably nearer18-20mb, it would cost you £10 less for the priveledge and no download limits Wink

I know they are running that promotional offer, but you would need to order by midnight tonight to remove the £40 migration fee to them, code I think was in the first sig.

*EDIT" - just checked website http://blog.xilo.net/ they'v extended it until the end of June, so wouldn't cost anything to move to them, if you wanted to.
Logged
We're not all inbreds are we?
Cheeseford
Full Member
***
Gender: Male
Posts: 44


Website
Benbird7 - xilo sound pretty good. They seem to be on a par with Vivaciti, who I've been with since December, on their unlimited ADSL2+ product. I can't fault them. First I heard of them was a flyer through the door, but I did some background reading and the reports were all favourable, so I signed up. I'm about half a mile from the exchange and I'm syncing at just over 15mb, with throughput of around 13mb, but it's rock solid and reliable. They're currently charging £17.04 inc VAT.
Logged
Louis Barfe - http://cheeseford.blogspot.com
benbird7
Junior Member
**
Posts: 20
I was with them, but support seemed to take a while to respond, now Xilo normally respond to any tickets raised within about 10mins to an hour.

Comparing the two much prefer Xilo, connection wise they are both connected through the C&W LLU network so exactly the same.
Logged
We're not all inbreds are we?
Lpeek
Veteran Member
******
Gender: Male
Posts: 295
Carlton Colville is particularly bad, my mum is only just able to get broadband and often ISP's say theres no point  in her even having it when she calls to switch provider. it was around 0.3 mbps down last time i checked!
Logged
Boatbuilder
John
Administrator
Lowestoft Online Addict
*****
Gender: Male
Posts: 4039


I've learnt to take everything life throws at me!!
Quote from: Lpeek on 29 April 2010 at 12:55 PM
Carlton Colville is particularly bad, my mum is only just able to get broadband and often ISP's say theres no point  in her even having it when she calls to switch provider. it was around 0.3 mbps down last time i checked!

Yes, I agree with you, Lpeek, although I am fairly lucky as I get between 1.75 & 2.0 MB sync speeds.  Of course I don't know where your mum lives, is it in the village area?  I live not far from Rainbow (Co-op).  With all the developments that have sprung up in the CC area over the years I believe BT should build a new exchange to cover this area.  Maybe we should petition them!!
Logged

The Echo Wheel of Liverpool
benbird7
Junior Member
**
Posts: 20
Agree with you BB, Lowestoft has sprawled out so far south and the infrastructure has not been upgraded certainly in terms of telecoms to accommodate.

Are either of you connected to LLU? ie sky, talktalk, tiscali or aol - http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/EALOW

That will sync as fast as it can, that bad point about standard bt products is on longer lines, where there more likely to be stable, then a bras profile can severely impact your throughput if you have a few disconnections.

I'm near the Tesco garage, stats are :

ADSL Link             Downstream     Upstream
Connection Speed    2980 kbps    1020 kbps
Line Attenuation    58.0 db    35.9 db
Noise Margin            5.9 db    5.9 db

Speedtest is :



You can get yours from your router how to obtain these from here http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/frogstats.php it will give an indication of what sort of speed you should be getting, the most important one is the line downstream attenuation, feed that into here http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/max_speed_calc.php and it will tell you roughly give or take what speeds you can expect.

When I first moved into this house, on the bt profiling system I was on half a meg, lucky if it crept up to 1mb occasionally, I am now at that speed consistently.
Logged
We're not all inbreds are we?
Trigger
Forum Moderator
Lowestoft Online Addict
*****
Posts: 7548
Re: Speed tests.  Carried out two yesterday within a couple of minutes of each other - the first gave a download speed of 36.34 Mbps and the other gave 6088 Kbps.  It’s the usual question - why does one give the result in Mbps and the other in Kbps?  Why can’t there be a standard “measure” - so that those of us who are less computer-literate could understand them?   If they were both in the same format, are those two similar - or are they as different as originally shown?

The first was with ‘speedtest.net’, the second with ‘broadbandspeedchecker”.

Logged
Lpeek
Veteran Member
******
Gender: Male
Posts: 295
Quote from: boatbuilder on 29 April 2010 at 10:40 PM
Yes, I agree with you, Lpeek, although I am fairly lucky as I get between 1.75 & 2.0 MB sync speeds.  Of course I don't know where your mum lives, is it in the village area?

She lives in new carlton, in the Dales around deepdale/colsterdale etc Smiley so its close to the old village area but not quite Smiley



Quote from: benbird7 on 29 April 2010 at 11:58 PM
Agree with you BB, Lowestoft has sprawled out so far south and the infrastructure has not been upgraded certainly in terms of telecoms to accommodate.

Are either of you connected to LLU? ie sky, talktalk, tiscali or aol - http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/EALOW

She wasn't connected to LLU a month or two back, but they have connected now, and she has just switched to Sky, but unfortunately it hasn't really done much for the speed. Luckily she doesn't really need a speedy connection Smiley

I agree that the exchange needs to be updated for the whole area! The funny thing is that if you cross the road over to kessingland they get the full 8mbps offered! They have a lovely new exchange Sad Would have thought that if they can put a new one there than could have upgraded the one in carlton that serves even more homes.
Logged
benbird7
Junior Member
**
Posts: 20
You would of thought so, strange how BT operate, I think the next best thing we've got to wait for is FTTC which is fibre to the cabinet, as fibre optic cable has a lot less reduction in speed over distance this would even allow Carlton Colville owners to achieve up to 20mb or more.

BT can't even guarantee broadband up the Bloodmoor area, one of the first things I look for if I see a house I like is what speed it gets now! Oh well, come on BT sort out FTTC for lowe!
Logged
We're not all inbreds are we?
mattjohnson333
Junior Member
**
Posts: 5
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below. « Reply #29 Posted: 17 September 2010 at 01:33 PM »
Hi guys, I see from the last post there hasnt been any activity on this thread since May, however its helped me a great deal just reading through all your constructive posts so far.

Basically I was wondering if anyone could help me with my similar issues to those stated throughout this thread.

Im in my mid 20's and just recently moved in with my long term partner who lives in the kirkley area of Lowestoft.

Im an avid gamer and enjoy playing on the PS3 and also use internet browsers like 99.9% of the population do.

At my previous home off Normanston Drive next to the old Firestation in the Normanston Park area, I was on a higher end BT package connection. The household had over 5 different computers and various consoles using the broadband and as most likely expected suffered problems with poor speeds and such. BT engineers constantly visited the home and always said sorry this is what your stuck with and thats that. Eventually on the acting of my father (whos knowledge is far greater than mine on this subject) suggest putting a new phone line which BT eventually agreed to and the Download shot up to on average 6.6mb/s and greatly improved webpage load times and reliability of being able to play games online without lag or losing connection suddenly mid game.

Now Ive now moved out of that home and in with my long term partner which is in the Kirkley area i'm suffering from near suicidal speeds and drop outs and with my low knowledge on this subject I was hoping someone may have some good advice.

In my missus home shes on a Sky Broadband package which she got along with her Sky plus deal etc....

On initial speed tests she was getting a download of 1.29 on average but 4/10 tests would see it drop as low as 0.67 randomly. Symptoms I was recieving when playing online games such as Call of Duty modern Warfare was very laggy game play and delays, only 2 or 3 signal strength bars on the in game menu's and also suddenly booting from games due to sudden out of the blue loss of connection. When randomly losing connection switching the wireless off and leaving it a few mins seemed to sort the problem until the next random loss of connection mid game with continued lag throughout.

A call to Sky which as usual cost a bomb eventually got answered and I briefly explained my symptoms and problems. They straight away said they will up it as they make allowances for gamers and would also speed the webpage loading up (which wasnt to much of an issue other than when it randomly drops out).

Over the phone they said my download is now at 3.3 when they did a test which when i conducted my own tests once off the phone was found to be around the 2.3-2.6 mark.  This of course was better than the 1.29max I was getting and the lag in online games seemed to have been sorted for 90% of the time. But the signal strength in game was still only 2-3 bars and despite the laggy feeling of the games no longer being present Id still suffer the sudden booting from game which is very annoying when your on the game of your life! lol.


Now upon visiting various other sites you guys have mentioned I know that Lowestoft has awful problems with broadband speeds and such and the area im in now with the missus in Kirkley isnt ideal, and upon visiting her sisters in the newer area of Carlton Colvile I see the issues you guys have stated (although not too much worse than what im suffering in Kirkley).

Is there any suggestions to what may help improve my problems. Im assuming simply changing internet provider isnt going to make much difference as although they can test over the phone im doubting highly many would guarentee to beat what ive already got but would simply suspect they can simply out do sky (slightly) to try make a sale.

or am I wrong, please correct me on anything, as ill never take offense as you guys certainly know a whole lot more than I do on the subject.

Moving in with the missus and working with her Broadband has made me a whole lot more grateful for the speed I was getting with BT at my previous address.

Is Xilo that people mentioned any good? as Id never previously heard of them? Im just desperate for any help or info that could aid me in being able to establish some sort of better reliability of the connection or better service.

Really hope someone can help. Any input is welcome.
Logged
morty1753
Veteran Member
******
Gender: Male
Posts: 798
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below. « Reply #30 Posted: 17 September 2010 at 02:00 PM »
6.6mb/s seems like a fantastic speed.

I live in Normanston Drive quiet close to where you obviously used to live and am getting approx 1.4mb/s consistently. I am with Demon if that makes any difference.

If anyone knows how to get a better speed by changing ISP or otherwise I would be blessed to hear.
Logged
"I" before "E" except after "C"..... That's weird

Support Vulcan XH558 - www.vulcantothesky.org
mattjohnson333
Junior Member
**
Posts: 5
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below. « Reply #31 Posted: 17 September 2010 at 04:41 PM »
yes, 6.6 on normanston drive now makes me say the old saying "you dont know what you got until its gone" and how true that is now im in kirkley. 2.6 is the most I can get and it wont sustain long enough to get a decent few games online in.
Logged
Lpeek
Veteran Member
******
Gender: Male
Posts: 295
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below. « Reply #32 Posted: 17 September 2010 at 05:19 PM »
Hey Matt.

What I'd do for 6.6!! Smiley I live in Kirkley (on London Road South near the carlton road junction), and the speed isnt great (about 2-3) but it's a lot better than when I used to live in carlton colville (0.2 Shocking I know!!!)

When you moved did you have BT come and check the line or install any new parts? When I moved here I had to pay BT £100 (not optional!) just to have my line activated, but they actually came to the property and some some wiring... they also fitted their new socket on the inside where the line comes in, which they said would boost the speed because it's their latest technology.

If you didn't have anyone come out to the house when you switched it could be worth a call to see if you have the latest socket coming into the house!
Logged
Trigger
Forum Moderator
Lowestoft Online Addict
*****
Posts: 7548
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below. « Reply #33 Posted: 17 September 2010 at 06:11 PM »
Saw this on the Beeb's news pages today's :

“Pigeon flies past broadband in data speed race.”

“Broadband is the most modern of communication means, while carrier pigeons date back to Roman times.”

“But on Thursday, a race between the two highlighted the low speeds of rural broadband in the UK; the pigeon won. Ten USB key-laden pigeons were released from a Yorkshire farm at the same time a five-minute video upload was begun. An hour and a quarter later, the pigeons had reached their destination in Skegness 120km away, while only 24% of a 300MB file had uploaded.”

“Campaigners say the stunt was being carried out to illustrate that broadband in some parts of the UK is still "not fit for purpose". It is not the first time that such a race has taken place. Last year a similar experiment in Durban, South Africa saw Winston the pigeon take two hours to finish a 96km journey. In the same time just 4% of a 4GB file had downloaded.”

“The pigeons are expected to complete a 120km journey to Skegness in around two hours, but Tref Davies, who is organising the stunt to give publicity to the campaign for better rural broadband, said the broadband connection will take significantly longer to transfer the 300MB file. "The farm we are using has a connection of around 100 to 200 Kbps (kilobits per second)," Tref Davies, the stunt's organiser, told BBC News on Thursday morning.”

Link to full article.
Logged
benbird7
Junior Member
**
Posts: 20
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below. « Reply #34 Posted: 18 September 2010 at 02:37 AM »
Hi Matt, in a nutshell moving isp DOES make a difference, its whats connected at "their" end of your line on how quickly it performs and at what part of the day, I have been with Xilo now for 18months or more, admittedly i was like you, I hadn't heard of them, but since the move I have had consistently good speeds and a lot better support than any other isp.

Ok I know you've got to pay more @ £18 a month instead of sky's attractive rentals, but you do get what you pay for, if you want a faster service then go llu, there are others that offer it on the lowestoft exchange as you will see from my first post, but i feel C&W LLU is probably best with the smaller isp's giving good support (your not just a number) and instead a customer.

I have a PS3 and mainly play gaming on a pc cod, bfbc and others, all great pings at any time of the day, would defo recommend, shame you didnt make the move when they were offering free migration but that ended in July i believe, defo worth the change.

Reviews ever growing with Xilo http://www.ispreview.co.uk/review/products/726.html

No marketing ploy by me, just a genuinely satisfied customer (off burnt hill way) for a year and a half, can't fault them.

Although you cannot guarantee what route your bt line takes also the quality/installation of your current bt socket, on a side note just make sure you've removed the ringmain see here - http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/socket.htm , this can cause serious issue with picking up unwanted background "noise" on your line, ain kirley you should be on about 5mb, I know someone by the Renault garage on long road, they achieve that - I switched them to Xilo they were with BT before that and through bras profiling got about 4mb at best. Also your modem can make a HUGE difference, a bit like what type of mobile phone you have, some are great, some are rubbish!
Logged
We're not all inbreds are we?
benbird7
Junior Member
**
Posts: 20
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below. « Reply #35 Posted: 19 October 2010 at 11:19 PM »
"I have just cast vote number 177 for Lowestoft on The Race to Infinity website. Get involved by going to http://www.bt.com/racetoinfinity and your area could be one of the next to get BT Infinity installed!"

Anyone who wants better faster fibreoptic broadband in Lowestoft, get on that website and register your interest, every vote for the Lowestoft exchange will be a step up the ladder towards BT installing it in this town.
Logged
We're not all inbreds are we?
PaulBM
Super Member
*****
Posts: 216
Re: Broadband in Lowestoft - if you're struggling with speeds! i.e. 2mb or below. « Reply #36 Posted: 10 November 2010 at 12:29 AM »
I agree ISP is important to maximise speed, but I've found an up to date router is also vital. A few months ago we upgraded our connection with Zen to 'up to 20mb'. Unfortunately our speed dropped from 7mb to 6mb, with our aging Linksys router.

A month or so ago I snapped up a v5 Netgear DG834 router for £30. As expected initially our speed didn't change, but this week I've checked the router and we're currently sitting at 11.7mb! Cool
Logged
http://easttown.co.uk
Rickster
Junior Member
**
Posts: 3
What do you call a good ping time? I have checked my broadband speed which is 0.23 Mb and my ping time is 66ms. Is that a good ping time?
Logged
Rickster
Junior Member
**
Posts: 3
Tried the link and it seems the race has ended and Lowestoft did not win.
Logged
Boatbuilder
John
Administrator
Lowestoft Online Addict
*****
Gender: Male
Posts: 4039


I've learnt to take everything life throws at me!!
I am connected at about 2MB and my ping is currently 92ms.

The result of the infinity 'race' was reported elsewhere on this site a while back.

http://www.lowestoftonline.com/community/index.php/topic,17304.0.html
Logged

The Echo Wheel of Liverpool
benbird7
Junior Member
**
Posts: 20
Ping times are mainly a concern for gamers (like myself Wink ) When using speedtest.net I would suggest sub 100ms ping is good, sub 60ms best and sub 40ms excellent. This will vary at different times of the day though dependant on number of users using the exchange etc. Note that it also depends on where you are pinging i.e. if your pinging a gaming server based in America it will always be higher!

I moved towards the end of last year around the Westwood Avenue shops area, when I moved in speed was around 1mb, tweaked my line, filtered faceplate etc and been connected at 2.8mb which is about the same as I was on before.

Weird thing is I brought another router (Netgear DG834GT) off ebay - it was cheap on last few mins of auction so only paid £14inc p&p. When I connected that up I am now getting 3.3mb which equates to around about 380Mbps download, which is an improvement I wasn't expecting, been stable now for 72hrs. I asked the question as to why a router that is exactly the same would perform differently and was informed "Hardware age and exposure to transient voltages on the BT network probably accounts for the difference in stats."

PaulBM going through Zen like you stated you won't see an instant change but after a few solid days on the new router at a decent connection rate your bras profile will increase (as it has in your case) allowing you a faster speed.

As for the race to infinity, it was a bit of a con on BT's part, they new that smaller villages would rally up the highest support and therefore the ones that did win all only had populations of 1000 or so, therefore costing BT not too much to get them upgraded. Boatbuilder John did comment on this with his research below on population figures!

Figures taken from Wikipedia:

Baschurch          Pop 1475
Blewbury            Pop 1528
Caxton               Pop 480
Innerleithen       Pop 2586
Madingley           Pop 206
Whitchurch         Pop 4500
Logged
We're not all inbreds are we?
malcolm
Lowestoft Online Addict
*******
Gender: Male
Posts: 7444

I Love Lowestoft!
Well i tried benbird but none of that made any sence to me. I think i am missing something.
Logged
Forever Yellow
CybertraxUK
Guest
Makes sense to me, but as he said, a ping is only normally important to gamers whoplay graphics intensive role playing games online.  For them, getting as much speed as possible can be the difference between your character firing a weapon and living, or firing it and seeing the gun fire 10 minutes later, after which your character has died!  For most people, they do not worry about the ping rate as their internet needs are not speed-crucial. 
Logged
benbird7
Junior Member
**
Posts: 20
I don't know what you are trying to do Malcolm? I certainly didn't just read someones guide and voila my internet speed was faster. Takes time, trialling and patience, if you've got a particular issue on something you are doing then pose a question. If things aren't making sense* it may be worth asking the question on the particular point you are having difficulties with.
Logged
We're not all inbreds are we?
snowdrop
Lowestoft Online Addict
*******
Posts: 4132
since got my lap top gaming good,i gave up the will on my broard bandthe wifii much better.my friend on cable thats good speed and virgin very helpfui look forward to optics.if you no understand your i.p. then try www.myip address.com.only thing with lap top it very senstive,no get chance,alter errors before it posts
Logged
benbird7
Junior Member
**
Posts: 20
snowdrop from what I can deduce from your somewhat garbled post, your connected to your friends internet via wifi as they are connected to cable and your broadband connection is so bad you've given up on it. It might be worth noting that Virgin have no cable whatsoever in the Lowestoft area, Norwich is the closest place I believe you can get it.

If they did have cable here I would suggest that in my first post, the only service they would offer within this town would be broadband via BT's network through broadband aka ADSL.

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/EALOW
Logged
We're not all inbreds are we?
snowdrop
Lowestoft Online Addict
*******
Posts: 4132
noooooooooo i got two computers on at the moment   computer one fitted up to hub wires go into it, it.computer two no wires,the hub beams radio waves upstairs. the i play game with friend she has cable Virgin i did not explain she lives in london we beam micro waves to each other...both our computers went down when playing same game we traced it back....
i on needs to know basis with computer which is not much,and you will have read i apologised for garbled posting..am i clearer now
Logged
nikkai
Lowestoft Online Addict
*******
Posts: 2465
SD your wifi is connected via your BT HUB
Turn it off and see if the laptop keeps it's connection if it does (I doubt) then your using someones wifi / connection
Logged
There are NO strangers HERE ! Only Friends who have not yet met....
malcolm
Lowestoft Online Addict
*******
Gender: Male
Posts: 7444

I Love Lowestoft!
I have never played computer games Benbird so its the jargon that i dont understand. I expect if i was into them it would all be a lot clearer.
Logged
Forever Yellow
funkychick
Lowestoft Online Addict
*******
Gender: Female
Posts: 13376


You may leave, but you'll return
Kargon is that a jargon speaking kangaroo Malcolm Grin
Logged
Trigger
Forum Moderator
Lowestoft Online Addict
*****
Posts: 7548
Kargon?  Isn't that the Police term for a motorist who's had their car nicked?

Grabs coat and beats a hasty retreat . . . .  Wink
Logged
Boatbuilder
John
Administrator
Lowestoft Online Addict
*****
Gender: Male
Posts: 4039


I've learnt to take everything life throws at me!!
What have you been drinking tonight, Trigger?     
Logged

The Echo Wheel of Liverpool
Trigger
Forum Moderator
Lowestoft Online Addict
*****
Posts: 7548
Horlicks.
Logged
Mel
Lowestoft Online Addict
*******
Gender: Male
Posts: 6154
No need for that language Trigger... evil6 evil6
Logged
My Flickr Page
Trigger
Forum Moderator
Lowestoft Online Addict
*****
Posts: 7548
In my defence I can only say that I answered the question truthfully.  In fact, I'm just going to wash up the mug and plate (for the piece of shortbread) before retiring for the night. 
Logged
malcolm
Lowestoft Online Addict
*******
Gender: Male
Posts: 7444

I Love Lowestoft!
I must check spelling before posting  Wink
Logged
Forever Yellow
Pages: 1 2 3 ... 6 [All] | Go Up
Print
Admin options
Jump to: