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I know i'm no further from the exchange, so, as far as i'm concerened, it's the ISP pushing the contention ratio.
Typically, since the beginning of the year, I would be getting about 2.5Mb/s, with it dropping off to as low as 1.5Mb/s. That's heading back towards dial-up territory!
In the UK, I just fitted what's called an "iPlate" to my home phone line.
The iPlate is made by British Telecom, and it's supposed to increase broadband speeds on certain lines.
Early days, this, however, i'm already seeing 3.6Mb/s right away.
If you're in the UK, and your home broadband is lacking a little, it's worth checking out the iPlate, as it only costs a few quid.
I am in Scotland and I am fortunate enough to have Virginmedia cable broadband. It is currently testing out at between 9Mb and 19Mb.
I seem to get different results depending on what speed tester I use. What do you use to check it?
I've used any common speed testing tool, such as the BBC.
[news.bbc.co.uk...]
I was getting excited about this until I saw a review that suggested that there might be no benefit if the router is plugged directly in to the master socket.
You have to have the correct master socket to benefit from this. Sockets with Openreach on them already have the same functionality built-in.
Without a doubt, irrespective of distance from exchange, plugging directly into the master socket will give the best results.
If the Master socket has a horizontal split you can unscrew the plate and remove it to reveal a hidden socket. Ideally, I would expect a broadband modem to be plugged directly into the hidden socket and telephones to be connected via a buffer. Considering how hard phone lines are being pushed, any arrangement other than this will result in less than optimal performance.
Kaled.
Unfortunately, it's not possible to plug directly into the master socket without trailing wires around the house, so it uses the existing extension phone wiring to each of the rooms. That wiring was installed quite a few years ago, and i'm sure it is probably not up to modern requirements.
However, the key points are that this device has helped gain a little more for a few quid, and if anyone else can benefit from it, then that's great.
If you are with BT, its free. Yes, FREE. (Called BT Broadband Accelerator in free form)
It works by stopping electrical interference from your bell wire from getting on to your line. Simply slide off the bottom half of your Master socket, slide on the iPlate, and reblce the front cover.
30 seconds, and done.
BT estimate 7/10 homes will benefit.
You don't have to get your ADSL from BT, just over a BT line.
Despite advice that only routers on extensions will benefit, I have personally seen improvements on routers connected to master socket. In fact, as long as an extension is in use for ANY PURPOSE, electical gain will be polluting your line.
