Broadband being slow (AOL), advice needed!

[Smasher]

Hi folks

We're having some probs with AOL - we have their "up to 8MB" package and they have an LLU presence at the exchange. Speeds though have been around 2MB while router sync were around 3.5-4MB downstream. AOL say this is a throughput issue.

I've now plugged the router (Netgear DG834G) into the test socket. We had an engineer visit last year, he replaced the master socket and advised it's best to try directly in the test socket to isolate the home phone cabling.

In master socket the sync rate on router status page was:

DownStream Connection Speed 3566 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed 448 kbps

Now that I've put it in the test socket, the router sync rate has increased to:

DownStream Connection Speed 5664 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed 448 kbps

But this is the speedtest result, same speed as before:



What do I do now? They asked for two time slots for an engineer visit, but is he going to do the same as AOL and just blame it on the cables in the home? What about the fact there was no speed increase despite the sync increasing in the test socket?

The master socket is branded with the new Openreach logo so I'm guessing it's one of those new ones which is supposed to isolate the bell wire, but that's done nothing that I can see.

Strangely back in Feb I was getting 4.5MB on a speedtest without even being plugged at the master socket so aside from AOL being acquired by CarphoneWarehouse I can't think why it's acting up.

Any help would be appreciated!

[Jay]

Ditch AOL and go with a propper ISP?

[Smasher]

Yeah but nobody comes close in price terms, I'm getting free UK calls 24/7 and broadband for £6.99 a month, and line rental stays with BT which is what I want, I can't find a provider that can match/beat it.

[peterb]

If you are getting better sync speeds with the house wiring disconnected - there is a problem with the house wiring or something connected to it.

You may need to leave the router connected (to the master socket) for a while (days) for your actual download speeds to increase, although the sync speed is usually higher than the actually obtained download speed anyway.

If it doesn't imprive, you will either have to accept the need to compromise and recognize that the financial aspects of the service are more important than the broadband speed, or go with another ISP.

The different speed test results could be a number of things - contention, bottlenecks on AOL's network to name but two.

[Antagram]

Had a play around on a friends AOL/Carphone Warehouse connection using an LLU exchange, and the internet speeds were terrible.

Regually sync at around 3300 kbps. Had some terrible speedtest.net results, and even browsing would have difficulties sometimes due to very poor speeds.

Problem is they didn't have a BT NT5 socket to eliminate house wiring.

[Jay]

my friend is on AOL upto 8Mb and get .5Mb at best, most days he gets nothing. He is dumping them for SKY (he has sky TV anyway so its free)

We have had the line, tested, new routers, different PCs and his connection still drops every day.

[Smasher]

I've been told that an engineer could attend and fit an ADSL faceplate to isolate the house wiring. Do you reckon that's a good option, and is it easy to reverse in case we have to move the router to an extension?