198kbs = 1meg?

A mate of mine has just contacted me regarding his broadband speed. He has
recently joined on a 1meg connection (as I understand it), but according to
his on line speed checker, he can't get anymore than 198 kbs. I thought he
should be getting something closer to 1000 kbs, and now we are unsure. I
get about 980kbs here on my 1meg. so I assume he has a problem modem?

His computer is a 2Ghz pentium, modem is a speedtouch (I think), Internet is
Tescali.

Hope you can help us sort this one.
Harry

On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 11:07:51 -0000,it is alleged that "Harry Martin"
<(E-Mail Removed)> spake thusly in
uk.telecom.broadband:

>A mate of mine has just contacted me regarding his broadband speed. He has
>recently joined on a 1meg connection (as I understand it), but according to
>his on line speed checker, he can't get anymore than 198 kbs. I thought he
>should be getting something closer to 1000 kbs, and now we are unsure. I
>get about 980kbs here on my 1meg. so I assume he has a problem modem?
>
>His computer is a 2Ghz pentium, modem is a speedtouch (I think), Internet is
>Tescali.
>
>Hope you can help us sort this one.
> Harry
>

Which online speed checker is he using? If the number had been a
little lower, I would have suspected the old "kilobytes vs kilobits"
error, but that would be more like 120. It's possible that the
speedchecker itself was having bandwidth or congestion issues at the
time.

--
Whenever people say "we mustn't be sentimental", you can take it
they are about to do something cruel. And if they add, "we must
be realistic", they mean they are going to make money out of it.
- Brigid Brophy

The problem is more likely his ISP. Tiscali is plauged with speed problems
because they use datastream and like putting too many users on too smaller
pipe!

Dan

"Harry Martin" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>A mate of mine has just contacted me regarding his broadband speed. He has
> recently joined on a 1meg connection (as I understand it), but according
> to
> his on line speed checker, he can't get anymore than 198 kbs. I thought
> he
> should be getting something closer to 1000 kbs, and now we are unsure. I
> get about 980kbs here on my 1meg. so I assume he has a problem modem?
>
> His computer is a 2Ghz pentium, modem is a speedtouch (I think), Internet
> is
> Tescali.
>
> Hope you can help us sort this one.
> Harry
>
>

So how is he measuring this?

If he is looping back in the net then the maximum rate will be his uplink
speed (say 250kbits/S), less some for protocol, latency etc.

If not then perhaps someone is confusing bits and bytes (= 8 bits).

"Daniel" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:43a959ad$0$1497$(E-Mail Removed)...
> The problem is more likely his ISP. Tiscali is plauged with speed problems
> because they use datastream and like putting too many users on too smaller
> pipe!
>
> Dan

After speaking with my friend again, I understand that the speedtest was
done with Tescali's own speedetst website and he has also tried others.
The result he is getting is 196.10kbps or thereabouts. I have just done a
similar test here with my ISP and I am getting 986.35kbps from my 1meg
connection, so does that mean his ISP is the problem? Can he call a
technical support line to get this sorted? Or will he need to speak to BT?

Thanks to everyone for your help
Harry

Harry Martin wrote:
> "Daniel" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:43a959ad$0$1497$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>>The problem is more likely his ISP. Tiscali is plauged with speed problems
>>because they use datastream and like putting too many users on too smaller
>>pipe!
>>
>>Dan
>
>
> After speaking with my friend again, I understand that the speedtest was
> done with Tescali's own speedetst website and he has also tried others.
> The result he is getting is 196.10kbps or thereabouts. I have just done a
> similar test here with my ISP and I am getting 986.35kbps from my 1meg
> connection, so does that mean his ISP is the problem? Can he call a
> technical support line to get this sorted? Or will he need to speak to BT?
>
> Thanks to everyone for your help
> Harry
>
>
>
Best of luck for your friend trying to get any sense out of Tiscali. I
used to be with them and they were a complete nightmare. Speeds lower
than a dial up connection and support that transferred you from queue to
queue to closed department or suggested you reinstall windows.
Some people seem to do OK with Tiscali but there are numerous complaints
in various forums and newsgroups. Only real answer seems to be to move
to a proper ISP. See comparisons at ADSLguide.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Harry Martin <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> "Daniel" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:43a959ad$0$1497$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> The problem is more likely his ISP. Tiscali is plauged with speed
>> problems because they use datastream and like putting too many users
>> on too smaller pipe!
>>
>> Dan
>
> After speaking with my friend again, I understand that the speedtest
> was done with Tescali's own speedetst website and he has also tried
> others. The result he is getting is 196.10kbps or thereabouts. I
> have just done a similar test here with my ISP and I am getting
> 986.35kbps from my 1meg connection, so does that mean his ISP is the
> problem? Can he call a technical support line to get this sorted?
> Or will he need to speak to BT?
>
> Thanks to everyone for your help
> Harry

He needs to run the *BT* speed test - accessible by logging on to the BT
test network rather than to Tiscali. If it's *still* bad, it means that
there is a problem with the connection (or possibly with his kit). If the BT
test gives *proper* speeds, his problem is with Tiscali.
--
Cheers,
Tim
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

"The Invisible Man" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:kjfo73-(E-Mail Removed)...

> Best of luck for your friend trying to get any sense out of Tiscali. I
> used to be with them and they were a complete nightmare. Speeds lower
> than a dial up connection and support that transferred you from queue to
> queue to closed department or suggested you reinstall windows.
> Some people seem to do OK with Tiscali but there are numerous complaints
> in various forums and newsgroups. Only real answer seems to be to move
> to a proper ISP. See comparisons at ADSLguide.

If this is how its going to be perhaps he should consider trying to get out
of the contract?

Is there a 12 month contract with this firm?

I am quite suprised as this firm was recomended by Dell.

They are apparently offering Tescali as part of a deal on their computers.

Why would such a reputable company like Dell be getting into bed with such a
firm?

Harry

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
(E-Mail Removed) (Harry Martin) wrote:

> Why would such a reputable company like Dell be getting into bed with
> such a
> firm?

Who says Dell are reputable?

--
Paul Cummins - Always a NetHead
Wasting Bandwidth since 1981

"Harry Martin" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
<SNIP>

> Why would such a reputable company like Dell be getting into bed with such
> a
> firm?
>

Commission on introductions!! Haven't you seen the Tiscali spam asking
people to sign up - (by the way, in case that is an affiliate number in the
URL, this website is nothing to do with me, just found it through a Google
search)

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/products/nm/website/UK-137948/