Why is my 2.2 meg pipex connection so poor?

I recently upgraded my pipex connection from 512k to 2.2 meg.

I was surprised at how quickly the upgrade was done. I requested it at 10
am, the pipex guy told me that it would be done in 7-10 days, but by 2pm it
had already been done.

Anyway that day, I went to the DSL speedtest on dslguide.org, and my d/l
rate was 2016k, however over the last couple of days, it seems to be on par
with a 1meg connection. I get reports of 965k or worse still 608k. On my
connection it says connected at 2.2M. Can Pipex or BT restrict it so that it
only connects at 1M?

Another thing I noticed was that my exchange ( south harrow) on the
following website has a red dot:

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/ex...p?ecode=LWSHAR


I haven't changed any settings on my PC that I am aware of, and the speed
tests were done with no other applications open.

Can anyone shed any light?


TA

"Aosmosis" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:hJqdnTijD-(E-Mail Removed)...
>I recently upgraded my pipex connection from 512k to 2.2 meg.
>
> I was surprised at how quickly the upgrade was done. I requested it at 10
> am, the pipex guy told me that it would be done in 7-10 days, but by 2pm
> it had already been done.
>
> Anyway that day, I went to the DSL speedtest on dslguide.org, and my d/l
> rate was 2016k, however over the last couple of days, it seems to be on
> par with a 1meg connection. I get reports of 965k or worse still 608k. On
> my connection it says connected at 2.2M. Can Pipex or BT restrict it so
> that it only connects at 1M?
>
> Another thing I noticed was that my exchange ( south harrow) on the
> following website has a red dot:
>
> http://www.samknows.com/broadband/ex...p?ecode=LWSHAR
>
>
> I haven't changed any settings on my PC that I am aware of, and the speed
> tests were done with no other applications open.
>
> Can anyone shed any light?
>
>
> TA
>

Mine is the same, Norwich.

I'm sure someone will correct me if wrong but I think it just means there
are lots of users and not enough bandwidth, especially at peak times. Due
to be remedied by an upgrade (on 30/06/2005). Which will just be shoved
back like my exchange until BT gets off its backside.

You just did the low result test when it was busy. Nothing you can do but
live with it.

Or go around all your neighbours houses with a pair of wire cutters !!

Aosmosis wrote:
>
> I was surprised at how quickly the upgrade was done. I requested it at 10
> am, the pipex guy told me that it would be done in 7-10 days, but by 2pm it
> had already been done.

What made you think so? Did you check your reported connexion rate
before asking for the upgrade?

> Anyway that day, I went to the DSL speedtest on dslguide.org, and my d/l
> rate was 2016k, however over the last couple of days, it seems to be on par
> with a 1meg connection. I get reports of 965k or worse still 608k. On my
> connection it says connected at 2.2M. Can Pipex or BT restrict it so that it
> only connects at 1M?

Yes. All connexions are moving to 2Mb/s download as far as the
physical connexion is concerned. It is then up to your ISP to limit your
throughput to whatever they like (== whatever you are paying for) by how
*often* they send you the packets.

But even if you do have a 2Mb/s connexion from pipex there is still
contention to consider.

--
Just because I've written it doesn't mean that
either you or I have to believe it.

"Aosmosis" wrote in message
from 512k to 2.2 meg.
>
> I was surprised at how quickly the upgrade was done. I requested it at 10
> am, the pipex guy told me that it would be done in 7-10 days, but by 2pm
> it had already been done.
>
> Anyway that day, I went to the DSL speedtest on dslguide.org, and my d/l
> rate was 2016k, however over the last couple of days, it seems to be on
> par with a 1meg connection. I get reports of 965k or worse still 608k. On
> my connection it says connected at 2.2M. Can Pipex or BT restrict it so
> that it only connects at 1M?
>
> Another thing I noticed was that my exchange ( south harrow) on the
> following website has a red dot:
>
> http://www.samknows.com/broadband/ex...p?ecode=LWSHAR
>
>
> I haven't changed any settings on my PC that I am aware of, and the speed
> tests were done with no other applications open.
>
> Can anyone shed any light?
>
>
> TA
>>>>>>>>
I'm having exactly the same problem. Probably best to have a look around the
web for some information on tweaking your connection. I have downloaded
Dr.Tcp and am in the process of trial and error with numerous different
settings. I could not find any information on pipex website and the
newsgroups seem to be full of useless information.

Like me, if you are paying for a 2mb connection, this is exactly what you
should be getting. A couple of my friends are with BT and they also have
2mbs connection with more or less the same results as you had ast first
before it started getting slower. So there is plenty you can do and you dont
have to "Live with it" If I find some settings that work for me I will post
back and let you know. Until then, it is trial and error until you can
eventually find a setting that works for you.

Eileen
<<<<<<<

Eileen wrote:
>
> Like me, if you are paying for a 2mb connection, this is exactly what you
> should be getting.

You are actually p[aying for a 2Mbps connexion with a contention rate
of 50-1.

> So there is plenty you can do and you dont
> have to "Live with it" If I find some settings that work for me I will post
> back and let you know. Until then, it is trial and error until you can
> eventually find a setting that works for you.

I have a 1Mbps connexion. I ran the ADSLguide.org.uk speed test last
week and from Windows I got anything from 87(!!) to ~995 kbps. It was
usually between 500 and 800. When I ran it from Linux (same hardware) I
get about 1050 all the time. And yes, I did boot between the different
OSes several times.


--
Just because I've written it doesn't mean that
either you or I have to believe it.