Optimising your Broadband Connection

[Keiran2K8]

Using a CAT-6 would be faster, However you would only see the difference over a LAN and transfering large files!

[NewsreadeR]

if i use a CAT 6 does the connection be quicker??

Not on the internet nope

[NewsreadeR]

Originally Posted by FibreOptic

Using a CAT-6 would be faster, However you would only see the difference over a LAN and transfering large files!

Only if you have gigabit lan network cards at either end

[Keiran2K8]

Because the Netgear Router supplied supports, I think only

• 10/100 Mbps

You wouldnt see a difference, However using a CAT-6 eliminates the issue of of Bad Connection to the Router!

[SilverJDM]

I'm well confused...

These are facts, I'm using XP, Sky Mid package, wired connection & 2.93 kms as the crow flies from the exchange.

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 1184 kbps 416 kbps
Line Attenuation 62.0 db 31.5 db
Noise Margin 17.4 db 13.0 db

I have done speed tests at Namesco BroadbandMax ADSL Broadband Bandwidth speedtest | Test your ADSL Broadband connection speed and get these results
Download Upload
889 339
989 331
992 329
989 341

Surely I should be getting better results than this, is anybody willing to hold my hand & walk me through getting better results, I have tried the optimizer but it didn't improve anything & I'm now not sure whether my MTU should be be set at 1500 or 1492 with what has been written in previously written in this forum...

Is my Noise Margin high or acceptable?

Yours
Confused!!!

[Saturday]

Looking at your stats it looks very probable that you've had your connection capped by Sky. Your speedtest results are entirely consistent with the connection speed reported by your router.

However, even uncapped with an attenuation of 62db you aren't likely to get a higher router connection than 2500kbps which would translate to a speedtest download speed of ~2100kbps.

TCPOptimizer will not improve your router connection speed.

An MTU of 1500 is fine as is one of 1492.

Your noise margin is excellent but this is almost certainly because you have been capped. When/if uncapped expect this to drop to ~7db.

[SilverJDM]

Maybe a stupid question, but why would Sky have capped my connection?

I don't use the internet excessively just for email and general internet things, I don't download music or films (yet) & when I was with my previous ISP I didn't go over my 2Gb usage limit once. The reasons for moving to Sky BB were cost & so that I could download music & films but at these speeds I won't bother as I'm not the most patient of people

[Saturday]

Ah - different form of "capping"

In this context I mean Sky has capped your router connection speed, presumably because there are problems with your line. Line problems are magnified by high speed connections and limiting the connection speed is sometimes the only way to suppress them. You need to call Sky and challenge why they have done this. To get a bit above 2meg which is all your line attenuation (attenuation = length) will allow, you may need to improve your connection filtering. See the cabling and faceplate help forum for more info.

The capping you are thinking of is when an ISP limits the amount you can download not the speed.