Many of us are disappointed with our broadband speed. Fibre optic broadband tends to get close to the advertised rates. But with ADSL, we are at the mercy of the location in which we live. The connectivity that we attain is primarily driven by factors outside of our control.
Factors Affecting ADSL Broadband Speed :
The single most important factor in the ADSL speed we can get is the distance we are from the telephone exchange. If we are miles and miles from a telephone exchange then we’ll get a poor connection. The reason for this is that the copper cable that ADSL Internet uses loses speed of data over distance. If you are lucky and live close to the telephone exchange you are likely to receive close to your advertised ADSL broadband speed.
Testing Your ADSL Broadband Speed :
It’s very simple to do a speed test. If, for example, you are on TalkTalk, a speed test will recognise your provider, recognise your location, and when you click “Start”, connect to the nearest testing server and assess your speed of upload and download. It may also register the response time from the server. These three measures will dictate how fast you can download and stream, how fast you can send things, and how well you can game and video chat.
Shared Internet Speed Pools :
You have the option on most of these tests to share your data, and this information will be placed into a pool of information so that people that are looking to get broadband can assess the speeds of connections from different providers in their area. This can be a really useful way to get information when you’re looking to purchase a broadband connection, or switch providers.
Another important factor in broadband speed is the setup that you have on your broadband. If you have long telephone extensions, absence of microfilters, and your broadband plugged into a secondary phone socket, you are unlikely to get a good connection. Here are some tips of what you should do:
- Put microfilters between the line and every device going into it. The TV, fax, burglar alarm, and phones should all go through a microfilter into the telephone line.
- Connect your broadband router to the main phone socket.
- Elevate your broadband router to increase connection wirelessly around the house.
- Keep your router on, don’t turn it on and turn it off regularly, as the line will be judged as unstable and may well be slowed.
- Be aware of traffic management. The Internet service provider may slow your Internet speed for certain activities.
- Don’t try and connect too far from the broadband router.
- Consider upgrades of your router and microfilters.
- Keep electrical devices at least a meter away from your broadband router.
- Ensure that your broadband router is secured and other people are not jumping on your connection.
Comparing Speeds, Wired and Unwired :
It’s a good idea to do a speed test plugged in through the Ethernet cable and then connected wirelessly. This will show whether speed deficiencies are coming from wireless considerations or are actually a problem on the line or in the setup. If it seems to be a line-based fault then phone your provider and they should be able to go through extra troubleshooting and test your line for faults.
Phil Turner has a daughter who is on TalkTalk. A speed test showed her connection was a lot slower than she expected.
