ADSL Speeds

[Colin L]

Frustrated yet again on coming here and finding my ADSL connection so slow, I have just run a few speed tests. Could anyone who knows about such things tell me if I am right in thinking I am paying a lot for a wholly inadequate service? I would like to know before I contact FranceTelecom just in case I start sounding off without due cause. I know fine that adverts of “Up to 8Mb” are pretty misleading , but my connection struggles just to get over half of that half the time. The figures are the highest speed attained during a 10 second test with the speeds mostly fluctuating below that.

The test results

Download (Mb)
0.91
0.66
1.30
0.88
3.62
4.13
4.32
3.91
4.28

[john]

Well,Colin,all I can say is that if you are attaining those sort of speeds you are very fortunate.

I do a similar test every month and never get anywhere near those sort of averages...usually 1mb or below. The system in this part of Céret is renowned for its stone-age speeds,and luckily I'm not one for downloading music/films etc,so it's not that much of a problem,but if you have a go at FT over those speeds ,I suspect I know what the answer will be!!

[Sav]

Hi all

You may have used this
http://www.speedtest.net/

Cheers Sav

[thumbelina]

[Sav]

Thanks for that, Sav.

My download speed for ADSL by satellite through Nordnet is 2.88 mb/s - I'm quite impressed!

C'est bon

Cheers Sav

[Roger O]

Best to use Orange's own test "DSL test (version: 2101)" which you can download via your personal a/c on their site.

The advantages are you can save the results on your hard disc and at the same time each test result is saved on the Orange server.
With that proof (make several tests at various times of day) you can fone their help desk, refer to your saved refernces on hard disc and they can access each one on their own server. This gets attention and they can't dispute the results!!
Has worked twice for me in getting improvements!

[john]

Tried this Rog,as you suggest,and the results are a little better than with speed test,but far from stunning ( 1.7 mb).

[Roger O]

The link
http://assistance.orange.fr/recherche.p ... ontext=IHD

John, it won't automatically improve much! You have to call the helpdesk, refer to the file reference()s of the DSL test which you have saved
and insist on your contract (8 MegaMax or whatever!)

If you can get the designator of your "NRA repartiteur" (distribution node) and mention that it will help!
List for PO
http://www.ariase.com/fr/haut-debit/pyr ... e-nra.html
NRA for Ceret and surroundings
http://www.ariase.com/fr/haut-debit/pyr ... 49crt.html


(At the moment I'm getting 4.33Mps which is lower than usual - between 5 and 6 - as we are located a certain numer of Km from the node in Cazilhac)

PS Just noticed current version DSL test 2.1.0.3 - downloaded upgrade and retested!
Now shows 545Kbps

[john]

The link
http://assistance.orange.fr/recherche.p ... ontext=IHD

John, it won't automatically improve much! You have to call the helpdesk, refer to the file reference()s of the DSL test which you have saved
and insist on your contract (8 MegaMax or whatever!)
]

No,that's not what I meant Rog.... I was just saying how different tests by different companies can vary greatly in their results,even if they are done at roughly the same time.

Thanks for the links though. I'll give 'em a go tomorrow.

[polremy]

2.54 here in Chavland.

[Roger O]

No,that's not what I meant Rog.... I was just saying how different tests by different companies can vary greatly in their results,even if they are done at roughly the same time.

Thanks for the links though. I'll give 'em a go tomorrow.

Yes John, I've done that via various systems incluing one located in Brazil (of all places) as I found out later..

I guess it's better, anyway, to do it directly to the operating system so you should get an accurate response (hopefully!!) and have a reference when you shout at them!!
Cheers,
Roger

[Allan]

When you carry out a speed test, you are testing the speed between your PC and a specified point on the internet. Only a tiny part of that distance is serviced by ADSL, the rest of it is France Telecom's network and then other service providers networks.

Assuming you are a FT customer than a speed test to anywhere outside FT is pretty irrelevant since the bit outside their network is outside of their control.

ADSL is in general a shared system, so your 8MB is probably shared by 20 or more other households - obviously not everybody uses it at the same time but at peak times the system can slow right down. Similarly the internet as a whole slows down at peak times. Your download speed will always be governed by the slowest link in the chain

The ADSL speed that you get is a function of the amount of traffic (other people using it) and degradation of the signal. Generally the further you are from the exchange then the more the signal gets degraded, similarly the older the phone line, the more chance of a bad connection somewhere. If you have access to your router, some of them will tell you the level of noise on your line.

A defective ADSL filter in your house can also slow it down.

Having said all of that, 4MB is spectacularly good and I'm amazed you find it slow. Forgetting about speed tests, if you find that large downloads are slower than you expect then it may be that the server you are downloading from is overloaded and cannot actually send you (and all their other users), data as fast as you can receive it. If you had a 100MB link to someone who only has 1mb then you will never download at faster than 1Mb

[blackduff]

I only take the SpeedTest.net and I chose Paris for my destination. Then I have a standard use for the test.

I can run this on many different locations, such as the McDo or the local wi-fi speeds. I get the same from various computers too.

My contract with Orange says they will provide "up to 20 Mps" but in reality I only get 6.5 - 6.7. I spoke with the Orange people and they said it's just the best available for my line. This speedtest.net shows my rating against the average rates in my area.

McDo and the Crescendo's wi-fi both have come from a Network system and it's, at best, about 1.5 mps. Slow, Slow, Slow.

I check the speedtest.net when I have my laptop at the cafe in Argeles (La Noisette). They have SFR and normally it's fairly fast. Since the last two years, their speed is about 6.5 - 6.8 or so.

My three computers are all relatively new so they run fast too. I used to have older computers and the speed was quite a bit slower.

My rate is too low for internet television but my skype works fine with video and the internet telephones work great. I won't complain at 6.5 Mps.

Blackduff

[Colin L]

Thanks for all the information everyone - most interesting and informative. More informative than these tests seem to be. I have just run a number of tests with a number of online testers and the results are all over the place. You can go directlly from one that reads 5.4 Mb to another which seconds later reads 2.2 Mb. Over half an hour the range is from 0.86Mb to 5.4Mb.

So that just leaves me with the continuing subjective impression of frequent slowness. It's a comparative thing I suppose: I am used to a VirginMedia cable connection in Edinburgh which is so much faster. Virgin claims an average delivery for 2010 of between 8.2Mb and 8.8Mb so even 4Mb is very noticeably slow in comparison.

Anyway, thanks again. I don't think I will be chasing up FT.

[Sav]

I am used to a VirginMedia cable connection in Edinburgh which is so much faster. Virgin claims an average delivery for 2010 of between 8.2Mb and 8.8Mb so even 4Mb is very noticeably slow in comparison.

This is mine Colin
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1115902397.png
I hope it has not spoilt your evening

Cheers Sav

[Allan]

Thanks for all the information everyone - most interesting and informative. More informative than these tests seem to be. I have just run a number of tests with a number of online testers and the results are all over the place. You can go directlly from one that reads 5.4 Mb to another which seconds later reads 2.2 Mb. Over half an hour the range is from 0.86Mb to 5.4Mb.

So that just leaves me with the continuing subjective impression of frequent slowness. It's a comparative thing I suppose: I am used to a VirginMedia cable connection in Edinburgh which is so much faster. Virgin claims an average delivery for 2010 of between 8.2Mb and 8.8Mb so even 4Mb is very noticeably slow in comparison.

Anyway, thanks again. I don't think I will be chasing up FT.

Again, I make the point that comparing different speed tests is irrelevant, just because the network speed between Edinburgh and London is one rate, it doesn't mean you will get the same speed to Paris or New York.

Testing the speed between Edinburgh and London checks throughput over 400 miles of which perhaps 1/2 a mile is ADSL -network traffic always goes at the speed of the slowest link. It sounds like Virgin are providing a pretty good service but if you did a network speed test to a server outside of Virgin's network then you would get a totally different result.

Even testing to the same destination doesn't provide a consistent comparison as the network route between 2 points changes dynamically depending on traffic loads.

If you want to see how fast your ADSL is then test to a server owned by your provider and in the same country

[john]

So what,in effect you are saying,Allan, is that its no use speaking to your phone company/ISP about slow ADSL speeds as it all depends on distance to your line (which they can do nowt about),and the number of people online at any one time (which they can do nowt about) .

Is that right?

[Colin L]

Thanks Allan - most informative again, if slightly baffling! What I take from what you say is that I am wasting my time trying out these various online testers as they will give me no reliable or definitive information and I may as well just go by my observation that sometimes the French Connection is remarkably and irritatingly slow?

You have certainly usefully saved me from entering into what could have been a fruitless discussion with FT, not being one to take up an issue without solid facts to support me!

Yes, I think we are well served in Edinburgh with VirginMedia. In the first six months after it took over TeleWest, the service was very bad . This according to my more knowledgeable son was because they were having to deal with the mess they had bought over. Once that was fixed, we have had a flawless fast service. Phoning their call centre during that interim period was a great experience: try pointing out to a call centre operator (different one each time of course) that you weren't prepared to start at page one of his manual and check leads and connections when what you were reporting was that their service went off at precisely 1900 hours every evening which seemed fairly indicative that it was a problem at their end. Eventually an real live engineer called round and said of course it was a service supply problem in our area and that he had been trying to tell their call centre people that for weeks!

[Allan]

This thread prompted me to re-examine the offerings from Orange (France Telecom).

When I installed ADSL, the maximum speed available to me was 1MB so I opted for their Megamax service at €24,90 per month.

Last week I phoned the help desk and asked them to test the line, they told me I could now get 2MB.

I looked at their upgrade offers and found a service called Decouverte which offers up to 8MB but at €21 per month with no minimum contract.

I switched and sure enough it is twice as fast. It doesn't offer me French Television or internet phone calls but I have no interest in those services.

Anyone who never gets more than 8MB ADSL speed should consider this service as it is a lot cheaper than their standard offering.

[Roger O]

Just to mentioçn that when I intervenede with Orage service about a year ago - I was told that because the populations of thgis and the neighbouring community are augmenting rapidly, FT is building (has installed) a second node (reponditeur) which now insures a much higher speed due to "division of labour" between the two communities. Since that time, my speeds have been consistently much higher than before. I.e. the factor of slowness due to heavy usage at certain times of day has been approximately halved. Other things, such as the installation physical distance from the node remain logically unchanged which means I will not expect to normally receive more than max 5KPS rather than 8 if I were "sitting right next to the node.

[Colin L]

I am in Sestrière in Italy at the moment (wonderful new snaw and brilliant sunshine today by the way). Anyway, the WIFI connection in the hotel is excellently fast and I have been able to access files on my computer at home and transfer a very large file from there to my laptop - which I was too much for the connection in Baho. Perhaps I will use that as "evidence" for an approach to FT

[russell]

The quoted download speeds can be very misleading. Orange or FT will make an offer of "up to" so many Mb/s. Note the "up to". The speed you get depends on many factors such as:
Exchange equipment
Number of other people on line locally
Line attenuation and noise
International link speeds
and, probably most important, speed and loading of the site you are trying to access.

The maximum speed you can get (when all else is in your favour) will depend on your distance from the exchange

I subscribe to SFR/Neuf Telecom and the offering is for 8 Mb/s. If I test the speed to a server in Barcelona I normally get a speed of 5.5 to 6.5 Mb/s but at peak times this can be halved. However if I am downloading some software from a popular server I may only get a tenth of that so there is no point in paying for a higher speed. If I am offered a speed of say 30 Mb/s by SFR it would do me no good.

Russell.