Broadband Speed Part 2

Doesn't have S/N issues, so no training or DLM.

Might vary a little if the network is heavily contended, but otherwise that's pretty much it.

This is the best result so far!

That's just plain greedy!

My Sherborne adsl connection

PaulR said:

That's just plain greedy!

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....... Smug Mode

Well if we're playing that game

Enough willy waving...

Different architectures, mind. Don't forget I'm on 5GHz Fixed Wireless Access, so there's real hope for other rural communities that don't fancy running in their own Fibre. Most FWA providers are small concerns championed by residents, so anyone with a bit of get-up-and-go can institute such a system in their area. Some Local Authorities will provide financial aid, too.

Captain Jack said:

Enough willy waving...

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I win on Upload ..... just a shame I've no need for that level of performance!

You could host a community Dropbox...

Good idea, Batman!

Lazarus said:

Good idea, Batman!

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Ker-pow it's a dam good idea.

Lazarus said:

I win on Upload ..... just a shame I've no need for that level of performance!

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Cough Cough.......




I'm out in Morocco (I might have mentioned before now - hence lack of input onsite) and I'm connected to the national carriers Public WiFi Network (Maroc Telecom), they have put high powered, high speed WiFi Hotspots in public places such as schools, the local library, universities, shopping parks and public squares, it's a paid network but it's pennies to connect to it.

Plans starts at +/- 80p GBP for one hour (5 MAD) and rise to around £16 for 100 hours (200MAD) and are valid for a certain duration depending on amount:
As far as I can work out the signal appears to be coming from their mobile phone masts (the signal gets better when I point my AP towards the mobile phone mast over the way) rather than CPE in homes and businesses and it looks to be either stupidly connected to/shared with the mobile network Fibre Backbone/Backlink or connected over a dedicated Fibre Optic link as the upload and download speeds are near on the same all the time and with good signal always around 60 Mbps each way (I'm thinking it's a 100 Mbps symmetrical trunk but need to get closer to the hotspot to test more).
I'm using a TP Link CPE210 in AP Client mode (WISP Client/Router) to connect to the hotspot and at the moment it's connected to a 10M Ethernet cable tied to a utility pole (about 6 foot up), outside on the front door, the 10M cable runs into a POE injector and this then runs to a 3M Ethernet cable and a 5 port 100 Mbps Netgear Switch before it hits my computer, I dare say if I mounted it properly higher up away from the interference from passing traffic and fine tuned the alignment on the (directional) TP Link I'd get more speed (this is on the to do list).
Connecting to an old 52 Mbps D-Link WiFi AP I've plugged into the switch with my iPhone I hit around 47 Mbps both ways, I need to run a speed test with the iPhone connected directly to the TP link outside later to test the WiFi that is being repeated from that box but I would think it would be around the same as on the PC if the iPhone can handle it.

The hotspot only sees the TP link connected so once I login on my PC or phone it lifts the walled garden on all connected devices (which is great as Maroc Telecom only allow one connected device per account per session not the 2 wired devices and the 2 WiFi devices I have connected now haha).

Apparently we're getting a Fibre connection installed at some point in the future (I think its FTTC not to the premises) and apparently the upload/download speeds are close to what I'm so if it's anytime soon I'll run some tests and report back.

Recently I had a BT flyer that Infinity is coming to this street (funnily, an Infinity engineer has lived 6 doors away for years but we only get the service now), and that made me do something I been meaning to do for a long time.

Decided it was time to "challenge" Virginmedia about the cost of what we get (FTTC then coax to house 70Mb/s broadband, landline, and a few add-ons, like basic TV that we never use), and it took no effort to negotiate a reasonable reduction to around £50/month (although I had to pay 12m line rental upfront to save £32 o/a) with nominal 100Mb/s broadband - so I then did the speed test on the latter, and after 4 or 5 tests this is what I got = substantial download speed improvement but no upload improvement.

OTOH, only took the guy a few minutes to change the settings, remotely reboot the modem and so on.

Overall the effort was worth it and saves me around a couple of hundred £s a year - still a very big bill though

BTW : the original BT copper from the local pole has been there unused for over 20yrs and I shudder to think how much hassle I would have to go through to get them to replace that to make sure we got good signals in the house - as well as the fact that the existing router is in an upstairs office (was a bedroom) which would have meant quite a bit of difficult wiring from the "new" telephone connection point/splitter to the replacement router (which I would want in the same place) - and then there is the "little matter" of BT Infinity's dubious reputation for reliability & service. In other words, there would have been too much effort and "risk" to really jump from VM to BT .

PS: Might have another go in a few months (not too greedy, not too soon!) to see if I can beat them down a little more with the threat of changing to Sky

I do the same thing with Admiral on our 2-car (one of which is modified, so tends to be a little difficult to get cover for) insurance policy - every year now, I "look around" and get individual quotes for each, and this year I got Admiral down the to the same/less as last year, and for very little more than the combined prices of the cheapest other quotes elsewhere but with a lot less hassle. FWIW, both the Admiral and Virgin guys mentioned that we are long-standing customers and that does seem to "count"- probably not a lot, but worth "working on" in the future

Just had an email from Which Magazine offering an alternative broadband tester if anyone is interested, email addy and other details required
click here

Topper said:

Just had an email from Which Magazine offering an alternative broadband tester if anyone is interested, email addy and other details required
click here

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I think it is "important" to be consistent in the tester that you use - otherwise the results might not be comparable.

Just tried the new speed test and the old one

New test




Old test



Wildly different.

What server does the first test use? To compare the two testers (test the testers) they should both use the same server. Assuming they both use Ookla, that is.