# Speeding up internet



## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

We have our broadband with BT and use their home hub. My internet speed isn't great and at times unstable which is not good for my online gaming. People I'm playing against on GT6 often say that I'm lagging on their screen. My ps3 is hardwired to the router with a 'basic' cable.

Can I speed up and or affect the stability of my internet by using a better spec cable and new router?


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Have you spoke to BT at all?

When i was with BT, if things were a bit unstable, they would go through the router settings and do some checks/changes to try and improve things.


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## Nanoman (Jan 17, 2009)

I'd say it's unlikely. 

You should be getting 100Mb or 1000Mb with a cable connection. Even a crap cable isn't going to bring that down enough to affect performance when your line speed will be around 1Mb-70Mb depending on your deal with BT. 

Have you checked what speed you're connecting to the router at? It could be stepping down to 1Mb if it's not set up properly but that's unlikely. 

Check your internet speed by going to speedtest.net (don't be tempted to download some of the programs though, just run the test). 

Checking line speed (web to router) and router connection speed (router to device in the home) should help narrow it down a bit.


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## shl-kelso (Dec 27, 2012)

Checking the line connection stats in your router would be the first thing to check, to see if that shows poor line speeds, lots of CEC errors etc. Your ethernet cable is unlikely to be an issue although they are cheap enough to replace and see if it makes a difference. I use patch cables from suppliers that are usually less than £1 for shorter lengths, and only a few quid for many 10s of metres, and they all work fine at gigabit speeds with my network.

Are you connecting your router directly to your BT master socket, and is your ethernet cable from router to console fairly short? More detail about your installation would help identify potential issues.


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## pantypoos (Aug 7, 2014)

You could try this http://www.productsandservices.bt.c...c.do?topicId=25075&s_cid=btb_FURL_accelerator


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

What's your internet speed? Are you on fibre?


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

I'm on standard broadband not fibre.

My set up is quite simple. The BT home hub 3 is connected to the main house phone socked using the provided cable. Our laptop and phones are connected to the hub by wifi and the PS3 is connected by ethernet cable which is 5m long.

My current speeds from speedtest.net are:-

Ping 42ms
Download 6.2mps
Upload 0.38mps

I was in currys earlier looking at routers and they had a guide on the wall saying the type/performance your router needs to be cope with the different numbers of tech connected to it. Looking at their chart we would need the most powerful as soon we will have the following connected upto our router.

2xmobiles by wifi
PS3 by ethernet cable
PS4 by ethernet cable
Smart TV by ethernet cable
BluRay by wifi
Laptop by wifi


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## Nanoman (Jan 17, 2009)

Your upload speed is pants but otherwise your connection is OK for basic broadband. Personally I think upgrading your router is a waste of time and money if your connection is only 6.2Mbps. Even an old 802.11g box from 2003 will average 22Mbps connection over wireless and as I've said before your cabled connections should be running at 100Mbps or 1000Mbps.

If you think about your router as a car and your line speed as the wheels... at the moment you've got a BMW 3 series with wooden wheels. If you trade in your BMW for a Ferrari with wooden wheels it's not really going to make any difference. Paying for better wheels for your BMW would yield a better result. i.e. your line speed is the problem, not your router.

Another analogy is your router being a pair of trainers. If you're 20 stone and get out of breath going up stairs then spending £200 on a pair of Nikes isn't going to make you run faster!


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## cossiecol (Jun 29, 2014)

I've heard good report about people using opendns 

May be an option worth exploring.


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

Nanoman said:


> Your upload speed is pants but otherwise your connection is OK for basic broadband. Personally I think upgrading your router is a waste of time and money if your connection is only 6.2Mbps. Even an old 802.11g box from 2003 will average 22Mbps connection over wireless and as I've said before your cabled connections should be running at 100Mbps or 1000Mbps.
> 
> If you think about your router as a car and your line speed as the wheels... at the moment you've got a BMW 3 series with wooden wheels. If you trade in your BMW for a Ferrari with wooden wheels it's not really going to make any difference. Paying for better wheels for your BMW would yield a better result. i.e. your line speed is the problem, not your router.
> 
> Another analogy is your router being a pair of trainers. If you're 20 stone and get out of breath going up stairs then spending £200 on a pair of Nikes isn't going to make you run faster!


So I guess I'm stuck then until we get fibre in our area? There seems to be no real way to tell what broadband you can get from providers as they all say up to 10mb so are careful not to make claims of specific speeds.

Do you have any ideas why the upload speed is comparatively bad if the download speed is average?

I like the analogy's thanks mate!


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## hulla the hulla (May 20, 2009)

When I was on BT broadband (before moving to their fibre service), the best upload speed I would see was still less than 1mps, usually IRO 0.6 to 0.8mps . Agree it's pants but think it's just the way it is when you have the broadband service.

Have BT said when you're getting fibre in your area as that is the real/best solution ?


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

hulla the hulla said:


> When I was on BT broadband (before moving to their fibre service), the best upload speed I would see was still less than 1mps, usually IRO 0.6 to 0.8mps . Agree it's pants but think it's just the way it is when you have the broadband service.
> 
> Have BT said when you're getting fibre in your area as that is the real/best solution ?


I checked and it said on the fibre site that its coming within the next 6 months. I registered my interest anyway to help.


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## LeadFarmer (Feb 23, 2011)

Is your router connected to the master BT socket in the house?

Ive been with BT for years (wife works for them!). My BT master socket used to be in the hallway, with an extension cable running to my living room which is where my router was. When their chap came to install BT fibre he told me that because my current set up wasn't connected to the houses main BT socket then this could cause the connection to be slower than it should. He made up some new cables and relocated the master socket to my living room, and connected the router to that.


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## rottenapple (Jun 12, 2014)

Mine currently runs at 0.12 mbs at least u can say yours is faster than that lol


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## Starbuck88 (Nov 12, 2013)

You've had very good advice from Nanoman.

As you're with BT you'd need to know who has their own hardware in the exchange that you're on, like Sky for example. Otherwise you swap to someone else and you get the same speed because they actually just rent/buy bandwidth off BT Wholesale.

As above though, do you have a proper master socket in your house with built in filter (ADSL Line goes into a port at the top of the socket and phone lower down, or do you use an external filter?


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

Uswitch will tell you your options. 

Turn the othe stuff off as even just sat there phones etc use the internet still. 

Nowt you can do for gaming with that line speed really.


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## Guitarjon (Jul 13, 2012)

Worth checking to see who the neighbours/ local people are with and ask them how they find their internet speed. 

We started getting poor performance from BT on their older home hub and they upgraded us for free and it's much better now.


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## nbray67 (Mar 22, 2012)

Hi mate.

We are on EE Fibre after I got pee'd off with lag, losing connection etc etc..... while playing on-line on the PS3 on standard broadband.

This is our speeds in comparison -

Ping 42ms
Download 6.2mps
Upload 0.38mps

Ping 15ms
Download 36.62Mbps
Upload 9.58Mbps


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## pantypoos (Aug 7, 2014)

asonda said:


> You've had very good advice from Nanoman.
> 
> As you're with BT you'd need to know who has their own hardware in the exchange that you're on, like Sky for example. Otherwise you swap to someone else and you get the same speed because they actually just rent/buy bandwidth off BT Wholesale.


Use this site http://www.samknows.com/broadband/llu/exchanges to see if your local exchange has been LLU enabled if it has then you can swap your provider to one of the LLU operators which will move your connection to different hardware in the exchange as asonda has suggested, this can sometimes help with speed if the BT hardware is congested.


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

LeadFarmer said:


> Is your router connected to the master BT socket in the house?
> 
> Ive been with BT for years (wife works for them!). My BT master socket used to be in the hallway, with an extension cable running to my living room which is where my router was. When their chap came to install BT fibre he told me that because my current set up wasn't connected to the houses main BT socket then this could cause the connection to be slower than it should. He made up some new cables and relocated the master socket to my living room, and connected the router to that.


There is only one BT phone socket in the house and an ADSL filter is connected to that and that then has a connection to the modem and one to the phone.

I'm tempted to do the BT tech visit and health check-up. They say that if they can't improve your BT speed by 0.5mb its free. I take it that will be download not upload as that would more than double my upload speed! It's £90 and they also check out and optimise your computer.

http://www.productsandservices.bt.c...1_1414682470_fe1c1569b16281164f2501bdcb0c863d


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## Rob74 (Jul 29, 2012)

Might be worth looking at changing your service provider, we don't have fibre in our village & most people are with Bt or Sky and they all complain about speeds (less than 2.5mps) but the few of us that are with plus net are getting 5.5-7mps. We found the above out at a meeting with super fast north yorkshire about our bb speeds

If you could get that kind of improvement you would be a lot better off


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## Captain Fizz (Apr 24, 2014)

Also, head here:
https://www.btwholesale.com/pages/s...nity/Coverage/ADSL_Availibility_Checker.html#

See what you should be getting on your number.
If there's a difference, try swapping microfilter etc.
Also try plugging directly into the test socket (behind the plate on the wall)
Removes the in-house wiring as being an issue or not.

Also no matter what router, it'll handle 200 devices on WiFi, as many as you can plug in on Ethernet... At least for all you'll use  No point in upgrading.
Although I moved from el-cheapo router to a DrayTek and got an extra 0.5Mb when was on ADSL.

Generally not a prob with the HH3's tho.


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

If it's a normal Internet connection through your phone line it'll most likely just be crap.

Very dependant on how busy the line is so time of day will be a factor, plus speed varies depending on how far you are from the exchange.

With an Ethernet cable you have the most stable/quick connection to your router.

I used to have a normal BT line that claimed up to 16mb. Never hit more than 3mb if that. Upgraded to a Virgin fibre line and get 60mb constantly.

With a fibre connection you could play multiple on line games and watch Netflix at the same time.

Sadly your router and physical connection won't be the issue


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

Captain Fizz said:


> Also, head here:
> https://www.btwholesale.com/pages/s...nity/Coverage/ADSL_Availibility_Checker.html#
> 
> See what you should be getting on your number.
> ...


200 on wifi?

Nearer 20. (That's using it with reasonable bandwidth for all, not just connected)

It only takes one device to use bandwidth


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## shl-kelso (Dec 27, 2012)

And wifi only "talks" to one device at a time, so the more client devices you connect via wifi the less share of wifi bandwidth is available for each device.


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## Nanoman (Jan 17, 2009)

I think technically Fizz is correct and I think the point he was making was the line speed is the problem.
Also, modern APs can deal with multiple connections no problem at all. You'd need to have a hell of a lot of devices in your house and a phenomenal line speed to notice performance issues because you've connected too many devices.


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## mr v6 (Jun 29, 2007)

I'm with BT broadband too, I cam off fibre due to the over enthusiastic price. On wireless I get between 30 & 50mbps all day long. If I connect via ethernet cable (the yellow you're supplied with the HH3) I get 75mbps+ all day long.

Have you tried connecting directly to the router with that cable? Are you using wireless or an extension cable?

It may well be you're just in a poor area for speed.


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## empsburna (Apr 5, 2006)

tmitch45 said:


> There is only one BT phone socket in the house and an ADSL filter is connected to that and that then has a connection to the modem and one to the phone.
> 
> I'm tempted to do the BT tech visit and health check-up. They say that if they can't improve your BT speed by 0.5mb its free. I take it that will be download not upload as that would more than double my upload speed! It's £90 and they also check out and optimise your computer.
> 
> http://www.productsandservices.bt.c...1_1414682470_fe1c1569b16281164f2501bdcb0c863d


If you are in the Birmingham area I would do all of it for you for free.


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## spursfan (Aug 4, 2009)

tmitch45 said:


> So I guess I'm stuck then until we get fibre in our area? There seems to be no real way to tell what broadband you can get from providers as they all say up to 10mb so are careful not to make claims of specific speeds.
> 
> Do you have any ideas why the upload speed is comparatively bad if the download speed is average?
> 
> I like the analogy's thanks mate!


You cant get specific speeds on copper broadband because of inherent problems, ie...HR dis, corrosion in joint, length of copper, being the most common issues.
Call BT and say that you think the broadband has slowed down, they may send someone out to boost the line speed, I have organised this test on several lines before when controlling a team of PRECISION TEST OFFICERS.

Kev


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## BavarianRob (Mar 28, 2010)

I went from 2.5mb to 4.2mb after the bt engineer visited and made the master socket the only internet connection in the house (I.e no filters required). My net gear router connects in and runs my PC, my stepsons Xbox one through Ethernet and we have about eight devices using wireless on 5 and 2.4ghz. It does slow down if we all use it at once, but it was definitely worth the engineer visit.


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## goRt (Aug 26, 2013)

BavarianRob said:


> I went from 2.5mb to 4.2mb after the bt engineer visited and made the master socket the only internet connection in the house (I.e no filters required). My net gear router connects in and runs my PC, my stepsons Xbox one through Ethernet and we have about eight devices using wireless on 5 and 2.4ghz. It does slow down if we all use it at once, but it was definitely worth the engineer visit.


Find a router that you can load tomatousb onto and enable QoS (quality of service) thereby prioritising the traffic and giving a better and fairer allocation.


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

Personally I'd look into getting fibre asap. 
Check with virgin as they have some amazing deals so it's not actually as expensive as people think 
(I have 50mb fibre and the first year is costing me £0 a month and £144 for a year's line rental)


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

empsburna said:


> If you are in the Birmingham area I would do all of it for you for free.


Cheers dude but we are in Nottingham. Very kind offer though and I think that judging by other peoples comment setting up the visit may be the best option.


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## rottenapple (Jun 12, 2014)

Dannbodge said:


> Personally I'd look into getting fibre asap.
> Check with virgin as they have some amazing deals so it's not actually as expensive as people think
> (I have 50mb fibre and the first year is costing me £0 a month and £144 for a year's line rental)


Oh to dream, sadly not an option for most yet  or those outside high population areas anyway.


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## BavarianRob (Mar 28, 2010)

goRt said:


> Find a router that you can load tomatousb onto and enable QoS (quality of service) thereby prioritising the traffic and giving a better and fairer allocation.


I have QoS on my Netgear router, very helpful but it still slows down as its only 4.2mb.


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## goRt (Aug 26, 2013)

BavarianRob said:


> I have QoS on my Netgear router, very helpful but it still slows down as its only 4.2mb.


Stock netgear QoS is not a patch on the tomato implementation.


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