Just connected

[#1]

Hi Everyone,
Just a little bit of feed back on my new connection. Got connected yesterday, PlusNET reported a possible 29mb connection, and according to the BT Engineer Im sync'ing at 40mb (due to distance from cab). A big woop woop from me as I was only getting 3mb with my previous ISP.
So onto the Speed tests and....doesn't look like im getting 40mb (or 37 as per sync speed), downloading content @ 1.9mb, and speed checkers suggest a 22-24mb connection. Not that Im being greedy or anything, but thats quite a chunk off what I'm 'supposed' to be getting.
Not sure if its just me or not, but youtube content barely keeps up. HD content is virtually unstreamable (traffic shaping perhaps?) Plus I cannot see what sync speed Im getting on the router, guess all thats hidden on the modem (which cannot be accessed?).
Any thoughts?
Deej

[#2]

Hi Deej!
What speed checkers are you using? The best and most accurate is BT's http://speedtester.bt.com/ I would suggest running this in the morning, evening and after 1am (if you can)
I am also sync'd at the top rate but my connection does occasionally dip to around 23mb (how queer its the same?) I reckon due to peak traffic which cant be helped, and lets be honest, is 23mb really that bad?!?!
For the downloading of content, unless you have the pro add-on, downloads will be restricted during peak times.
This is also true for streaming, however most streaming (including Hi-Def) should work fine as AFAIK the traffic management allows for this. What could also be at fault (for me also and many other users) is your pcs performance. Mine is capable of streaming anything Hi-Def and playing blu-rays, yet struggles with iplayerHD and with youtube I have to let it load fully before playback which is annoying but only takes a second or two. So might be worth seeing if your maxing your cpu out.
And yes, annoyingly BT dont want us to see the line stats, the only way you can check your sync is with the above checker.

[#3]

Looks like Youtube are doing some shaping of their own.. see Here
from what i remember, browsing is limited to 20meg after 18:00 hrs... to maintain good service of course (20 meg should be more than enough though tbh)
See Shaping limits on various plusnet products
Could be where your downloading from. Dont forget as speeds get faster more content providers are again struggling to 'serve' everyone at the same time (sounds like the start of the ADSL roll out tbh!)
Regards

[#4]

Hi Chaps,
Thanks for your replies. Im not really complaining, 20mb is a massive advancement from the 3mb I was getting, so nothing to be snuffed at.
I do however, like getting the best of my setups, and this unfortunately is not an area of expertise for me, so still finding my feet.
I've tried the BTSpeedTester and its reporting 32mb. What I also found odd was I found this site http://www.thinkbroadband.com/download.html and downloaded the 1GB file and got a whopping 4.1mb (constant) download rate, but this is the only site that lets me get those speeds.
Deej

[#5]

If you use Steam, ive managed to pull 4.3MB/s (about 34.4mbit) constant over FTTC, and there is usually plenty of bandwidth to play with
You noticed any drops from your router (i know you cant see the modem) would be curious to see if your uptime is good, or your getting lots of drops (if your getting pings of 30+ then interleaving has been applied due to instability/a problem)
Regards

[#6]

Just tried Steam, and looks like Im hitting 2.4mb and nothing more. Router has not dropped the connection for almost 4 days (which I caused by rebooting as a port was not routing properly) and 18ms pings.
I cant help but feel that Im being a little greedy with this, 2.4mb download rate isn't anything to be snuffed at I suppose. Need to find an excuse to do some midnight surfing without raising suspicions with the other half
Deej