hi folks

hopefully should be an easy answer to this, im not upto speed on information for broadband but i was just wondering, can the broadband modem be plugged into any of the phone sockets in my house or does it have to be the main phone socket?

hi folks

hopefully should be an easy answer to this' date=' im not upto speed on information for broadband but i was just wondering, can the broadband modem be plugged into any of the phone sockets in my house or does it have to be the main phone socket?[/quote']

Hi Kenny

As far as I know providing you plug the splitter in it should work in any socket

Kenny, I might be wrong but I don't think it matters as long as you use an ADSL filter like you have to do an all other telecom sockets anyway...

thanks guys

do you need to buy an ADSL filter or do they come with any of the broadband deals?

just found a handy site i think clicky

thanks guys

do you need to buy an ADSL filter or do they come with any of the broadband deals?

Most of them come as part of the deal but they are only about a fiver a time

Usually when you get your ADSL modem it comes with 1 filter, which you use with wour ADSL modem.

If you want to use your Telephone, you either plug it into the same filter that has the modem, or if your phone is on another socket, you will need an additional filter, then plug your phone into that.

Steve

I got 2 x ADSL filters as part of my modem pack but they're cheap enough to buy separately...

I got two filters with my deal too.

One for the Sky socket and one for the phone/modem.

Here is another question. Wife got broad band as a chrimbo present for me. Shep got Tesco unlimited Broad band 512K. However the we connection icon says I am connected at 2.2Mbps? Is this right? As far as I know Tesco only offer 512K broad band??

PS, now I have broad band, any good FREE music down load sites you would recommend?

I got 2 filters with my modem, but I need a third as we habe 3 sockets in the house. Tesco chrage about

Try downloading a large file.

You should get 60kiloBYTES per second on a 512k line.

For free music I'd suggest learning how to use newsgroups.

As for ADSL filters , I've got a few spare if you want one.

Here is another question. Wife got broad band as a chrimbo present for me. Shep got Tesco unlimited Broad band 512K. However the we connection icon says I am connected at 2.2Mbps? Is this right? As far as I know Tesco only offer 512K broad band??

I got 2 filters with my modem, but I need a third as we habe 3 sockets in the house. Tesco chrage about

thanks for all the help guys.

now i need to decide on a broadband deal, ive been told the tesco one is good value

thanks for all the help guys.

now i need to decide on a broadband deal' date=' ive been told the tesco one is good value[/quote']

My dad is on tesco broadband. He`s very pleased with it. I don`t have any choice as i don`t have a bt telephone line here in hull :( I get a good service but a bit pricey :thumbdwn:

I'm on 1MB ADSL but my average download speed hovers around the 85-90 kb/s... Could there be something wrong thats sucking up my ability to download at 115/120kb/s as similarly compared to the 512k setup? I use a 15m RJ11 extension which maybe doesn't help? Or could a better modem be worthwhile?

I'm on 1MB ADSL but my average download speed hovers around the 85-90 kb/s... Could there be something wrong thats sucking up my ability to download at 115/120kb/s as similarly compared to the 512k setup? I use a 15m RJ11 extension which maybe doesn't help? Or could a better modem be worthwhile?

Could just be down to the Contention Ratio (ie: the number of users sharing your pipe) most home services have a ratio of 50:1. I have a 1MB connection and have occassionally seen speeds over 100Kbps but more usually in the same sort of range that you have.

Also your d/l speed depends greatly on the source server - go for a speed test here to get a better idea of your connection speed.

I'm on 1MB ADSL but my average download speed hovers around the 85-90 kb/s... Could there be something wrong thats sucking up my ability to download at 115/120kb/s as similarly compared to the 512k setup? I use a 15m RJ11 extension which maybe doesn't help? Or could a better modem be worthwhile?

Not sure on the accuracy of this but here goes:

The more people get broadband through a single exchange the slower their connections will become. (Future technology could see certain customers getting priority over the bandwidth although how this works with customer contracts I'd be more than a little keen to see.)

This has something to do with the contention so do an internet search for adsl+contention and see what comes up.

Effectively the speed you are quoted is the fastest it will run at but, as with 56k dialup, you'll rarely see all that speed.

As a side note if you have MSN or a similar messaging program running that will take a few bytes out of your download speed.

Hmmm... Thanks for that link. Apparently my broadband is closer to 512k download speeds, than 1mb.

I got 636kbps download stream, when my "connected at" box reads "1,152,000bps" Only five hundred kbps out, never mind. :(

Jason , there are two things that could affect your speed.

Firstly there is the contention ratio , which as has been said means that you are sharing a certain amount of bandwidth with other people. The more they download the slower your line gets.

Secondly , ADSL lines only used to work over lines of 5.5km from the exchange or less.

This limit has been relaxed now by using RADSL which is "rate adaptive digital subscriber line". If you are a long way from the exchange the modem will reduce the speed to compensate for the lower quality/strength signal. Having an extra 10 or 15 metres of extension cable isn't likely to make much difference on a cable run of over 5 kilometres.

Also don't forget that as well as the file you are downloading you will alos have email programs , windows updates , chat programs and so on that all use a bit of bandwidth.

Ta, Mr.Z

Its more likely to be bandwidth sharing with other local DSL users I guess. I'm only 1/2 mile from the local exchange which is cool. I was just throwing some ideas out to see if any could be the reason I get worse results. I did another line test and got about 750 (true) which is better, but not close to 1000+ I'd expect.

Ta' date=' Mr.Z

Its more likely to be bandwidth sharing with other local DSL users I guess. I'm only 1/2 mile from the local exchange which is cool. I was just throwing some ideas out to see if any could be the reason I get worse results. I did another line test and got about 750 (true) which is better, but not close to 1000+ I'd expect.[/quote']

The benchmark figure for 1mb is about 970kbps,i'm getting 930kbps and am 6km from the exchange so as your closer you should be closer to 970.Have you tried tweaking your modem?if not you could try either cybertweak at www.cybertweak.co.uk or another good one is cablenut at www.cablenut.com these programs tweak your registry settings to maximise throughput.if you've never done this before(windows default settings are optimized for dial-up!!!)which is no good for broadband i'd recommend doing so and see what your bandwidth is like then.

Some sage advice here

To add to the above comments here are a few hints that work for me.

1. Connect through a router if possible (I use a Netgear DG 834 router with firewall built in), failing that a pci dsl modem is usually better than a USB modem (I had faster speeds with a mentor pci modem than I did with a copperjet usb). Also most 'package' deals from mainstream suppliers (BT/wanadoo etc) will supply the cheapest modem possible, which unfortunately can hinder your speed, sometimes worthwhile upgrading the modem.

2. Invest in a 'good' firewall. I have found free firewalls such as 'Zonealarm' can hinder you bandwidth even with all the settings tweaked. Norton and blackIce are two very good firewalls that dont contain unwanted 'add-ons'.

3. Install Adaware SE and Spybot (both free). These will remove spyware from your pc which is one of the biggest causes of slow net speeds. Install both as one will remove what the other dosn't find. Update the detection files and run on a weekly basis.

4. Only have the programs running that you need. Many programs will check for updates while you are online without your knowledge, while this is usually not malicious it does however use up valuable bandwidth. Set your programs to update when you are not likely to use the net (but are connected )

5. Use as little cabling as you can get away with. Your line from your phone socket should be as short as possible as the shorter it is the less chance there is of 'noise' affecting your line quality.

6. Make sure that you use microfilters on every phone socket in your household. If you have Sky digital then remove the telephone line from the socket. I had a problem with sky interupting my net connection for some reason even with a microfilter fitted. I never 'press the red button' so I have no need for sky to use my telephone line.

7. Find out what contention you are on. If its 512k dsl line it will probably be be a 50/50 contention. That isn't to say that 50 user will all be online all the time but if you find that your net slows down around the peak time then you can bet that you line is heavily contested (usually 40/50 max before a new pipe is enabled). If you can afford it than try and get a 20/20 contention. If you feel as though your line is contested alot then get in contact with BT and inform them.

There are many more hints and tips but off hand i can't remember them all just those above worked for me. BTW I have 2meg dsl with Bulldog

more useful info:

Speedguide

and

Adsl guide

Good luck

most dsl lines are contested so you will see a reduction in your overall bandwidth. it`s up to the isp to provide a good speed connection so it`s best to check which isp`s contest the dsl connection and which dont. my isp (Karoo) doesn`t contest the connection so i can see speeds of up to 100k per second sustained from my 750kbps connection. when i was on 1.5Mbps i was seeing speeds of 200k plus!

2. Invest in a 'good' firewall. I have found free firewalls such as 'Zonealarm' can hinder you bandwidth even with all the settings tweaked. Norton and blackIce are two very good firewalls that dont contain unwanted 'add-ons'.

Wouldnt really touch Norton at all. Its very "fat" for a program and sucks system resources like. Sygate for a firewall is better as it is less focused on the program control side and lets you apply more settings to the individual programs.

3. Install Adaware SE and Spybot (both free). These will remove spyware from your pc which is one of the biggest causes of slow net speeds. Install both as one will remove what the other dosn't find. Update the detection files and run on a weekly basis.

Use spybot as a resident shield to protect against anything getting in, and then use Adaware for scanning and cleaning as this is what they are both best at. Also adaware will only be a resident shield in the pay version.

Some sage advice here

To add to the above comments here are a few hints that work for me.

1. Connect through a router if possible (I use a Netgear DG 834 router with firewall built in), failing that a pci dsl modem is usually better than a USB modem (I had faster speeds with a mentor pci modem than I did with a copperjet usb). Also most 'package' deals from mainstream suppliers (BT/wanadoo etc) will supply the cheapest modem possible, which unfortunately can hinder your speed, sometimes worthwhile upgrading the modem.

dunno about a router but i`ve found absolutely no difference using pci and usb modems. everybody i know on dsl connections bought the cheapest ebuyer pci and usb modems and we all get the same service speed and quality.

2. Invest in a 'good' firewall. I have found free firewalls such as 'Zonealarm' can hinder you bandwidth even with all the settings tweaked. Norton and blackIce are two very good firewalls that dont contain unwanted 'add-ons'.

i`ve stopped relying on 3rd party firewalls and just use the windows xp one now. much faster than zonealarm.

3. Install Adaware SE and Spybot (both free). These will remove spyware from your pc which is one of the biggest causes of slow net speeds. Install both as one will remove what the other dosn't find. Update the detection files and run on a weekly basis.

very good idea as you`d be amazed at the amount of junk that builds up on your pc. i was! i wouldn`t necesarily say they will improve your speed of downloading but they will make IE run alot faster!

4. Only have the programs running that you need. Many programs will check for updates while you are online without your knowledge, while this is usually not malicious it does however use up valuable bandwidth. Set your programs to update when you are not likely to use the net (but are connected )

personally i let them do what they want, on a dsl connection most updates for virus checkers or windows are quite small so only takes a few seconds (unless its a service pack update, i`d order the cd if it is!)

5. Use as little cabling as you can get away with. Your line from your phone socket should be as short as possible as the shorter it is the less chance there is of 'noise' affecting your line quality.

A good quality cable is a good idea for stable speeds. i use a belkin high speed internet extension cable.

6. Make sure that you use microfilters on every phone socket in your household. If you have Sky digital then remove the telephone line from the socket. I had a problem with sky interupting my net connection for some reason even with a microfilter fitted. I never 'press the red button' so I have no need for sky to use my telephone line.

If you`re having a problem with sky it`s likely to be the microfilter not the sky interupting the dsl connection i would have thought. one is a digital signal and one analogue. Maybe no separation is ocurring?

7. Find out what contention you are on. If its 512k dsl line it will probably be be a 50/50 contention. That isn't to say that 50 user will all be online all the time but if you find that your net slows down around the peak time then you can bet that you line is heavily contested (usually 40/50 max before a new pipe is enabled). If you can afford it than try and get a 20/20 contention. If you feel as though your line is contested alot then get in contact with BT and inform them.

i`m not poo-pooing these tips, just offering an alternative opinion.