Broadband problems

[Richard Glynn]

I've just upgraded my broadband connection from 1MB to 2MB and would appreciate some advice because the connection is now slower than it was (25% the speed it was before the upgrade!)

My ISP has said that it might be because I run an extension from the BT phone socket to the ADSL router. They say that the extension cable might have 'degenerated' and I need to test the connection without the extension before they'll ask BT to do anything about it.

I'm a bit of a cinic and have never heard of this cable degeneration. Does it happen or are they pulling the wool over my eyes and avoiding the issue?

[Shaggy]

They are taking the P**S, I recently had an upgrade from 1Mb to 4Mb and I have seen a remarkable increase in speed, even through my wireless connection.

Go on....have a go!!

[DuaneJackson]

It is possible. If there is a problem with the cable that generates noise on the line then this will degrade the quality and speed of the connection.

Althogh it's a bit odd that the problem occured at the same time as the upgrade. IF you were seeing no speed improvemnet then fair enough, but not a decrease.

Either try it out, or tell them you've tried it and it made no difference.

[Rob Holmes]

I was at a clients yesterday that had broadband on an extension cable - everytime someone walked across a certain part of the floor it disconected - the rest of the time it was slow.

Could be possible - good thing is it's fairly cheap to test!

Rob