Unbareable SLOW internet connection

Thought I'd ask about this here as you are all so wise

I've been with sky since I moved in here 2 years ago and my internet has always been slow but it's now driving me nuts!
I may as well still use dial up it's that bad
I've not asked sky yet but to be honest I'm sick of phoning one company or the other about problems.
To give an example of how slow it is, a simple youtube video will not load whilst I play it, I have to pause it and wait around 10 mins for the whole thing to load so I can then watch it. This also means I can't watch catch up tv etc.
Is there anything I could maybe do myself to make it quicker? I checked the coverage in my area, I can't get super super fast broadband, but I can get the middle level of fastness, apparently anyway!

It's only me that uses the internet, I've tried fiddling with internet options but to be honest, I don't know what I'm doing
I do have a new router spare after they sent me a new one when my line went down for a couple of days but I'm not sure that would help?

Any help is VERY welcome!

[Scrooge]

First thing I would do is unplug your current router, then plug it back in.

Clean up your hard drive : right click on your primary drive, click properties, then click disk clean up.

Next I would download CCleaner,

http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

Download and install it, run the cleaner option.

Just download the free one.

Lastly,I would degrag it, I use Auslogics

http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/

Defrag the heck out of it.

If your still not running any quick, call your service provider.

Are you using a wireless connection?

If so, just as a test, can you try switching off wireless and using a cable to connect the PC to the router and see if that is any faster. Make sure that wireless is switched off/disabled when you try otherwise it will still connect via that.

How far are you from the nearest exchang? That can affects it sometimes too.

[Neil]

You can do a broadband speed test here, which will be quite useful for you.

Also, you can then use this page to see what speeds others in your are getting if they have done the test also.

Might be a good place to start.

Hi Lizz,

My approach to this has always been to see what the line is capable of - often if you access the BT website, you can enter your home phone number and it will give you a rough idea of the speed your line is capable of (this assumes you are on a BT line with your Sky).

The do the speed test - which Neil has linked to above which will indicate what you are currently getting vs. the estimated speed for your line.

Then contact Sky. They should complete a number of checks for you and it could be a whole number of factors i.e. lots of wifi interference in your area, other DSL filters on lines in your property etc.

Let us know how you get on.

Luke

[mitchja]

Do you know if you are on Sky Connect or the proper Sky LLU ADSL package (there's 2 LLU packages available called Sky Broadband Everyday Lite or Sky Broadband Unlimited)?

If you are on the Sky Connect package, you are outside a Sky network area and can only get the 'upto 8Mb broadband' which is supplied via the crappy BT Wholesale network.

The Sky connect package gets absolutely hammered. It's one of the worst packages sold on the BT Wholesale network. Lots of people complain how slow it gets at peak times. It's also very over-capacity.

If you are on the proper Sky LLU 'upto 20Mb' service, you should have a constant speed at all times day and night. I certainly do.

The way to check is log on to your Sky router (type 192.168.0.1 into your web browser, it will then ask you for your userID and password. If you have not changed these, the default userID = admin and the password = sky)

Once the web page loads, click on 'Show Statistics', a pop-up window will then show and you should see something like this:

DSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 23068 kbps 796 kbps
Line Attenuation 10.0db 6.8db
Noise Margin 6.6db 17.4db

If you are on Sky connect your connection speed for the downstream will be no more than 8024 kpbs and your upload speed will be no more than 448 kbps.

It does sounds like you are only on Sky Connect.

If you are on Sky connect and you have fulfilled your 12 month minimum contract, the only real option is to migrate to another ISP. Check through with Sky though as they are continuing to roll out their broadband network and install their own equipment in telephone exchanges. My exchange only recently got Sky installed. Usually if customers are on Sky connect and the Sky enable that exchange, they will contact you to tell you the upgrade is available.

You can check what ADSL services are available in your telephone exchange by entering your telephone exchange name (or code) into this page
If proper Sky LLU is enabled you will see 'Sky / Easynet: Enabled' in the list of LLU operator presence.

Hi Lizz,

My approach to this has always been to see what the line is capable of - often if you access the BT website, you can enter your home phone number and it will give you a rough idea of the speed your line is capable of (this assumes you are on a BT line with your Sky).

Luke

This has been useful for me in the past, but it can give random figures sometimes. It once said I could hope to get a maximum of 3Mbs, when I was getting 18Mbs...

This has been useful for me in the past, but it can give random figures sometimes. It once said I could hope to get a maximum of 3Mbs, when I was getting 18Mbs...

18mb - lucky!!

I barely manage 2mb, too far from the exchange!

Common reasons for sudden decrease in speed are interference/faulty or incorrectly connected microfilter.

Have you tried removing every other connection to the phone line then comparing the speed?

Is it possible that you have an unsecure connection and someone else is sponging your bandwidth off you?

I think its simple to put a password on your router thingy.

[mitchja]

Hi Lizz,

My approach to this has always been to see what the line is capable of - often if you access the BT website, you can enter your home phone number and it will give you a rough idea of the speed your line is capable of (this assumes you are on a BT line with your Sky).

Luke

This has been useful for me in the past, but it can give random figures sometimes. It once said I could hope to get a maximum of 3Mbs, when I was getting 18Mbs...

Be very careful doing this these days, you are often giving the ISP the only 2 sets of info (telephone number + post-code) they need to go ahead and sign you up without even agreeing to anything.

TalkTalk are one of the worst for this. If you enter your telephone number + postcode into their own line checker on their website to see if you can get their product and at what speed, they log your details and an automatic sales call will be made to the number within 24hours. TalkTalk are also notorious for 'slamming' lines; that is even if you say no to them if you get a sales call or a door-to-door cold call, they often go ahead and sign you up anyway as all they need is your telephone number + post code and next thing you know you receive a TalkTalk bill. They even automatically go and cancel your existing broadband + line rental.

First thing I would do is unplug your current router, then plug it back in.

Clean up your hard drive : right click on your primary drive, click properties, then click disk clean up.

Next I would download CCleaner,

http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

Download and install it, run the cleaner option.

Just download the free one.

Lastly,I would degrag it, I use Auslogics

http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/

Defrag the heck out of it.

If your still not running any quick, call your service provider.

Just d/l the one from auslogics - and I love the way you can see all the squares - as used to be the case with windows. And yeah, I know just how sad that makes me

I think its simple to put a password on your router thingy.

Hey, slow down professor! Enough of your techno-babble already!

Thanks for the info guys, I knew asking here was a good idea!
I'm busy with work nonsense at the moment but when I'm off on Saturday I'll have a proper read through and see if anything works, I'll let you know how it goes.