High speed DSL or scam

I'm not very informed about high speed internet, but I thought when your DSL is advertised as 768kbps that's what you get.

I recently experienced trouble with my wireless phones, unable to hear the caller at the other end, so the provider told me it's an upload problem. A speed test showed my download at 1536 kbps and my upload 300-367 kbps. The tech for the internet provider told me I should never expect the advertised 768 no matter how much traffic on the net.

My question to him was, then why not be honest and state to potential customers that your expected UL speed may be between 300-400kbps and not the falsely advertised 768? He never responded to my question but rather said "I'll see what I can do", what does that mean?

Can someone inform me, what is the truth and what should I expect regarding internet/DSL speeds?

 

I was always told you can expect up to 768kbps. when they say up to, that can mean you can get 1 up to 768. Most companies will only promise you as much as they can deliver and if you get more, then it makes them look even better but if you only get 300 they instruct you to read the fine print and somewhere in that contract it will tell you up to a certain speed.

 

hi.. they always say, "download speeds UPTO BLAH meg"...
A friend took out standard broadband with a company, not a cable company... and was getting a really really low speed... like just over a meg, they were being charged for upto 8meg.. I bench marked the conenction speed.. and told them to give the isp a ring.. they did.. got a large refund, and a major price drop. Reason being.. they are on the edge of the exchange, and swopping exchanges wont make a difference since they are on the edge of the enxt exchange.. there was no way they could even get 4meg.
anyway...long story short..... its wording.... listen to the TV adverts next time you see them... you'll notice they never say you will get whatever meg... oh.. and also.. its not megaBYTES.... its mega beeps.... mbps... or mega bips...
its that tone the facx machine makes,.... lol

 

"its mega beeps.... mbps... or mega bips...
its that tone the facx machine makes,.... lol "

Uh no its not, its megabits or bytes as thats how they measure computer speed. Not bips or or beeps. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megabyte

 

not wanting to get into an argument.. but how would you pronounce

mbps?

Whilst I agree you are correct in the mega BITs per second... (mbps)

mega beeps - megabips.... ?? pronunciation...

it also has throw backs to the number of beeps a second you got when it went thru a modulator - de-modualtor... but I'm going back to the days of plugging a a telephone receiver into a MO-DEM.(pronounced MOE - DEM, not MOD - UM)

 

Thank-you all for your input.

Any recommendations (if it's permissible) on a high speed provider?

 

Be aware that some providers block VOIP and some allow or even welcome it.

1.5M / 300k sounds like a very basic package. I would not expect too much from it.

Did the tester say why your speeds are at this level? It is normally physically possible for most (about 80%) of subscribers to receive a faster service. Some ISPs artifically limit (throttle) speeds to fit a given payment package.

I would also have though 300k was adequate for voice only comms. It does most users. You can get a full videophone service into 500k.

 

studiot,
I went back to my provider and the contract was for 3M download/768 upload.
Their explanation is that I'm not near enough to their tower to realize anything more than 1500kbps/300-367kbps. So after much wrangling they agreed to lower our cost to the price they're offering new customers.

If I had not had the initial problem, they would've continued charging us high speed prices for basic service.

I would recommend everyone with my limited knowledge on these matters, check your speed and be sure you're getting what you paid for.

Thanks again to the major geeks forum for this informative site.

 

There ya go

major:cool