Online Virus Scans

I wonder what speed DSL you guys actually get, and what the contention ratios are?

Over here you get 50:1, 20:1 and 4:1 as typical values unless you have the dedicated option.

Well the speed I gave is the actual speeds I receive in online tests. I have no idea what speed they actually advertise.

Well, over here unless you're living in the middle of London and lucky enough to take advantage of LLU (looped line unbundling), you're going to be limited to a theoretical 8Mb on BT's ancient lines, or 10Mb if you can get cable (and not everyone can by a long way).

Emphasis on the word "theoretical". In practice speeds - real speeds - in the UK are around half that. That's an average, depending on how close you are to the exchange and a whole heap of other factors, but many people can't get much above 2Mbps which was the fastest speed offered prior to the maxdsl rollout.

I don't know what current contention rates are - they'll vary anyway depending on how many people in your area have broadband - but if I remember rightly, contention was originally to be set at a maximum of 50:1, but early on people realised that no way would it be practical to have it at greater than around 20:1.

Well the same is true here, Moira. But I live in midtown manhattan which is pretty much the center of all things technical, here. However my parents out on Long Island, about 60 miles away, get about 10 to 14mb down.

Still better than the UK ... and yes, this is downstream I'm talking about. The max upstream you'll get in a normal ADSL connection is 448 (Kbit/sec).

I get 6-7k down and 750 up on my line. supposed to be 5mb/500k.

I don't understand that .... the upstream rate here is set at 448 and it isn't possible to "accidentally" get a higher rate.

Sometimes they advertise a slower speed than you might get, simply to avoid complaints. Cable companies do that here. I think my cable co. says something like 2mb down, and I get 5 to 7.

LOL, what a rip-off country I live in then! Here in the UK they do the complete opposite, ie advertise maxdsl with the brilliant speed of 8 Mbs and then actually deliver about half that to most customers :)

They do that here too (some still do) but they found they were getting too many complaints. Now, what some do is advertise the max speed you'll get, but in fine print it says *actual speeds may vary.

But the UK gets ripped off where goods are concerned. You pay the same numerical value for a product as we do here, but 1 pound-sterling = $1.70, so brits are paying 70 cents more on the dollar for goods.

My pal from Lancashire came 3500 miles to visit me, and ended up buying a pair of clarks shoes here (made in england, the sales clerk was hysterical when I told him). They were something like $25, in the UK they'd have been 25 quid.

Yes Joe,

I can see what Moira is saying. Our lot advertise the maximum values and it is really up to the user to make further enquiries such as the contention ratio.

I have been offered 8Mbps but there is a tool on their website that suggested that I should not expect more than 6Mbps, where I am located.

Yes, that's quite common, people bringing things like trainers back from the States to the UK. It's just so much cheaper to buy consumer goods there!