Broadband Speeds when changing provider

[MadameGazelle]

Hi, I'm in the process of changing my broadband provider. I was just wondering if I get a certain speed with my current provider is it likely that I will get the same speed with the new provider or could I end up with a faster/slower service? TIA

you could end up with faster or slower and many providers charge you differently for different published max speeds (you rarely get the full amount) - eg Virgin Media have 3 levels of broadband: M=10MB, XL=30MB, XXL=50MB (all to be doubled for free later this year/next) - think 50MB going to 100MB is top whack in UK at moment.

If you are not going to/from Virgin Media then you'll be getting ADSL.

In which case speeds won't vary vastly between providers since the biggest factor which affects speeds is the distance between your house & the exchange. And that hasn't changed.

It's true that your provider can put you on different profiles which can tweak the speed a bit but its not by a massive amount. For example I usually sync at around 4.8Mbps. I can change my profile and boost that to around 5.5Mbps but at the cost of stability.

That's very helpful, niceguy. My son is pressuring me atm to change broadband provider in pursuit of more speed, but looking at a website that shows the results of broadband speed-tests undertaken by householders in our locality, it seems that there is no clear advantage at all in changing. The tests show huge variations between households, that don't correlate at all with who their provider is.

Our local council (or development agency, or something) is consulting about whether to invest in superfast broadband infrastructure. Am I right in thinking that until we have that available there is nothing to be gained from changing, or would Virgin give us a better performance on the basis of our existing local infrastructure?

Unless your provider has laid cables of their own they will be piggy backing off BT lines. So, from a technical viewpoint differing speeds comes down to the deal your provider has with BT and how your provider is sharing their bandwidth allocation from BT with your neighbours.

For example, if your neighbours have signed up for mega speed package and you haven't then chances are that you will be slowed down in order to provide your neighbours with the necessary bandwidth.

If you don't want to switch providers then tell your provider that you do. They will jump through hoops to retain your custom. We were with Talk Talk and when we gave our notice they offered us a cheaper monthly fee and they offered to look into speeding us up. We changed anyway because we kept getting outtages with Talk Talk and BT was offering a good deal.

If you want more speed, you may be able to change package with your provider or move to a different service type. If you have an up to 8Mb package, I believe that's different version of ADSL to an up to 20Mb package and choosing the up to 20Mb package should make a difference. If speed is the most important factor, you should check whether cable broadband or BT Infinity are available in your area, as these will give you the best speeds, at a price, of course.

Virgin will be, in theory, much faster if it is available in your area - you can check your postcode on their website as they are cable broadband not adsl over BT phone lines as previous poster said - or BT Infinity is also a different (better) way of delivering broadband.

Thanks for the replies, I'm with AOL at the minute and getting approx 1.95 mbps, I've got a stable connection but I'm paying £15 a month for broadband and £25 a month to BT for line rental and phone calls so it makes sense to get them both from one provider, but which one I can't decide as they all seem to have rubbish reviews especially for customer service!

Hi MG

With a speed like that, I would say that if you can switch to Virgin cable then do it. Their speeds will be MUCH faster. Even if you can save a couple of quid by getting a bundle from Sky/TalkTalk/whoever then I'd argue the faster speeds of Virgin outweigh the few quid you'd save.

If you are not in a Virgin cabled area then you are stuck with ADSL over BT right now and assuming your neighbours are all getting the same speedish then the problem is you are quite a distance from the exchange.

In which case switching won't really help you get a faster speed. If you want an ISP who does broadband and telephone and good customer service then I'd recommend BeThere I've been with them for over 5 years now and their support has always been first class for me. They are fairly small in comparison to Sky/Virgin & TalkTalk but then it does mean you get a better level of service in my opinion.

Hi niceguy2, unfortunately we're not in a Virgin area, however btinfinity is coming to our street in June, but the few people I know with infInity are complaining about unstable connections wirh massively fluctuating speeds.