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November 27, 2007

Broadband right?

We have been all lead to believe (and by the way this is government policy and has been for some years) that broadband is good for us, good for business, good for education and good for the country.

How fast then is broadband? Well that depends, and we have always thought that broadband should mean really quick speeds that will allow good video download. Now Channel Five is running a campaign to get better speeds than our internet suppliers actually provide. The Gadget Show says that actual speeds are less then we might think from the advertising, and that the "up to 8 megabits" slogan should be dropped.

So how fast is your broadband? Welll at http://gadgetshow.five.tv/jsp/speed_test.htm is a neat little test that shows the real speed you are getting. We tried it at the bish dot net office and hey! its an actual 1.892 megabits pers second, less even than the 2.2 the modem conncetion says (although the actual figure varies).

Line speed can depend on a range of factors, including the distance from the (Dringhouses) exchange), and whether there is suitable cabling in the building.

It might be worth checking your speed, joining the campaign, and asking your internet service provider to give you better speeds - some fibre optic cable down Sim balk Lane might help! 

Posted by Your local correspondent at November 27, 2007 10:03 AM

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