Webuser Forums: BB Downstream Compared To Speedtest Result?

Hiya all,

I finally made the jump away from Eclipse due to their poor download speeds and today migrated over to Fast.co.uk!

My speeds have not changed at all! Although my main Downstream rate on my router has gone up!

I am confused

Quick explaination -

Eclipse adsl broadband currently have problems and i was told I was one of the small number of customers suffering slow download speeds! This went on for 2 months with no improvement! At some stages on Speed Test websites I was only achieving download speeds of 64kbps lol

So, after careful consideration and looking into things like fair use policies etc etc I decided to pay the price for a decent speed and moved to a highly rated ISP who does not cap or block ports etc! I only have a 40gb limited download for double the price of what most people get unlimited for but like I said, the speeds are supposed to not be affected like other ISP's!

Anyway, I appreciate today is the 1st day in my initial period of finding a stable line rate however I did a speed test and only got a download speed of 200kbps so I called the ISP and the told me to check my Downstream rate on my router. I did and it read 3865kbps! He then told me to unscrew the face plate of my BT socket and just plug the router in by itself and see if the downstream rate changed. I did, and IT did. It went up by 1000kbps to 4864kbps! He told me that dust or a dirty connection could be causing my slow speeds.

Now after explaining the above I can ask the question I need answering =

Why is my downstream rate in my router (Linksys Gateway WAG54G V.2) being shown as 4865kbps but when I run a speed test on the link which Fat Controller has posted on this same section of the forum my speed tests are coming back at 614kbps?

I understand that factors like volume of people using the internet affect your speed but those two figures above are so different! I thought the downstream rate was what your line is currently reaching! If mine is 4865kbps, shouldnt it atleast be nearly the same as a speed test?

Could there be something wrong with my router?

Any help or advice would be greatly received because to be quite honest I am getting really annoyed now! I have been to a neighbours house about a 1 minute walk away and his speeds were 3-4mbps! There must be something wrong somewhere or I am not quite understanding that Broadband will drop so much during busy periods?

Thanks in advance

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