I don't wish to appear stupid
 

I am new to broadband and don't know if this is right or not.

I am on the cheapest package but had the free double speed upgrade.

Before the upgrade the speed showed 12.0 mbps at the 'computer connection' icon in my toolbar.

After the upgrade it is exactly the same.

Is this right?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Re: I don't wish to appear stupid
 

:welcome: to the site. I am sure somone will be along to help you soon.

Enjoy your stay with CF.

Re: I don't wish to appear stupid
 

:welcome: to Cable Forum :D

Someone wiser than me once said "there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers"

The connection icon in your toolbar is measuring the connection between your network card (in your computer) and the cable modem or Set top box. These typically are set at 10 mbps, so you've gained a bit. You might be using a wireless connection, typically rated at around 11mbps.

The service speed will have changed but is only apparent at the modem / Set top Box into ntl's network. The maximum speeds of the broadband service will always be less than your network connectors between your PC and the modem/STB.

Re: I don't wish to appear stupid
 

I think the 12mbps relates to the maximum speed of the ethernet card inside your PC, not the speed you're getting from Telewest ... but there are more techincal people than me hereabouts who will explain things properly.

:welcome: to Cable Forum by the way - enjoy your stay. :)
__________________

This thread is in the Telewest area and she didn't say anything about NTL ... ;) :p:

Re: I don't wish to appear stupid
 

Many thanks for the wonderful welcome.

I will have more questions soon - I intend to buy a laptop and hook it up to the connection. Now I know where to get help, thanks again.

Re: I don't wish to appear stupid
 

:welcome:

The icon that you are looking at is telling you the speed between your computer and your cable modem. I am surprised that it is 12 though, as it is normally either 10Mbps or 100Mbps. This is hugely faster than your connection speed from the modem- which IIRC is 512kbps now (?) This is equal to 0.5Mbps, so as you can see- the icon in the system tray is showing just the speed between the computer and modem, not between the modem and the internet.

If you want to test your speed run the test here and copy the results back here for someone to have a look at :)

Re: I don't wish to appear stupid
 

post edited :dunce: :sulk:

Re: I don't wish to appear stupid
 

The connection icon on your taskbar will show the speed your PC is connected to the modem at. This is totally seperate from your broadband connection speed.

To test your broadband connection speed, you need a speed tester. One good one is at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d...speedtest.html. It will produce 4 sets of results, and the column at the far right should match (or be near to) the connection speed tier you are on, when the speed is converted to killobits per second. Basically you multiply the speed your are on (which NTL and Telewest express in Megabits per second) by 1024. The result should be near (it may not be exact) the results from the speed test.

Welcome BTW.

Re: I don't wish to appear stupid
 

I did that and the results can back at between 485 and 513 k/bits per second.

Re: I don't wish to appear stupid
 

Which translates as very fast indeed. :D Looks like everything is ok. What do they advertise the speed you're paying for as being?

Re: I don't wish to appear stupid
 

Thanks Chris T

Originally 256 - then doubled to 512

Re: I don't wish to appear stupid
 

Those stats are about right then. You won't always get max speed out of your connection but that's close enough.

Re: I don't wish to appear stupid
 

Now I am happy.

Thanks again.:hyper:

Re: I don't wish to appear stupid
 

The PC will show 12Mbps if you're connecting via USB. That's the bandwidth available on USB1. :-)

Re: I don't wish to appear stupid
 

Welcome to the forum Ethel they are lovely people here and are pleased to answer any questions you throw at them :)