some speedtest sites for those with problems that might want to use.
giganews servers are in europe.
the 2nd one uses usa servers but the ny one should easily max out a 3mbit connection.
these tests are good for testing the throughput of external traffic outside of ntl's network and uk peering routes. They better then robin walker speedtest because (a) the files on there are small and not true indication of sustained transfer rate and (b) its hosted on ntl's network and doesnt reflect peering throughput.
my current speed in giganews is 1100kbps last night at 3am was 1975kbps
on the speakeasy NY link it is 1569kpbs down and 178kbps up. 1885kbps and 184kbps using the colc2 proxy.
http://www.giganews.com/test_connect.html
http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/
I find these sites a good way to test proxy throughput as it is quite easy to vary the result. Later on I might post results with a few proxies.