UK broadband is ranked 35th in the world

[TEB]

It's gets worse Mally. You (one) would think that 1 megabyte would be 1,000 kilobytes which in turn is 1,000 bytes (kilo=1,000) and 1 kilobit would be 1,000 bits. Oh no, not in computing where everything is based on binary (see Hotstuff's signature), or hexadecimal (working to base 8 not base 10)? So 1,024 bytes are a kilobyte and 1,024 kilobytes are a megabyte. Unless of course you are a hard disk manufacturer in which case, to make the hard disk you are selling seem bigger than it actually is, you base the size on the decimal 1,000 not the hexadecimal 1,024. Or should I be working in millibytes.... or nanobytes......or terrabytes (my latest hard disk is one terrabyte, allegedly)? AAAAAAARGH.

You got it the wrong way around, data transfer is measured in bits, i.e kilobit, megabit etc which is a 1000 kilobits to a megabit, but file size is measured in bytes (8 bits) which is 1024 kilobytes to a megabyte, also hexadecimal is base 16 not base 8

[Bigmallly]

Oh Blimey.........it's working, thats's the main thing..........

[sarraceniac]

Of course. Base 8 is octal isn't it? I think that in octal, one octabyte is equal to 7 white hephalumps, assuming 0=1. Or is that verse vica? It all makes perfect sense. Just like the program on atoms and parallel universes I tried to watch on BBC 4 the other night. I managed nearly half an hour of that before I imploded.

[sarraceniac]

I did - and when they tested my speed they said they couldn't better it as I was at the mercy of the BT lines.

I just accept that I have to wade through treacle with a 50lb back pack to get to the vine

Sky told me the same thing when I wanted to switch from the absolutely dreadful Tiscali. Don't know the technicalities of it (as you may have guessed) but I found a company called Fast.co.uk. They are a bit more expensive but promised me from their in the UK, English speaking, instant answering or call you back, help line that they could do better and I believed them (based on web reviews by users). They could and did. After switching, they hold me pretty steady, any time of day, at over 6000 mbits per sec. Tiscali occasionally got my line up to 2000, usually 500ish. Well worth the extra £2 a week.

[HotStuff]

Sky told me the same thing when I wanted to switch from the absolutely dreadful Tiscali. Don't know the technicalities of it (as you may have guessed) but I found a company called Fast.co.uk. They are a bit more expensive but promised me from their in the UK, English speaking, instant answering or call you back, help line that they could do better and I believed them (based on web reviews by users). They could and did. After switching, they hold me pretty steady, any time of day, at over 6000 mbits per sec. Tiscali occasionally got my line up to 2000, usually 500ish. Well worth the extra £2 a week.

If you were getting 6000 mbits per sec I think you would be very happy, I think you mean 6 mbits per sec

[Alison]

We're on a reasonably basic Virgin media package and get pretty much the full hit of what we're supposed to get pretty much all the time. Can't complain about them at all (don't have a BT phone line to the house so couldn't so anything else anyway) although if ever there is a problem then their customer service line is painful!

[sarraceniac]

If you were getting 6000 mbits per sec I think you would be very happy, I think you mean 6 mbits per sec

Sorry 6000 kbits ps. Dslzoneuk.net gives all speeds in kbits ps. I think everyone less knowledgable than you knew what I meant.

[sarraceniac]

We're on a reasonably basic Virgin media package and get pretty much the full hit of what we're supposed to get pretty much all the time. Can't complain about them at all (don't have a BT phone line to the house so couldn't so anything else anyway) although if ever there is a problem then their customer service line is painful!

Apparently Virgin's own cable service is OK. They also supply a BT line service which is allegedly awful. You can see how your ISP fares here. DSL ZoneUK - ISP ratings and reviews

[HeyWayne]

We had a virgin come round our house last night. No, wait, that's not right....

We had a guy from Virgin come round last night and we should soon be enjoying near 10MB download speeds!

Whoop whoop!

[SarzWix]

You can see how your ISP fairs here. DSL ZoneUK - ISP ratings and reviews

Dunno why Orange have got such a battering on there. We've been with them (and their predecessors Wannadoo and Freeserve) for nearly 12 years, and the one time we tried to swap (to talktalk) it all went horribly pear-shaped...

[sarraceniac]

Dunno why Orange have got such a battering on there. We've been with them (and their predecessors Wannadoo and Freeserve) for nearly 12 years, and the one time we tried to swap (to talktalk) it all went horribly pear-shaped...

All reviews and ratings are by everyday users Sarz. That is how i found my company. I never believe advertising. A friend of mine wanted a new ISP and saw all Talktalk's bumph about free this and free that. Being an even bigger tightwad than me he actually sat down and worked out the price for complete packages, land-line, mobile and web, from 6 different companies. Talktalk were actually the most expensive for 'the works' deals.

[Bigmallly]

I just used TK's tester just to compare. I think I should be pleased with the results.

[HotStuff]

Sorry 6000 kbits ps. Dslzoneuk.net gives all speeds in kbits ps. I think everyone less knowledgable than you knew what I meant.

Yes, I'm sure most people realised you'd got it wrong.