Ambit 255 speed issues.

[kq501]

Hi, I got my ambit 120 swapped for a 255 this morning by VM techie, I'm delighted by the stability of it and the general surf speed is noticeably improved. Pages load up in a snap unlike the general lag of before with the 120. Problem is downloading files through IE7 is extremely slow... here's my attempts at some free software trials with Google Earth, ZA Suite and Nero compared to a well seeded torrent file... (with Ambit 255)

Earth... 70.9kbs
ZA... 276kbs
Nero... 92.5kbs

Torrent... 1.1MBS (obviously delighted with this as before with my old 120 when reaching this sort of speeds it immediately cut out)

Are their any obvious reasons why I'm getting such slow speeds through IE cos I've always managed to get quite decent speeds before and again surfing is super fast.

Thanks in advance

KQ

[Hex]

I'd put that down to one of two things, either you're going through a slow proxy or the fact that these sites can be rather busy, especially google earth, so chances are they limit bandwidth per download connection.

I've just tested the same downloads myself in ie7, and firefox with no proxy

Earth... 350kbs
ZA... 195kbs
Nero... 63.3kbs

So I 'd say its the websites themselves, not a problem your end.


Edit: When testing the same downloads with a download manager with 2 connections per server allowed, speed roughly doubles (With the exception of Nero, which seems to allot bandwidth via IP) so yes, its the websites.

[kq501]

Do you know of any files which could be downloaded, which may max my speed or near enough? I used to use google earth regularly as a speed test and it always did in the past. Most other files I've tried on a list of different sites produce the same slow results. Cheers

[Richy99]

try something from microsoft

[kq501]

Tried downloading a 5mb file from Microsoft which downloaded at 97.25kbs! Under 100kbs seems the regular speed I'm getting downloading anything through IE. Again when using torrents I am seeing speeds of over 1.1mbs with strong seeded torrents, so I know I can get the top speeds. It's just I've never had any problems downloading from IE... I used to always hit average 1mbs speeds.

Any ideas? Should I call CS?

[kq501]

I called CS who told me that all is fine their end, but he told me to give Firefox a try. It didn't make much difference but I got a trial version of Download Accelerator which works wonders. Downloading over 1000kbs every time. Could the new IE7 which I recently downloaded have caused my download speeds to drop so hugely? (CS claims that a lot of calls have coincided with its launch.)

[Hex]

I'll grant you the new IE7 has caused more problems than good, that I've seen, but to be honest, download speeds from most average US web servers have been low (~<500k for me at least) ever since I got 10mb when it was first rolled out. US file servers, or UK web servers seem fine for the most part tho. I've always put it down to them limited bandwidth per connection to save money.

[kq501]

Agreed, it's just seems a little coincidental that I never had any problems getting high speeds through these servers until I decide to upgrade to IE7 and now I'm lucky to get 100kbs from the majority of them. Still, I don't mind using a decent download accelerator if that helps. I'm now delighted with my new 255 and I'm finally thinking I'm getting some value for my £35 a month.

[Richy99]

try changing your proxy if it is only http based downloads that are slow

[kq501]

Yeah, changing proxy may help. I'm comfortable using donload accelerator though. I'm just gonna buy the full version.

I'm actually quite angry now with ntl/vm... I've never got my money's worth from 10mb broadband using the ambit 120, always cutting out at high speeds, but now that they've changed it to the 255 its absolutely solid. The fact that the technician who changed it claimed that the 120s were never designed for such high speeds tells you that ntl/vm know full well that anyone with these modems combined with 10mb broadband aren't getting value for there 35 quid. I know it may be costly for them, but i now feel robbed, as I've used 10mb from its roll out. Worst is I complained numerous times in the past about my service and asked if a newer modem would help, and CS just blamed it on a loss of service in my area (glasgow)... BS!!!

Rant over :)

[Hex]

True, the 120's where never designed to handle 10mb, but if all fairness, they can. The problem is they die faster under these high loads. I had a 120 when 10mb first rolled out and sure enough it worked fine for almost a year, before it finally started to die under heavy upload bandwidth. so the moral of the story is, they can handle it, its a question of how long for.

And on the note of Download managers, a perfectly good free program is Free Download Manager (http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/) I use this myself.