7thfloor, http://www.adslguide.org.uk/ is probably the best since it is based in the UK and will be more accurate (most are in the US). There is also a way to do a speed test with BT wholesale thereby avoiding the ISP and any delays they may be introducing. Details are somewhere on the ADSL guide site.

SC

The most likely causes are that it has lost the security key of can't find a DHCP server.

To access the BT Wholesale test, bypassing your ISP:

1. Change the login your ADSL modem or router is using to speedtest@speedtest_domain, the password can be anything.

2. Browse to http://www.speedtester.bt.com, enter your telephone number and run the test.

This is really only useful if you suspect your ISP is not performing as it should. Bypassing it enables you to check what it should perform like in theory.

Speedtesting : Thanks Kayak and Robber.

PC Pitstop says I'm downloading at 936kbits/sec & Bt says it's 1426 Kbps. Confusing or what?

BT test also says :

BT would regard the speed ranges shown below as normal service:

For 250kbps End Users speeds between 50 - 250kbps.
For 500kbps End Users speeds between 100 - 500kbps.
For 1000kbps End Users speeds between 200 - 1000kbps.
For 2000kbps End Users speeds between 400 - 2000kbps. (What a range!!!!)

Edit: Going back to my original speed tester. Visualware says that at 1.25Mb (which is what it says my speed is) I would be able to download 10Meg file in 1 minute, yet BT support is saying that 10 Meg file will take approx 50 seconds with 2Meg service.
Different standards???? I thought it was all pure maths!

7thfloor, you have to remember that the internet is a dynamic medium, you do not have direct point to point connections and information is being routed, there are many different routs that data can go to get between you and wherever you are accessing. When you add in the load on your PC and on the server hosting the pages or files plus possible bottlenecks with some routers it end up being very variable.

Optimist, thanks. I'm sure that's it having thought about it. I connected it to father-in-law's security enabled wireless router and the problem has occurred since then. I'll make mine the same security key as his and that should do it - running the same router. Will report back :-)

7thFloor, I would not place much reliance on the PC Pitstop or Visualware results since their servers are in the US and transatlantic bandwidth will play a part. ADSL Guide (at http://www.adslguide.org.uk/tools/speedtest.asp) is UK based and pretty reliable, BT will be the most reliable but excludes the ISP effects.

Try ADSL Guide and BT at night (after 11pm) and they should approach 1800-1900 kbps. You'll never get the maximum 2048kbps since there is overhead in the TCP protocol. During the day it will tend to vary down from the maximum but if you are getting 1426 kbps consistently I would certainly complain.

Ensure however that before you try the speed test you close all running windows and anything that might be using the internet.

7th floor, I would also normally recommend adslguide.org for the same reasons as Kayak but have found that their speed check wasn't working for me today. Hope you have better luck.


Neil

adslguide speedcheck seems to have been very overloaded recently, it often says its not available due to max number of tests being run, i agree with the others thats its about the best quick checker.

Another lap top gone tits up!
Got one with a blue screen, a load of technical mumbo jumbo preceeded by "kernal_data_inpage_error"..cant keep throwing these poxy lap tops away, must be me?
This ones a Dell Inspiron 8500
Got this problem before on one i chucked, was told by the guy in the shop "it was probably caused by a device driver"..i just said thanks and walked out none the wiser, is it fooked or can i cure it, it wont even switch off?
Please answer in a style to be understood by a simpleton!

Optimist, all sorted now. Have used the same security code as my father-in-law's wireless router - problem occurred because it was the same type as mine but the laptop couldn't differentiate between them.

SC

I'm glad your sorted. Make sure that all of the wireless access points have a different and non default SSID. This will enable your laptop to distinguish them.

Dailos

I will happily take that laptop off your hands ;)

More seriously, it is most likely a fairly minor disc error that has caused the problem. You could probably repair it with the installation/recovery CD and still retain your data. I would expect the worst case to be a complete format and reinstall or possibly a new hard disk (less than 100).

Edit.

If you do use the recovery disc, this wil restore the system to it's original state, no recent security updates and possibly pre SP2, try to connect to the internet behind a firewall untill you get the system up to date.

Dailos:

A very old rule for computer techies to remember is:

"To the ordinary user, most software problems look like hardware problems."

It's a 90%+ bet that you simply have a screwed up piece of software.

Otherwise, it's a relatively easily sorted disk problem. The message will be "KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR" (two E's in kernel as in kernel of a nut, the core of the operating system).

"The guy in the shop" is frequently clueless, IMHO.

Which OS are you running, Win XP, perchance?

Let me ask my engineers tomorrow . . .

Cheers

MM

Kayak. Thank you for the link, it has set my mind at rest.

Your Connection
Direction
Actual Speed

Downstream 1852 Kbps (231.5 KB/sec) True Speed: 2000 Kbps (inc. overheads)
Upstream 242 Kbps (30.3 KB/sec) True Speed: 261 Kbps (inc. overheads)


'Actual Speed' is the amount of useful data that your connection can transmit/receive per second.

Dailos, these techies know nothing. Your laptop is stuffed. Send it to me and I'll happily confirm this by examining it and reporting back. It won't be worth posting it back to you so I'll dispose of it carefully.

Dailos,

If you're in the Reading area, and can drop your laptop off with us at IST, we'll have a look and see if we can get you on the air again. If we have to buy any bits, you can pay for those and, er, a large glass of wine for me in the local hostelry.

Mail me via MAM.

Cheers

Derek
--

Spoilsport!

Optimist: thanks for the reply

Mighty Micro: thanks for your help and kind offer, am having a week of drunken fun at Cheltenham races and have taken the lap top into a dodgy shop in Oxford. Man in there said "i'll sort it out for 60 quid cash mate" i said my goodbye to the lap top as i left!

Seymour: you aint having it! :-)

Neither are you Dalios from the sound of it! :-)

Got 2mb Of PIPEX Today.Is this reading ok?

Downstream 1355 Kbps (169.4 KB/sec) 1463 Kbps (inc. overheads)
Upstream 150 Kbps (18.8 KB/sec) 162 Kbps (inc. overheads)


Re started Router now.

Downstream 1763 Kbps (220.4 KB/sec) 1904 Kbps (inc. overheads)
Upstream 238 Kbps (29.8 KB/sec) 257 Kbps (inc. overheads)