BT Total Broadband - Making the Most of Your Broadband Experience

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BT Total Broadband

Making the most of yourbroadband experience



2 BT Total Broadband

About this guide 3

Understanding speed 4

How to check your speed 6

10 steps to improving your 8broadband experience

How BT can help you 14

Contents



Making the most of your broadband experience

With BT Total Broadband, we’re committed to giving you the most complete

broadband experience. This handy guide has been designed to help you make

the most of your broadband.

This guide will help you to:

• understand more about how broadband works and what factors and features

affect your use and enjoyment of the internet

• measure your broadband speed and interpret the results

• make sure you’ve set up your equipment and computer to get the most out

of your connection

• nd out where to get expert help and advice if you need it

How to use this guide

New to broadband?

If you’re new to the basic principles of broadband speed, we recommend that you reathe sections of this guide in order. This will help you familiarise yourself with the main

ideas and terms before exploring how you could improve your internet set-up.

Know about broadband?

If you’re an experienced broadband user, you may nd it more useful to browse this

guide for the sections of most interest to you.

Throughout the guide, you’ll nd links to our web site, www.bt.com, which contains

more detailed information about broadband speed as well as other helpful advice.The web site is updated regularly, so you’ll always be able to nd the most up-to-date

information there.

About this guide




Whenever you’re using the internet, you’re using lots of different connections

(e.g. between your computer and Hub or router, Hub or router and phone socket,

phone socket and local exchange etc.).

Your computer set-up and the way you connect to the internet is likely to be different

from anyone else’s – and your speed is likely to be different, too.

The speed at which this information travels backwards and forwards over these

connections can have a signicant effect on your overall broadband experience.

The internet

Phoneexchange

Phoneline

Understanding speed




Faster speeds can help you get a better broadband experience:

• web pages load quicker, even pages with lots of pictures and animations

• videos and animated pictures run smoother and with fewer interruptions. You can

also watch higher quality content, for example High Denition (HD) video

• you can download les to your computer in less time. This is most noticeable withlarger les, such as photographs

A little more about broadband speed

While your home set-up is important, the starting point for your experience is to

understand the quality and speed of the broadband line coming into your home, as th

can have a big effect on your overall broadband experience.

Broadband speed is the rate at which information is sent (up-stream, or upload speedor received (down-stream, or download speed) on your broadband line. As most peop

tend to receive more information than they send, broadband services are usually set u

with much higher download speeds than upload speeds.

Broadband speed is measured in ‘Mbps’ – which stands for ‘megabits per second’.

The more megabits per second, the faster your connection speed. To give you an idea

of how long it takes to do the same job at different speeds, look at the table below.

Note that a slower speed doesn’t stop you from doing things online – but it may make

some things take longer.Examples of approximate download times

Speed

File/activity File size 16Mbps 8Mbps 4Mbps

Email 4KB 0.2 seconds 0.4 seconds 0.8 seconds

Photo 1MB 0.5 seconds 1 second 2 seconds

Music track 4MB 2 seconds 4 seconds 8 seconds

Film 225MB 2 minutes 4 minutes 8 minutes




There are lots of speed tester tools available online to help you check your broadband

speed but we recommend you use www.speedtester.bt.com. Follow the instructions

the web site to run your speed test. Make sure you close all other browser windows an

don’t have multiple devices (e.g. computers, laptops or games consoles) online at the

same time when running the test.

Whichever speed tool you use, it’s advisable to check your speed over a period of

several days to make sure nothing is temporarily affecting the results. It’s normal to se

some variations in results because the network can make adjustments to your speed tohelp keep your broadband reliable.

Understanding the www.speedtester.bt.com results

When you look at the outcome of the speed test, you may see two sets of results –

‘Best Effort Test’ and ‘Assured Rate Test’. The results you need to read and understand

are from the Best Effort Test. Three separate readings are shown:

How to check your speed




DSL connection rate

This shows the top speed between your Hub or router and your local exchange. This is

usually the maximum speed your line can support for the product you’re on, e.g. the

maximum speed up to 8Mb. The factors that can affect this speed are the length and

quality of your phone line from the exchange to your Hub or router, including the wiriin your home.

IP prole for your line

This is the maximum speed at which ‘internet’ trafc is actually allowed to travel

over your line. It’s automatically set by the broadband network to give you the

most reliable and stable broadband speed for your line conditions. Your IP prole

automatically adjusts, based on the way your line performs, so may be lower than youDSL connection rate to protect your online experience. When you make changes to

improve your speed, e.g. tting a BT Broadband Accelerator to reduce interference,

your connection rate may change straight away, but it can take several days for the

adjustments to show against your IP prole.

Actual IP throughput

This is the actual speed of your line at the time you ran the test. Your ‘Actual IP throughpand your ‘IP prole’ will probably be different. There are lots of reasons for this, such

as the number of people in your home using the broadband line at the same time, how

busy the internet is and whether your computer is doing other things, e.g. if other

software or programs are running. Your Actual IP throughput will vary throughout the

day and tends to be lower at peak times, when lots of people are using the internet.

The speed test results are provided in kbps (kilobits per second). To put the results

into Mbps (megabits per second) as referred to earlier in this guide, simply divide

by 1024. In the example above, the gures show a connection speed of 7.4Mbpswith an actual throughput speed of 3.4Mbps.




When you measure your broadband speed using the speed tester, the check is run onthe line all the way from the BT network to your BT Home Hub or router. Whilst the te

could show that you’re getting a good throughput speed, it’s possible you may not be

getting the best out of your connection because your broadband is not set up in the

best way possible.

This section of the guide takes you through some simple steps that can help you nd

and x things that may be affecting your broadband experience. The steps are intend

for guidance – how much they can improve your experience depends on your home

and set-up.

For more detailed advice, remember that you can check our help pages

on www.bt.com/help

10 steps to improving yourbroadband experience

1235

49

86

7




1 Reduce interference from extension wiring by tting a

BT Broadband Accelerator

Extension wiring can pick up electrical and radio interference from other devices,

which can affect your broadband speed. Fitting a BT Broadband Accelerator can reduc

this interference, helping improve your speed. To nd out whether a BT Broadband

Accelerator can help you, go to www.bt.com/accelerator

What is interference? Interference on your broadband line is similar to when you

put a mobile phone near a speaker and it makes a static noise – radio and electrical

devices have a similar effect on a broadband line and can stop it working properly.

2 Make sure you’ve tted ADSL lters to all phone sockets in your hom

As your broadband service runs over your phone line, equipment such as phones, faxe

and digital TV boxes (e.g. Sky

®

) can all introduce interference to your broadband servwhen plugged into the line. Fitting ADSL lters to all these sockets in your home will

minimise this. Each lter ts between the equipment and the phone socket. Your BT

Home Hub or router comes with two ADSL lters but if you need more, you can easily

get them via an electrical retailer or from www.bt.com/shop

BT master phone socket Phone socket with Accelerator tted




3 Plug your Hub or router directly into your main phone socket

Your broadband service works best when there is the shortest possible distance betwe

the BT phone exchange and your Hub. Anything that extends this distance can reduce

the quality of the line. We recommend that you use the standard cable provided with

your Hub or router to plug straight into the phone socket and avoid using any long

extension leads (e.g. greater than 10m). If you do need to use a phone extension lead

please make sure it’s a good quality one from a reliable retailer. You could also conside

using the standard cable to connect your Hub to the phone socket and using a longer

Ethernet cable to connect your Hub to your computer.

4 Improve your wireless connection

Connecting your computer to your Hub via a wireless signal is a great way to avoid

trailing cables if your computer is not close to your Hub. However, the quality and ran

of a wireless signal can weaken in some circumstances and may make your broadband

connection seem inconsistent, although the actual speed between your Hub and the

network may be strong. Here are some ways you can avoid loss of signal:

Try to position your Hub away from barriers that may block the wireless signalThick walls or ceilings, or large metallic surfaces such as radiators, mirrors and

refrigerators can reduce the strength of your wireless signal. Wireless is designed to

cope with most obstacles but each home is different and your Hub will work best whe

there’s a clear space to your computer.

Short DSL cable direct totelephone socket

(avoid extension cable)Long Ethernet cable




Check you’re using the latest wireless technology

The wireless technology that passes information between your computer and your Hu

follows a set of specic standards, which have improved over time. Earlier standards

were labelled using a series of letters, such as ‘b’ and ‘g’. The BT Home Hub 2.0 comes

with the latest ‘n’ wireless technology, which gives up to twice the wireless range of th

older ‘b’ or ‘g’ wireless technologies.

Remember, your wireless connection depends on both your Hub or router and the

receiver that is either attached to or built in to your computer. You can get the best

out of your set-up by upgrading your wireless equipment to the latest standards.

For example, if you’ve a BT Home Hub 2.0 you could also buy an ‘n’ wireless adapter

for your computer to make sure you’re optimising your connection. These are available

at www.bt.com/shop/adapter

Change wireless channels to avoid interference

As your wireless signal works by transmitting over a specic channel, other devicessharing this channel could cause interference. Even with a good wireless signal, device

such as microwave ovens and cordless phones can affect your wireless connection.

Changing wireless channels can help avoid this. See the instructions in your Hub User

Guide for how to do this or go to www.bt.com/gettingsetup/interference

5 Connect your computer to your Hub or router using

an Ethernet cable

Although a wireless connection gives you more exibility to position your devices

around your home, it can occasionally suffer from interference, which can affect your

internet browsing. An Ethernet cable is generally not affected by interference so will

give you a faster, more reliable connection.

And if you use a USB cable to connect your computer to your router or Hub, the speed

of the connection can be affected by other USB devices, such as your keyboard, mous

and webcam all using USB at the same time.

Try using an Ethernet cable if your computer or device is close to your Hub.




6 Check your PC specication supports the latest broadband speeds

If you’ve an old computer with lower specications, this can affect your internet

experience even if you’ve a fast line speed. You can nd out whether your computer h

the right specication at www.bt.com/help/pccheck. It may be that to improve your

experience you need to upgrade your computer.

7 Help your computer run as quickly as possible

If your computer runs slowly, it may make your internet experience feel slower. You ca

help avoid this with regular maintenance of your computer, for example by regularly

running virus scans, deleting cookies and clearing your browser history. Simply turnin

off your computer for ve minutes if it’s usually left on all the time can also help by

closing down lots of background tasks. You can nd out how to remove cookies by usi

Windows Help or, if you’d like help checking the overall health of your computer, you

can contact BT Home IT Support at www.bt.com/homeitsupport

8 Download the latest web browser updates

Check you have the latest version of your internet browser software installed – older

versions might not be able to handle all of the types of content on newer web sites, an

can cause pages to download slowly. Search online to nd your latest browser version

for example on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web site.

Remember that web sites vary and some may simply take longer to download becausethey have more complicated content (e.g. lots of videos or animation), or lots of peop

trying to use them at the same time during busy periods.

9 Keep the number of browser windows or tabs open to a minimum

Opening multiple web pages, running lots of programs or having more than one user

logged in at the same time can tie up your computer and reduce its running speed,

especially if your computer specication is low. To avoid this, close any browserwindows that aren’t being used.




10 Think about how you use the internet

Your BT Total Broadband service is designed to support several devices. However, if ma

devices in your home are online at the same time (e.g. several computers and games

consoles), they will all be sharing the same internet connection. In a similar way, intern

users visiting a particular web page at the same time all share access to the web site.

Peak time usage

More people use the internet at peak times (e.g. 5pm to midnight), so broadbandspeeds may be slower. Congestion can be on the internet, on the web page you’re

visiting or on your home network.

By identifying the internet activities that don’t have to be carried out at peak times

and doing them at different times of day, you’ll be able to share your connection bett

between your home users and the rest of the online community.

Here’s an example of what you can do: spread out activities that involve downloading

large les so that they don’t tie up your computer and broadband connection when

you want to use the internet. For example, if you or someone in your household uses

peer-to-peer software (which continuously downloads and uploads les to be shared

with other internet users), check the help section of your software to turn it off at tim

when other people at home want to use the internet.




There are lots of ways we can support you in getting the most from your broadband

connection and our expert advisers are happy to help. As broadband technology

evolves, BT is committed to giving you the best speeds possible by upgrading your

broadband as soon as the latest technology becomes available.

Have a look at www.bt.com

If you’ve a specic question, it may have been asked before. Search our frequently

asked questions online at www.bt.com/broadband/help

Or try browsing the BT forums to see if another BT Total Broadband user can help –

go to www.bt.com/forums

For more information about your broadband speed, go to

www.bt.com/help/broadbandspeed

Take advantage of our expert advice service

Book yourself a one-off BT Broadband Accelerator visit with one of our engineers

If you need further help, you can arrange for one of our expert engineers to assess you

phone line and broadband equipment to optimise your speed. If the engineer can’t

increase your broadband speed by at least 0.5Mb, you’ll get your money back.

Or subscribe to our specialist over-the-phone computer support service

For a monthly subscription, you can get straightforward, jargon-free help with a wide

range of computer-related issues over the phone.

Find out more about both of these services at www.bt.com/homeitsupport

How BT can help you




Watch out for BT’s superfast broadband in your area

Our 20Mb service is now being rolled out across the UK

The current service gives you download speeds of up to 8Mb. BT has now started rolli

out up to 20Mb broadband to some areas of the UK. If it becomes available in your

area, we’ll upgrade you as soon as we can – at no extra cost.

To nd out if it’s coming to your area, go to www.bt.com/superfastbroadband

Superfast, 40Mb bre broadband is on its way

From 2010, BT will also be rolling out superfast broadband, which uses bre optic cabl

This will give speeds of up to 40Mb! Fibre broadband will help us extend the reach of

high-speed broadband, as bre optic cables don’t suffer from as much speed loss ove

distance compared to traditional networks.



Ofces worldwide

The services described in this publication are subject to availability andmay be modied from time to time. Services and equipment are supplied

subject to British Telecommunications plc’s respective standard conditionsof contract. Nothing in this publication forms any part of a contract.

© British Telecommunications plc 2009Registered Ofce: 81 Newgate Street, London EC1A 7AJRegistered in England No. 1800000

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