Getting ripped off by my Internet Provider?

I live in a small town and have a DSL internet connection through my local telephone company. I've had this service for about a year and it's been ok, but I just recently noticed how crappy and slow it has been lately.

I was wondering, for DSL lines, what speeds would be considered "high-speed?" My downloads lately have been around 30kbps (horrible, I know) and uploads like 10kbps.

Should I call my service provider and complain or are these normal speeds? I've been told by people before that the reason for the slow speeds is because almost everyone who lives here uses the same provider and that the servers may be overloaded or something.

Dazzler said:

I dont know how many kbps translates into 1 mbps but 30 download and 10 upload sounds pretty low, isnt dial up faster then that ha?

Click to expand...

Yeah I think the average dial up speed is like 56kbps. Didn't even think of that in the first place, but I think you just gave me my answer lol.

I live in a village and have 2mbs download 500 kbs upload. Your speeds seem awfully slow though. It could be contention (number of people using it at the same time), very old wiring, a problem with your DSL modem or even your PC (unliely though).

1) Try using it very early in the morning when no one is online if the speed is the same it's unlikely to be contention.

2) Try it on a laptop / other computer

3) Try another DSL modem

4) Check with others near you what speeds do they get

5) Complain to your service provider I used to get better speeds than that with dial up lol

Trying at different times will tell you if others are slowing you down. But what you're quoting is way way too low, even for the sticks. My brother lives on a farm and has faster up and down loads than that.