I was just talking to the bulldog help services (supprisingly only a few minutes wait and good english) and I had 3 different people assure me that I would benefit from upgrading from 8mb > 16mb.

I currently get around 4mb from the 8mb service. Isnt that my line maxed out?

I was told that as i get 4mb with the 8mb service I should get around 8 with the 16mb service.

Can anyone confirm this?

Thats just the way ADSL is, the further you are away from the exchange the less speed you get.

You pay for up to 8mb depending on what your line can support, which is why I was thinking my line might only be able to support 4mb, if it could support 8mb then why wouldnt my 8mb service run at max.

Wicked, well, ive signed up to be upgraded so I should know by tomorrow what speed it will end up.

Ill post it when I do.

I thought id take the chance, changing it was just a matter of a 5 min phone call, and with contracts only a month I can change it back easily enough.

Its £5 a month on top of what I was already paying.

Fingers crossed.

Darn wish i was still with bulldog (used to pay and get 8mb)... tho cable are soon doing 100mb tests

OTOH a few very close to the exchange will get 24Mbits

woot, the main bt exchange is less than 100 yards away !

time to change isp !

What speeds will I get when I upgrade to DoubleSpeed Broadband?

In most cases, you will see an increase from our standard 8 meg service in both download and upload speeds, up to 16 meg and 1 meg respectively. In some cases, the increase in download speed will be limited by the distance from your local phone exchange and quality of your line, while the increase in upload speed will be less affected.

For example, if you live close to the exchange, you can expect an increase in download speed from 8 meg to 16 meg or more, while if you live far from it and / or the quality of your line is poor, the increase in download speed may be limited to between 10 and 12 meg.  In these cases, the increase in upload speed from ½ meg to 1 meg is still likely to be obtained.

Will I need special equipment to use DoubleSpeed Broadband?

Yes. DoubleSpeed Broadband is based on the new ADSL2+ technology that requires ADSL2+ compatible equipment at your home. Bulldog recommends an Ethernet modem or a wireless router that are fully tested and supported for ADSL2+. You must connect the equipment to your line as soon as you receive it so that it is ready when we activate the service.

Dam it, they lied to me. I will need an ADSL2+ modem. Ive got the free bulldog modem and the Dlink DI624+ router. I dont think either of these are ADSL2+ grrrrrr.

Will I just need a new modem or will the router need changing?

Right, was just chatting to bulldog about getting an ADSL2+ modem and the forth person I talked to (who had to call me back) was someone from the technical department.

He knew what he was talking about,

Im 4.4Km from the exchange
11% noise on the line is a little high, < 10% is optimal.
From the 16mb I can realistically expect 8-12mb depending on the quality of the cables from the exchange.
ADSL2+ is worse than ASDL for gaming as it pulses information down the line which would increase the ping times overall.

BUT!! My exchange isnt even enabled, and wont be in the near future. Retard customer services not only forgot to tell my I would need new hardware but also upgraded me when I shouldnt have been upgraded.

Now I have to ring customer services again to cancel my order so I dont get charged for something I cant have.

So cheers for all the replies, but its all academic now  :cry: