I am in the U.K. An engineer told me that there is a bandwidth bottleneck between the landline and exchange, so there is no point in purchasing a very fast broadband connection. Can anyone confirm/deny this? If this is correct, what is the maximum broadband speed that will remain unaffected by this bottleneck?

The best thing to do is ask your potential broadband (DSL?) supplier. Ask them what speeds they can guarantee.

""An engineer told me that there is a bandwidth bottleneck between the landline and exchange,"" You must first find out for certain what he or she meant by that statement---in other words---did he mean YOUR SPECIFIC exchange? If he was telling you that the switchgear/ lines/ other equipment SPECIFICALLY serving your area is in such bad shape that the speed is not much better than dialup, then I guess he's correct. About all you can do is get ahold of someone (back door) who knows what he/she is really talking about and pin them down on this matter. Asking us here, gains you nothing. Asking the telco receptionist who answers the phone gets you nowhere You need to find a tech who is familiar with the specific equipment in your neighborhood and pin them down on the issue.

The engineer was dismissing a complex subject with a single statement. While the link for the exchange to your computer is the slowest link, It is wrong to say that a fast connection is not possible. The fastest ADLS connection available in the UK is 24Mbs, but that is still experimental and is not available to everyone, generally only if you are on a LLU exchange (Local Loop Unbundling). The standard ADSL connection has a maximum of 8Mbs. However, what speed you get is dependant on how far away you are from the exchange, the quality of the line between you and the exchange and of course the speed you have paid for - or more precisely, the bandwidth you have paid for. There is ADSL2 which can take the speed up to 12Mbs. That requires and ADLS2 modem to work but again thats not available to everyone. Most of the major suppliers are working up providing ADSL2 service but it requires major upgrades to the infrastructure. So what speed you get is dependant on what your ISP supplies and what have paid for. If your ISP only supplies standard ADSL services and you live over 3.5Kms from the exchange a 4Mbs service may not be possible. The only people that can tell you what the maximum speed is that is available to you is an ISP. They, in conjunction with BT, have equipment that will check the line for attenuation and signal to noise ratio which will determine what the maximum speed is that you can get. Dont go by what you neighbour tells you he can get either. He has a different line and could even be connected to a different DSLAM Stuart

many thanks guys - very useful stuff!

Hi Dave B UK Bulldog isp give "upto" 8 meg dsl re hams post, the guarantee bit depends on contention in your area nothing to do with exchange distance v old hat, simply put your either connected or no service available in your area check their QOS statement. Cable Broad band does not suffer from exchange distance, fibre optic backbone. Some dodgy 2nd rate isps piggy back Bt lines hence stuarts reply you may still have to pay Bt,eg: talktalk.co.uk wanadoo etc Use dsl if theres nothing else. Btw Ntl household connection via coax allows upto 37meg so plenty of headroom for improvement in the future, note currently capped to 3meg Ntl next yr 2006, 10 meg BB is available. even wanadoo apparently give ok service at 8meg. check where you live, http://www.broadband.co.uk/?gclid=CLKPwqKuhIICFS-mEQodDyt-Aw regards

blueyonder use coax through there own cable lines and now do up to 10meg lines upload is caped to 3/4 of a meg i think "Kernrel Panic"