I think my connection is rubbish...

I'm after some support and advice - not sure if this should be in a different forum but here we go - I'm from the UK and I have Tiscali broadband (don't laugh!) - it says when I connect to the internet that I'm on 6.8mbps - however I always seem to have a porr connection - I don't get much lag during games but on COD4 I'm usually the only one in the lobby who has yellow bars whereas everyone else has green - and now I've just bought R6V2 and when I search for games most have red dots next to them - I'm thinking of changing to cable broadband and using a router - at the moment my Tiscali is an adsl modem and I connect to xbox live using my laptop and ICS - does anyone have any advice - is my Tiscali speed of 6.8mbps rubbish - when I've done speed tests I get around 480 download and 360 upload - I thought 6.8 mbps should be good - I'm not technologically minded so need as much advice as possible - should I change to virgin cable broadband and then use a router - I want to stay wired though, not wireless - please help if you can!!!

Make the switch to cable broadband!

I used to have ADSL and was getting 9-10,000 down and around900-1000 uo.I got a new room mate who brought high speed cable with him,so I hooked it up to check the diff.I get 12-13,000 down and 1500-1700 up!

Needless to say,my Vegas experience has improved greatly with no more bullet lag and smoothly connected rooms.Plus we split the bill which comes to $31.00 each.And that is $15.00 less than my old DSL. More beer money,eh ;)

Hmmm....

It's a complicated question and I'm not sure if you'll be able to get a simple answer. But here are a few of my thoughts...

Speed: 6.8mbps should be more than enough for you to game online. if you've done bandwidth tests and they confirm you're getting full bandwidth, then something else has to be the problem.

Provider: Unless you current provider has some sort of blocking or other known issue for gaming I don't know if switching to Virgin will help. Although if you're seeing a lot of other complaints from other customers, it might be worth it anyway. As for DSL vs Cable, people argue all day long about which is "better" but the bottom line is that the differences aren't such that one will prevent you from gaming. I've personally used both, although I currently use DSL.

Network/router setup: While there can be lots of different setups for a home network, your basic synopsis is certainly one common possibility. The phone or cable company brings the line to your house in the form of a phone or cable jack. You plug a modem into that jack (or sometimes a router with the modem built-in). Then, assuming you want to use more than one device, you put a router in next. The router basically serves as the traffic cop between your network and the internet. Most home routers also have additional plugs so that you can plug in multiple devices without an extra box (called a switch or hub). Some routers also include wireless.

The number one place where issues arise is at the router. If your router is too overzealous in its traffic duties, it may stop (or slow) traffic that you don't actually want stopped or slowed- like the games, for example. There are a lot of tweaks one can perform to a router, but I don't recommend doing so unless you understand what you're doing. otherwise you may wind up with no internet at all until you can get someone to come fix it:(

At this point, you have a couple of options: 1) call your service provider and let them know you're having problems. this may result in a lot of hold time and not much help, but its an option. Or 2) check out the support sites for the game or system you're using (Xbox.com | Support, for example) to look for specific problems other gamers are having with that game or system.

I hope some of that info helps, but I'll be watching this threadif you come across any specific issues ;)