Check your ISP broadband package

Broadband packages, like most other products, change and develop over time. The obvious changes are to things like download limits and prices. Less well-publicised changes may be made to technical features included in the package.

If you signed up for your broadband package some time ago, it's quite possible that the package you signed up to is now obsolete, and your ISP hasn't told you. You may therefore not be getting as good a service as you would if you were to sign up to a new package today. (It's rather like your savings being in a Building Society or Bank account is that is no longer current, and they don't bother to tell you that your account type no longer offers a competitive interest rate.)

One technical feature introduced relatively recently is ADSL2+ - this is the technology that allows delivery of broadband download speeds up to 24MB/s over standard phone lines. To get this service you need the following:

A BT-enabled exchange - check your line here and then click on the ADSL button for the full detail
An ISP who offers it
To be subscribed to a package that includes it
To have a router that supports it

If you have been signed up to your ISP for some time, you should check that the package you are on is still current - you should be able to find the packge name on your ISP invoice. If it is not current, it is probably going to be worth asking for a "re-grade" to a current package that includes the features you want. The ISP may ask you to sign a new contract for the re-grade. Depending on what you pay at the moment, the re-grade may not necessarily cost you any more.

And if the process of checking your package prompts you to think about changing ISP, this guide may help.