I recently switched from Sky to O2 for my broadband provider. I had been on Sky Mid package for a few years and it was good value and worked well (Don’t get me started on Pipex!!).  Earlier this year Sky informed me they were doubling their rates (unless I took their Talk package too). Around this time I felt that their connection was becoming more unreliable.

I decided to switch to O2 Broadband as they use ADSL2, had good rates for O2 mobile customers and got consistently good reviews on thinkbroadband.com. The switch took a couple of weeks and was pretty seamless. However, I noticed that my new connection was significantly slower. Speed tests confirmed that I was only getting 300-400Kbps for both up and downstream.

The main suspect for this was my setup at home. I have an extension lead from the hallway master phone socket to an extension socket under the stairs, and another upstairs to the office where an adsl/phone extension socket connected to my router. I connected my router directly to the master socket and did a speed test.  Sure enough, the speed jumped to 2.7Mbps/1Mbps downstream/upstream.

While this may seem obvious, I had been getting 1.5-2Mbps with Sky with the exact same setup. I did know that extensions add interference but it didn’t seem to impact the speed that much and I preferred to have the router upstairs out of the way. Though for some reason it has a much bigger impact with O2. It could be something to do with their modem or ADSL2. To their credit, their instructions do say that extensions may affect performance.

Anyway, the moral of the story is to connect your router to your master socket or at least be aware of the effect extensions may be having on your Internet speed (BroadbandSpeedChecker.co.uk).

Last weekend was a bit of a film-fest for me. I managed the grand total of 3 films in 3 nights. Lately, I have struggled to find the time and desire to watch movies. I record them on my Sky+ box, and they sit there for 3 months until I either force myself to watch them or delete them to make more space for newer ones.

These days, I have a very small window of opportunity for entertainment/hobbies. So, its not easy to sit down for 2 1/2 hours to watch a film when you have so many other things vying for your attention (PS3, learning, working, blogs, surfing, exercise, photography, Heros, etc etc).

So on Friday night, I decided to watch Shooter (Mark Walhberg). Its a good old fashion action movie in the mould of Rambo/Jason Bourne. An ex-army sniper, recruited by a government agency to help foil a Presidential assassination, but is set up to take the fall. He goes on the run and sets about clearing his name and getting bloody revenge. If you like action films then you should definitely check it out.

On Saturday night, we picked another film that had been on the planner for a while, Lords of Dogtown (Heath Ledger). The film portrays the group of kids from Venice, CA who revolutionised Skateboarding in the 70s and went on to become superstars overnight. It is a fascinating look into the origins of extreme sport as we know it. Ledger was excellent as the hippy surf shop owner and mentor of the kids, but its the skateboarding that steals the show. I wish I had heard of these guys when I was a kid

On Sunday night, I finally got the chance to see The Dark Knight (Christian Bale, Heath Ledger). I don’t think I need to explain this one. I thoroughly enjoyed the film (though maybe not as much as Batman Begins). Ledger portrayed a darker and ultimately more sadistic and believable Joker than Jack Nickolson. I would have liked to see his character developed more though. I also think the film could have used a bit more of a storyline, especially with Bruce Wayne. The love triangle between Bruce, Harvey Dent and Rachel dawes didn’t exactly set the screen on fire. The emergence of Two-Face was a real highlight of the film but was almost a side story.

So 3 nights, 3 great films. I am in the process of changing how I get my movies. Now that I have a BluRay player, I am going to trial the LoveFilm.com rental service instead of Sky Movies/Extra Vision. They have a bigger selection of BD titles and are possibly a good trade off between the convenience of Sky and choice of a video shop. I will let you know how it goes.