Is there any relation between broadband speed and the distance from the exchange?

I heard that the nearer you stay to an exchange the greater will be your broadband speed. Is that true? Then in that case people who reside far away from exchange will be getting very low broadband speed. But how is this possible? I am curious to know the reason behind this phenomena.

Can anybody throw some light on this?

I am not a broadband expert though, and so I researched about the issue. I've been curious also with what your query's possible answer and so I look upon the possible answer. This might be a help. http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co...._distance.aspx

In a word yes.

While there are a number of factors involved, location to the exchange is one of the big factors and the closer you are, the faster your broadband should be.

Exactly @pwarbi, and the main reason is the wire that is connected from end to end. The longer the wire for the signal to be transmitted, the slower it reaches its destination. So, if the subscriber is far from the exchange, the installation of long wire is expected, causing the connection's performance.

It's also to do with how many connections it needs along the way of course. There isn't just one long wire to each house running directly from the exchange. The wire is run to a box, and then split to nearby areas. Then in to another box, and so on and so on, so the closer you are to the main wire, the less your signal will be split.

In simple terms, I hope that makes sense?

That make sense at all @pwarbi. Spliting could also affect the connections performance, is that right? I think so, since cooper wire transmission affect the signal, aside from the distance, what more if it is divided? Most probably the transmission will be slower.

I think it is well explained now, the longer the signal has to travel the lesser will be the broadband speed. Thanks for the clarifications @Rubie and @pwarbi. That was really helpful and easy to understand. There is also a chance of low speed if the number of customers is high between the user and the exchange. That means there will be more splitters being used to cater to the needs of various customers.

I think in mobile broadband the main deciding factor would be the presence of a mobile tower within close vicinity.

When it comes to mobile data, or any mobile coverage in general for that matter, it does indeed depends on the positions of the towers, that why in rural areas with not many people, there's rarely a decent signal because the mobile operators won't invest in covering that area.

yes, longer the distance, higher is the line disturbance (in plain language).