Correct! I'm in a Norfolk village at the moment, and the modem reports
DownStream Connection Speed 8128 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed 448 kbps
The exchange is out of spitting range, but a carefully lobbed stone might get close.
Back in urban Essex, I get 3360k down. That's about 3 km from the exchange.
I tried a variety of modem/routers there, and found that the better quality ones did a better job. Draytek sent me a special firmware set for "poor signal areas" and it did make a significant difference. I "lost" a couple of refinements that I never used anyway, and gained a very rugged connection.
I think some ISPs try harder than others. I have a simple approach these days: if Customer Service is an 0900 number or I get an Indian reading off a set script, that one's off my list. An Indian who knows what he's talking about is fine (I've had one or two excellent experiences in that arena).
Essex is with UKFSN and I have no problems at all. It's a one-man-band, and he's not been to charm school, but he knows his stuff and does a good job. Entanet is the provider behind that, and they seem to have gone astray lately from what I read by others. They tried to change the contracts, and UKFSN got tough with them on his customers' behalf.
Norfolk is with PlusNet, purely because they were cheapest by far at the time and i wasn't too bothered about quality. In practice, it's been excellent. I've not seen any capping or other messing about with the ADSL - but I'm not a heavy user from here.
I think the problem is in part at the interface between BT and the ISPs. When I was having serious problems in Essex, BT blamed Pipex and Pipex blamed BT. In the end, I made a courteous but firm suggestion to both of them that they could try talking to each other. I don't know if they ever did: I gave up and moved ISP and the problems went away.