Wireless Router

Hey guys, hoping you can help me! I share a student flat with 3 other people, and we supposedly have 8MB broadband that we pick up from our laptops. However, it's really obvious that we're getting nowhere near that (streaming is practically impossible before midnight and I'm unable to get a strong enough signal to connect either my 360 OR ps3). The connection is 100% secure so its not because we've got hi- jackers stealing our bandwidth. Are there any ways in general to improve our internet's performance? Somebody down the pub last night was saying that where the router itself its stood and affect it? Something about some surfaces create a static charge through it or something. 
 
Greatly appreciate any help you can give me 
 
p.s. Don't just suggest get a new ISP because we would if we could. Even if we cancel our current provider's service, we would still have to continue paying for it for the length of the contract (which still has about 9 fucking months to go!)

Test and see if a direct connection to the modem makes a difference.  If it's way faster with a direct physical connection, then something is wrong with the router. 
 
Another thing to check out is: www.speedtest.net  That will show you what kind of speed you're actually getting as opposed to what you're ISP advertises.

Also, is the router in good condition? If it's old/fried it can be messing with your speed.

Okay cool I'll try using an ethernet directly. Its funny though, I've used those speed sites before and for some reason the rating they give always seems to be a lot better than it actually is. Could our connection be fine in terms of passing the test fairly well, but crap in others e.g. movie streaming?

 
Just a few things to consider: 

Your ISP probably means up to 8 MB. They don't guarantee 8 MB at all times and lots of factors play into this. Also a wireless signal will not be as fast as a wired signal.
 
You say your 360 or PS3 can't even get a good enough signal to connect, so this is nothing to do with your ISP. Try repositioning the router in a better location - set it higher up and in a more open area, closer to whatever needs to connect to it. You can also get a new router, like a wireless-N one or one with a signal boost type feature.
 
When all else fails, stop using wireless crap and connect things with wires.

@Nasar7 hmm yeah it could well be a bit old, I think my flatmate brought one she'd already been using for quite a while with her when she moved into this place. I'll ask to have a proper look at it later but it's in her room and she's still in bed! Granted it is like 6.30 am here..

If video streaming is choppy then you might just have to update flash.  A lot of times video streaming sites can be slow because of traffic, so it might not have anything to do with you're connection, or your computer at all.  

@Hamst3r  Thanks for responding,
  
Yeah I realise that we wouldn't necessarily get 8 MB but I mean I'd say at the moment we're getting the equivalent of say 512k, if that. (And that's not even an exaggeration really)
 
 I can see that with the ps3,  but I straight up just used an ethernet cable to connect the 360 and it still didn't work. I created a network for it identically to the one that I have for my families home internet but all I could get was that it had a 'limited connectivity'.  
  
 I'll see how a wired connection to the router is earlier, but to be honest I think my options boil down to getting a new router if that works, or just having to put up with what we get now which would really suck. Wiring all the computer's isn't really feasible either due to the four of us all having bedrooms fairly far apart.

@super_mario_john_  
 
I really do think it's the internet, because it's not really like there's times where video streaming is noticeably improved. It gets so bad at some points watching say a 30 second, low- res video clip could take up to 5 minutes to fully buffer! Oh, also my flash is 100% up to date and it's a problem that we're all experiencing on all different types of systems (XP, Vista, Mac OS etc.)

Find out if one of your roommates is running torrenting software. This can suck up all the bandwidth and make the internet nearly unusable for other users on the same connection. Devices that emit signals on the same frequency as your wireless can also screw things up (Wireless phones, microwaves, etc.)