"Looking Up" taking forever or not loading at all...

[Moonshine]

Good Evening all

I have been having difficulty getting onto the net most of the afternoon and all of this evening.  The "looking up" page seems to take forever, and it is intermittent whether it will load a page or not.  This time, it eventually loaded (but took its time!), but most of the time it tells me internet explorer is unable to load.  

I have noted that the IDNet network status shows broadband as sub-optimal, so am thinking that my issue must be related to that??  However, I also note that there was an issue a few days ago (a note which Tim had posted), and wondered if that issue had now been resolved, or was still causing some difficulties for some customers.  Are others experiencing problems this evening?

I have tried re-booting etc, but the problem is still there.  The internet pages (when they do load) are taking forever.  Is this part of the problem that IDNet are trying to fix?  Just want to make sure it's not me, but is a wider issue....!

All the lights are as they should be on my modem, with a good ADSL and ethernet lights.

Since it is hit and miss whether I will be able to log back on or not later, I don't know whether I'll be able to double check any response, but hope this is not the case!!

If I have no internet service tomorrow, my son will be climbing the walls!!!!  Would it be worth ringing IDNet out of hours tomorrow if I still have difficulty getting connected?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Many thanks.

Moonshine.

[Simon]

We really need to see a BT speedtest, and your router stats, Moonshine, but I can understand a BT Speedtest might be something of a challenge if your connection is that bad.  Have you powered down the router for 30 minutes?  If not, that might be worth a try, as sometimes a quick reboot doesn't 'free' the connection to the BT networks.  If that doesn't help, I think your only option is to leave a message with IDNet.

Others, of course, may have other suggestions. 

[Moonshine]

Hi Simon

Yes, I have powered down the router for 30 mins, but to no avail.  Couldn't get BT test results, but is this helpful at all? :

Item Downstream Upstream Unit
SNR Margin 5 24 dB
Line Attenuation 51 30 dB
Data Rate 3328 448 kbps

Would another speed test be useful from somewhere else?


I have left a message on IDNet's answerphone, although I hate doing so out of hours, because usually it's such a good service, that I don't like to bother anyone when it does play up!!  Still, my son is driving me crazy, so it's either bother IDNet, or book the family suite of the local psychiatric department.

There is definitely an issue with pages taking an age to load!!

Many thanks.

Moonshine.

[Simon]

I'm by no means the expert on this, but I think the SNR margin of 5 is too low.  Sorry, but I'm just relating things I've picked up along the way, and I have no idea how to cure it. 

A BT Speedtest would show us your profile, and may indicate whether the problem is likely to be with your own wiring, or external.

Have you tried connecting the router to the test socket?  That might eliminate your internal wiring as being the culprit.

As I said, hopefully, someone else will be along with some more suggestions, as I don't want to lead you up the wrong path, so you might want to hold on before going to too much trouble. 

Oh, one other thing might to be try Open DNS.  Here's how, on Windows XP.

[Moonshine]

Well, you're doing better than me, Simon!  SNR margin means nothing to me!  I only ever frequent this forum when I have an issue with broadband, so I only ever have two sentences I refer to when discussing my internet connection.....1) It is working 2) It is not working.

My router is upstairs and main socket downstairs, so it's a bit awkward testing from there.  However, I have a feeling something is going on with IDNet's broadband service at the moment, as their network status appears as 'sub-optimal'.  I may be one of the unlucky ones who is being affected???  The internet worked perfectly well this morning, but this afternoon and this evening, it's very hit and miss.  Nothing has changed with my internal wiring since this morning!

Many thanks for your help anyway.

Moonshine.

[Lance]

The sub optimal status relates to Tims annoucement earlier this week.

To me, it sounds like you are having DNS problems. I'm assuming you've never changed away from the default Idnet ones to a service such as opendns?

What might sort it is opening up a command prompt (start > run > type "cmd") and once that has come up type "ipconfig /flushdns". Note the space before the forward slash.

As for your noise margin, that looks fine. It shows you probably have a default target of 6 which it would have been when you last synced but it always drops slightly at night as there is more noise about.

[kinmel]

At 5Db the SNR will not affect the performance of the line and can be discounted.

Test your pings and run TRACERTs to bbc.co.uk , jolt.co.uk and Idnet.com, post the results here.

[Sebby]

It does sound like it might be DNS, though a BT speed test would be the first thing we need to see. It could be a 135k profile due to a low sync event.

[4Way]

I had the same problems about 5 -6 o clock tonight. Funny thing was that downloads were ok just problem with web pages. It seemed to sort itself out about 6.30 so I assume it a network problem

[Moonshine]

Hi

Many thanks for everyone's response.  So, the sub-optimal message is not current, and therefore my problems are likely to be something else then??!

Sadly, I do not understand technical talk at all, I'm afraid.  Please could someone remind me how to 'ping', with an idiot guide to boot?!

I confess, I have never changed anything like DNS.....mainly because I am too scared to mess about with anything for fear of getting it wrong and then not being able to put it back the way it was.  The frightening thing is that I am the most technically-minded person in my household - and I can just about fit a lightbulb!!!

I really appreciate everyone's input on here, and I do admit that I only ever post on here when things go wrong.  However, my interest in computers stops at browsing the internet, and frankly, that's about all I want to know how to do!  When I am unable to do that, I come here for help, and always get great advice.  However, I do struggle to grasp any technical jargon (I know it sounds simple to many of you, but to me it is about as clear as mud!).

I will try to run a BT speedtest either a bit later on or tomorrow, and post results here.

By the way, has anyone had experience of whether IDNet do respond to out of hours answerphone messages, or whether they are just collected for responding to on Monday?  I do feel bad contacting them, but equally, I'm not knowledgable enough to know whether this is an issue for them to sort out or not.  Don't know if I can get through another day of my son's withdrawal symptoms from his internet based game....

Cheers everyone.

Moonshine.

PS - 4Way.....I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has experienced this problem.  Perhaps I'll just leave it overnight and see if it has cleared up by the morning...

[glen]

Having problems myself
Here's my stats
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Glen>ping www.bbc.co.uk

Pinging www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.251.195] with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 212.58.251.195:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

C:\Documents and Settings\Glen>ping www.idnet.com

Pinging www.idnet.com [212.69.36.10] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 212.69.36.10: bytes=32 time=196ms TTL=59
Reply from 212.69.36.10: bytes=32 time=196ms TTL=59
Reply from 212.69.36.10: bytes=32 time=181ms TTL=59
Reply from 212.69.36.10: bytes=32 time=193ms TTL=59

Ping statistics for 212.69.36.10:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 181ms, Maximum = 196ms, Average = 191ms

C:\Documents and Settings\Glen>ping www.jolt.co.uk

Pinging www.jolt.co.uk [84.234.17.86] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 84.234.17.86: bytes=32 time=182ms TTL=124
Reply from 84.234.17.86: bytes=32 time=209ms TTL=124
Reply from 84.234.17.86: bytes=32 time=208ms TTL=124
Reply from 84.234.17.86: bytes=32 time=191ms TTL=124

Ping statistics for 84.234.17.86:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 182ms, Maximum = 209ms, Average = 197ms

C:\Documents and Settings\Glen>ping www.yahoo.co.uk

Pinging www.euro.fyeu.b.yahoo.com [217.146.186.51] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 217.146.186.51: bytes=32 time=208ms TTL=57
Reply from 217.146.186.51: bytes=32 time=165ms TTL=57
Reply from 217.146.186.51: bytes=32 time=186ms TTL=57
Reply from 217.146.186.51: bytes=32 time=208ms TTL=57

Ping statistics for 217.146.186.51:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 165ms, Maximum = 208ms, Average = 191ms

[Moonshine]

Here is my result from the BT Speedtester:-

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test:  -provides background information.
    Your DSL connection rate: 2560 kbps(DOWN-STREAM),  448 kbps(UP-STREAM)
    IP profile for your line is - 3500 kbps
    Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 2080 kbps

Can anyone advise whether this is normal or not?  Thank you.

Goodnight all.

Moonshine.

[kinmel]

Glen... Your problem is definitely not DNS, because each URL is obtaining the I.P. without a timeout ( Pinging www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.251.195] )  Your ping rate to Jolt is the same as mine.





Moonshine.... Your BT test is very, very odd -  Your IP Profile ( 3500kbps ) is supposed to be lower than your Connection Rate ( 2560kbps ), this is set automatically by B.T.s computers and has gone wrong.

Assuming you cut & pasted the Speedtest data, then that problem needs to be addressed first, email support@idnet.com and refer them to this topic.

[Moonshine]

Well, things have not improved having turned everything off overnight.

These are my latest test results which I have just done, but which took forever to achieve due to the sluggishness of connection!!

Item Downstream Upstream Unit
SNR Margin 2 21 dB
Line Attenuation 51 30 dB
Data Rate 3328 448 kbps


Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test:  -provides background information.
    Your DSL connection rate: 3328 kbps(DOWN-STREAM),  448 kbps(UP-STREAM)
    IP profile for your line is - 2000 kbps
    Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 1867 kbps

If you wish to discuss these results please contact your ISP.

I have left message for IDNet on answerphone and emailed them with test results.  Does anyone know whether they will get back to me today, or will it be tomorrow now??

Many thanks.

Moonshine.

[kinmel]

at least your IP Profile has corrected itself now.

Idnet support will probably read your email today, but may not be able to have BT look at it until tomorrow

[Rik]

Hi Moonshine

Throughput is OK for the profile, but the profile is low for the sync speed, it should be 2500. That and your current noise margin of 2db suggests to me that there's been a fair amount of instability on your line. Ideally, I think you need to move the router to the test socket as your next step (I know it's a pain, but it is important). If things improve there, your internal phone wiring is the problem, if they don't, it's a BT issue.

[Moonshine]

Hi

Still experiencing massive problems.  Brian from IDNet phoned me, and has tested my line.  He has looked at my test results etc.  He said that as far as they're concerned at IDNet, everything looks fine, and that my test results are normal.

So I'm left thinking it must be a problem elsewhere.  I have no idea where to begin, but I thank everyone for their input.

[Rik]

Begin at the test socket. If the results improve, we need to sort your internal wiring.

[D-Dan]

Glen

Those ping times look massively high to me (mine are between 26 and 38 ms, depending which site I ping), and so I still wonder if it's a DNS issue with the high pings being down to slow DNS lookup. Try pinging the IP addresses and post back.

IDnet:
ping 212.69.36.10

Jolt:
ping 84.234.17.86

Yahoo:
ping 217.146.186.51

Steve

[Moonshine]

Hi

I have had a family member come round to my house and plug their laptop into my modem, and that seemed to work fine, and connected almost instantly.  Owing to this, would there still be a point in taking the modem downstairs to the master socket to test, as I think this implies that the connection is apparent, but something is not perhaps right with something else on my computer?! There do not appear to be any damaged cables anywhere and filters all appear fine.

Brian suggested this morning that I try a modem factory re-set.  However, before I mess about with this, what I would like to know is that upon initially joining IDNet, my registration password sent by IDNet was a combination of mixed letters and numbers.  However, I later changed the password via the IDNet website to something easier to remember.  But, does that automatically mean that the password within the modem has been changed too, or does that still stand as what it was when I initially entered it upon registering (i.e the combination of letters and numbers)?  I haven't changed any settings on the modem in terms of my password; I have only changed my password via the IDNet website login page.  And, what will a factory re-set do?

If anyone has any other ideas about what could be causing my sluggish internet pages loading, and the fact that my son is unable to play Toontown anymore (I imagine due to the slow speed), before I have to scan the Yellow Pages for a computer expert, then I'd be eternally grateful.

Many thanks.

Moonshine.

[David]

Hi Moonshine Im not the brightest star on this stuff but if you can connect then your modem address and password is correct I would have thought.changing a password would not (dont trust me on this) cause issues other than to not allow you access which it does so it would seem...
Hang fast someone will be along soon,good luck 

[Steve]

A factory reset will clear your router of all previous settings. Your router idnet login password is not changed when you change your account login password

[Rik]

Owing to this, would there still be a point in taking the modem downstairs to the master socket to test, as I think this implies that the connection is apparent, but something is not perhaps right with something else on my computer?! There do not appear to be any damaged cables anywhere and filters all appear fine.

It would eliminate any potential noise sources within your phone wiring which are causing instability. (If there are any...)

As Steve says, changing the login on the customer accounts page does not change the login required for the network.

[Moonshine]

Good afternoon Rik

You'll be pleased to know that I have just tested my modem at the master socket, using a family member's laptop!  Here are the results when I did a BT speedtest from master socket:-

DSL: 4096 kbps downstream     448 kbps upstream
IP Profile: 2000 kbps
Actual IP throughput: 1594 kbps

So, I am assuming that the modem seems fine, and that all seems well from the master socket, hopefully eliminating instability??

I am now at a loss.  Anyone know a reputable computer engineer in or around MK or Bucks area?!

Cheers.

Moonshine.

[Rik]

Your previous test had a 3328 sync, so it suggests to me that the phone wiring is an issue, Moonshine. Throughout is low for the profile, though and I'm beginning to wonder whether the latter is stuck. Do you know how long you've been on it? Which exchange are you on?