Upgraded to ADSL2+ and it's all gone not quite Pete Tong!

[DaveH]

BT Speedtester result:

Download speed achieved during the test was - 7741 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 1000-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :9552 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 736 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 7150 Kbps
The throughput of Best Efforts (BE) classes achieved during the test is - 15.92:24.34:59.75 (SBE:NBE:PBE)


Before I upgraded to ADSL2+ I was getting downloads of 7500+ Kbps and uploads of 650+ Kbps.

Surely I should be seeing better results than this after the upgrade?
The upgrade was done last Thursday, and to be honest, the improvement is negligible, to say the least.

[Glenn]

Dave, can you post your router stats, the technical guys can then give you a guess as to what you should be getting?

[DaveH]

Dave, can you post your router stats, the technical guys can then give you a guess as to what you should be getting?

Thanks Glenn. Router is a Belkin N1 Vision

ADSL Status UP

Data rate(Kbps)  
Downstream 9553
Upstream 738

It seems I had a few issues earlier this morning though (router is connected 24/7) and I'm interleaved.

Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:14 ADSL link down  
Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:16 ADSL G.994 training  
Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:18 WAN connection disconnected, please check the cable  
Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:22 WAN connection restarted, please check your internet settings  
Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:26 ADSL G.992 started  
Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:32 ADSL G.992 channel analysis  
Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:39 ADSL G.992 message exchange  
Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:39 ADSL link up, interleaved, us=762, ds=9535  
Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:44 WAN connection restarted, please check your internet settings  
Tue 2010-06-08 08:33:04 WAN CHAP authentication success  
Tue 2010-06-08 08:33:04 WAN connected IP address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Tue 2010-06-08 08:55:02 - Router get real time with time-zone +0  
Tue 2010-06-08 10:08:28 192.168.2.5 00:0E:2E:4C:4F:4B Release  
Tue 2010-06-08 10:53:29 ADSL link down  
Tue 2010-06-08 10:53:30 ADSL G.994 training  
Tue 2010-06-08 10:53:40 ADSL G.992 started  
Tue 2010-06-08 10:53:41 WAN connection restarted, please check your internet settings  
Tue 2010-06-08 10:53:47 ADSL G.992 channel analysis  
Tue 2010-06-08 10:53:53 ADSL G.992 message exchange  
Tue 2010-06-08 10:53:54 ADSL link up, interleaved, us=738, ds=9553  
Tue 2010-06-08 10:54:06 WAN connection restarted, please check your internet settings  
Tue 2010-06-08 10:54:18 WAN CHAP authentication success  
Tue 2010-06-08 10:54:18 WAN connected IP address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Tue 2010-06-08 10:56:58 - Router get real time with time-zone +0  
Tue 2010-06-08 12:57:59 - Router get real time with time-zone +0  
Tue 2010-06-08 14:51:15 192.168.2.2 login  


edit IP address removed

[Glenn]

Are you able to get the noise margin figures?

[Glenn]

http://www.kitz.co.uk/routers/belkin_commands.htm shows you how to get them

[DaveH]

http://www.kitz.co.uk/routers/belkin_commands.htm shows you how to get them

Nope - 404 on all of them I'm afraid.

[Rik]

Can you stay there a moment, Dave, I'll try and find out for you.

[DaveH]

Can you stay there a moment, Dave, I'll try and find out for you.

Hanging on Rik :-)

[Rik]

OK, I've spoken to support, you seem to have a lot of user-requested resyncs - are you re-booting the router to try and improve things? If so, don't - you'll make things worse.

Your line is currently in sync at 9.5M with an attenuation of 39.5db and a noise margin of 6db. BT haven't banded your profile.

If you can keep the sync constant, your profile will rise to ~9M. ADSL2+ is hard to predict as it's much more sensitive to noise than ADSL1. You started with a sync of 14M, but the line couldn't hold it and has dropped to the 9.5 you have now.

[DaveH]

Thanks for that Rik.
I haven't rebooted since Friday, but have had various disconnects (including one while you were finding out about my SNR!)

I'll leave things as they are for the time being, and see how it goes.

Thanks for the help!

[Rik]

In that case, the router is asking for them due to noise. Is there any chance you can connect it to the test socket, Dave, assuming you have an NTE5 master socket that is?

[DaveH]

Let me get a screwdriver....

(The wife panics when she hears that - it normally means a trip to B&Q to replace what I was fixing...)

[Rik]

 

Know that feeling. Leave it in the test socket for 24 hours if you can. What else is connected to the line?

[DaveH]

Connected it to the master socket and got an instant uplift to 10351 down and 738 up. 

Nothing else connected to the line, using a BT Speedtouch filter.

[Rik]

You might want to consider an ADSL Nation xf-1e, or even a filtered faceplate - there's nothing to beat them in my experience.

http://www.adslnation.com/products/xf-1e.php

[DaveH]

Took a look, and placed my order for the filter.

Cheers Rik!

My download speed is still lower than before the change, but considering the time of day, I'm not too worried at the moment.

I'll keep speed testing for the next 24-48 hours and see if things improve.

Thanks for the help.

[Rik]

You need to give the profile time to catch up - it can take up to 5 days.

[psp83]

Thanks Glenn. Router is a Belkin N1 Vision

ADSL Status UP

Data rate(Kbps)   
Downstream 9553
Upstream 738

It seems I had a few issues earlier this morning though (router is connected 24/7) and I'm interleaved.

Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:14 ADSL link down 
Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:16 ADSL G.994 training 
Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:18 WAN connection disconnected, please check the cable 
Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:22 WAN connection restarted, please check your internet settings 
Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:26 ADSL G.992 started 
Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:32 ADSL G.992 channel analysis 
Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:39 ADSL G.992 message exchange 
Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:39 ADSL link up, interleaved, us=762, ds=9535 
Tue 2010-06-08 08:32:44 WAN connection restarted, please check your internet settings 
Tue 2010-06-08 08:33:04 WAN CHAP authentication success 
Tue 2010-06-08 08:33:04 WAN connected IP address 91.13

You might want to get the IP address removed..

[Steve]

Cheers Paul

[Rik]

You might want to get the IP address removed..

Nice catch, thanks, Paul. 

[psp83]

No prob 

[DaveH]

Bugger!

Thanks Paul - I was so keen to get some help I completely forgot that bit :-)

[Rik]

We were so keen to try and help that so did we.

[Den]

Just a quick question Rik, why would he leave his screwdriver in the test socket for 24 hours?   

[Rik]

It saves standing in a bucket of water whilst whistling, Den.

[DaveH]

Got this result from BT speed test just now - I notice I seem to have something called 'Assured rate IP profile' added since yesterday.

Is this significant?

Download speed achieved during the test was - 7622 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 1000-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Assured Rate IP profile on your line is - 7150 Kbps

[Rik]

I've never know what it is, tbh, Dave. Let me ask, my education needs completion.

[DaveH]

And while we're about it, if the acceptable range blah blah is 1000 -7150 Kbps, how come I'm synched at 10414 Kbps?

BT are doing their level best to baffle me, fair play to 'em!

[Rik]

Support haven't come across it either, Dave. It may be that BT have rolled out a software update that has new wording, but we're just guessing. Any chance you can do another test when you have a moment and grab a screen shot if it uses the same wording?

[DaveH]

On my way over there right now :-)

Or rather I TRIED to, but you have to wait an hour between tests.

Screen shot will be here by half two!

[Rik]

And while we're about it, if the acceptable range blah blah is 1000 -7150 Kbps, how come I'm synched at 10414 Kbps?

BT are doing their level best to baffle me, fair play to 'em!

Sounds like the profile is still playing catch up. BT's acceptable range of speeds is huge, they think, on some lines, that 400k is acceptable!  

[Rik]

On my way over there right now :-)

Ta. 

[Steve]

It's something to do with a QoS session

What do the different speeds shown in the test results mean?
A4. Explanation of results:

Download Speed is 450 Kbps. This is the actual rate achieved during the Performance Test. This rate will never reach the IP profile rate and this is normal.
Acceptable range of speeds is 288-500 Kbps. If your download speed lies in this range, then there is no fault on your line and your Broadband service is deemed to be working fine.
DSL Upstream connection rate is 500 Kbps. This is the upstream DSL line rate, and is the same rate that will be shown on the EU CPE or its associated software.
DSL connection rate - Downstream is 1000 Kbps. This is the End User downstream DSL line rate, and is the same rate as shown on the EU CPE. This is the maximum raw data that can be transported across your line. Your actual throughput will always be less than this rate and this is due to overheads taken up by the higher layer protocols, retransmissions etc. and this is normal.
The EU IP profile rate is 500 Kbps - This is the IP rate set on the BT Wholesale BRAS that the End User is connected to. The EU IP profile rate will be less than the DSL downstream connection rate due to the overheads of the IP service and this is normal.
Assured Rate IP Profile* is 500 Kbps - This is the IP rate for the QoS session, set on the BT Wholesale BRAS that the End User is connected to.
Assured Rate - download speed* is 450 Kbps - This is the actual assured rate achieved during the Performance Test. This rate will never reach the Assured Rate IP profile rate and this is normal.
The throughput of Best Effort (BE) classes* achieved during the test is - 5:20:75 (SBE:NBE:PBE)- These figures represent the percentage ratio while sententiously passing Sub BE, Normal BE, and Priority BE marked traffic through the network. Total download speed achieved during the Best Effort test is sum of these three types of Best Effort traffic that were passed through the network for your broadband connection.

[Rik]

Odd, Steve, an 'ordinary' user shouldn't be on a QoS session. 

[Steve]

I'm still none the wiser,that data came from the BT speedtest help page

[Rik]

I figured, Steve. Screenshot from Dave and I'll set support on it, but they've never seen one of these before either.

[DaveH]

Don't know if you saw my edit earlier, but you have to wait an hour between BT tests.

Screenshot should be here by 14.30

[Steve]

It comes up a few times on google but can't find an explanation . I did wonder about VOIP and BT Vision? Both of which need a constant maintained rate for reasonable performance.

[Rik]

I did, thanks, Dave.

@Steve. From what I can gather, you have to pay extra for the enhanced service with QoS.

[DaveH]

Here's the screenshot as requested.

[DaveH]

Brilliant.

Added the screenshot to my idnet gallery, and the bugger won't appear!

Try again Dave.....

Screenshot

[Rik]

Thanks, Dave, I'll pass it on to support.  You can always just attach a screenshot to your post, btw.

[DaveH]

Believe me, I tried!

All I get when I hit the Image button is the html code for an image. No popup to select it, nothing!

[Rik]

Are you using the quick reply box?

[DaveH]

Using the Reply link under the OP

[Rik]

You should see an additonal options button, then, Dave. That's where you can add attachments.

[kinmel]

I had the same entry  about Assured Rate on some of my BT speedtest results just before I changed over to ADSL2+

[Rik]

Curious. I wonder if BT are flagging some accounts differently, Alan?

[DaveH]

Ah!

Not exactly intuitive, is it? The option to attach something is normally up at the top with the rest!

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Rik]

Not in SMF it isn't.

[kinmel]

Curious. I wonder if BT are flagging some accounts differently, Alan?

It appeared when I was getting low speeds and sync rates and disappeared when the sync improved.

[DaveH]

Well my sync has increased quite a bit since I plugged into the test socket, as has the overall performance.

In fact, I doubt I'll be removing the router plug from the test socket any time soon!

[Rik]

It appeared when I was getting low speeds and sync rates and disappeared when the sync improved.

Curiouser and curiouser. Where's the white rabbit?

[Steve]

Its as Alan says I think one of the additional tests

[Rik]

Well my sync has increased quite a bit since I plugged into the test socket, as has the overall performance.

In fact, I doubt I'll be removing the router plug from the test socket any time soon!

That does point strongly at your internal wiring, Dave. Depending on how you feel about having the faceplate off, a filtered face plate is a tidier route.

[Rik]

Its as Alan says I think one of the additional tests

It will be interesting to see what support come up with.

[DaveH]

I have a room JUST for me and my PC, and to be honest, an untidy faceplate is the least of my worries!
It looks like a bomb's dropped all the time anyway, there's that much old kit lying around  

[Rik]

Welcome to the world of hoarders.

[DaveH]

Have another Karma for the help Rik.

[Rik]

Thanks.

Support tell me that they've not seen this before, so they're not sure what triggers it unless, as Alan suggests, it's a process BT switch to if your line is having stability problems. More if I get any.

[kinmel]

Thanks.

Support tell me that they've not seen this before, so they're not sure what triggers it unless, as Alan suggests, it's a process BT switch to if your line is having stability problems. More if I get any.

Quite a few sites including Samknows and the  Plusnet and BT forums insist that it is initiated by the ISP at the customer's request.   

Apparently not though.

[Rik]

Not in this case, unless some kind of other request, eg to alter target margin or interleaving, triggers it.

[pctech]

I maybe wrong here but I thought assured rate was for business connections backed by SLAs?

[Rik]

Me and IDNet too. 

[pctech]

Unless has been said BT have had so many complaints they've altered the software to switch it to one of those profiles when it drops below a certain threshold so it drops no further.

[Rik]

Which we are unlikely ever to get BT to admit to. 

[pctech]

Alas no.

[kinmel]

Assured rates are used to provide guaranteed minimum speeds for certain uses, such as BTvision and are supposed to be on a per session basis.

IE, you ask your ISP to always supply an Assured Rate if port XXXX is in use and if the exchange is not congested they supply the bandwidth to meet the request.

Some people are reporting that BT are now using it to apply dynamic banding during the training period on lines displaying lots of errors.

[Rik]

Thanks for that, Alan.

[pctech]

Very interesting.

[Steve]

I think we are getting there,time to let support know

[Rik]

I have, they have asked BT.

[DaveH]

 Download speed achieved during the test was - 9115 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 2000-21000 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :10320 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 760 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 9000 Kbps
The throughput of Best Efforts (BE) classes achieved during the test is - 14.09:21.45:64.47 (SBE:NBE:PBE)
These figures represent the ratio while sententiously passing Sub BE, Normal BE and Priority BE marked traffic.

The results of this test will vary depending on the way your ISP has decided to use these traffic classes.

BT Speedtest results at 0135 this morning (Thursday).

Note the absence of that weird little 'assured rate' message that popped up earlier on Weds..... No sign of it now!

[Rik]

It looks like Alan may be right, your sync has improved and the message has gone away.

[kinmel]

I have a new anomaly.

Just run a BTspeedtest and it states " IP Profile for your line is - 3839 Kbps" - I thought IP Profiles jumped in 500Kbps blocks.

Sometimes it's hard to keep up

[Rik]

250 or 500 in the main, Alan, at your speeds certainly 500. The tester seems a little weird of late.

[DaveH]

Here we go again......

Download speed achieved during the test was - 7246 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 1000-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Assured Rate IP profile on your line is - 7150 Kbps

Frigging BT!

Until a day or so ago I was synching at 10350 and getting d/l of up to 9000.
Now I've got that 'Assured Rate IP profile' doohickey back again.

[Rik]

What's your sync speed?

[DaveH]

Synched at 8797 at the moment.

It's dropped from 10350 to 8797 in the last 48 hours or so. Made no changes to any wiring at home, no reboots, nothing.

[Rik]

What's your noise margin and what was it before?

[DaveH]

I don't have a readout of noise margin unfortunately.

The Belkin N1 Vision doesn't give the info.

[Rik]

Check with support, they should be able to see it from their end. My hunch would be the target noise margin has been raised to stabilise the line.