Extremely slow broadband connection

Ardua · Apr 30, 2011, 11:24:13

Quote from: Rik on Apr 30, 2011, 10:51:03
Nothing that I'm aware of.

Between a rock and a hard place me thinks

Tacitus · Apr 30, 2011, 11:58:40

Quote from: Ardua on Apr 30, 2011, 11:24:13
Between a rock and a hard place me thinks

That's BT for you

Despite my earlier post I couldn't think that anything had changed regarding support, although possibly an increase in subscriber numbers may have forced a rethink. Good to hear from Simon_IDNet that nothing has changed.

Steve · Apr 30, 2011, 15:09:22

If the max upstream rate is reduced i.e a rate cap then upstream SNR will as a result of this be higher?

Rik · Apr 30, 2011, 16:35:51

You'd think so, Steve, wouldn't you.

Mr Booh · Apr 30, 2011, 17:42:31

If a person requires out of hours help, is a Phone Message going to be picked up by staff working at home?

Rik · Apr 30, 2011, 17:47:59

Yes.

Mr Booh · Apr 30, 2011, 17:50:19

I thank you.

Rik · Apr 30, 2011, 17:51:16

Whether anything is done, though, depends on the nature of the fault.

T_M_D · May 02, 2011, 23:35:38

I am very happy to report that I have had completely problem-free Internet/broadband access for the entire bank holiday weekend. A constant, robust and healthy consistent 5+ mbps This strengthens my view that BT was somehow responsible for my loss of service last weekend.

I might purchase a USB modem in case something like this happens again.

The dismaying thing is that if this was a BT issue, then it shows how completely at the mercy of them we often are. They could (and no doubt will) make something like this happen again one day and it seems that when they do, the consumer and ISPs are equally as helpless at getting to the bottom of things

Anyway, my thanks to all those who helped as much as they could during the issue.

A note to IDNet - I think it is time you reconsidered your OOH policy and got some support in place. It isn't as if you are a cheap provider, you ought to be able to do something given the amount you charge your customers.

zappaDPJ · May 02, 2011, 23:53:17

Good to hear your connection is holding up. Unfortunately BT seem to be a law unto themselves. I regularly lose the net after midnight and there's no question in my mind that it's due to maintenance. The problem is they never seem to inform anyone prior to carrying it out.

Gary · May 02, 2011, 23:59:55

Quote from: T_M_D on May 02, 2011, 23:35:38

A note to IDNet - I think it is time you reconsidered your OOH policy and got some support in place. It isn't as if you are a cheap provider, you ought to be able to do something given the amount you charge your customers.

You have the forum, IDNet can do nothing over a weekend apart from check their end and if it was at their end you would see it here big time, weekend support its really a placebo effect anyway as you would still have to wait till Monday till the fault was reported. You Pay Your Money and You Take Your Chances.

Bill · May 03, 2011, 00:36:11

Quote from: Gary on May 02, 2011, 23:59:55if it was at their end you would see it here big time

Ah yes... memories of one or two occasions and some really busy topics

Lance · May 03, 2011, 07:37:30

Quote from: T_M_D on May 02, 2011, 23:35:38
A note to IDNet - I think it is time you reconsidered your OOH policy and got some support in place. It isn't as if you are a cheap provider, you ought to be able to do something given the amount you charge your customers.

I think the amount charged reflects that there is no need for them to traffic shape or throttle as they are able to buy sufficient capacity from BT.

Gary · May 03, 2011, 08:28:21

Quote from: Bill on May 03, 2011, 00:36:11
Ah yes... memories of one or two occasions and some really busy topics

Rik · May 03, 2011, 09:24:49

Quote from: T_M_D on May 02, 2011, 23:35:38
A note to IDNet - I think it is time you reconsidered your OOH policy and got some support in place. It isn't as if you are a cheap provider, you ought to be able to do something given the amount you charge your customers.

Problem is, Tina, unless you're paying for enhanced care, in most situations there's nothing IDNet could do anyway, as BT would not investigate until the next working day. As Lance says, the 'premium' you pay with IDNet is dedicated to providing a network that is not over-subscribed.

T_M_D · May 07, 2011, 16:51:36

Here we go again - speed suddenly rapidly dropping.........down to 340k

Simon_idnet · May 07, 2011, 17:04:25

Hi Tina

Your DSL connection has been stable with a Profile of 6Mbps and no disconnections since 24th April. Are you connecting to your router wirelessly or via a network cable?

And, how are you measuring the speed i.e. where did you get the speed reading from, was it a speedtester or a website download?
Simon

sobranie · May 07, 2011, 17:18:17

Rik, have PM you.

Simon · May 07, 2011, 18:27:55

Rik's away for the weekend, Rick.

sobranie · May 07, 2011, 19:13:33

Quote from: Simon on May 07, 2011, 18:27:55
Rik's away for the weekend, Rick.

Thanks Simon

T_M_D · May 07, 2011, 19:14:30

Hi all,

Thanks for all of you jumping in to help so quickly, firstly, the speed is such that it is up and down like a yoyo, one test 340, next 220, 440, what I know is that as I am heavily involved in research on the net I am noticing how long I have to wait for web pages to load, sometimes it is not 100% painful, just slow, other times I think, that's it it's is going to go as bad as it was before. I still think that might happen so what I will say now is this so's none of you are wasting your time on it, I am going to use it for as long as I can and then forget about it and just live with it. There is no way I am going to let it consume my life like it did before. I reckon it is good 'ol BT at it again. From now on, I am not going to bother to report any faults unless it continues of course and becomes obvious it is a problem that needs sorting rather than just one that mysteriously goes away after a certain period of time.

Also, I am thinking of getting a USB modem and if I can get something to work here, a dongle and PAYG for it. I really, really find it difficult and time consuming and pretty fruitless running endless speed checks and going into router stats, I would rather just have a back up option and only report a problem when it is likely that it can be traced and fixed by IDNet and BT.

My first port of call, when I get a problem, assuming I can access it at the time, will always be to check the forum in case there is something going on that is affecting the wider IDNet broadband user base so that I can at least eliminate that as a reason for the issue.

I am off now to enjoy the rest of the weekend, internet or no internet!

Have a great weekend all

sof2er · May 07, 2011, 20:20:01

I used to have no connection for 2 months every week twice on a random day midnight for an hour up to three hours. It doesn't appear that BT tells when they are doing work.

The funny thing is when they do say there's work my internet connection remains fine after midnight and when they don't say anything it could go down.

pctech · May 08, 2011, 16:44:20

Quote from: sof2er on May 07, 2011, 20:20:01
I used to have no connection for 2 months every week

Your life must be going by awful quick.

armadillo · May 08, 2011, 17:07:53

Quote from: T_M_D on May 07, 2011, 19:14:30

Also, I am thinking of getting a USB modem and if I can get something to work here, a dongle and PAYG for it. I really, really find it difficult and time consuming and pretty fruitless running endless speed checks and going into router stats, I would rather just have a back up option and only report a problem when it is likely that it can be traced and fixed by IDNet and BT.

If you're considering a USB modem, it would really be better to do as others have suggested and get a spare router instead.
You really do need to do what you have refused to do, namely eliminate an intermittent router fault as the cause of your problem. The nature of scientific investigation is to experiment without prejudging what you believe to be the cause.

If you were to use a USB modem, it would of course be wired rather than wireless. A wired router would give you the same solid, wired connection but with some further advantages. A good one, which works perfectly for me, is the Netgear DG834 (NOT DG834G - the plain DG834 is wired only and that is what you want as your backup. It is available pretty cheap from even PC World). I have two of them. One is a backup that I can use to eliminate router failure as a cause of any problems I might get! I have never had any router-caused problems but I have a scientific training ;-)

The other advantages of a wired router over a USB modem are:

The router includes the protection of its integral hardware firewall; a USB modem needs the protection of a separate software firewall on the PC.

A USB modem requires you to install a modem driver on the PC, itself leading to potential conflicts and problems, whereas a router needs no drivers.

Whenever you restart your PC or turn it off, the USB modem disconnects from the exchange. This will reduce your continuous up time and may lower your profile, thus slowing your connection down further. A router remains connected regardless of whether the PC is running or not.

I agree with the rest of your strategy, only contacting support if you get a persistent problem that is not resolved by using your new backup router.

pctech · May 08, 2011, 17:41:12

Mobile dongles are NOT really a solution for indoor internet access despite what the mobile operators claim.

For starters the bulding construction can interfere with the signal and the less signal the you get the slower it will go.

In addition cells serving residential areas are likely to be heavily loaded and so again the speed is likely to be reduced as lots of people share the radio path and backhaul.