Having great difficulties this weekend

[foreversummer]

Hi

Wonder if any of you kind souls can help.

Kept losing synch with our exchange yesterday, but today staying connected is not a problem.  However although we are connected all of our computers are having difficult in loading pages - it is so painfully slow if they load at all.

Our router is connected to the master socket and all the computers connect by wi-fi.  The wi-fi signals are showing as excellent.  However, we can bearly load pages let alone do any gaming.

Hoping I can get this message through to the board.

Any suggestions greatly appeciated.

[Rik]

Can you post your router stats and, if possible, the results of a BT speed test?

[foreversummer]

Hi Rik

Thank you for your immediate response.

I'm sorry but I am not sure how to post my router stats - if you can talk me through that that would be great.

I think I know how to do the BT speed test so I'll do that now.

Many thanks.

[Rik]

What router do you have?

[foreversummer]

Phew . . .  Have just managed to do the BT speedtest on the fourth attempt.  Didn't seem to have enough juice to load:

DSL Connection rate 7616 downstream
736 upstream
IP profile 6500
Download speed 2403 kbps.

Pages either downloading very slowly or not loading at all.  Had problems getting back to the forum.

Router is the Netgear DGN1000 purchased from ID Net.

Many thanks.

[Rik]

That's odd, the BT data shows that you're connecting OK, but your throughput is very low, suggesting either a lot of errors or a highly congested exchange. I don't know that model of Netgear, but usually the stats are available by logging into the web interface http://192.168.0.1, then Router Status > "Show Statistics" Button.

What I'm interested in is the downstream line attenuation and noise margin. Normally, the login credentials for Netgear are admin & password, but if IDNet configured it, it's likely to be different, try your ADSL logon username & password if the defaults don't work.

[foreversummer]

Downstream line attenuation 8.6 db
Noise margin 9.8 db

Re exchange congestion, we pay for the priority service with IDNet and never normally have problems.

[Rik]

Can you connect one machine via an ethernet cable and see if the performance is any better that way? It looks like your target noise margin has been raised, otherwise for that line attenuation I'd expect a full 8192 sync.

Run a quiet line test, dial 17070 and select option 2. You should hear only a background hiss or hum, if there are any crackles or the noise level is high, then report a fault to your voice provider, but don't mention ADSL, only noise when making calls.

If the quiet line test is OK, do you have an NTE5 master, the type where the bottom part of the faceplate can be removed? If so, please remove the plate and plug the router only into the test socket which will be revealed. Does that help?

What else is connected to the line, eg phone, Sky box etc?

[foreversummer]

Thanks Rik

Going to take a few hours out in the sunshine then if problem still exists will work through what you suggest.

Its really strange but for a few minutes I get perfectly normal speeds and then suddenly it changes and goes so slooooow often to a grinding halt with nothing loading.  Maybe there is a problem at my exchange?

Many thanks for your help.  I will let you know.

[Rik]

The exchange fits the symptoms best, but if you can eliminate other possibilities as I've suggested, it will save you some time when you talk to IDNet.

[Simon_idnet]

Have you tried rebooting everything including your router? The wireless setup may need resetting and a reboot would do that. But, better still, and as Rik says you should try one machine on the (rebooted) router with an Ethernet cable.

It might also be an idea to try a different wireless channel in case a neighbour has started using the same channel as you.

[foreversummer]

Hi Simon.

Have done a couple of reboots this morning.  Now both kid's laptops off and just this computer connecting wirelessly.

I've just come back in and everything is going at a snails pace if at all.  Takes absolutely ages to get to the forum.  I've just noticed that one of the lights has gone out on the router.  It is the third one from the left with the round globe - think thats the web light.

I guess next I will connect with the ethernet cable.  Had just been hoping that suddenly everthing would get back to normal.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

[foreversummer]

Forgot to mention have tried changing channels.  Router is set to auto and usually sits on Channel 1.  I've switched to Channel 6 but no improvement.

[Technical Ben]

I would also suggest turning off wifi from the Admin control panel (or button on the router box if you have one) and connecting via an Ethernet connection on a laptop/pc. This should rule out the small risk that someone has hijacked your wifi, or the more likely candidate of the kids a family member bogging it down with the wrong Iplayer/youtube settings.

You can also try downloading a video to "watch later" via BBC Iplayer, or some other large file from a site you use. Then you can see how quickly the file is downloading. If it downloads quickly, it suggests just your web browsing is effected. If it downloads slowly, then it's something effecting the entire connection. However, you did mention gaming being a bit slow too, so it suggests the latter.

[foreversummer]

Have computer connected to ethernet cable.  Still terrible slow - like only just managed to get onto the forum after many attempts. 

So, it seems that if I reboot the router the web light comes on for a while but everything is so slow to load most pages don't.  After a while this light goes off.

Doesnt matter if we are connecting with ethernet cable or wirelessly.

Ben, thanks for your reply.  Don't quite understand though.  All we can do to download a basic webpage let along a large file.  Tried to connect to the IDNet page to check bandwidth usage but won't download.

Guess for tonight we will turn everthing off.  Have a glass of wine or two and see what tomorrow brings!  Who knows, perhaps everything will be find in the morning.

Thank for all your help today.

[Rik]

Do you get any error messages, or is it purely a sluggishness? Have you tried any of the diagnostics I suggested?

[foreversummer]

Hi Rik

Have tried quiet line test - OK.

If I get windows diagnosics to to check connection it comes up with:  Cannot communicate with Primary DNS Server 212.69.40.3.

Web light still on at present so I can communicate.  When web light not on this is what it says.  When web light off it says:  See above, what I said to Simon when I log into Router.

At moment, my computer says that I have local access only.  So no guarantee that this message with reach the forum.

Cheers.

[foreversummer]

Sorry just realised my reply did not get to Simon.

When web light out my router shows time connected 00.00.00.  Connection to server:  Waiting for Data.  Negotiation:  LCP is allowed to come up.

[Rik]

It did.

Right click on the connection > Status > Properties > TCP/IP > Properties. Change from 'Obtain DNS server address automatically' to 'Use the following DNS server addresses'. Type in 198.153.192.1 and 198.153.194.1 - that's Norton DNS. See if that cures the problem.

[foreversummer]

Sorry Rik

You will need to treat me as a complete dumbo!

Where is my connection to click on.  If I click on the little connection icon on my taskbar it doesn't give me the option of status.

[Rik]

Go into Control Panel > Network Connections and double click on the connection there, then. Which version of Windows are you using?

[foreversummer]

Done it!  No better unfortunately.

Windows error message:  Windows has found a problem that cannot be repaired automatically. Contact your ISP.

BT speedtester won't load to get another reading from there.

Web light on router still on at present though.

Most webpages just time-out.  The forum often loads in plain text (doesn't look like the usual page).  Don't know what this means.

Going to turn off soon and hope for a better day tomorrow! Lol.

[Technical Ben]

Have computer connected to ethernet cable.  Still terrible slow - like only just managed to get onto the forum after many attempts. 

So, it seems that if I reboot the router the web light comes on for a while but everything is so slow to load most pages don't.  After a while this light goes off.

Doesnt matter if we are connecting with ethernet cable or wirelessly.

Ben, thanks for your reply.  Don't quite understand though.  All we can do to download a basic webpage let along a large file.  Tried to connect to the IDNet page to check bandwidth usage but won't download.

Guess for tonight we will turn everthing off.  Have a glass of wine or two and see what tomorrow brings!  Who knows, perhaps everything will be find in the morning.

Thank for all your help today.

Oh sorry. Did not realise it was so difficult to actually get anything up at all. Was just wondering if it was just webpages that were the problem. There have been a few faults on occasion where everything else would work fine.

[Rik]

Windows error message:  Windows has found a problem that cannot be repaired automatically. Contact your ISP.

Odd. Can you hit Start > Run > CMD and hit Enter. In the DOS-like window which opens, type ipconfig /all. Copy and paste the output back here could you?

[foreversummer]

Good morning.

This is so odd.  About 9.30 pm last night everthing started to work fine.  Got up this morning, everyone on their laptops working perfectly. Then about 15 mins ago hardly anything loading again, page timeouts, virtually unusable. 

I will try as you suggest Rik. Thank you.

[foreversummer]

Just tried but doesnt allow me to copy the text.

[foreversummer]

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Caroline>IP CONFIG /ALL
'IP' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

C:\Users\Caroline>IPCONFIG/ALL

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Owner-PC
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 7:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Belkin N Wireless USB Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-22-75-DD-CA-5B
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::557d:89e3:6fee:d78f%18(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.6(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 02 May 2011 08:45:05
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 03 May 2011 08:45:04
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-40-CA-A3-82-96
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{87E5E782-4A29-4C00-B50B-B57BC76F9
60D}
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{0C1BB2EA-25BF-4E0F-9562-FD6E9D3A8
786}
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:5ef5:79fd:10d4:1db4:3f57:fff9(Pref
erred)
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::10d4:1db4:3f57:fff9%13(Preferred)
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 12:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{0C1BB2EA-25BF-4E0F-9562-FD6E9D3A8
786}
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

C:\Users\Caroline>

C:\Users\Caroline>

[Rik]

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

It may be an oddity of the wireless adaptor, but I'd expect that to show the actual DNS servers. Could you try that again, using a wired connection and see if it changes?

[foreversummer]

Hi Rik

Just managed to get back on.  The internet light on my router has gone out again so I don't know what that means.  Could that be a router problem or a problem at the exchange?  Very strange everything was fine late last evening and until 10 am this morning (the internet light was one then).   I will wire one of the laptops to the router in due course.

[Steve]

It's very similar symptoms to what we had last weekend with another member T_M_D,very poor connection all weekend except late at night and early morning, the cause has yet to be found but I think the connections been fine since.

[Simon]

As we haven't heard anything, it must be. 

[Rik]

The internet light on my router has gone out again so I don't know what that means.  Could that be a router problem or a problem at the exchange?

Router, exchange or wiring fault are the three most likely. Do you know if you're due to go 21CN for voice calls anytime soon? BT could be working at the exchange if you are.

[Rik]

As we haven't heard anything, it must be. 

Optimist.

[Steve]

Or it's even worse than last weekend.

[Rik]

More my way of thinking, Steve.

[T_M_D]

More my way of thinking, Steve.

Lol! You dudes Steve and Rik are comedians. Yes, everything has worked great for me since. I reckon foreversummer has indeed experienced a similar problem to mine - BT interference in my book! I guess we will never know for sure.

I hope foreversummer that your problem goes away now the bank holiday is over, just like mine did. A BT engineer has probably been paid double-time to disrupt your service all bank holiday weekend in order to undertake some form of 'surreptitious' maintenance on your exchange. Good luck, I hope it comes back for you.

[Rik]

It's easier than crying, Tina.

[foreversummer]

Well . . . an update.

Couldn't get back to the board yesterday, but phoned Miriam this morning.  She did a line test and spotted straight away that it was my router that was at fault.  She explained how to do a router firmware update in the hope that it would fix the problem and so far it seems fine.

Obviously, I need to keep an eye on it as it was a bit of an odd error.  If it does die it will be replaced under the 12 month warranty (I bought it from IDNet).  Can't say fairer than that.

Thanks for all your help.  Hope your problems are over Tina.  Sure is a bit of a drag when it happens over a long bank holiday weekend (specially with my children who love to play World of Warcraft).  Anyone would think you'd chopped their arms off if they have to do without the internet!

Caroline

[Rik]

Thanks for the update, Caroline.

[Simon]

Glad you've got to the bottom of it, Caroline. 

[foreversummer]

and this weekend as well . . . Sadly did not get to the bottom of it.  Thought I would post this out of interest.  Anyone seen anything like it before . . .

[DorsetBoy]

and this weekend as well . . . Sadly did not get to the bottom of it.  Thought I would post this out of interest.  Anyone seen anything like it before . . .

That looks like serious noise problems between the exchange and your home. Are you near the Vitacress plant by any chance, are any neighbours having problems like this?

[foreversummer]

Hi Dorset Boy!

I don't live very close to the Vitacress plant.  If you run a straight line from the exchange to me the watercress beds are in the opposite direction if you see what I mean.  Had a chat with the family next door and they have had no problems whatsoever with their connection (they have three teenagers in the house and are pretty heavy users).

Support have been great and have referred the matter to BT.  Just thought it would be interesting to share the graph as I've only just learnt how to do it.  

I'll report back in due course.

[Technical Ben]

Sorry to hear the fault manifested it's self as a router fault. A faulty exchange seems very hard to detect. As a faulty piece of equipment is just as likely to break and give a false reading of "Alls OK" 

[pctech]

Its why you need another piece of kit to monitor that one and so on.....


Machine and software self diagnostics and repair are not 100% reliable which is just as well otherwise people like me would be out of a job. 

I had a motherboard with a faulty Ethernet controller which would not 'talk' to the router but Device Manager said it was ok.

[DorsetBoy]

Sorry to hear the fault manifested it's self as a router fault. A faulty exchange seems very hard to detect. As a faulty piece of equipment is just as likely to break and give a false reading of "Alls OK" 

But it isn't a router fault, that was replaced and worked, now there is a problem that has been flagged with BT.

[Technical Ben]

Its why you need another piece of kit to monitor that one and so on.....


Machine and software self diagnostics and repair are not 100% reliable which is just as well otherwise people like me would be out of a job.  

I had a motherboard with a faulty Ethernet controller which would not 'talk' to the router but Device Manager said it was ok.

In my instance that is caused by using a crossover by mistake. :p

Oh, and I meant a fault at the exchange Dorset. (they are very hard to diagnose)

[zappaDPJ]

Anyone seen anything like it before . . .

Looks like a potential Turner prize entry to me

It actually looks like a lot of activity followed by a completely saturated upstream. Is it possible someone was using or left a computer on overnight?

[foreversummer]

Does anyone know how long it normally takes for BT to investigate faults.  (I can see from previous posters that faults are not easy to detect).

Support reported it to them on Friday.  I left a message this morning with support to say we have had no broadband since 9.30 am this morning.  I sent them an e-mail late afternoon hoping for an update.  They haven't come back (presumably because they have nothing to report).

I am at work this evening hence I am logged on!

Here is my latest Thinkbroadband quality monitor graph for what it's worth.



Just trying to get some sense of timing - the whole thing is so frustrating.

Caroline

[DorsetBoy]

That image is terrible   

BT don't do anything at weekends unless you have enhanced care , so your fault report would be in line for this week.

[Rik]

Support are stuck waiting on a BT response, Caroline. They'll keep chasing BT but are in their hands.

[foreversummer]

Well, BT have tested the line and they say it is OK!  An engineers' visit has been booked for tommorow.  Never had one of those before.

Having read through the threads on here I believe I have done everything I can to eliminate the problem being at my end.  The new router and one telephone is plugged into the test socket (behind the faceplate).  I've tried a couple of different filters and telephones and I have a new router of course.

Internet came back last night at 9 pm and went off this morning at 10 ish.  Looks like it has just come back on. 

Would be good of course if it is not working when he arrives tomorrow.  Trouble is it is so intermittant you never know.

Any tips on how to deal with a visit greatly appreciated.

Caroline

[Rik]

Be friendly, offer refreshments, take an interest in what he/she is doing. BT engineers are often treated quite badly by people, a little humanity goes a long way to getting them wanting to solve your problem, Caroline.

[pctech]

The engineers are ok in my experience, its the organisation which needs a shake up.

[foreversummer]

Hi Guys

Yes, I agree.  Always the best way to get the best out of folk.  Just hoping and praying he will find my problem and be able to put it right without too much delay.

I will of course let you know how I get on . . . . .

[Rik]

 

[Technical Ben]

Be friendly, offer refreshments, take an interest in what he/she is doing. BT engineers are often treated quite badly by people, a little humanity goes a long way to getting them wanting to solve your problem, Caroline.

Yes. I also know it is helpful to move furniture out of the way before they arrive etc, as it save them time. Then they do not feel rushed by the boss etc.

[Rik]

Good point, Ben.

[foreversummer]

Well, the router is in the hallway in the test socket so it was straight-forward for him to get to work.

My line is OK, but apparently I am on a hot VP (meaning that I am on a congested pipe into the exchange).  BT Wholesale say they won't do anything about it unless I perform more BT Speedtests.  Unfortunately, when I have the problem I cannot even load the webpage to do one!  When the engineer was here everything was working fine.  All gone down again now so not sure if this page will get through - can't load my thinkbroadband quality monitor at the moment.

I really didn't think congestion would be my problem because I am on the SuperMax service with IDNet which gives me priority over other ASDL traffic.  The engineer didn't understand what I meant by this.  IDNet say that I do have priority service but only when I get through the congested pipe.  I don't really understand, but hey.

IDNet are going to pass it back to BT.

Happy days!

[Rik]

You have priority at the exchange, Caroline, but if the equipment there is congested, that becomes worthless, unfortunately.

[foreversummer]

Thanks Rik.

Something else I've just thought about which I don't understand is that I told the engineer this morning that my internet light goes red sometimes (on the old router we thought was faulty it went out altogether), and he said it was loss of PPP.

So does loss of PPP happen because of congestion.  I've seen threads that suggest otherwise.

Just trying to understand (that will become my catchphrase soon!)

Caroline

[pctech]

Loss of PPP can occur under extreme congestion conditions because the router loses communication with IDNet's access routers for an extended period (not sure what that parameter is but someone will know am sure)

[Rik]

What Mitch says, Caroline, but it would mean the congestion was very bad.

[foreversummer]

Thank you both so much for taking the time of explain.  Don't know what I'd so without you.

[Rik]

We're always glad to help.

[foreversummer]

Well hi all.  Just thought I would update you and also ask for some further info if possible.

My problem was fixed at the exchange and everything is working OK except for my speed which has never gone back to normal.

Up until last night my IP Profile was 4000 and my router had stayed in sync for six days but there was no increase in speed.  I've just checked again today and my IP Profile has reduced to 3500 as the router lost sync last evening it appears.

The BT speedtest shows a sync of 4480 and I managed a speed of 3204 kbps.  Prior to the problem I was getting speeds of around 6 meg.

Is it likely to go back up on its own.  My router stats are:

8 db line attenuation
13.9 db noise margin (slightly reduced from 15.8 db over the last couple of days).

Any thanks greatly appreciated.

Caroline

[Rik]

Hi Caroline

Are you sure the router had stayed in sync?

[foreversummer]

Hi Rik

Yes, it definately said so on the router status page - six days and so many hours.  I kinda think I have read here that it would automatically go up after 3 - 5 days.

My old router never stayed in sync for that long, never managing more than around 120 hours, so it is nice to have the stability but a bit more speed would be good.

Caroline

[Rik]

It needs to be in sync for 5 days (though I always allow 6 or 7) then you have to re-boot to gain the extra speed. However, given what has since happened, I'd suspect there are enough errors on the line for BT's systems to decide the line wouldn't be stable at higher speeds.

[DorsetBoy]

13.9 db noise margin (slightly reduced from 15.8 db over the last couple of days).

sounds like a noisy line that has seen some interleaving to keep it stable.

[Rik]

Which, considering the attenuation, must mean a very noisy line.

[foreversummer]

Oh . . . I have just looked at my router again.  I may be getting my System Up Time confused with my Connection Time!  I will monitor it again and see what happens.

I guess I'm just curious where this noise has come from since my 'exchange problem'.  My noise margin used to be around 10 - 11 db on the old router.  Do BT up the noise margin to keep the connection stable or is it coming from somewhere along the line?  The old router used to sync at 8125 or so and then dropped to 7616 before the problem occurred.

Caroline

[Glenn]

Can you hear anything on the line if you Dial 17070, press option 2, all you should hear is a background hum?

[Rik]

BT can up the target NM as part of the stabilisation process. OTOH, if you resync due to noise and the noise goes away, then the reported NM will rise. The only way we can tell which applies is to have the figure that's reported immediately after a resync. My own line has degraded in recent weeks by 05.-1M. BT aren't interested in investigating as it's a long line, so there's little IDNet can do. In your case, with a short line, they may be able to do more - have you asked them to test the line?

[foreversummer]

Thanks guys.

I have done the quiet line test and it is pretty silent.  The BT engineer did it as well when he came here. 

What I can never understand is that if I re-sync the router won't this just make matters worse, ie their system will detect that my connection is unstable and lower my ip profile again?

At the end of the day I am very grateful to have a usable broadband service back.  Maybe if I wait patiently things will speed up. Lol!

Caroline

[Rik]

DLM shouldn't see the occasional resync as instability. However, other factors such as ambient RF noise and the error count are all taken into account as part of the process.

[foreversummer]

Thanks as always.

I will monitor and see what happens.

Whatever did we do before we had the internet!

Caroline

[Rik]

Read books?

[tehidyman]

the error count are all taken into account as part of the process.

What is the recommended way to obtain error count?. (Netgear 834G with RouterStats.)

[Rik]

Enter this in the browser address bar:

http://192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?todo=debug

which should result in a screen which just says 'Debug enable'.
(That's assuming that you haven't changed the router's IP address from the default).

Then exit from the web interface and open a command-line window. Type:

telnet 192.168.0.1

You should get a BusyBox welcome message to confirm that your telnet connection is established.

Now type:

cat /proc/avalanche/avsar_modem_stats

[DorsetBoy]

Which, considering the attenuation, must mean a very noisy line.

and given the attenuation the synch seems to be very low, my att. on Max was @ 27db and I was synched at 832/8128 with a 7150 profile throughput of 6835kbps.

[foreversummer]

Hi Dorset Boy

Well exactly.  This is what I had before this problem at the exchange happened.  Always synced at 8128 until just before it happened it went down to 7616.

So can't really understand if everything is fixed why I cannot get these speeds.

Caroline

[Steve]

My guess at that attenuation is that's it's not fixed yet.

[DorsetBoy]

Hi Dorset Boy

Well exactly.  This is what I had before this problem at the exchange happened.  Always synced at 8128 until just before it happened it went down to 7616.

So can't really understand if everything is fixed why I cannot get these speeds.

Caroline

Well ......... 7616 is BT's magic number , it is the alleged maximum synch possible when interleaving is turned on ( fact is plenty of folk still get 8128 with interleaving, I was one when I ran AdslMax for @ 18 months interleaved and my attenuation is 3 times higher than yours) and even at 7616 your throughput should be higher.

7616 would also be right for the SNR figure you see, what this does tell us is that for a very short line, you must be close to the exchange, there is a lot of interference coming from somewhere . Your village is not exactly an industrial centre, are there any workshops/businesses close by?

[Ardua]

Hi Dorset Boy

Well exactly.  This is what I had before this problem at the exchange happened.  Always synced at 8128 until just before it happened it went down to 7616.

So can't really understand if everything is fixed why I cannot get these speeds.

Caroline

I am beginning to believe that understanding how ADSL works (and particularly ADSL2+) requires more patience than most us have. After 2 months of line/router instability, my router held a stable connection with an IP of 10000 and connection rate of 11924/1048 for just under a month. I was away from home last week and noted from the log that my router had two disconnections over a 24 hour period: one in the early morning when it was clear from the changed IP address that BT had been fiddling with the line and one at about 1pm when the log shows no errors on the line and a constant downstream SNR of 14. Following this disconnection, the connection rate rose to 12179/1059. Yesterday, I ran a BT Speedtest and found that my IP had risen by 745 to 10745 and downstream SNR has dropped to a constant 12 (line attenuation 15).

My speeds are still well below what is predicted for my line but, after 3 months, I am seeing a slow but steady improvement without any significant amount of exchange congestion. In sum, be patient. ADSL seems to be like a supermarket trolley with a wobbly front wheel; ie, it has a mind of its own.

[foreversummer]

Oh I agree Ardua with everything you have said.

I'm beginning to think that maybe BT have not really fixed my problem just capped my speed to give me enough to shut me up.  Does that seem a reasonable assumption?

Trouble is I hate to keep bothering support - I'm sure they will get fed up with me soon.

Caroline

[foreversummer]

Thanks for your post Dorset Boy.

Heart of industry we certainly ain't that's for sure!  There is nothing industrial between the short distance from the exchange to my house.  Just a few more houses, some trees and a stream. 

Caroline

[Rik]

Trouble is I hate to keep bothering support - I'm sure they will get fed up with me soon.

They won't.

[tehidyman]

There is nothing industrial between the short distance from the exchange to my house.  Just a few more houses, some trees and a stream. 
Caroline

The  few more houses could be part of the problem.  I can sync at nearly 4000Kbps when the guy opposite is away for a few days but within an hour of his return I have crashed to around 2000.  However it took me nearly two years to work this out.  Good Luck!!!