So, what gives?

[Niall]

Between 10.0Mb and 13.0Mb
(Estimated speed: 11.5Mb)

This is what my line supports based on the BT checker site, it also says that when fibre is live I'll get 27mb on my line. As it stands, my line keeps dropping to 6mb. I'm sick to death of asking for a line reset. I've had engineers out in the past and since they did the work to 'repair' the line it's been 15mb-6mb at the drop of a hat. There's no noise on my phone line since they altered whatever the fault on the line was (they replaced parts in the cab and at the exchange apparently), and now my results are consistently what I posted above, on checkers.

Why am I getting 6mb? I have no issues in my house and have 4 filters (1 BT and 3 from ADSL nation, two 'on a rope' ones and one faceplate). The noise varies with each but by minuscule amounts so this shows it's not those. I've ruled out hardware too, and have also upgraded parts since the issues reared their ugly head again.

Can anyone suggest anything other than asking for an engineer to come out? I have no days available to take off until February so it's not an option. If my line has a fault on it, which I believe it has as when it's 12mb+, one bad storm or torrential rain event and I'll have 6mb again, slowly resetting down each 3 days (like clockwork). To me this says that somewhere there is an issue on the line, probably between my house and the cabinet that's about 150 feet away.

As I say, I think it's a BT issue. After 4 engineer visits you'd think the line would be solid, but apparently not. I've left it for several months which believe me, has shown incredible patience on my part, but now I'm sick of it. I should be getting 15mb, but clearly the line has issues as I'm getting 6mb when even the BT checker says I should get 13mb. My line always has had higher speeds than the checker says it should, but now I'd just like to have a line that's better than basic ADSL, especially when I'm paying for more.

[pctech]

What are your router stats Niall?

Could be a noise burst

[Niall]

Yeah it is noise related. Sorry forgot to mention that.

I've mentioned previously in other threads that everything in the room has been replaced and I've reduced any electrical device use across the house too. When BT fixed something a while ago, it was fine for several months, then it went awful so IDnet got an engineer round. This engineer did a test and literally in under 30 seconds confirmed nothing in the house/room was the issue. It turned out that something had burned out in the cab which had to be replaced. Also they confirmed that something in the exchange was knackered too, which they claim was replaced (a board or something). I'm starting to wonder if they just swap knackered hardware around until they get the minimum of complaints and leave it. The line on my sisters road was awful, then they sorted something at the exchange. Literally the same day my connection started playing up again. Coincidence maybe, but I really do wonder.

Routerstats is currently showing a noise margin of 9.3, in fact it just dropped to 9.2 as I typed this (I've just swapped the filter after posting). Without changes at my end, or in the house I've seen a range from 17dB to the lowest of 4.7dB.

Here's an example of the randomness:

Sun 11 Sep 2011  21:15:13,    Noise Margin= 9.3, Sync Speed= 6652, Upstream NM= 10.4
Fri 16 Sep 2011  17:33:26,    Noise Margin= 4.7, Sync Speed= 15180, Upstream NM= 10.1
Mon 30 Jul 2012  21:36:36,    Noise Margin= 12.2, Sync Speed= 11040, Upstream NM= 11.1
Wed 01 Aug 2012  20:17:22,    Noise Margin= 14.3, Sync Speed= 9564, Upstream NM= 6.2
Tue 21 Aug 2012  17:51:09,    Noise Margin= 9.6, Sync Speed= 6652, Upstream NM= 11.6
Sat 29 Sep 2012  21:45:51,    Noise Margin= 9.2, Sync Speed= 6652, Upstream NM= 9.2
Sat 29 Sep 2012  21:46:06,    Noise Margin= 9.2, Sync Speed= 6652, Upstream NM= 9.1
Sat 29 Sep 2012  21:46:21,    Noise Margin= 9.2, Sync Speed= 6652, Upstream NM= 8.8

Note the dates. This is without changing anything at my end. I've only posted when there is a speed/noise change. Also, I only dip in and out of router stats just to log the stats for the day, then close it again.

It's clearly a line fault but how do you get BT to acknowledge that when they have a checker that says the line should support higher?

[pctech]

I expect the BT tester gives a green reading?

Unfortunately that means they will do nothing as its performing within specification.

ADSL is best effort so they will argue the checker is giving the indication under perfect line conditions.

AFAIK the only service where they have to provide the speed is Symmetric DSL and that's quite a bit more expensive than ADSL.

Sit tight and wait for fibre.

[Niall]

Yeah, that's what I've been doing but as I don't have much time lately, downloading a game on steam to play that night is now impossible.

The worry for me is that if they say the line supports 27mb and I'm getting half of their expected speed now, I'll only be getting what I should be now, when I pay more for fibre!

P.S. Remember Carrier command from the 80s on the Amiga, well http://www.carriercommand.com/ I just bought it on Steam for the awfully high price of £31. My fond memories cost me dear

[pctech]

I've been getting about 3.5Mbps since BT fixed a voice fault on my broadband line by cutting away some rotten copper and sealing the joint with resin.

Yesterday I set the router to ADSL and got a steady 4 Meg.

[Niall]

This is what annoys me too. About 2 years ago BT came out to fix my mums phone line which was so noisy it was losing calls. The same was happening to my line a while ago. I'm thinking that they put new cable in from the house to where it reconnects to the older cable that runs to the cab. The line from there on must be knackered, which is why my connection is all over the place.

I just wish I had the money to say, "look, what cable is it and how much would it cost to get an engineer to fit it, and I'll pay?". What use it BT upgrading networks on a network that is falling over as they're moving forward? Why not repair the older cabling first and get broadband to people with non, THEN upgrade? Sure we'll be behind europe, but we already are so why not just do it properly? Thatcher has done the damage, just repair from the ground up for gods sake!

[pctech]

If your line rental is with IDNet ask support to take it up with Openreach.

If they won't ask for your MAC and go to a provider that will (I can think of one with somewhat of a reputation of not taking nonsense from our non monopoly telecoms virtual monopoly)

[Niall]

If your line rental is with IDNet ask support to take it up with Openreach.

If they won't ask for your MAC and go to a provider that will (I can think of one with somewhat of a reputation of not taking nonsense from our non monopoly telecoms virtual monopoly)

I'll just send support yet another request to reset the line, and hope it holds out until fibre comes my way (supposedly 31/12/12). Maybe BT will look at the lines when installing that.

Incidentally, since I've changed filters, nothing has happened. Shocker

[pctech]

Sorry Niall, bit of a cold so head a bit fuzzy at the moment.

You mean changing the filters hasn't improved things?

[Niall]

Yeah. I swapped them just to see if the noise margins changed, but there was no movement at all. I know it can take a few days to pick up a change, which is why I mentioned the above

[Steve]

I think you've been banded Niall, however looking at your stats you current downstream margin is relatively low compared to the 1st August this year,this suggests to me you've currently got a lot of interface affecting your line.

[Niall]

This is the problem. I get told this each time, then BT fix something and it works. Annoyingly the implication is that I'm somehow at fault with this, which I've completely ruled out here, as confirmed with the BT engineer. As mentioned above, there was a fault at the exchange last time and everything points to issues with the physical line itself, e.g. water/degraded cable/damage to the cab/problems at the exchange. Trouble is no one seems to care anymore and I'm left with a cr*p line.

[psp83]

Just a warning. If you keep complaining about your connection, BT can declare your line unfit for broadband & then you will not get anywhere at all!

It's a pain in the arse having a noise issue, I still get the same problem on my FTTC, my connection can go from 50Mb/s to 70Mb/s or anywhere in between, depends on the time of day I disconnect the modem.

[Niall]

I've contacted support, they've got back to me saying the line report is clear so they reported it to BT who have gotten back to idnet saying they want to send an engineer, so I'm having to wait until Saturday the 13th for them. Seems that BT are implying there's a fault outside too. Probably the botched repair they made last time has or is failing.

Ah well, progress it seems.

[Niall]

Just a warning. If you keep complaining about your connection, BT can declare your line unfit for broadband & then you will not get anywhere at all!

It's a pain in the arse having a noise issue, I still get the same problem on my FTTC, my connection can go from 50Mb/s to 70Mb/s or anywhere in between, depends on the time of day I disconnect the modem.

Not applicable in my case as I've only ever had BT out 3 times and its due to their hardware failing, nothing to do with me. My mum had them out on her line which is the same main line, split at the connection outside the house to two phone lines. It's always been a BT failure when they've been out. The stress it causes is enough to not want to call support at all, with the threats of charges. I hate the way that's even allowed. It's like being accused of being a liar or of damaging things yourself.

There should be no threat of a charge. Last time BT tried to raise a charge even though it was their fault, so idnet told them to foff

[psp83]

BT can still declare a line unfit for broadband even if its their fault, as longs the line is fine for voice.

So just treat the BTo engineer nice and offer tea etc, then he won't go back complaining 

So far I've been lucky as the BTo engineers thats been out to me have lived locally so I see them about 

[pctech]

I agree, apart from the miserable git that installed my second line back in 2004 the engineers I've come across have been great.

Will be interesting to see what they do but as Paul says, don't whinge about BT this or BT that to them, we know BT as an organisation is a pain in the rear but provided you don't come across as a whinging git and are friendly they will do what they can for you.

[Niall]

Yes, I'm not daft. I've had them here before. I also work directly opposite the exchange so if they ruin my line I'll be throwing heavy things at them from my office window

[psp83]

Yes, I'm not daft. I've had them here before. I also work directly opposite the exchange so if they ruin my line I'll be throwing heavy things at them from my office window

Attach an ethernet cable so they can plug you directly into the matrix! 

[pctech]

Yep a direct ethernet feed would do the trick.

No more of this synchronisation nonsense.

[Niall]

I actually considered enquiring about a mortgage for a house for sale next to the exchange a few months ago, but it's chavtastic by there

[Niall]

Colour me suspicious. 1 day before BT are due to arrive, my connection for the first time in several months, returns to 13mb.

Mon 08 Oct 2012  18:29:28,    Noise Margin= 9.4, Sync Speed= 6652, Upstream NM= 9.4
Thu 11 Oct 2012  21:21:21,    Noise Margin= 8.7, Sync Speed= 12835, Upstream NM= 8.9

[Niall]

Well 2 days later and still no reply from IDnet via their contact page. I sent them an email on thursday telling them the line has mysteriously repaired itself and to check my line & with BT to see if they've done anything as I won't be paying BT anything for turning up to repair a line with nothing wrong. So today came, the BT engineer turned up, confirmed the line is flawless, in fact it's better than most in the area AC wise (said it's 78 when most are around 55 in this area).

Very disappointed that IDnet didn't reply to my contact via their own contact page. At least I can't be charged for this seemingly needless visit as I did point it out prior to the visit date. The engineer also told me that he thinks that something may have been repaired somewhere along the path to the exchange, which may explain why my line suddenly returned to normal on Thursday. He also said that the only other possibility is that either the ISP or the exchange had capped the speed and it hadn't been removed (didn't use these exact words, he was trying to explain things to me in laymans terms, which was actually confusing me more than if he told me using technical jargon )

I've left routerstats running since I came home from work to discover the increase in speed on Thursday.

Sat 13 Oct 2012  10:14:08,    Noise Margin= 8.8, Sync Speed= 12835, Upstream NM= 9.5
Sat 13 Oct 2012  10:14:23,    Noise Margin= ., Sync Speed= 0, Upstream NM= . (engineer resetting the line to do additional tests)
Sat 13 Oct 2012  10:26:08,    Noise Margin= 9.1, Sync Speed= 12747, Upstream NM= 9.2
Sat 13 Oct 2012  10:26:23,    Noise Margin= ., Sync Speed= 0, Upstream NM= . (engineer resetting the line to do additional tests)
Sat 13 Oct 2012  10:39:39,    Noise Margin= ., Sync Speed= 0, Upstream NM= . (engineer resetting the line to do additional tests)
Sat 13 Oct 2012  10:39:54,    Noise Margin= 8.9, Sync Speed= 12751, Upstream NM= 9.9
Sat 13 Oct 2012  10:45:24,    Noise Margin= 9.4, Sync Speed= 12751, Upstream NM= 9.0
Sat 13 Oct 2012  10:45:39,    Noise Margin= ., Sync Speed= 0, Upstream NM= . (engineer resetting the line to do additional tests)
Sat 13 Oct 2012  10:59:09,    Noise Margin= 9.2, Sync Speed= 12605, Upstream NM= 9.6
Sat 13 Oct 2012  10:59:24,    Noise Margin= ., Sync Speed= 0, Upstream NM= . (engineer resetting the line to do additional tests)
Sat 13 Oct 2012  11:03:24,    Noise Margin= 8.9, Sync Speed= 12759, Upstream NM= 10.0
Sat 13 Oct 2012  11:03:39,    Noise Margin= 9.2, Sync Speed= 12759, Upstream NM= 9.3

All is well. I have to say though, the timing of the sudden fix is more than a little coincidental! Still, very disappointed in not hearing from IDnet support. They've never left me waiting 2 days for a reply before. The timing of this first lapse couldn't have been worse really.

[Steve]

Just a thought in view of the new website roll out this week, I wonder whether there has been issues with the contact page.