Migration woes ....

[MacOne]

Hi

I migrated to IDNet just over a week ago and have jumped after migration from my usual download speed of something like 4587 Kbps to around 640 Kbps and now even lower to somewhere between 440 Kbps to 470 Kbps.

I emailed IDNet about my woes late evening on the 24th July and have not had a reply - not even an automated one - so thought best to post in these forums particularly as IDNet do not have weekend technical support.

I live in Oxfordshire and connect to the Witney exchange which is about 1.8 kms as the crow flies. We have had flooding in the county recently but here at home no flooding because the area is on higher ground. My telephone line had some intermittent noise during the week which I reported but they said the problem was my end all down to the equipment and (more likely) my ADSL connection. 

I live in what could be described as a 'coach house' which means accommodation is on the first floor across three garages & my front door below. When the house was built 16 years ago the BT master scoket was placed just inside the front door in a small hall on the ground floor. Like others in similar style properties on the estate I paid for the BT enginer to run a line from the back of the master socket up the outside wall to the kitchen terminating at a standard BT phone socket. When ADSL became available I replaced the socket in the kitchen with one of those Clarity ADSL Faceplates. An extension runs from this to the lounge where the computer is via 'decent' cable. Am using a SpeedTouch 546 router connected via ethernet cable to my intel iMac running OS X. Fairly standard stuff really & as I said my download speed is usually around 4587 Kbps.

Not sure if it makes any difference but my IDNet username ends in 'gw5'.

I have done some tests .....

I switched off my router whilst in town shopping and on my return removed the lower part of the BT master socket downstairs and connected everything up in the hall using a spare brand new ADSL microfilter - the router stats I got today at 16:12 hrs were as follows:


   Link Information
         
Uptime:   0 days, 0:11:12
Modulation:   G.992.1 Annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]:   448 / 3.616
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [KB/KB]:   18,00 / 24,00
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]:   11,5 / 19,5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]:   27,0 / 43,5
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]:   22,0 / 8,0
Vendor ID (Local/Remote):   TMMB / ALCB
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote):   0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote):   0 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote):   0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote):   0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote):   14 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down):   0 / 7.513
CRC Errors (Up/Down):   0 / 209
HEC Errors (Up/Down):   0 / 32


I then replaced the master socket lower front panel and moved everything back upstairs and connected via my usual connections - the router stats I got at 16:30 hrs were as follows:

        Link Information
         
Uptime:   0 days, 0:00:28
Modulation:   G.992.1 Annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]:   448 / 5.088
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [KB/KB]:   4,00 / 6,00
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]:   11,5 / 19,5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]:   27,0 / 43,5
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]:   23,0 / 4,5
Vendor ID (Local/Remote):   TMMB / ALCB
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote):   0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote):   0 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote):   0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote):   0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote):   0 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down):   0 / 398
CRC Errors (Up/Down):   0 / 0
HEC Errors (Up/Down):   0 / 0

Interesting unless mistaken seems better via upstairs connections? I then did the BT Speed Test - the results at 16:43 hrs were as follows:

    IP profile for your line is - 500 kbps
    DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM)  5088 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
    Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 441 kbps

Out of interest the BT Speed test results I got on Sat 21 July the day after migration were as follows:

   IP profile for your line is - 1000 kbps
   DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 4256 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
   Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 898 kbps

Houston meethinks we have a Profile problem? I have also done yet another Thinkbroadband speed test - results at 16:45 hrs via the following link:


http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results/id/11856374415807285890.html

Useless ....!!

I have checked my line via the BT Wholesale number checker - it said "my exchange (Witney) is ADSL enabled, and our initial test on your line indicates that your line should be able to have an ADSL broadband service that provides a line rate up to 2Mbps. Our test also indicates that your line should be able to support a potential ADSL Max broadband line rate of 5Mbps up to 8Mbps". I have used this checker often before and the results have never changed.

Given I have just landed at IDNet and not experienced this sort of problem before would appreciate any assistance.

Thanks

pb

[DorsetBoy]

You have a problem,that is clear.Your line profile is only 500kbps that is why your actual throughput is so low.

Something has happened to drive that down.Disconnections for some reason would do this. There are also errors showing and interleaving is turned on.

First thing is to test for noise on the phone line with no adsl connected.If you hear noise then it is a line fault and this looks like a classic wet line.

[Rik]

Welcome to the forum.

Your stats do make confusing reading. As you say, you appear to be getting better results from the extension than from the test socket and, the theory goes, that shouldn't happen.

Clearly, there has been instability on the connection and this has forced your profile down. The task now is to find the source, rectify any problems and then maintain a stable sync for three days so that your profile can rise. The one saving grace at the moment is that your target noise margin has not increased. From what you say, your current (extension) sync speed would give you the profile that you used to have.

Have you removed the ring wire, terminal three, from all sockets? That seems to be, from what you say, the one thing you can do to help yourself. If you have, or can borrow, a spare router, it would be worth trying that to see if it improves matters. As Dorset says, it would be worth doing a quiet line test, dial 17070 and follow the prompts.

After which, the only advice I can give you is to phone IDNet on Monday. It's unusual for support not to respond quickly, so I believe your email has probably fallen through the cracks. I will alert Simon to your post meantime. It is possible that your problems are the result of flooding affecting equipment between you and the exchange, but I feel you need to get the line tested by IDNet, it will be infinitely more helpful than my surmising.

[DorsetBoy]

Forgive my manners MacOne...welcome to Idnetters.

Just to add Idnet usually respond very quickly.

[Rik]

MacOne

Afterthought: You're connecting to an Alactel-based DSLAM. It might pay you to try an Alcatel-based router, eg the Netgear DG834v2 or the DG834G v3, as having the same chipset at each end of the connection is reputed to get the best results.

[Simon_idnet]

Hi pb

I am sorry that you have not receive a response. Please could I ask you to forward the email that you sent to us on the 24th so that I can investigate? My address is simon ..at.. idnet dot com.

Regards
Simon

[Inactive]

Hi MacOne,

Welcome to the forum.



Have a welcome karma.

[MacOne]

Hi

Thanks one and all for responding to my posting.

Simon I have forwarded the email I sent on the 24th.

Will give some thought to connecting via an Alactel-based router - will also check with Speedtouch what firmware I should be on as I have not updated it since I bought it - currently using version 5.3.2.6.0. Think I may still have my old ZyXEL router so will give that a try - I stopped using it because their support was useless (there were firmware issues at the time).

Did the quiet line test from the master socket and no snap crackle or pop but seemed to have some background hum - don't know if relevant or not or if just the norm!

Any of the wiring I have tinkered with has the ring wire removed.

Yes suppose it is possible that my problems are the result of flooding affecting equipment somewhere between me and the exchange - perhaps over the next few days with the help from IDNet we can establish if there are any issues - my neighbours saying their internet connections working fine. I have a neighbour who works for BT  I don't know him very well but I may just pop round to see him!

In the meantime appreciate the responses it will get sorted one way or another!

pb

[Rik]

Did the quiet line test from the master socket and no snap crackle or pop but seemed to have some background hum - don't know if relevant or not or if just the norm!

You'd have to check with another phone to eliminate the possibility it's locally generated. In theory, there should be no hum on a phone, in practice it's often detectable but shouldn't cause a problem.

Good luck with your line, now Simon is involved I am sure it will get sorted quickly. Keep us posted.

[MacOne]

Hi

Thought I would update you on my migration woes ...

Since my last post have been in touch with Simon at IDNet regarding the problems with my line. He arranged for BT to do some checks on my line which showed that my line was not showing (at the time of the tests) any apparent problems. IDNet asked for my profile to be raised in line with my sync rate which was 5500 Kbps.

BT made the adjustment on 31 Jul and up until last Fri 3 Aug my sync rate remained at 5408 Kbps with speeds according to the Thinkbroadband speed test varying according to time of day between 4158.49 Kbps and 2758.86 Kbps - not brilliant but better than it was!

Last Fri on return from work noticed things had slowed a bit. Checked my router and found that for some reason had lost sync during the day and my sync rate had a dropped now to 5280 Kbps. Did a BT Speed Test and found my profile had fallen from 5550 down to 4500 Kbps during the day.

I switched the router off last night to see if that would prompt my profile to change - no way!

Currently have sync rate of 5568 Kbps with actual speed of 4137.97 Kbps ....

I migrated on the 20th July which means the 10 day initial period period had ended by the end of August. I have always thought after the 10 day period the profile set by BT would then remain - if so as BT set the profile at 5550 Kbps why or how did it get lowered.

Presume I should now ask IDNet to get BT to change my profile back to 5550 Kbps?

[Rik]

Profiles relate to sync speed. If your connection drops and the router re-syncs at a significantly lower speed (by which I mean in the next profile speed band), then your profile will generally follow. The speed bands affecting you are:

sync speed     profile

5696 - 6239 = 5000
5120 - 5695 = 4500
4544 - 5219 = 4000
4000 - 4543 = 3500
3424 - 3999 = 3000

As you can see, your profile correctly followed your sync speed when it dropped. It will rise again if you can maintain a higher sync speed for three days (>5696). This happens automatically and is not something the ISP needs to request. It's worth noting that the 10 day period (which doesn't usually apply when migrating 'like for like') does not set the profile, this is a dynamic setting which is continually changed according to line conditions.

The loss of sync is a local condition, and not directly to do with an ISP, iow it's all about your connection to the exchange. Most losses are caused by noise pickup on the line, and if you haven't already done so, it would be worth checking your internal wiring, removing the ring wire from terminal three at every socket. Ensure that all extensions are wired using twisted-pair cabling, and that every device is filtered. Once you have eliminated your own wiring, if you continue to experience line drops, then get IDNet to test the line and, if necessary, get an engineer out to you. Be aware, though, that BT will raise a charge (£160+) if any fault is discovered in your wiring or equipment (anything after the master socket).

[MacOne]

Thanks for the clarification ... fingers x