New arrival - line stats

[Lance]

Painful! I hope you get your line sorted soon!

[Endgame]

Aww mate, i have just got COD4 and want to play a game online and i can't 

I'm gonna have to talk to somebody about this tomorrow, my speeds are going up and down rapidly, fluctuating anywhere between 3000kbps down to 250kbps 

[Lance]

You might as well give me the game, seeing you can't play it!

Speak to support in the morning, and have a few bt speedtests to hand.

[Endgame]

It's good...................................really good

I'll give them a call again in the morning but i reckon it'll mean sending out Dick Turpin i mean a BT engineer, which will probably cost me

[Endgame]

I've just tested this morning and this is my speed:



Although not what it should be it shows just how badly it is fluctuating up and down, fwiw it's only ever the download speed affected , the upload is always fine 

[Den]

Last week I received a call from a customer, He had applied for a ISDN line and set up for his business. He ordered it via a private communication firm and left it to them. Two lines into the premises one with Broadband on and one with RedCare on. Guess which one they tried to put the ISDN on. You've got it, the RedCare one. BT said that RedCare would work on a ISDN line, now as BT own RedCare wouldn't you think that they would know that this was discontinued (due to lack of sales) some time ago and is not now compatible. It taken nearly a week to sort out and lots of phone calls and visits, BT I hate them  and the private firm was no better (ex BT).

[Rik]

I've just tested this morning and this is my speed:



Although not what it should be it shows just how badly it is fluctuating up and down, fwiw it's only ever the download speed affected , the upload is always fine 

Sounds like you're on a Rudolph exchange.

[Endgame]

Sorry Rik, you've lost me there 



Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test:  -provides background information.
    IP profile for your line is - 7150 kbps
    DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM)  8128 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
    Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 6610 kbps

If you wish to discuss these results please contact your ISP.

If you are experiencing problems with specific applications, servers or websites please contact your ISP for assistance.

Your test has completed please close this window to exit the performance tester.

I have managed to do a BT speedtest this morning and although it says i am getting a throughput of 6610kbps it honestly feels like i am getting anywhere between the 500-3500kbps that speedtest.net say i am. I know speedtest aren't supposed to be reliable but how can 2 tests differate vastly? Also why are my speeds fluctuating so rapidly, it is like when i am browsing webpages some won't load at all and some will pop up rapidly.

I am only asking as Miriam has said that the only line of enquiry now is to call a BT engineer out, and we all know what that means............

[Rik]

Sorry Rik, you've lost me there 

Sorry, seasonal whimsy - a red, or congested exchange.

I have managed to do a BT speedtest this morning and although it says i am getting a throughput of 6610kbps it honestly feels like i am getting anywhere between the 500-3500kbps that speedtest.net say i am. I know speedtest aren't supposed to be reliable but how can 2 tests differate vastly?

Different techniques, different routes to server, different loads on server. The only reliable speed test is to do a large download, eg Linux distro, from a 'known good' server.

Also why are my speeds fluctuating so rapidly, it is like when i am browsing webpages some won't load at all and some will pop up rapidly.

That could be an MTU issue, what value are you using? It could be a DNS issue, you can check that by switching to OpenDNS.

I am only asking as Miriam has said that the only line of enquiry now is to call a BT engineer out, and we all know what that means............

If you've done all you can to eliminate any possible wiring issues, then it shouldn't cost you anything. Obviously, though, if they find the issue to be in your wiring after the master socket...

[Endgame]

Cheers Rik, the problem i have though is that if they run a BT speedtest and it says i am getting 6000+ kbps then he's going to say "whats the problem?"

Unless he spends half of the day at my house so i can show him how the speed fluctuates drastically  from one hour to the next he's going to be walking away with £144 in his sky rocket!

If i check the test socket again behind the faceplate and i am still getting the speed fluctuations does that more or less rule anything out at my end?

[Endgame]

Ooops, forgot about the MTU bit, tbh i'm not sure its whatever the router set it at as i haven't changed anything, wouldn't know how too 

[Rik]

Cheers Rik, the problem i have though is that if they run a BT speedtest and it says i am getting 6000+ kbps then he's going to say "whats the problem?"

IDNet will book the call as fluctuating speed, so it shouldn't pan out like that.

If i check the test socket again behind the faceplate and i am still getting the speed fluctuations does that more or less rule anything out at my end?

It does. Provided the socket is wired correctly (your extensions are connected to the detachable face plate, not the rear), then when you connect to the test socket, the you are connecting directly to the exchange pair, with nothing else attached.

As for MTU, try experimenting with 1458, using TCP Optimizer to set Windows, you can leave the router alone. Before you change anything, go here and select the analyzer. That will tell you what your 'visible' MTU is. Then repeat the exercise after setting 1458 in Windows (remember to re-boot).

[Endgame]

Thanks again Rik i'll do it when i get in from work tonight

[Lance]

If the master socket is incorrectly wired, would BT correct this under regularisation of master socket?

Where Rik has said leave the router's MTU alone, he means as long as it is set to at least the windows value. The easiest thing to do is set it to 1500 and then forget about it!

[Rik]

If the master socket is incorrectly wired, would BT correct this under regularisation of master socket?

If they did the original work, they should do, Lance. Unfortunately, it's a little less clear these days since the introduction of Openreach.

[Endgame]

If the master socket is incorrectly wired, would BT correct this under regularisation of master socket?

Where Rik has said leave the router's MTU alone, he means as long as it is set to at least the windows value. The easiest thing to do is set it to 1500 and then forget about it!

I've been in the house 2 years and never had this problem before, and i certainly haven't gone anywhere near the master socket to change any wires..........................i wouldn't know where to start 

[Rik]

I've been in the house 2 years and never had this problem before, and i certainly haven't gone anywhere near the master socket to change any wires..........................i wouldn't know where to start 

Can you remove the face plate and post a photo of it?

[MoHux]

Ooops, forgot about the MTU bit, tbh i'm not sure its whatever the router set it at as i haven't changed anything, wouldn't know how too 

Assuming you are using Windows XP.
Do as Lance says regarding the Router MTU.  Some routers appear to have the MTU set far too low at 1400 (probably to suit AOL).
Whatever it is, change it to 1500 then change Windows MTU with DRTCP or TCP Optimiser, as Rik suggested.  Although I find 'Optimiser' can confuse someone new to its use.

HTH 

[Endgame]

I'm going to post 4 different speedtests, 2 from where the router is postioned now (a speedtest.net and a BT one) and then remove the faceplate and do another two from the test socket.

Rik, i'll take a pic behind the faceplate and post it up in a minute

[Rik]

We'll be here.

[Endgame]

Ok here's the first two which amazingly are more or less the same, i can guarantee this is the first time that this has happened as usually the BT one is nearly double from the speedtest.net one


BT:

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test:  -provides background information.
    IP profile for your line is - 7150 kbps
    DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM)  8128 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
    Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 3453 kbps

If you wish to discuss these results please contact your ISP.

If you are experiencing problems with specific applications, servers or websites please contact your ISP for assistance.

Your test has completed please close this window to exit the performance tester.



Speedtest.net:



I'll now remove faceplate take pic and do another two tests..................back in a bit 

[Endgame]

Ok i have removed the faceplate




Here is the speedtest.net result:



And when i did the BT speedtest this was the message i got after what seemed like an eternity!



'The system is currently busy. Please try again shortly, however if this problem persists, raise the issue with your service provider'

[Rik]

I think your faceplate is wired wrongly - are there no wires attached to it? It looks to me as if the extensions are taken from the rear, so are not disconnected when you use the test socket.

Take a look at the second photo here. That's the rear of a correctly-wired NTE5 face plate.

[Endgame]

No there are no wires attatched to the faceplate at all 

[Rik]

Then you can ignore the test socket as a diagnostic, I'm afraid. I'd suggest you have a word with support, and see if they think they can get BT to regularise the socket for you without charge.

Failing which, there is supposed to be a fixed fee of £30 to do so, though I've never managed to find it in a price list.