Slow speeds after moving house

Mouseroo · Jan 29, 2008, 20:08:30

Hello people,

Well, I've almost finished moving house, and IDNet were their usual efficient selves in setting me up at my new address, but there's a problem...
I have been connected for just over 24 hours, and my speeds are poor to say the least. The results of a BT speedtester are:

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
IP profile for your line is - 250 kbps
DSL connection rate: 320 kbps(UP-STREAM) 160 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 95 kbps

I realise that it can take several days for a line to "settle in", and I know that the wiring in this (my new) house is older than that in my old house, but the previous ISP at this address was reaching a 4meg download speed. Also, I have only moved about half a mile down the road, so distance to the exchange is still less than 1 mile total. Speed at the old house was always over 6meg!
I have seen on this thread that others have had some sporadic speed issues, so I was looking to the experience of these forums for a bit of advice on the matter: Do I need to contact IDNet yet, or should I leave the connection for a few more days?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Simon · Jan 29, 2008, 20:22:02

Have you tried rebooting the router? That's about as far as my expertise goes, so hopefully someone will be along later to help you further.

Simon · Jan 29, 2008, 21:03:06

By the way, I've created a new thread, as I don't think it's to do with the issues of the other day.

Mouseroo · Jan 29, 2008, 21:20:48

Thanks for the new thread, Simon.

I've tried rebooting the router (Netgear DG834 v2 for what it's worth) and also the PC, but to no avail.

It's like being back on dial-up! Memories I thought I'd thoroughly repressed

Mouseroo · Jan 29, 2008, 21:55:14

For those who understand such witchcraft, here are my modem stats:

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 160 kbps 416 kbps
Line Attenuation 48 db 15.5 db
Noise Margin 10 db 6 db

It's all gibberish to me, but the downstream connection speed looks awfully slow

Lance · Jan 29, 2008, 22:24:32

Hi Andy

There is something seriously wrong here - I would expect you to be getting at least the 4mb, but probably a little higher than that. So you are right in suspecting the downstream to be looking slow!

Have you tried removing the ring wire from all sockets and double checked that everything connected is done so through a filter?

Do you have a NTE5 rype master socket, where the bottom half unscrews to reveal the test socket? If so, if you could connect the router to the test socket and post your stats, this may help us confirm its your internal wiring.

Mouseroo · Jan 29, 2008, 22:38:14

Hi Lance,

I checked that all sockets have a filter in place - they do.
Wouldn't know a ring wire if it walked up to me and slapped me, but I'll do some Googling and get back to you on that

Can't tell if the master socket is of type NTE5 - buried behind a mountain of boxes, so will have to check in the morning.
I can confirm that the router is not plugged into the master socket, but an upstairs extension. That is the only difference I am aware of from the setup in my old house. I'll plug the router into the master socket (the test socket if possible) and give it another whirl.

I'll get the results up in the next day or two, but in the meantime, thanks for the help!

Lance · Jan 29, 2008, 22:48:12

Taken from our FAQ:

Quote from: FAQ
If your figures do improve, then the chances are that your internal wiring, or devices attached to the line, are adding noise to your line. One of the most common causes of this is the so-called ring, or bell, wire. This wire is a hangover from the days when phones had physical bells, and needed a hefty current to make them ring. Modern phones do not generally need the ring wire, and the current required to ring a bell is generated by micro filters in any case. What the wire does do is act as a big antenna to collect noise and radio signals and, thus, worsen your ADSL connection. The only two wires you need are the exchange pair, which are connected to terminals 2 & 5.

The ring wire is connected on terminal 3 at all sockets, and is usually, but not always, coloured orange/white, you can see it on the second photo below, courtesy of forum member 'Jimbo'.

However, go by the terminal number, not the colour, and wriggle the wire out from terminal 3 at every socket, and then take another look at your figures from the socket where you normally connect. Have they improved? If so, pat yourself on the head as you’ve just mastered the art of getting the most from your line.

Sebby · Jan 29, 2008, 23:18:01

Something is seriously wrong here!

Quote from: Mouseroo on Jan 29, 2008, 22:38:14
Can't tell if the master socket is of type NTE5 - buried behind a mountain of boxes, so will have to check in the morning.

I appreciate that the socket might be difficult to get to, so do this when you get a chance. If the socket looks like this, then it's an NTE5 master socket, and we're in luck.

Remove the front plate (as shown in the picture, but be gentle as the extension wiring will be connected inside the socket to this plate). Behind the plate, you'll see a socket; this is the test socket. Connect the router to this, then repost the stats.

What this does is eliminate your internal wiring as the cause (which is prone to picking up noise, and hence low sync).

Of course, it may be the case that things don't actually improve, but don't worry. I think that IDNet will be able to raise it with BT if you've tried the test socket and still have the poor results as it proves that there is something wrong on BT's side, rather than in your property.

Rik · Jan 30, 2008, 09:56:03

Hi Andy

Lance and Sebby have given you good advice, you have a serious issue. The likelihood is that it's your internal phone wiring, so you need to have a good look at that before contacting IDNet. However, if you can't find the problem, contact them with a few BT speed tests, and they'll check the line for you. If, however, they get a BT engineer out to you and he finds the fault on your side of the master socket, it's going to cost you £160+.

Barndog · Jan 30, 2008, 10:28:21

I have just read about the ring wire in sockets, do you mean every socket in the house ie.wher you plug tvs, microwaves, even the sockets upstaires in bedrooms, or is it just the 1 phone socket which i would have out in the hall?

Rik · Jan 30, 2008, 10:29:47

Every phone socket. The ring wire acts as an antenna, so leaving it connected at either end can pull in the noise.

Si · Jan 30, 2008, 11:50:09

Quote from: Barndog on Jan 30, 2008, 10:28:21
I have just read about the ring wire in sockets, do you mean every socket in the house ie.wher you plug tvs, microwaves, even the sockets upstaires in bedrooms, or is it just the 1 phone socket which i would have out in the hall?

Don't confuse the ring wire with the ring main. I suspect disconnecting that wouldn't improve your online experience!

Rik · Jan 30, 2008, 11:57:59

Good point, Other.

Si · Jan 30, 2008, 12:00:30

Quote from: Rik on Jan 30, 2008, 11:57:59
Good point, Other.

Don't confuse people! I've already tried to make it clear I'm not the Other.

Rik · Jan 30, 2008, 12:05:26

Oh, sorry, if you're not that, and not the other, you must be the Simon.

Si · Jan 30, 2008, 12:09:23

Well, one of them....

Simon · Jan 30, 2008, 12:12:45

We're on a mission to take over the forum!

Rik · Jan 30, 2008, 12:28:07

Simons are forever?

MoHux · Jan 30, 2008, 16:18:56

It's simple really ..............

Mouseroo · Jan 30, 2008, 21:38:16

Thanks for all the additional info, folks - it's greatly appreciated!

It appears that the master socket is of type NTE5 - there is another socket behind the front plate (offset to the right). I connected my router into the test socket and there was no increase in speed. However, I couldn't run a BT speedtest at that point because it thought I had already run one and demanded that I wait for 3 hours

I'll give it another whirl tomorrow and get some fresh modem stats as well whilst I'm plugged into the test socket.

Lance · Jan 30, 2008, 22:32:39

It's good that you have the NTE5, it helps a lot in fault finding!

Once you posted the test socket stats, we can advise further.

Sebby · Jan 30, 2008, 23:16:27

Quote from: Mouseroo on Jan 30, 2008, 21:38:16
It appears that the master socket is of type NTE5 - there is another socket behind the front plate (offset to the right). I connected my router into the test socket and there was no increase in speed.

It's not the speed we're overly interested in at this stage as your profile will take a few days to update to match the new sync rate. What we need to see is the stats when connected to the master socket.

I'm looking forward to seeing the stats tomorrow.

Mouseroo · Jan 31, 2008, 19:42:06

Hello again,

I have connected my router directly into the test socket again, and managed to run a BT speed test and get the router stats. Here are the results:

BT speed test:
Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
IP profile for your line is - 135 kbps
DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 1216 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 114 kbps

Router stats:
ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 1216 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 38 db 15.5 db
Noise Margin 11 db 10 db

I hope these numbers mean something to somebody, because this sort of thing definitely isn't my calling

If there's any other information I can post which might be helpful, then just let me know.

Thanks again to everyone who's helped - I really appreciate it.

Sebby · Jan 31, 2008, 20:18:58

Ignore the ridiculous speed; that's because the profile is still reflecting your original sync rate.

Your sync is significantly better, but poor given your attenuation figure. Strangely, your attenuation has dropped by 10dB to 38dB, which is probably more accurate than when you were connected to an extension socket. If your attenuation was still 48dB, these stats that you've posted would be quite poor. But with attenuation of 38dB, they're really poor, especially since they were read from the test socket. Really, you should be getting in excess of 4Mb sync (probably by a fair bit, too).

To top it all off, it looks like your target SNRM has been pushed up as the exchange must have thought your line was unstable (which, in an extension socket, it is), but even if this was at its default level (6dB), things would still be fairly poor for your line.

The only thing I can suggest you try is another router, but finding one to borrow is not always easy, I know. I'd also say it's unlikely that there is anything wrong with your current router, though it's always possible.

Unless anyone else can suggest anything else, I would get onto IDNet about this tomorrow. Even if you're not sure what any of this means, just tell them what your original figures were, then tell them what happened when you connected to the test socket. They'll know that something is wrong. They can do a line test, and escalate it to BT if they deem it appropriate.

I hope this helps.