Dramatic Slow Down

[Nutter]

I'm a new IDNet customer, having been migrated on 5 March.  Until now, I have been very impressed with the speed, getting 5-6Mbps according to speed test sites.  However, today has seen a dramatic slow down, and I'm now only getting 0.8Mbps according to thinkbroadbandthinkbroadband.   I'm using a Netgear DG834G, and the stats are:

Connection Speed 7680 kbps
Line Attenuation 30.0 db
Noise Margin 10.9 db

Pings are fine, with no change from what I normally get, at about 44ms.  Nothing has changed recently in terms of settings, moving anything, cabling, etc, so I don't know why it's suddenly slowed down so much.  The only thing that's changed is the speed!

Can anyone help? 

[Inactive]

Hi Nutter, and welcome to the forum, sorry I cannot give an answer, only to say that my speed is the usual high speed as always.

Somebody will shortly answer your question.

In the meantime, have a welcome Karma.

[Simon]

Hi Nutter, and 

One of our techies will explain further, but it seems that has been some BT work going on, which should have finished on March 20th.  This seems to be affecting several users, but not all, as many of us still have our usual speeds.  Have you noticed any disconnections in your DSL service?  That could account for your problem, as frequent disconnections can force your profile down, and thus lower your speed.  Can you try to do a speed test with http://test.speedtester.bt.com:50301/ and post the results here?  You may need some patience to get it to complete, but it will reveal your profile, which will help us to recommend what action to take.  It may be a case of contacting IDNet support (0800 0267 237), or email support@idnet.net, but we will try to help if we can. 

[Sebby]

As already mentioned, BT seem to be undertaking some maintenance at present, which is causing a bit of trouble. I would see how it is over the next few days, and contact IDNet if things don't improve.

Rest assured that this is far from the normal quality service that IDNet provide.

[Rik]

Hi Nutter

Welcome to the forum.

Can you do a BT speed test for us, and post the results, including the profile:

http://test.speedtester.bt.com:50301/

We've found that people are more likely to get a successful test using IE than Firefox, and the best time of day tends to be mornings.

[Nutter]

Wow, thanks for all the replies so quickly!

The BT Speed Test results are:

    IP profile for your line is - 6500 kbps
    DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM)  7680 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
    Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 5990 kbps

I've just done another test with thinkbroadbandthinkbroadband and Speedtest.net. 

As you can see they both agree with the BT test in that the speed is back to normal.  There may have been some disconnections on Thursday, whilst I was at work and my wife was at home using the computer.  She said that on a number of occasions she was unable to get to some websites, check email or post on a forum, but by the time I got home it was working fine so I didn't look into it any further.  I guess that could indicate BT carrying out work though, and be the cause of the speed issue too.

According to the router stats, the noise margin is higher now than yesterday at 12.0 db, which is obviously better, but I don't know how much difference that makes.

[Rik]

A high noise margin is actually a bad sign in some ways, Nutter, as it suggests that your line has been unstable, and that the BT line management software has reacted by raising the target noise margin from the default 6db in an effort to stabilise it.

What sort of internal phone wiring do you have, eg how many extension sockets, how many devices are connected, do you have an NTE5 master socket (the type where the bottom part of the faceplated can be removed)?

[Sebby]

According to the router stats, the noise margin is higher now than yesterday at 12.0 db, which is obviously better, but I don't know how much difference that makes.

It's possible that this is as a result of instability, and BT's systems have increased the target SNRM to ensure stability. That said, you've still got a decent sync and your throughput seems fine today.

It may be worth trying the test socket as Rik suggestions, or you could just see how things go over the next few days. I'm convinced that BT are causing these speed issues that some users are seeing at the moment.

[Nutter]

I've got an extension socket upstairs that the router is plugged into (so I can use a network cable rather than wireless to connect to the router for the main computer), a phone plugged in to that extension too, and downstairs the master socket has just the Sky box plugged in.  The master socket is the type where the bottom faceplate can be removed, and everything is on microfilters of course. 

How long would I need to keep things changed around for if I test the router in the master socket to get a good idea of whether the internal wiring is the problem?  Is it something that would show up quickly, or would it take a few days to adapt?  Now that the speed is back to normal, I might just see how things go as you suggest, Sebby.

[Rik]

You'd probably see an immediate improvement in either sync speed or noise margin, Nutter. If you only have one Sky box, I'd suggest unplugging it unless you use the interactive services.

[Sebby]

I've got an extension socket upstairs that the router is plugged into (so I can use a network cable rather than wireless to connect to the router for the main computer), a phone plugged in to that extension too, and downstairs the master socket has just the Sky box plugged in.  The master socket is the type where the bottom faceplate can be removed, and everything is on microfilters of course. 

How long would I need to keep things changed around for if I test the router in the master socket to get a good idea of whether the internal wiring is the problem?  Is it something that would show up quickly, or would it take a few days to adapt?  Now that the speed is back to normal, I might just see how things go as you suggest, Sebby.

Would it be possible to site the router at the master socket on a permanent basis? If so, you could get a filtered faceplate, which terminates the ADSL signal at the point the line enters the house, and sends only filtered telephone frequencies to the extensions, so you won't need microfilters. The advantage is that the ADSL signal does not pick up additional noise from extension wiring before it's filtered.

It's difficult to say how long it would take to see if extension wiring is picking up noise, though it sounds like things are quite unstable. If the above is an option, it would be your best bet. Failing that, you could also remove the ring wire (the wire connected to terminal 3) on every socket in the house. This is responsible for most of the noise pickup, and isn't generally needed with modern telephones.

[Nutter]

If you only have one Sky box, I'd suggest unplugging it unless you use the interactive services.

Ok, I've unplugged the Sky box from the line.  Silly question time now - what won't I be able to do as consequence?

Would it be possible to site the router at the master socket on a permanent basis?

Possibly, but only if I go fully wireless (and I'd have to by a wireless adapter for the PC because I don't have one).  I'd rather avoid it if possible but I'll bear it in mind as an option if I keep getting problems.

Failing that, you could also remove the ring wire (the wire connected to terminal 3) on every socket in the house.

Here's where the fun started.  I disconnected it upstairs, then checked the master socket downstairs where it wasn't connected anyway.  I checked the phone which worked fine, but internet access was dead (technical term!).  I could get a PPP connection, but couldn't connect to IDNet.  I was getting a 'CHAP authentication failed' error.  I couldn't understand how anything I had done could end up with that scenario, seeing as I obviously had a connection to the exchange.  However, I reconnected the wires just in case but there was no difference.  I tried connecting with speedtest@speedtest_domain, which was successful, so then I knew it wasn't a problem my end.  I then resorted to dial-up, but found this site was down and idnet.net was down.  It turned out to be pure coincidence that idnet had a switch failure at the same time as I started tinkering, and the server I authenticate with was behind the failed switch together with some email servers, this site and their own site.  Damn - I wasted hours trying to work out what the problem was!  Never mind, at least it has turned out not to be me.

[Rik]

Ok, I've unplugged the Sky box from the line.  Silly question time now - what won't I be able to do as consequence?

You won't be able to give them money via the red button, or book PPV events (plug it back in when you need to).

It turned out to be pure coincidence that idnet had a switch failure at the same time as I started tinkering, and the server I authenticate with was behind the failed switch together with some email servers, this site and their own site.  Damn - I wasted hours trying to work out what the problem was!  Never mind, at least it has turned out not to be me.

Now that is unlucky timing. You will find news at ThinkBroadband if I have information and can't get on here, or at Simon's forum, PC Pals.

[Steve]

You do not necessarily have to go wireless.I moved my router to the master socket. My router connects directly to a mains "homeplug" , my mains network runs three PCs,three game machines and two NAS boxes. It's very easy to setup and it works. I leave the wireless for the laptop,Roku and Wii. Great to have a house full of teenagers

[David]