2-4Mbps speed at peak-time

snadge · Sep 16, 2010, 21:29:18

my dad has noticed that during peak times the speed seems to drop - when he finishes work at 9pm he comes in at speed is between 2Mbps and 4Mbps - about 11-12midnight it goes back to 6.9Mbps

last night at 9pm was 4mbps
tonight was 3mbps and 5 minutes later was 5mbps

his sync rate is still 8128k / 448k with 7150 profile and the BT tester said theyre might be slowdowns tonight - as far as im aware it always says that doesnt it? (just to cover there backs)

are there any current issues?

pctech · Sep 16, 2010, 21:31:53

Sounds like possible exchange congestion which unfortunately is a fact of life these days and affects all BT based ISPs.

snadge · Sep 16, 2010, 21:41:55

Quote from: pctech on Sep 16, 2010, 21:31:53
Sounds like possible exchange congestion which unfortunately is a fact of life these days and affects all BT based ISPs.

yeah ive explained that to him - but you never know when its exchange or ISP or both... ive seen people suffer with it then change ISPs and its GONE... im one of those people...

ive said to him if it lowers to 4-5mb during peak and not more then that would be acceptable and he happy enough so see how it goes

pctech · Sep 16, 2010, 21:42:49

It might be an idea to talk it over with support.

snadge · Sep 16, 2010, 21:45:13

Quote from: pctech on Sep 16, 2010, 21:42:49
It might be an idea to talk it over with support.

well seeing as weve only noticed over past few nights then were going to continue monitoring it and see if it eases of or gets worse then make a decision about contacting support

thanks

pctech · Sep 16, 2010, 21:49:24

Might also be worth checking the exchange VP status at the following site http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/ though it maybe a lot of new connections have been activated recently or you've got a few Fibre To The Cabinet (FTTC) connections.

snadge · Sep 16, 2010, 21:51:15

Quote from: pctech on Sep 16, 2010, 21:49:24
Might also be worth checking the exchange VP status at the following site http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/ though it maybe a lot of new connections have been activated recently or you've got a few Fibre To The Cabinet (FTTC) connections.

he is on a quiet exchange serving 120 premises or so

BALMACARA

pctech · Sep 16, 2010, 21:52:55

Might have quite a low capacity backhaul.

See what happens and talk to support.

Lance · Sep 17, 2010, 08:18:32

As far as we are aware, there are not any issues at IDNet - if there were there would soon be lots of other users on the forum letting us know! It seems entirely charactoristic of exchange congestion unfortunately, but support can confirm this.

Rik · Sep 17, 2010, 09:17:18

I agree with Lance. It's perhaps worth mentioning that the IDNet network has plenty of headroom at the moment, but how much BT provide to get you there is a moveable feast I'm, afraid.

snadge · Sep 17, 2010, 13:13:45

Quote from: Rik on Sep 17, 2010, 09:17:18
I agree with Lance. It's perhaps worth mentioning that the IDNet network has plenty of headroom at the moment, but how much BT provide to get you there is a moveable feast I'm, afraid.

yup

i will see how it goes tonight before contacting them BUT I will also ask my dad if he has been testing EVERY NIGHT cos he only mentioned it to me SINCE the outage other day - it may be that its only been SINCE then he has had this happening

Rik · Sep 17, 2010, 14:18:17

He also needs to test at different times of day, that will build a more complete picture of what's going on.

snadge · Sep 17, 2010, 14:45:54

Quote from: Rik on Sep 17, 2010, 14:18:17
He also needs to test at different times of day, that will build a more complete picture of what's going on.

ive got him doing that but unfortunately he works 3pm-9pm - he has been testing constantly after getting in and as it nears midnight the speed creeps up

he says it was doing it BEFORE the outage other day so been since he went live

Rik · Sep 17, 2010, 14:47:16

Then that looks like exchange congestion, he's testing in peak hours. What happens if he does a morning test?

snadge · Sep 17, 2010, 14:49:06

Quote from: Rik on Sep 17, 2010, 14:47:16
Then that looks like exchange congestion, he's testing in peak hours. What happens if he does a morning test?

true - thing is when i was with Tiscali the same happened to me and 2nd tier support got onto BT about it who said it was EXCHANGE CONGESTION and couldnt be helped - i moved to ENTANET and i got full speeds day & night?? so you just dont know what to believe...

Glenn · Sep 17, 2010, 14:51:01

You may have been on a different VP when you changed provider.

snadge · Sep 17, 2010, 14:52:00

Quote from: Glenn on Sep 17, 2010, 14:51:01
You may have been on a different VP when you changed provider.

what does this mean? and this could apply to my dad too if he wanted to move?

Rik · Sep 17, 2010, 14:53:00

It might not be the entire exchange, just the VP he's connected to. If he does a range of tests, at different times of day, and sends them to support, they will be able to investigate for him. The tests must be BT ones, nothing else will be considered by BT.

snadge · Sep 17, 2010, 14:54:06

11am....6.96/ 1200.......6.50/ 2 pm.....6.21
and now at 2:50 - 5.2Mb

seems to be dropping from midday onwards - that seems a bit early for peak time traffic

BT had some problems at LAGGAN which is south of him, wonder if its been 'half-fixed'

Rik · Sep 17, 2010, 14:54:15

Quote from: snadge on Sep 17, 2010, 14:52:00
what does this mean? and this could apply to my dad too if he wanted to move?

Virtual path - the apparent physical connection to the ISP which is really just a routing within BT. Most provider changes do not result in a VP change.

Rik · Sep 17, 2010, 14:55:11

Quote from: snadge on Sep 17, 2010, 14:54:06
11am....6.96/ 1200.......6.50/ 2 pm.....6.21
and now at 2:50 - 5.2Mb

seems to be dropping from midday onwards - that seems a bit early for peak time traffic

BT had some problems at LAGGAN which is south of him, wonder if its been 'half-fixed'

What tester is he using?

snadge · Sep 17, 2010, 15:19:35

Quote from: Rik on Sep 17, 2010, 14:55:11
What tester is he using?

he's been using speedtest.net on morecombe - ive just thought it might be a poor server - i use maidenhead as xilo.net seem to have tons of badnwidth cos my 16Mb tests roll in day and night on that

anyway, ive told him to ONLY use BT from now on for official reasons for records and IDnet to send to BT etc - he done one came at 6.5Mb - so i told him to set speedtest.net to maidenhead anyway and test it to see if it also comes in high - he just gunna use BT from now on every hour and email results to me so i have them all copy&pasted

im hoping its just poor server on speedtest.net getting busy during day as speedtest.net defaults to that for him an me and were 350 miles apart

EDIT: MAIDNHEAD COME IT AT OVER 7Mbps SO MUST BE POOR SERVER AT MORECOMBE - lets hop anyway

Rik · Sep 17, 2010, 15:28:22

snadge · Sep 17, 2010, 15:32:12

yup looks like i was right - phew!

BT tests are rolling in at 6.5-6.9
XILO.NET are rolling in at 7.2Mb every time

he's happy chappy - he was OK with it anyway as long didnt drop below 3Mbps for Youtube

Rik · Sep 17, 2010, 15:38:22

That's great.