How long should I give from switching ISP to testing IDNET speed?

[Tetlee]

I know usually ISP's ask that you give a week of service for fluctuations in speed etc. before getting an idea of the service being offered, is this the same with IDNET?

Reason I ask is that we have just come off SKY broadband and were hoping to see some improvement switching to IDNET, but since switching over today we've taken a slight drop in speed and a wildly random ping(anything from 40ms which is typical for us, up to 300 odd ). Is this the norm? and is there still a chance our speed could increase yet(perhaps I need to call them as SKY did boost our speed around half a gig after calling to moan about our speeds).

I should say that we're a few miles from our exchange so can't expect high speeds, but used to get up to 3GB down with BT, then SKY for the past 12 months it's been pretty consistent 2-2.5GB, currently with IDNET it's 1.5-2GB.

Guess we're just impatient to know if that's it or if it could improve over the next 7-14 days, and should the ping stabalise.

Thanks in advance.

[Holodene]

Which Sky package were you on?

[pctech]

You need to allow ten days for automatic line training.

[Tetlee]

Which Sky package were you on?

The unlimited one, we had a tv/movie package with them aswell but have now ended the lot.

You need to allow ten days for automatic line training.

Ah, that is what I was hoping to hear, usually they state such as the above but I haven't noticed any mention of this in any of my communications with IDNET so didn't know if it was different being a monthly contract.

[pctech]

Within 10 days IDNet cannot get BT to adjust anything as they will say that the line parameters are being established.

If you are still unhappy after 10 days talk to support.

[Tetlee]

Within 10 days IDNet cannot get BT to adjust anything as they will say that the line parameters are being established.

If you are still unhappy after 10 days talk to support.

Thanks for the info Mitch.

[Glenn]

Tetlee I hope things settle down on your line.

[Tetlee]

Thanks for the welcome

[Simon]

[zappaDPJ]

 

Hopefully your line will settle down within the 10 days.

[Rik]

Hi Tetlee, welcome to the forum.

What's been said is correct, you'll have to wait 10 days,  but I am sightly concerned about the varying ping time, it sounds like you may be on a congested VP at the exchange.

[Ray]

  Tetlee

[Tetlee]

Thanks guys(hey, I see 5 "have a karma" smileys, but I only have four), come on own up!

Anyway, not been having a good time since our first day of IDNet, was prepared for fluctuations but this is barely useable at the moment


^First speedtest IDNet 28-03-11


^Second test 29-03-11

30-03-11 Third test not possible as no internet access at all through out yesterday


^Fourth test, just now 31-03-11

Just been on the phone to support, he mentioned that Slough had a problem with BT yesterday and this was likely the cause of my lack of interenet here in Taunton, and seems to think it's my router that's causing the problem which is a TP Link TD-W8960N(great reviews around the web), sadly have no other router to test with but have just updated the firmware but no joy. Seems strange that the first day was fine, surely suggests the router should be ok

Any ideas anyone?

[Rik]

Slough probably was taking your line down, BT's geography is weird, to put it mildly.

Can you run a BT speedtest so that we can see your profile.

Where's the router connected, master socket or extension, what else is on the line, eg Sky box.

Ask support if there's any chance they could lend you a test router.

[Tetlee]

Slough probably was taking your line down, BT's geography is weird, to put it mildly.

Can you run a BT speedtest so that we can see your profile.

Where's the router connected, master socket or extension, what else is on the line, eg Sky box.

Ask support if there's any chance they could lend you a test router.

Will try the BT speedtest in a sec, looks like I need to do it over ethernet and can take an hour so will set the laptop up downstairs and report back once done.

The router is connected to the master socket which was replaced by BT over a year ago so should be good still, certainly was working fine with SKY up until we switched over to IDNet a few days ago. Nothing else on the line as finished with Sky and Sky box is not connected to the socket anyway(used to connect when ordering PPV only).

Good idea about asking for a test router, no sure if they'll be able to do that or not but at least could help diagnose the problem. Support will be closed now though so will have to call after work tomorrow.

[Tetlee]

ok, BT speedtest done, results.........

Download speedachieved during the test was - 18 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speedsis 100-250 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :288 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 440 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 135 Kbps
The throughput of Best Efforts (BE) classes achieved during the test is - 11.29:38.71:50.23 (SBE:NBE:PBE)
These figures represent the ratio while sententiously passing Sub BE, Normal BE and Priority BE marked traffic.

The results of this test will vary depending on the way your ISP has decided to use these traffic classes.

[Glenn]

Send that, if you can to support

[Steve]

Hi Tetlee.

Any chance you can post your router stats , downstream attenuation and noise margin which would be very useful also do you know whether your previous Sky connection was via BT or Sky LLU?

If your on an adsl2+ connection your current downstream sync is exactly the same as the lowest banded profile limit of 288kps.

Branded profiles are used by BT on adsl2+ broadband lines which show signs of instability or high error counts, they are designed to control the maximum downstream sync of a particular line. This technique is not used on adslmax or Sky LLU.

[Tetlee]

@Glenn, have done so.

Hi Tetlee.

Any chance you can post your router stats , downstream attenuation and noise margin which would be very useful also do you know whether your previous Sky connection was via BT or Sky LLU?

If your on an adsl2+ connection your current downstream sync is exactly the same as the lowest banded profile limit of 288kps.

Branded profiles are used by BT on adsl2+ broadband lines which show signs of instability or high error counts, they are designed to control the maximum downstream sync of a particular line. This technique is not used on adslmax or Sky LLU.

Hi Steve, I'm not the brightest when it comes to router stats and settings, but I think this lot should contain the info you're asking about(sorry for the mess, I copy and pasted it all)? Sky did have LLU at our exchange, where as IDNet of course do not, perhaps we were best being with Sky for this reason? Not sure I understand what you're trying to explain above, although tired now so will read it again and try to make sense tomorrow.

Mode:   ADSL_G.dmt.bis
Traffic Type:   ATM
Status:   Up
Link Power State:   L0

   Downstream   Upstream
Line Coding(Trellis):   On   On
SNR Margin (0.1 dB):   63   210
Attenuation (0.1 dB):   580   323
Output Power (0.1 dBm):   0   129
Attainable Rate (Kbps):   4432   880

   Path 0       Path 1   
   Downstream   Upstream   Downstream   Upstream
Rate (Kbps):   288   440   0   0

MSGc (# of bytes in overhead channel message):   59   12   0   0
B (# of bytes in Mux Data Frame):   0   55   0   0
M (# of Mux Data Frames in FEC Data Frame):   1   1   0   0
T (Mux Data Frames over sync bytes):   10   1   0   0
R (# of check bytes in FEC Data Frame):   12   8   0   0
S (ratio of FEC over PMD Data Frame length):   0.1000   4.0   0.0   0.0
L (# of bits in PMD Data Frame):   1040   128   0   0
D (interleaver depth):   320   8   0   0
Delay (msec):   8.0   8.0   0.0   0.0
INP (DMT symbol):   14.76   2.0   0.0   0.0

Super Frames:   282382   254949   0   0
Super Frame Errors:   0   0   0   0
RS Words:   183548670   294114   0   0
RS Correctable Errors:   27067   0   0   0
RS Uncorrectable Errors:   0   0   0   0

HEC Errors:   4294967289   0   0   0
OCD Errors:   0   0   0   0
LCD Errors:   0   0   0   0
Total Cells:   3117172   446366   0   0
Data Cells:   341062   345   0   0
Bit Errors:   0   0   0   0

Total ES:   0   0
Total SES:   0   0
Total UAS:   30   4294967059

[EDIT]Just to add once again, I'm confused as to why we had a great connection on our first day(Monday) with speedtests resulting in 2mb downloads.

[Steve]

I'm guessing or theorising firstly because you were on LLU with Sky you had to have a lift and shift at your local exchange so is that a reason for the poor line quality?Secondly looking at the stats I think the attentuation is 58 and the DS margin is 6.3 with a possible theoretical maximum sync of 4432, therefore with current sync of only 288 DS and the the DS margin you've got a very noisy line. Whether that's internal i.e poor filters or external to your property I've no idea.
It could of course be as support have suggested that router is not coping with BTs adsl2+. Sorry to confuse even more but it's a process of elimination.

[Rik]

Dial 17070 and select option 2, preferably using a wired handset, Tetlee. You should hear nothing more than a background hiss or hum. If there's any crackling or other loud noise, contact your voice line provider to report a fault, but don't mention broadband when you do.

[Tetlee]

I'm guessing or theorising firstly because you were on LLU with Sky you had to have a lift and shift at your local exchange so is that a reason for the poor line quality?Secondly looking at the stats I think the attentuation is 58 and the DS margin is 6.3 with a possible theoretical maximum sync of 4432, therefore with current sync of only 288 DS and the the DS margin you've got a very noisy line. Whether that's internal i.e poor filters or external to your property I've no idea.
It could of course be as support have suggested that router is not coping with BTs adsl2+. Sorry to confuse even more but it's a process of elimination.

I don't think it's an internal problem as like I mentioned, it was fine with BT prior to Sky, and has been fine with Sky for the past year, only now are we experiencing these problems. The router definately supports ADSL2+, it's this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0031SUB4S/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_9?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Again thanks for your continued efforts of help, it's very much appreciated even if we're having no luck so far. Speedtest.net result as of just now...

[Tetlee]

Dial 17070 and select option 2, preferably using a wired handset, Tetlee. You should hear nothing more than a background hiss or hum. If there's any crackling or other loud noise, contact your voice line provider to report a fault, but don't mention broadband when you do.

Thanks for the suggestion, just tried that and no background noise what so ever.

Been on the phone to James at IDNet tech support, very helpful chappie but unable to get to the root of the problem sadly. He is going to send a test router as someone suggested earlier for me, but that won't be posted until Monday now so looks like we have a few days of this still yet

[Rik]

Do you have an external grey test socket? I gather IDNet are lending you a router, it will be in the post on Monday. As you've already found out.

[Steve]

With regard the router we seen the odd instance with adsl2+ where there is an incompatibility between the modem chipset and the MSAN chipset at your local exchange.