Idnet speed has dropped badly!

[Azazel]

Anyone else experiencing extreme speed drops and wild pings recently?

I been having a steady 550-600k downloads for months and months and in the last 2 -3 days its been down to 50k so just a little better than an analogue modem, im not on a red exchange, no other issues, my sync speed is still 6624kbps down with 834 up.

Line stats are the same as they have always been:

Operational Mode ADSL G.Dmt 
Upstream 832 kbps 
Downstream 6624 kbps 
Noise Margin (Upstream) 9.0 db 
Noise Margin (Downstream) 6.0 db 
Attenuation (Upstream) 19.5 db 
Attenuation (Downstream) 38.5 db 

Emailed support but only a few hours ago so not expecting an answer till monday at least but its kinda frustrating. just checking in here if im not the only one?

[Rik]

My speeds are normal. Can you do a BT speed test and post the results, please. Also, have you checked the status of your exchange? http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/

[Azazel]

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange.php?ecode=LWHARR

Yeah i checked it with samknows, unfortunately the BT test account doesnt work for me at all it wont even load the speedtester when i login with it and when i use my idnet account it understandably blocks me out.

[Rik]

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange.php?ecode=LWHARR

How about the link I gave you? I'm interested to know if the exchange is showing as red.

Yeah i checked it with samknows, unfortunately the BT test account doesnt work for me at all it wont even load the speedtester when i login with it and when i use my idnet account it understandably blocks me out.

What URL are you using? If you haven't already, try http://test.speedtester.bt.com:50301/. You don't need to use the BT login, this works with the IDNet connection.

[Azazel]

http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/?exchange=Harrow&exact=456&plugin=vp

Shows green there too for the last 3 weeks worth of updates, there were a couple of red reports last month but not this month so far.

Tried your link for the speed tester i get a error that it cant load the page, an internal server error and i should contact BT support.

[Rik]

Shows green there too for the last 3 weeks worth of updates, there were a couple of red reports last month but not this month so far.

BT don't always report problems, but hopefully that's one thing ruled out of the equation.

Tried your link for the speed tester i get a error that it cant load the page, an internal server error and i should contact BT support.

Was that immediately, after entering your phone number or after entering your IDNet login info?

[Azazel]

i enter the phone number click go and it errors the top bar still loads and shows a progress bar but the main page is just an internal server error.

[Rik]

That's usually a sign that it's busy.

Have you had any losses of sync that you know about? I'm wondering whether you've had a blip which has pushed your profile down. Does your router log disconnections?

[Azazel]

i havent had a disconnect that i havent done myself when rebooting it for about 3 or 4 weeks and no it doesnt have a log as i reset the router earlier following the usual instructions (turn it off for 30 seconds and turn it back on to see if that fixes it)

[Rik]

What are your ping times to the BBC like. I've just achieved this, with interleaving on:

ping www.bbc.co.uk

Pinging www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.224.84] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 212.58.224.84: bytes=32 time=22ms TTL=250
Reply from 212.58.224.84: bytes=32 time=22ms TTL=250
Reply from 212.58.224.84: bytes=32 time=21ms TTL=250
Reply from 212.58.224.84: bytes=32 time=21ms TTL=250

Ping statistics for 212.58.224.84:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 21ms, Maximum = 22ms, Average = 21ms

I just noticed, no-one has given you a welcome karma. Very remiss of us. Sorted.

[Azazel]

Here is my ping results (interleving off cos im using it for gaming, ping is king)

Pinging www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.251.201] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 212.58.251.201: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=249
Reply from 212.58.251.201: bytes=32 time=12ms TTL=249
Reply from 212.58.251.201: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=249
Reply from 212.58.251.201: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=249

Ping statistics for 212.58.251.201:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 9ms, Maximum = 12ms, Average = 10ms

[Rik]

They look OK. Is the speed issue consistent, or does it affect some sites but not others? IOW, are you getting a perceived slowness generally, or is it just that tester results have dropped?

[Azazel]

i tried to download a fileplanet file (normally a good 600k a sec from those guys) and thats when it flagged to me i get anything from 7k to 190k and it rises and falls all the time, then i ran some speed tests, tried to download files from microsoft, Apple, Adobe basically a few places around and they are all the same, now it doesnt seem to affect gaming at all, ping is as normal just throughput is WAAAAAY down.

[Rik]

Without the profile information, we can't really do any more here. You may get a reply today, you certainly will tomorrow, but I'm afraid you really need IDNet at this point. Sorry. 

(I take it you have checked for any suspicious activity on your machine?)

[Azazel]

yeah i checked the processes running and i got a netstat monitor going also watching other network traffic and closed my wireless just to be sure no nasty little turd was using it

[Rik]

Well, that takes out everything I can think of... It needs someone at IDNet to take a look at the line and see what's happening.

[Azazel]

i will keep trying the speedtest but i have never been able to get one to work ever so i dont hold much hope (im never home when it is most likely to function)

[Rik]

I used to say 5am was a good time, but these days it seems busy whenever you try it. It's a shame that users can't get their profile information any other way.

[MoHux]

Well, that takes out everything I can think of... It needs someone at IDNet to take a look at the line and see what's happening.

Bet BT will say you need interleaving turned on!   

Still, it will only add about 10 to your pings. 

[Azazel]

luckily i have Idnet as a filter to the stupidity, i have had interleaving off for about 18 months ever since i signed up i had it off 18 months before that so logically it cannot be due to interleaving being off that my speed suddenly drops  but i doubt that will stop BT from suggesting it 

Oh and Rik thanks alot for all your suggestions, it is much appreciated, sometimes a fresh pair of eyes on a problem helps.

[Rik]

Glad to try and help. I'm all too familiar with the "nose pressed against the trees" syndrome.

[thetrevone]

Azazel,
Just wanted you to know you are not alone, for over a year I have been getting a constant 6.8m speed test anytime of the day or night anyday of the week, but the last few days sometimes it's hard to get 680k.
Hope you get the BT speed tester to work, as it will show what the profile is set at, in my case its OK and like you I have checked wireless network which is protected with WPA and MAC. My IDnet usage figures show nothing out of the ordinary. Exchange shows green, checked antivirus, firewall etc..  I hope it's not contention! but such a change and all of a sudden that the strange bit.
Best of luck
Regards
Doug

[Rik]

Whereabouts are you? Az is in Harrow - I'm just wondering if it's a geographical thing. BT did some work recently which impacted heavily on people in the NE and around Edinburgh, for example.

Dear me, that's another welcome karma been missed. Redress mode.

[thetrevone]

Hi Rik,
I am in Farnborough Kent   Code: LSFARB
so within the M25 but diagonally opposite to Azazel
Best regards
Doug

[Rik]

Not necessarily ruled out, but I don't know enough about BT's geographic patterns to say one way or another. If you drop support an email, Doug, and point them at this thread, they can look for any common cause.