Basic ADSL speed question

Dear thinkbroadband,

I'm posting about an ongoing issue wiht my IDnet ADSL connection. I'm in a rural location quite some distance from the exchange, but have for the last two years been getting about 1.5Mbs consistent realised download speeds over my connection. Two weeks ago the speed abruptly dropped to 300kbs (with no change to any of the appliances/gadgets in the house), then tailed down to about 120kbs. I've been talking to my ISP about this since - and have done all the usual things: connected directly to the master socket, changed the filter, changed the router etc. All to no avail: had about 10 days of 120kbs. Then last weekend the router resynchronised at about 2.4Mbs and I got a day of consistent 1.5Mbs downloads. Then it tailed off again down to about 300kbs. Then the day before yesterday I asked IDnet to reset the hardware in the exchange - and we got another day of consistent 1.5Mbs downloads: but now, once again we're back down to about 300kbs

So my questions are:

1) Given that the line is capable of supporting 1.5Mbs downloads for a good 12 to 24h period, why is my line settling down over a couple of days to 300kbs?
2) Is it possible that there may have been some hardware/configuration changes at the exchange that make the router speed settle to a lower number?
3) If it seems most likely that something external (to our house) has happened to screw up the connection (and that seems very likely to me now) - do I have any recourse to get an engineer out to investigate/fix the line?


Thanks very much for any help,

Alex

Can you post the link to what samknows says about your exchange please?

That could suggest a possible cause, and also let us check for a second possible cause.

Bob's broadband basic info/help site:
www.robertos.me.uk
ISP history: Demon dialup >> Freeserve dialup >> BT Broadband >> Prodigynet >> Newnet >> O2 Standard.
Purple Cloud for domain, email and web space.

Hiya,

Thanks for getting back to me. Much appreciated. What SamKnow's about the exchange history (http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/SMOF):

21/03/2009 BT Wholesale WBC has enabled the Oxford exchange for their service
12/08/2008 BT Wholesale have updated the Wholesale Broadband Connect (WBC) enablement date for the Oxford exchange to 31/03/2009 (Was previously 18/11/2008)
29/03/2008 BT Wholesale has set an enablement date of 18/11/2008 for their 21CN Wholesale Broadband Connect product at the Oxford exchange
20/01/2008 BT have updated the target date for the 21CN PSTN switchover to Q1 2011 for the Oxford exchange
06/04/2007 Be Unlimited has enabled the Oxford exchange for their service
03/04/2007 Be Unlimited has updated the enablement date for the Oxford exchange to 30/04/2007 (Was previously 31/05/2007)
01/04/2007 Sky/Easynet has enabled the Oxford exchange for their service
02/03/2007 Be Unlimited has updated the enablement date for the Oxford exchange to 31/05/2007 (Was previously 30/04/2007)
02/02/2007 Be Unlimited has updated the enablement date for the Oxford exchange to 30/04/2007 (Was previously 31/03/2007)
19/10/2006 BT have set a target date of Q3 2009 for the switch to 21CN for the Oxford exchange
03/08/2006 Be Unlimited has set an enablement date of 31/03/2007 for the Oxford exchange

Let me know what else I can post...

Thanks again,

Alex

It could be that IDNet have moved you over to a WBC-type connection. Those do seem to behave erratically at times.

The full results from a BT speed test would be useful, and also your line stats if possible. See here for help finding them if you need it.

Bob's broadband basic info/help site:
www.robertos.me.uk
ISP history: Demon dialup >> Freeserve dialup >> BT Broadband >> Prodigynet >> Newnet >> O2 Standard.
Purple Cloud for domain, email and web space.

Hi Roberto,

BT speedtest result

Download speedachieved during the test was - 322 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 50-500 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :2688 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 350 Kbps

Current stats for the router:



System Up Time 00:30:18

Port Status TxPkts RxPkts Collisions Tx B/s Rx B/s Up Time
WAN PPPoA 16272 29650 0 680 22867 00:29:57
LAN 10M/100M 194 245 0 26 33 00:30:14
WLAN 11M/54M 32977 18997 0 23935 781 00:30:06

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 2688 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 59 db 15.5 db
Noise Margin 9 db 16 db

I've been running routerstats for the last couple of days: noise margin is normally ~15db rx. Could mail the logs if that was useful. Again: thanks for the help...

Alex

Well the "here and now" cause of the low speeds is the IP Profile of 350kbps, as that is what actually determines your maximum download speed on a BT Wholesale connection. For a lot more (I hope fairly simply explained) information read my BT IP Profiles page.

As you will see there, your IP Profile should rise within a few hours given your much higher connection speed than (presumably) the low speed that caused the 350kbps one.

The causes of the 350kbps are usually at the user end, though possibly not in this case. We need to make sure though.

Did you get any new or replacement electrical/electronic equipment when this started?

How many computers and other equipment are talking to the internet through your router, and is anything else such as a Sky box or burglar alarm connected to the phone line?

Bob's broadband basic info/help site:
www.robertos.me.uk
ISP history: Demon dialup >> Freeserve dialup >> BT Broadband >> Prodigynet >> Newnet >> O2 Standard.
Purple Cloud for domain, email and web space.

Hi Roberto,

Thanks for the link: I had a look over your site last night and found it very useful (and clearly explained). As to what's causing the problems: we haven't bought any new electrical equipment recently and we don't have a burglar alarm. I'm almost entirely certain that the only thing attached to the phone line (via the master socket) is an ADSL filter connected to a netgear DG843G and a cordless phone. The length of cable between the master socket, through the filter and into the router is now <1.5m, there are no other cables nearby and the router is about 2m away from the nearest bit of electrical equipment.

The only thing I can think of in our house that's changed in the last few weeks is that I think our central heating water pump is on the way out - but our heating was definitely on for the couple of days when we had decent download speeds. I'm assuming that something is intermittently causing loads of errors on the line: so when the profile is reset we get good speeds for 12-24h, then something happens and the IP profile is adjusted downwards. I have noticed that in the evenings our cordless phones have a few times a week been ringing very briefly (about 1/4 of a second) which presumably indicates some form of interference on the line - but again I'm not sure that's new.

In terms of our computer setup: as well as the DG834Gv2 router, we have three laptops which are generally turned on as required using WIFI. We then have a homeplug network connecting the router to a nas harddrive and a brother laser printer.

Thanks again,

Alex

Well the things that stand out there to me are the central heating pump, particularly when you turn the heating on, and the blips on the phone. As you say though, they are likely to have an external cause.

Have you tried a quiet line test? It is best done with a corded phone into the test socket inside the master socket. 17070 option 2. Should be silent. ANd are there any ring wires attached to the removable master faceplate? (Terminal 3).

Have you tried swapping the filter? (I'm too lazy to check back while typing ).

Let's hope someone else joins in now. I'm running out of ideas.

Bob's broadband basic info/help site:
www.robertos.me.uk
ISP history: Demon dialup >> Freeserve dialup >> BT Broadband >> Prodigynet >> Newnet >> O2 Standard.
Purple Cloud for domain, email and web space.

Hiya sir,

I've not tried the quiet line test. I'll do that next. But hey: thanks for all the suggestions - I may not yet have a fix but I do know a lot more about ADSL thanks to your good self!

My final, closing question, is: should I not be able to fix this myself through any changes within the house, does my ISP have a responsibility to get an engineer out to test the line, and if not: can I pay for them to send someone out (and I guess: is it likely to be worthwhile)?

Thanks very much again,

Alex

Once you have eliminated any possibility of the cause being your side of the test socket, (or pehaps a faulty faceplate though technically that is your responsibility), then it is the ISP's responsibility to get it sorted.

However if an engineer is sent and either finds no fault or traces it to your side of the test socket then you are almost certain to get a bill for £190 or so . Openreach charge the ISP whenever possible and ISPs usually (and necessarily) pass it on to the customer.

The good news is that if you do find noise on the line with that test, you report that to your line rental company, (BT?), as a voice fault. Do not mention the broadband problem as that gives them an excuse to tell you to contact your ISP. Once that is fixed the broadband will probably be fine.

Bob's broadband basic info/help site:
www.robertos.me.uk
ISP history: Demon dialup >> Freeserve dialup >> BT Broadband >> Prodigynet >> Newnet >> O2 Standard.
Purple Cloud for domain, email and web space.