cannot run speedtester.bt.com and slow internet

Hi all,

i was refered to plusnet by a friend because i was having problems with sky. i expecteed all my problems to go away once i had been transfered over to them. it can take up to 2 mins to load a web page and the xbox isnt worth using. i have been estimated at getting 7meg but surely im not on that.

i phoned up plusnet to be told i need to do a speed test at www.speedtester.bt.com and then submit my results to them. i have tried at least 50 times and i get the same error message.
The Performance Tester is currently unable to run a speed test for your broadband connection. Please try again shortly, however if this problem persists, raise the issue with your service provider.

i let plusnet know and they told me to just use another site and so i did. it come up with no problems and the speed of 6397kbps download and 380kbps upload. they have then said that is fine and case closed. my internet is still slow. what should i do? its pointless me having the internet this slow. a video can take 5mins before it plays then stops several times to buffer.

if i cant use the bt speed test then does that mean i have a fault?

i shouldnt have to change to BT for my internet to get a problem sorted. Any advice welcome.

thanks

John

Edited by deleted (Wed 13-Apr-11 19:12:22)

check your machine for malware
separately, are you using any antivirus software ?

How long is it since you transferred, and were you on an LLU phone service with Sky?

i have done a full sweep of my computer and i am using microsoft security essentials. i did have norton 360 but i decided to change to see if it fixed the problem.

even if i had anything on my laptop it wouldnt stop the xbox from working at a decent speed? thanks for your reply

i had both the land line and internet with sky and now both transfered with plusnet. i must have been with plusnet for 3 weeks maybe now. what does llu mean?

Most ISPs your physical connection is to BT Wholesale equipment at the exchange, and that is what is called a "BT Line" by ISPs.

LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) is when you are physically connected to the ISP's equipment at the exchange for broadband, in which case your phone can be either left as a BT line (partial LLU) by being connected from the ISP's equipment back into the BT network, (even though you may be paying the line rental to your ISP), or it can be LLU'ed as well (full LLU) so it gets handled at the ISP end instead of the exchange end.

If the phone line is Full LLU'ed like this, it doesn't count as a BT line and the BT speed test doesn't recognise the number.

If you were on full LLU it can take a while after it is reverted to a "BT line" for the database the BT speed tester uses to get to recognise the number, though three weeks should be enough.

Do you know what your broadband package with Sky was called? If it was "Connect" then nothing was LLU so the above is all irrelevant.

What does samknows say about your exchange, (the URL of the result is best), as that might help work out what happened.

If you want a fuller explanation of LLU, see this page.

Great response robertoS, i was on connect so it doesnt apply. and i dont think i am on LLU now either.

samknows says plusnet and sky are not on the ULL. only orange and talk talk

cheers

Edited by deleted (Wed 13-Apr-11 20:18:14)

Regarding the BT speedtest this is a known problem but BT haven't fixed it yet http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,9364...

i could do it when i was on sky only 3 weeks ago. i cant remember the results tho but it was poor enough for sky to give me a full refund from the start of the contract and end my contract after only 6months. i dont know if this makes a difference

Have you tried changing your DNS settings? Could be that you are having problems with DNS servers resolving addresses. Have a look at switching to OpenDNS to see if it improves matters.

As oldjim said

In reply to a post by Oldjim:

Regarding the BT speedtest this is a known problem but BT haven't fixed it yet http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,9364...

We've seen issues with this for a while now and we're still waiting for it to be rectified.

Jojo

These are the stats from my router, any problems here and which are the important factors?

Link Information

Uptime: 5 days, 21:23:41
DSL Type: G.992.1 annex A
Channel mode: Interleave
Maximum Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 1,212 / 6,976
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 448 / 6,880
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/GB]: 0.00 / 4.30
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.0 / 19.5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 18.0 / 35.5
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 27.0 / 12.5
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / P
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 65,539 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 131,087 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 264 / 141,808
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 126 / 646
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 78 / NA

also i ping plus.net for a while and the restults are as follows

Ping statistics for 212.159.9.2:
Packets: Sent = 121, Received = 121, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 37ms, Maximum = 121ms, Average = 42ms
Control-C

any further advice would be great.

Thanks

Your Sync Speed is a bit low, but, more importantly, you have an enormous # of Error Seconds; about 1 every 4 secs.

Have you checked your wiring, ring wire, filters, extensions?

the filters and the extension lead are both new. the extension is 2m long

Edited by deleted (Sun 17-Apr-11 13:58:45)

What is on the end of the extension?

Have you still got a Sky box, and if so does that go through a filter?

Are there any wired-in extensions?

Go to your Plusnet Control Panel and look for "Current line speed". What does it say?

the extension goes from the main telephone port that comes into the house to the filter then to the telephone and the router. yes still got sky box and yes goes through a filter.

current line speed
DSL Connection

Link Information

Uptime: 6 days, 1:02:50
DSL Type: G.992.1 annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 448 / 6,880
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/GB]: 0.00 / 4.35

You need to plug the filter into the test socket inside the master, on the wall at the back in this pic. Then the router into the filter. You must not use the extension cable for this test, even if it makes things difficult.

See what connection speed you get, and what happens to the error seconds. Try a BT speed test that way as well.

As XRaySpex says, the sync is low and the error seconds very high. If this corrects things, the problem is probably that extension cable. They usually contain a ring wire, and that often causes severe interference.

hi, i did what you said, used the master socket with only a filter a small wire from the filter to the router and the router ethernet to the computer. i finally got a result as below


Results Image not loaded

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.

Download Speed
5360 Kbps

0 Kbps 7150 Kbps
Max Achievable Speed

Download speedachieved during the test was - 5360 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 600-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :7328 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 6000 Kbps

That's good. Can we have the router stats again please, assuming you are still connected that way? Preferably straight after a reconnection, but don't do several of those in an hour.

DSL Connection

Link Information

Uptime: 0 days, 0:31:18
DSL Type: G.992.1 annex A
Channel mode: Interleave
Maximum Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 1,168 / 7,424
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 448 / 7,328
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/MB]: 0.00 / 36.70
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.0 / 19.5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 18.0 / 35.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 26.0 / 11.5
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / P
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 782
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 1 / 3
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 94

Well it's good to see the low error counts there, even for 30 minutes. How long can you stay connected like that, to see if things go wrong?

Please can you go into your Plusnet Control Panel and look for the "Current Line Rate". It should be 6000kbps.

If it is, then are downloads now OK? If it isn't, what is it?

and again after a reconnection below
DSL Connection

Link Information

Uptime: 0 days, 0:01:22
DSL Type: G.992.1 annex A
Channel mode: Interleave
Maximum Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 1,220 / 7,424
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 448 / 7,328
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/kB]: 0.00 / 119.00
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.0 / 19.5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 18.0 / 35.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 27.0 / 11.5
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / P
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 0
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 0
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 0

current line speed is 6000kbps on the plusnet website.
it took 3 seconds to open the plusnet.net website, usually around 30-120seconds

does that mean its my 2m cable or the socket or sky and telephone plugged in?

In reply to a post by john22rob:

does that mean its my 2m cable or the socket or sky and telephone plugged in?

Yes, probably.

Re the BT speed tester itself, the fact you now have that running may be just that something has been fixed re the problem some other Plusnet customers are having with it. Or your setup as it was had such an error rate it just couldn't run.

We need to add things back one at a time, and also check something else - which is just looking at something. With a bit of luck in a few days we could have you connected at 8Mbps with approaching 7Mbps downloads.

Are there any wires connected to the back of the faceplate as in the picture? If there are, which number terminals, what colour on each terminal, and is there more than one connection to each?

If there are no wires to it, just replace it and see how things are with just socket >> filter >> ADSL cable >> router as now. Stats and download speed.

there are no wires connected to the back of the face plate.
i have now added it and the speed seems ok still. the speedtester.bt still worked, the results below. i will now add back the extension cable


FAQ

Results Image not loaded

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.

Download Speed
5309 Kbps

0 Kbps 7150 Kbps
Max Achievable Speed

Download speedachieved during the test was - 5309 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 600-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :7328 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 6000 Kbps

i think i have it all sorted now... results below from my router....and no error seconds!! yeah!!!
i was wondering if it would be wise to turn off interleaving? i use the xbox 360 and a better ping would be great. my current ping is at the bottom. thanks for everyones response so far. im just looking at ways to improve everything so any advice welcome

DSL Connection

Link Information

Uptime: 0 days, 0:52:13
DSL Type: G.992.1 annex A
Channel mode: Interleave
Maximum Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 1,180 / 6,848
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 448 / 6,688
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/MB]: 0.00 / 35.34
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.0 / 19.5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 18.0 / 35.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 26.0 / 12.0
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / P
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 711
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 0
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 0

Ping statistics :
Packets: Sent = 269, Received = 269, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 36ms, Maximum = 83ms, Average = 38ms

Edited by deleted (Mon 18-Apr-11 21:17:48)

So what is still disconnected, if the line is now OK?

everything is now connected.....except the extension lead(this was the problem) it was brand new too. ive moved the router closer to the main socket

See the bottom of this page on my website, if you want to try using the extension lead.

What you need to do now is try to stay connected for 10-14 days. It's OK to turn computers etc. off but leave the router connected/sync'ed.

If things work as they should, the system will then knock your connection time noise margin down from 12dB to 9dB and automatically re-sync. Then maybe the same again, down to 6dB, 10-14 days later.

As a result you should connect at 8128kbps, or possibly 7616kbps because of the interleaving.

You will probably never see a 6dB margin reported though. See the Noise Margin page, and the High Noise Margin one in the Troubleshooting section.

If nothing happens after 14 days, even with a single day-time reconnection, come back. You may need to get it rest manually.

RobertoS, thank you so much for you help/advice. i will leave it now and see how it goes over the next 10-14 days and see if the noise margin goes down.

cheers

hi, after more than 10days these are my router stats.

Link Information

Uptime: 10 days, 4:29:51
DSL Type: G.992.1 annex A
Channel mode: Interleave
Maximum Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 1,180 / 6,848
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 448 / 6,688
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/GB]: 0.00 / 14.80
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.0 / 19.5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 18.0 / 35.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 26.0 / 13.0
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / P
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 1 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 63 / 491,074
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 47 / 1,072
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 22 / 10,927

it seems to wok better now but the stats havent dropped. in the FAQ's at plusnet it says stats should change after 3days. any further advice please?

That is looking great. But I did say 10-14 days from the "good" connection. I'm afraid you possibly need to wait just a few more days. (I admire your patience so far - most people get edgy much sooner ).

Does the BT Speed test run for you yet?

You could try just one reconnection with little risk, but I wouldn't.

The 3-day thing you have seen in the plusnet FAQs isn't to do with your stats, it is to do with your IP Profile, and is wrong anyway lol. The system for that changed in August 2008, see this page. You'll also see a page there about Noise Margin, and in the Troubleshooting section there is one about what you have - a High Noise Margin.

If the BT test runs, paste the results as far as the end of the numbers. Also if you go into your Plusnet Control Panel, the "Current Line Speed" which apparently is well-hidden should be the same as the IP Profile.

thanks again for your reply, ive been getting impatient for a while lol. bt speed test results below.

Download speedachieved during the test was - 5029 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 600-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :6688 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 5500 Kbps

from plus.net it shows
Phone exchange:
BENTLEY
Estimated line speed:
7Mb (Accurate to within +/- 1Mbit) - Checked on 2011-03-11 15:57:12
Current line speed:
5.5 Mb

i will now have a read of of your link to noise margin.

cheers

That all looks fine . Just a question of getting the noise margin sorted now, and you should get a 6500 or 7150 IP Profile .

I like that estimate . Obviously not specific to the type of connection, as on an "up to 8Mbps" connection your maximum actual download is below 7150kbps.

hello again,

i went on holliday and so i had to wait for an extra week to see if things had improved. Well... i have included the stats from the router and from the btspeedtester. noise margin has decreased down to 9 now and the bandwidth has increased to 8128. unfortunatley it seems my router reset it self today....about an hour before i got home!

DSL Connection

Link Information

Uptime: 0 days, 4:23:12
DSL Type: G.992.1 annex A
Channel mode: Interleave
Maximum Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 1,224 / 8,128
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 448 / 8,128
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/MB]: 0.00 / 35.83
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.5 / 19.5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 18.0 / 35.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 28.0 / 9.0
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / P
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 4 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 5 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 0
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 152
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / NA

Download speedachieved during the test was - 4880 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 600-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :8128 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 5500 Kbps

what do you think? i notice that the IP profile hasnt increased. also my download speed has got worse. i have attached my speed test history from mybroadbandspeed.co.uk

Date Download Speed Upload Speed
Today 15:51 5180 kbps (648kB/s) 166 kbps (20.8kB/s) Share
Apr 28, 23:52 5346 kbps (668kB/s) 374 kbps (46.8kB/s) Share
Apr 27, 23:03 5336 kbps (667kB/s) 367 kbps (45.9kB/s) Share
Apr 26, 01:08 5333 kbps (667kB/s) 374 kbps (46.8kB/s) Share
Apr 18, 21:27 5333 kbps (667kB/s) 378 kbps (47.3kB/s) Share
Apr 18, 20:34 5333 kbps (667kB/s) 365 kbps (45.6kB/s) Share
Apr 18, 19:46 5687 kbps (711kB/s) 377 kbps (47.1kB/s) Share
Apr 18, 18:31 5713 kbps (714kB/s) 376 kbps (47kB/s) Share
Apr 18, 17:43 5706 kbps (713kB/s) 364 kbps (45.5kB/s) Share
Apr 18, 17:36 5694 kbps (712kB/s) 149 kbps (18.6kB/s) Share
Apr 17, 14:45 5651 kbps (706kB/s) 163 kbps (20.4kB/s) Share
Apr 14, 22:38 5709 kbps (714kB/s) 165 kbps (20.6kB/s) Share
Apr 14, 19:03 5769 kbps (721kB/s) 163 kbps (20.4kB/s) Share
Apr 14, 13:27 5634 kbps (704kB/s) 160 kbps (20kB/s) Share
Apr 13, 22:15 5639 kbps (705kB/s) 128 kbps (16kB/s) Share
Apr 7, 13:32 6397 kbps (800kB/s) 380 kbps (47.5kB/s) Share
Mar 23, 22:26 6537 kbps (817kB/s) 375 kbps (46.9kB/s) Share

thanks

Edited by deleted (Wed 11-May-11 16:02:04)

unfortunatley it seems my router reset it self today....about an hour before i got home!

That is very possibly just what we were waiting for. Just took it's time deciding to do it. When it lowers the sync-time noise margin, which gives a higher connection speed, it (normally) forces a reconnection there and then.

If that was the first time it hit 8128kbps, which it probably is, then it will take 3-5 days for your IP Profile to rise to 7150kbps.

At that point - Result!

hi,

just ran the bt speed test again and the results are below.

Download speedachieved during the test was - 4925 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 600-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :8128 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 7150 Kbps

ip profile has increased as you suggested. download speed still seems slowish at 4925Kbps

will this increase with time or would a manual reset be needed? the router stats seem to be around the same.

thanks

I suspect the PlusNet IP profile for your line (shown in your members area under "Connection Settings -> High-speed Broadband") is still at 5Mb. If that's the case, that's your limit until it rises to match the BT setting of 7150kbps. Mine got 'stuck' at 4.5, a quick ticket to the support team and they got it un-stuck within the day.

Andrew

Sounds that way. Though if the BT rise only recently happened it could just be the normal delay in the update getting into Plusnet's system. It isn't a real-time update.

I'd expect it to be correct by the morning though, or even already (just checked the post times).

Edited by RobertoS (Thu 12-May-11 23:26:52)

Hi there,

If it's not updated please drop me a PM with your username and I'll give it a kick from our side.