Drop in connection speed

Hi,

I'm still happy with what I'm getting but my speed has dropped since yesterday - it was performing really well at 59/60 meg.

My plusnet profile showed I was connected at 78 mb and the BT diagnostic showed the Max I could get was 61. Happy with that.

Today, the speeds have dropped to around 52 meg. Still loads better than I was getting - but obviously I prefer 60ish.

My Plusnet router (but not the BT modem) was unplugged suddenly yesterday - which I gather may not have been the best thing.

I also did a couple of gui-disconnects on the router today to see if that made any difference (as someone elsewhere suggested)

The plusnet profile now shows 53 not 78 and my connection speed and the BT diagnostic shows a max of 53 now as well.

I'm basically worried that I may have screwed up my speeds during the DLM period - can anyone put my mind at rest?

(I've dropped a ticket into Plusnet, just in case)

There's a slight chance it could be something to do with the unplugging of the router. Do you mean unplugged from mains power, or from the modem socket? What happened - was the link between the two forcibly pulled out for example?

What is clear is that something has affected the modem, as that determines the connection speed, not the router.

There isn't really a DLM period. It runs all the time. What it does do is not really interfere during the first day, which for you was yesterday. I see you have some speed tests there from before 2pm. What time did did the router disconnection happen?

The most likely thing is that during Day 2, today, it just decided it was time to step in and in its view stabilise the line. There may have been a lot of errors happening, or whatever. The loss of 7-8Mbps actual looks rather like interleaving kicking in. That is odd though, unless it was completely reset on the migration.

The Plusnet 78Mbps yesterday was probably just an initial setting, waiting for update from the BT Wholesale IP Profile, which the Diagnostic Option of the BT speed test will show you if you take it after the initial result.

Just for comparison with what you are getting now, what were good speeds on Sky, as opposed to the low ones you got at times?

The connector on the plug on the Techicolour Router has an adapter - that came loose, which is why it was briefly powered down. (The BT modem hasn't been)

On Sky I was on 40/10 and was supposed to get 35 but I was one of those with the 'half-speed' issue.
The only tester that gave me that sort of speed was the BT one. The rest all showed between 22-27 at best, as did my throughput tests.

PlusNet came straight in at 60 down yesterday, all of the testers were consistent(ish) and in agreement - I was over the moon.

52 down is not awful, don't get me wrong. But the line seemed to be great at 60 and I'd hate to think that I'd caused it and that it was irrevocable.

Having said that, if the line is just settling lower, that's a shame but it's not the end of the world.

Edited by deleted (Sat 26-Jan-13 21:49:35)

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "The connector on the plug on the Techicolour Router has an adapter" unless you mean one of those slide-on things that convert universal plugs to UK 3-pin. I can't go to look at mine at the moment.

Unless the modem and router are both powered off the same multi-socket adapter I think it unlikely there is any connection between the two events. It's far more likely it is just the line settling down.

The 35Mbps you were supposed to get on Sky sounds like the expected throughput speed from an almost full speed 40/2 or 40/10 product. That doesn't really give us any clue to 80/20 expectations.

"52 is not awful" . If you'd got 52 yesterday and maintained it, you'd still be over the moon.

Which Openreach modem have you got? There now appear to be three. The HG612, and two different ECI ones. Though it's only today I heard about the second ECI so don't know how to distinguish them.

That last question is really only if you might be interested in playing around to see if you can get line stats from it. Those may tell us if you have a problem.

There are also two other things that could have happened. One is "banding", but what you have doesn't sound a dramatic enough speed drop for that, and the other is a short-term (4-5 weeks) DLM intervention that will automatically reverse itself.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "The connector on the plug on the Techicolour Router has an adapter" unless you mean one of those slide-on things that convert universal plugs to UK 3-pin. I can't go to look at mine at the moment.

Yeah the slide-on thing came loose.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Unless the modem and router are both powered off the same multi-socket adapter I think it unlikely there is any connection between the two events. It's far more likely it is just the line settling down.

The 35Mbps you were supposed to get on Sky sounds like the expected throughput speed from an almost full speed 40/2 or 40/10 product. That doesn't really give us any clue to 80/20 expectations.

No, absolutely

"52 is not awful" . If you'd got 52 yesterday and maintained it, you'd still be over the moon.

Oh yes - but now I've seen the promised land of 60 and I'd like to live there if I can.

Which Openreach modem have you got? There now appear to be three. The HG612, and two different ECI ones. Though it's only today I heard about the second ECI so don't know how to distinguish them.

That last question is really only if you might be interested in playing around to see if you can get line stats from it. Those may tell us if you have a problem.

I don't mind in theory - I'm only really asking in case there's anything I should or shouldn't have done - especially as the wholesale checker stats changed.

There are also two other things that could have happened. One is "banding", but what you have doesn't sound a dramatic enough speed drop for that, and the other is a short-term (4-5 weeks) DLM intervention that will automatically reverse itself.

So basically, sit tight and don't be greedy?

seems you have had near identical speed connections as me, but my modem & router never dropped connection during the mythical 10 day training period for fibre.

Install day 61mb down kept that speed for two days with NP IP of 78, day 3 dropped to 51/52 mb down with NP IP of 78. It has stayed there for the last two months. Seems to get a good stable line BT have set a IP of 54,8. My line estimate was 55mb and my NP IP changed to 55 after month one.

I was a bit disappointed by the drop but a stable 52mb line my son plays on-line games, I browse the net, the wife watches BBC iplayer while other son does god knows what (most probably torrent downloads) all at the same time and no one complains abut buffering or slow speeds.

You never said what your line estimate was but I'd rather live with a stable slightly slower line than a faster unstable line. After all it does not matter what speed your line is connecting at as its throttled by the slowest connection on the net to the site your visiting.

I'd only start to worry if your line have not stabilised out at 52mb and remember to test speed connected by CAT5 and not wirelessly and that speeds can vary throughout the day due to contention at your exchange.

Edited by deleted (Sun 27-Jan-13 08:38:52)

In reply to a post by ponsalias:

So basically, sit tight and don't be greedy?

It isn't being greedy to want more if it's not depriving anyone else, which that wouldn't be , but there is little else to do but be content.

You could tell us what modem it is, including any version numbers.

Just took it off the wall for a look.

It's an ECI 061513

In reply to a post by ponsalias:

Just took it off the wall for a look.

It's an ECI 061513

I think that's an ECI B-Focus V-2FUb (rev. B).

The 061513 number is the BT item code - a BT part number in what used to be called the "vocabulary of engineering stores". I wonder if it still is... No doubt it's an electronic catalogue now and much easier to find stuff than wading through the old 6+ inch thick paper version. It took me 6 months to finally discover that an ordinary 13 amp plug was called a "plug for socket outlet, number 103B" in the VES. Very obvious! Although my favourite story (apocryphal I suspect) was of a technician at an exchange who was asked to repair a faulty 4-wire amplifier. He found that an audio transformer had failed and fitted a replacement. Noticing that it was the last one in stock, he filled in a requisition for a replacement. About 3 months later a huge low-loader drew into the yard with an electricity sub-station on the back. The technician had got a digit of the item code wrong and accidentally ordered a larger transformer than he'd intended!

</reminisce>
</digress>

Edited by deleted (Sun 27-Jan-13 17:22:37)