Optimisation of a very slow BT connection - advise please

Hi,

Had broadband for years but never got into the techy side of it, until recently when my connection became so slow, it's barely usable.

I've run both the BTW speed test and the one from this site and they both come up with .13Mbps. BT say they are pushing 1Mbps, but say the difference is due to me being at the end of a long line.

I was with Orange previously but had lots of lengthy drop-off so decided to switch, although when it did work it was much faster than the .13Mbps that I now receive.

Would anyone have any recommendations as to the best modem to use to optimise the little I am getting. At present I am using the BT hub with a separate NetGear router (due to wanting to use devices in the bedrooms and the BT hub wasn't quite up to it)

Thanks,

kmaryj.

What estimate is given for your phone number by www.dslchecker.bt.com ?

Are you able to obtain the line stats (connection/bandwidth; attenuation; noise margin/SNR), from the one acting as the modem please? Is that the BT Hub in bridged mode or are both acting as routers?

Thanks for the reply

BT BROADBAND AVAILABILITY CHECKER
Telephone Number on Exchange HATHERLEIGH is served by Cabinet 1
Featured Products

DownstreamRate(Mbps)UpstreamRate(Mbps)Downstream Range(Mbps)Availability
ADSL Max Up to 1 -- 0.75 to 2.5 Available
Fixed Rate 1 -- -- Available

So what's the difference between the 'rate' and the 'range'?

Thanks for the reply.

here is the stats from this site's speed test:
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results.html...

How do I get the other stats you requested?

Also I think we are using the hub in bridged mode as we're all connected via the NetGear router.

Mary

You are in a lovely location, but a long way from anywhere including the exchange in Hatherleigh.

You have my sympathy about the awful speed and I hope that DBUK money finds some way of improving it, looks like you area will be a long way down the list even though they have just enabled the exchange for FTTC.

Do you know if cab 1 is in Hatherleigh or somewhere else like Inwardleigh?

If you have any extensions you need to disconnect them and test again in an attempt to remove any internal interfereance.

Internal wiring may make a difference especially where 0.5Mb is a big improvement.
If you are the farm you may have extensions in other buildings that damp also effects at this time of year.

You may not be able to get the stats I asked for easily, without connecting using the HH in modem/router mode. The thing is, they tell us in detail what speed it is possible to get on your line by optimisation . As opposed to the best you have ever seen. (They may be the same, but unlikely).

What Netgear router is it please? That may help.

For now, also have a read of these two pages, and see if anything applies:-

Ring/bell wire. This can make a huge difference, but remember it is the master socket to look at, not an extension if that's where you are connecting.

Miscellaneous nasties.

Thanks for the reply.

Yes it is a beautiful area of the country..

As far as I know cab 1 is in Hatherleigh, as we have been told we are 6 miles from the exchange, and Hatherleigh is 6 miles from us.. am I putting 2 and 2 together to make 6?

There is only one other BT installed extension, which is never used, and at present we are connected via the test socket, as this is what BT have suggested..

Hi,

NetGear N+, is what it says on the box.

I've just run the more detailed diagnostics in the BTW page:


FAQ
Results Image not loaded



1. Best Effort Test: -provides background information.

Download Speed
0.14 Mbps

0 Mbps 0.25 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed

Download speedachieved during the test was - 0.14 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 0.05 Mbps-0.25 Mbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :0.16 Mbps(DOWN-STREAM), 0.22 Mbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 0.14 Mbps

which has made me even more unhappy... range of 0.05 - .25... I'm sure I got better than that back in the days of dial-up!!

Are you saying that if I take the router out I can get detailed stats from the BT Homehub?

Evening Mary

You should first do a Quiet Line Test.

Connect your simplest phone with an ADSL?PHONE Splitter, in to the Test Socket.

Ring 17070 which normally will connect you to a Test facility.

Listen carefully to the Options.

It will normally be to "Press 2" in BT lines; or "Press 4" on SKY (Broadband Provider) lines.

The line should be "quiet".

There may be a very quiet hum, which normally can be ignored.

If you hear significant noises of the "snap, crackle and pop" variety etc, report this to yout PHONE SERVICE Provider as a PHONE PROBLEM, avoid mentioning Broadband.

==============

If the line sounds fine from the Test Socket, remove the Phone and Splitter; and restore the connections in to your house.

Then try the same test from your local socket.

If you now hear significant noises, the source lies within your property in your house wiring; and it is your responsibility to sort it.

The source may be something directly connected to the phone wiring; or something near the phone wiring such as a plasma TV set, micro-wave oven etc.

With the latter type of item, try switching ON then OFF.

====================================

However, from your description of your location, it seems likely that it is outside.

With the recent bad weather, think of how it has affected fence wiring etc around you; then look at the fragility of the phone wiring, strung several feet up in the air, whipping about, with (acid) rain getting in to nooks and crannies, causing corrosion.

===================================

If the wiring is causing the problem/s, inside or out, then it does not matter what super-duper modem/router you have, it will still not perform to its best ability.

In reply to a post by eckiedoo:

Connect your simplest phone withOUT an ADSL?PHONE Splitter, in to the Test Socket.

Don't you 1st want to do the simplest voice test, eliminating any BB & router? Only then, if quiet, repeat with router connected?

Edited by XRaySpeX (Sat 18-Jan-14 20:51:59)

Terrible figures. I'm sure we all feel for you, but sorting it if BT don't play nice will be a pig .

Although you are using the test socket, is your router connected to that with a short cable, or a long one or even an extension cable?

The Netgear should have a model number underneath?

Thanks.

I did connect the phone straight to the test socket and the line was amazingly quiet, I then put the face plate back on and tested the phone then, still quiet. Then tried it with the modem/router and the phone line connected via the splitter to the test socket, still quiet..

Thanks for that.

The model number is: F5D8235-4 v 2

It's a fairly short cable to the BT hub, the one that came with it, around 8 feet.

Thanks all for you time and help..

That's odd. I wanted to check up on its facilities, to see if we could get the stats, but the Netgear support site doesn't seem to know about it.

Google finds a few references to a Netgear F5D8235, but all F5D8235-4s seem to be Belkin. (And some of the googled ones turn out to be Belkin anyway). So I'm stuck, sorry.

In reply to a post by kmaryj:

Also I think we are using the hub in bridged mode as we're all connected via the NetGear router.

I don't like the sound of that. You say you are non-techie. If you just connect two routers with a LAN cable then you can get trouble.

You either have to set the one connected to the phone line specifically to bridge mode, so it works as a simple modem, or you have to disable DHCP on the secondary one that you are using. Which I believe to be a Belkin .

However, if both are still working as routers it should be possible to get the line stats from the BT one by connecting to that and logging into its GUI as per the instructions that should have come with it.

Edited by RobertoS (Sat 18-Jan-14 23:38:16)

Mary

The cab cound have been closer than the exchange, if so the future provision of FTTC would have helped. If the Cab is in Hatherleigh FTTC will not improve your speed. The Cab could be the one by the garage on Bridge street.

It is the huge loop around the road that makes the distance so long and cuttimg some of that out that would make a massive difference. From google maps there are a large number of overhead spans to get to you, even the google van didn't get all the way if I have guessed the correct place!

Follow the instructions Roberto gave about the ring wire and extensions.

As the line isn't noisy it will be hard to get BT to do anything. It is likely that some of the connections on the poles have got water in that will make the line loss worse at present but there is no way to keep them all dry in the weather we have been having.

Your long term hope is that BDUK Devon provide a new cab to serve Inwardleigh with FTTC and you are served off that route.

Only other choice is if you have a line of sight down the river to Hatherleigh and a radio link as it is only 3.5Km in a straight line. This is expensive but could give you a lot more.

A optical fobre straignt down the river would be perfect if you did the work BT may connect it up as FTTP but you would have to ask as a community project , needs about 8 connections in each of 3 places to make FTTP worthwhile. (A PON serves up to 32 and each manifold up to 12 I think)

I have read the thread and it seems to be that you have a very long line and that brings high attenuation so any "noise" will have a very adverse affect. Small amounts of noise can cause problems and the graphs suggest that.

You need to get your line statistics - get a copy of Router Stats Hub from: http://www.vwlowen.co.uk/RouterStatsHub/routerstatsh... and run this with your PC connected directly to the HH - you will need to choose either the HH5 or HH3 depending on which you have. Run it for a few hours and then save the images and host those somewhere - post a link to them.


As for suitable Modems/Hubs for long lines - the BT Business Hub also known as 2wire2700 is extremely good.

In reply to a post by kmaryj:

NetGear N+, is what it says on the box.

What comes after the 'N'? For a Netgear it should be of the form 'N300-WiFi DSL', but we have some doubt that it is a Netgear.

sorry, been a bit of a numpty.. it is a Belkin, a NetGear was the other option my other half spoke of when purchasing it..

thanks for the advice.

BT reset my line yesterday evening and I am now monitoring it for 24hours, to get representative results.

When this is complete, I will run the test you have suggested.

thanks again..

thanks for that,

yes, you're correct, as the crow flies it's really not that far to hatherleigh, couple of miles max, but by road, no matter which way I go, it's significantly more.

Strangely, even though when we tested using the quiet line, all seemed very quiet, BT said otherwise when they tested it, so they reset the line yesterday evening.

I'm now running regular speed tests.

I think I'd struggle to get any more than a handful of people interested in a community project such as you suggest, though will make a few enquiries. I am however about a quarter of a mile from the river..

how would i find out if my cabinet is in hatherleigh or inwardleigh?

Off to find out what some of the abbreviations you use mean.. I did mention I wasn't at all techie, didn't I..