Speed reduced, nothing I can do

Hey folks, I have only just joined the forums very recently after seeing this post by Hunbugcat here http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/bt/f/3689699-speed-...

I have experience exactly the same problem he has, involving speed drop. Long story short, what seems like a month or two ago my speed started dropping steadily for no apparent reason. I have changed nothing or done nothing at all to effect this.

I am not certain, but I heard there was updating being done at my exhange, which is only a couple of miles down the road. I have done millions of checks at Bt Speedtester, I used to get 4mbps / out of possible 8mbps. Now with all the problems I only get 1mbps and the speed tester now states my line max is now only 2mbps! I can't barely even watch a youtube video.

Anyway, I had been in contact to the help desk on 4 seperate occasions, they seemed very helpful, on each occasion recognizing there was some issue with the line and referring me to some specialist team who each time said they would check / fix something at the exchange and get back to me. This has happened each time, I experience a brief increase in my speed for a few days and then BAM! back to the terrible speeds.

In Absolute despair I have given up trying to ring the help desk, I have followed all checks, filters, computers etc, and have ruled out all outside Influence, it is definately BT. In absolute despair I have writen and sent a letter with a plea for help to the office of the Chairman of BT himself, with as yet no reply.

Please if anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated. I am afraid I am out of my depth with the technical info I did notice that Humbugcats situation got fixed, which is why I have posted here as my situation almost mirrors his/hers exactly.

I would be deeply greatful for any help or advice

Aha forgot to post my hub info
ADSL line status
Connection information
Line state Connected
Connection time 0 days, 3:29:29
Downstream 4,576 Kbps
Upstream 448 Kbps

ADSL settings
VPI/VCI 0/38
Type PPPoA
Modulation ITU-T G.992.1
Latency type Interleaved
Noise margin (Down/Up) 17.7 dB / 8.0 dB
Line attenuation (Down/Up) 33.0 dB / 16.5 dB
Output power (Down/Up) 19.8 dBm / 12.5 dBm
Loss of Framing (Local) 10
Loss of Signal (Local) 4
Loss of Power (Local) 0
FEC Errors (Down/Up) 134268 / 122
CRC Errors (Down/Up) 365 / 2147480000
HEC Errors (Down/Up) nil / 46
Error Seconds (Local) 2668

does this mean anything? (all that jargon makes my head hurt!)

Could you do a speed test on:

http://www.speedtester.bt.com

Specially of interest is the IP Profile speed.

Don't be scared by stats. They are fairly easy once you read a line at a time and don't think of them as a picture . Until you understand the important lines of course, and then it's the overall story that matters.

The three important ones for most lines are:-

1) The downstream and upstream connection speeds. Yours are 4,576 and 448Kbps. On ADSL Max which you are on 448 is the normal upstream except on very long lines. The 4,576 downstream should at quiet times on the net be giving you somewhere between 3000 and 3800Kbps actual. At busy times it could be lower, but that is another matter. So on the face of it you should be getting nearly what you are used to, not 1Mbps.

2) The line attenuation basically shows the loss of signal strength due to distance from the exchange. Upstream is usually about half the downstream, for technical reasons, and yours is spot on. This graph gives a rough idea of the expected range of connection speeds for various downstream attenuations. As you can see, yours is well down.

3) The noise margins, which provide a safety net for your connection. There is electromagnetic noise affecting your line all the time, like interference on a radio, and the level of actual noise varies 24/7. The noise margin is there to allow for noise to increase without you losing connection.

The normal value of the downstream margin should be well below your figure of 17.7dB. That is the main reason you are not connecting at or near 8Mbps as per the graph. It also inplies the underlying noise is not bad, but the variation is very large.

So what else is important in the stats? That is dead simple. The error statistics!

Ignore the huge number of downstream CRCs - that is a known reporting bug in the Home Hub.

But seriously bad are the Loss of Framing, Loss of Signal and Error Seconds over a period of 3.5 hours.

I know you say you have done all the checks support have requested. It gets totally frustrating as they always want you to start from scratch and repeat them all. The trouble is they tend to have to read from scripts and aren't allowed to think for themselves. So I'm afraid you may have to go through some stuff again, or at least make absolutely sure you have done what anyone here suggests.

Before that though, I think if you have a relaxed read of all except the "Router locking up" page in my Troubleshooting page some things that haven't been suggested by BT may come to light.

For a bit of background explanation of Noise margins and your speed, have a look at the Noise Margin and BT IP Profile pages. You are probably being badly affected by the Profile side of things, on top of everything else .

So there's your homework . I think if you take a deep breath you should be ok, as you haven't got someone on the end of a phone expecting you to do things and understand in an instant what you are being told. You have no chance of grasping or remembering it all in a day or so, but a lot will stick .

Then you will be in a better position with regard to questions asked and understanding what is going on.

Thanks for the reply guys, I will check your site after work when I get home tonight Robert, thanks. Also as requested posting the Bt Speedtester results here :

Download speedachieved during the test was - 1126 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 400-2000 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :4576 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 1250 Kbps

What is the most worrying thing also is that the speed tester states that my max speed is 2000kbps, A few weeks ago it used to state it was 8mbps, Grrrr!

Hi Sadhippo, I'm sorry to hear of the recent problems you have had with your BT broadband. I'd be happy to look into this for you, but would need you to confirm your BT account details. You can send this information to [email protected] and I'll check this out for you. Alternatively, this information can be sent in a PM. Thanks Natasha

The IP profile is setting your maximum speed, and also the expectation range. But the IP Profile has been clobbered by an earlier low connection speed. It should be 4000kbps on that connection speed It should rise in the next couple of days unless another slow connection intervenes.

So the problem isn't your current speed in that test, which is fine for the profile, it is what has caused the apparent instability implicit in the low profile and general loss of connection speed.

Along with the line being in interleaving mode, high number of FEC errors for a short period and especially the loss of framing you will need to check that your microfilters are working (swap them over to test if you have spares), make sure internal wiring, etc. is all in order as RobertoS posted above...

Check to see if there is noise on the phone line too - think theres a quiet line test or something you can do but I don't know details - others on here might... those kinda stats kinda suggest it could be due to damp leaking into part of the connection somewhere i.e. at an external junction box.

Edited by deleted (Tue 20-Oct-09 15:25:48)

Thank you guys, I will continue checking, and thanks Natasha, I will send a pm right away when I get home from work. Also had a new(ish) update, had taken the plunge, in a moment of self pity and rang the BT helpdesk, done the normal stuff, and had an engineer ring back (I missed the call, but my brother took it) and it seems seomthing is being replaced or done or changed on their end....? no idea or specifics on any of this, sigh. The engineer said it should improve by friday (insert a Marge Simpson like skeptical hmmmmm here)

Did they say they were doing a Lift n Shift?