Troubleshoot FTTC by connecting without router - good idea??

I was talking to my brother-in-law earlier today who is on BT Infinity. His speeds are all over the place sometimes down to around 50kbps then next day it will be up to his normal ~30Mbps again. Uploads are similarly variable. BT won't budge from "It's an internal problem".

So far he has switched off WiFi (on his laptop) and connected via ethernet but I was thinking that the best way to establish whether it's a router problem would be to by pass it and connect directly to the modem and then create a new PPoE connection on the laptop.

Are there any reasons why this won't work or that it's a bad idea? If not are there any special settings or is it just a straightforward new connection?

Yes, that's a good idea.

It's a straightforward connection. Username is [email protected] and you don't need a password.

Edited by deleted (Sat 06-Dec-14 21:39:44)

Great thanks - that's a job for tomorrow then.

"Don't need"?

Does that mean you can simply ignore the field? I.e. leave it as NULL?

Or does it need at least a Space or random text?

Yes, anything or nothing as a password.

That might still leave some internal problems ... noise pickup on the line or cables, a bad connection on an extension, dodgy filter, kids toys or neighbours creating RFI or maybe a dodgy power supply or plug socket.

We could do with seeing the basic line stats, (connection speed, attenuation, noise margin), from his Home Hub.

That may not help too much, but if that can be used as a pure router connecting to the internet through a modem, then if he gets an HG612 off eBay, (not an ECI), and unlocks it if it isn't already we can get really useful information.

OK - noted the comments thanks. I'm going round this morning to give my first idea a try. I'll connect to the modem which is right at the side of the master socket which is the new '2 outlet' type. I'll disconnect the telephone first. My thinking is to eliminate everything that is not the responsibility of BT. I'll also take a couple of brand new ethernet cables with me.

When I was there yesterday it was so bad that BT wholesale speedtest was showing a 0 download result.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

........if he gets an HG612 off eBay, (not an ECI), and unlocks it if it isn't already we can get really useful information.

Why not an ECI? I thought they could both be unlocked.

In reply to a post by Tacitus:

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

........if he gets an HG612 off eBay, (not an ECI), and unlocks it if it isn't already we can get really useful information.

Why not an ECI? I thought they could both be unlocked.

They can, the HG612 is easy to do whereas the ECI is a lot more involved.