Upload on Infinity 2

Good day everyone. My upload speed with Infinity 2 is slow, around 6Mbps. BT Live Chat tells me they cannot do much about the upload speed, only the download. My folks on the same cabinet get 9.05Mbps upload (they are on Infinity 1). Is this the case or is there something I can do? Thanks.

Tidy up your wiring to the modem, make sure it does not go too close to any electrical or electronic equipment.

Make sure you test using a wired Ethernet connection from PC to router and that any AV is turned off an nothing else is running on the PC or using any network bandwidth.

Is this perceived transfer rate via a speed test or the actual connect speed from the line profile via the BT speed test or hacking the openreach modem?

If it is a figure from a speed test then the line profile needs to be seen. If it is a connect speed from a hacked modem or the line profile then it may simply be down to line length to FTTC CAB.

Also, check you upload speed with http://myspeed.visualware.com/index.php which often gives more reliable estimate of upload speed than other testers (the BT tester is particularly bad at upload speed test).

Many people find its figures no better than others, but quite a few find it shows better figures. I haven't heard of any cases where it gave incorrect/overinflated figues; the figures it gives are representative of what you will get on good upload sites. When I had a line problem that effected download, I consistently got upload figures like:
17 real upload,
17 visualware,
14 speedtest.net
9 BT wholesale tester
6 BT retail tester

Figures now are
17 visualware
15 speedtest.net
14 BT retail tester

I used to use http://mcslhr.visualware.com/myspeed/myspeed_line_ca... for this test but that now seems to require login. The download tests with the site http://myspeed.visualware.com/index.php are too low (around 35 where other sites show 60 or so), but the upload still seems to be the best guide.

On FTTC the upstream IP Profile is always the top sync for the product. I.e. 2/10/20.

And hey, the BT test just decide to work for me. This is wireless:-

Download speedachieved during the test was - 50.48 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speedsis 12 Mbps-55.64 Mbps .
Additional Information:
IP Profile for your line is - 55.64 Mbps

Upload speed achieved during the test was - 12.27Mbps
Additional Information:
Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 20 Mbps

I hadn't realised that as I am still getting the full 20Mb/s up as well as the maximum down speed - great being near the cabinet!

I have a "spare" modem that I have hacked but not yet used - must extract the maximum rate details.

Guys - thanks for the responses. Much appreciated.

MHC - my wiring is always tidy and away from power cables! :- I am using a wired Ethernet connection also.

greenglide - the btspeedtester.net shows my upload profile as 20Mbps. I am less than 400m from the cabinet and my folks are on the same line some 50m closer and easily get much more than me on the slower package...

StephenTodd - I shall try the hyperlink when I get home later. Thanks.

What is your computer, and in particular which OS is on it?

Good evening RobertoS! My pc is old and runs Windows xp so I have borrowed my mothers laptop which is only 18 months old and runs Windows 7. My download is pretty good and it's very stable. I have service drawings of BT cables under the pavement to the telegraph poles and ny folks line is probably 50m shorter than mine. Both properties have new internal wiring.

Can you try using the same machine on both connections. Try BT, BT Beta, TBB Flash, TBB Java, speedtest.net and Visualware on both and compare all of the results.

It might also be worth checking what you MTU is set to in the router and PCs - 1492 is recommended for Infinity.

MHC - thanks. I shall check those out. How do I find out the MTU of the router? Homehub 3 btw. Ta.

Sorry, don't know the interface on the HH3. Have a dig around and you may find it.

In reply to a post by giggsy1977:

Good evening RobertoS! My pc is old and runs Windows xp so I have borrowed my mothers laptop which is only 18 months old and runs Windows 7. My download is pretty good and it's very stable.

I think you are saying there that the laptop has the slow upload as well?

Two suggestions.

1) Do a factory reset on the HH3. I haven't seen one, but exoect there is a reset button deep inside a (labelled) small hole. WHile the router is on, press the end of a paper-clip into there, gently but firmly, and hold it in until the lights start flashing. Then release, and wait until it sorts itself out.

2) Probably useless, unless (1) improves things. Download TCPOtimizer and let it adjust the MTU and RWIN settings on the XP computer. Don't do it on the laptop as Windows 7 is suppose to have that issue sorted. I say probably uselss, as we normally recommend this when the download on XP is poor.

RobertoS - I tried TCPOptimiser but it didn't work for me. I was then worried it may have changed some settings or values in the Homehub or modem. Perhaps the reset you suggest would wipe any changes made to the hub?

TCPOptimiser doesn't touch the Homehub or modem, only the PC.

But you should have done (MTU = 1500 if not already) in order to tune it.

Yes, the reset button will clear any changes made, although as XRaySpeX says TCPOtimizer won't have changed anything.

Didn't you do the factory reset then? I did say it was the first thing to try. Routers can get mixed up.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

TCPOptimiser doesn't touch the Homehub or modem, only the PC.

But you should have done (MTU = 1500 if not already) in order to tune it.

1492 is the MTU advised by BT and is auto set in their business hubs.

Yes, I know but if you want TCPOptimiser to do its work properly you should 1st unrestrict MTU so it can find the biggest unfragmented packet (as per its instuctions).

However, if you know a priori that it cannot exceed 1492 then I suppose that's OK. but there was no harm in lifting it to 1500 and putting it back to the value TCPOptimiser found as it intended.

As you know TCP Optimiser will not change the settings in the router and it could already be set to 1492.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

However, if you know a priori that it cannot exceed 1492 then I suppose that's OK. but there was no harm in lifting it to 1500 and putting it back to the value TCPOptimiser found as it intended.

Infinity uses PPPoE so the maximum MTU is 1492 - even if you set 1500, the router will probably lower it when it switches to PPPoE mode. (My Draytek lets me set 1500 on DHCP and PPPoA connections but limits to 1492 when I choose PPPoE)..

Edited by jchamier (Fri 19-Oct-12 21:15:30)

You really don't know what I'm talking about.

In reference to TCP Optimizer:

Note that for this to work, it is best to set your MTU value to 1500 temporarily, since the largest non-fragmented MTU us also bound by the MTU value on your end.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

You really don't know what I'm talking about.

Yes I do, there is little point making your PC's MTU 1500 (or higher with jumbo frames) if you already know your internet connection device is forcing a 1492 MTU - you give the router more work to do in the first place splitting packets.

Normal advice is to set the router to the highest MTU it supports (typically 1500) and then tweak the originating PC - and thankfully with modern OSes (Vista/Win7/MacOS) this happens for you. XP is the issue, and some/many security products can affect this too.

Edited by jchamier (Sat 20-Oct-12 11:15:40)

In reply to a post by jchamier:

there is little point making your PC's MTU 1500

We're talking here about determining the max. MTU of the connection, w/out making any assumptions, not setting the PC's MTU to anything unsuitable.

EDIT: With XP, which is all we are talking about, MTU already defaults to 1500 and so is already making router do more work and so we are employing TCPOptimiser to find a more suitable MTU value for the PC.

Edited by XRaySpeX (Sat 20-Oct-12 14:12:13)

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

In reply to a post by jchamier:

there is little point making your PC's MTU 1500

We're talking here about determining the max. MTU of the connection, w/out making any assumptions, not setting the PC's MTU to anything unsuitable.

Understood, but its also worth finding out a) what the PC is currently set to, and b) what the router is currently set to. Otherwise you may come to the conclusion that the ISP has a limit.

EDIT: With XP, which is all we are talking about, MTU already defaults to 1500 and so is already making router do more work and so we are employing TCPOptimiser to find a more suitable MTU value for the PC.

As long as the router isn't incorrectly set.

Stephen Todd - I tried the links you suggested and got 48.7 down and 6.50 up. BT Speedtester reports 6.32 upload tonight.

I have used the same laptop on mine and my folks connections - there's worl flawlessly!

RobertoS - I shall try the reset and come back...

Yes change isp or get bt to give you what your projected line speed says. I was told by openreach engineer mine should be 17.5 and after he rewired from the pole to house and new master socket that is what I got. So go figure. I'm with talk talk so if it isn't your wiring then its your isp.

Update - thought I would contact BT and see what they have to say. Called them earlier and was told that as my predicted upload was up to 15.7Mbps that the speed I am getting is acceptable. I explained that my folks, connected to the same cabinet get 9Mbps (on Infinity 1). I was then asked to hold while the nice lady went away to ask a technical specialist. She came back and explained that it could be the connections at the cabinet etc. Fair point I thought but still worth investigating I think. I then explained that when my folks had their connection fixed last week (was impressed with the Openreach Engineer by the way) I asked him to check my line. He told me is is capable of 64 down and 10 up, but he seemed to think the line was capped perhaps. I explained this to the lady and she went away again to ask more questions. She came back and explained the chap she spoke to says 6Mbps will be ample for what I need to use the Internet for! Charming! How does he know what I do online?! The lady is going to look into this further and call me back tomorrow night. Hmm...!

Or in rather less words, she and the people she is asking don't have a clue and don't give a damn.

That tale in itself is worthy of a high-level complaint.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Or in rather less words, she and the people she is asking don't have a clue and don't give a damn.
That tale in itself is worthy of a high-level complaint.

Seconded! If BT customer services did that to me, I'd write to the executive office.

Edited by jchamier (Mon 22-Oct-12 07:46:29)

In reply to a post by jchamier:

The whole point of fibre is to get more than 6meg as many people get more than that on ADSL/ADSL2+.

Are you sure? I thought Annex M maxed out at around 3.3Mbps. Nevertheless I agree it's still worth making a complaint about BT customer services.

In reply to a post by MCM:

]Are you sure? I thought Annex M maxed out at around 3.3Mbps. Nevertheless I agree it's still worth making a complaint about BT customer services.

Doh! Well spotted my bad :-/

Well, update. BT called me back as promised yesterday evening and asked if I was at my computer. I wasn't at home so we agreed I would be called back by the nice lady at the same time this evening. She couldn't call back later last night at around eight as she wouldn't be there. Fair enough. Waited for call back this evening and six came and went (call was to be at five-ish pm). Called BT at half six and spoke to a helpful chap. In a nutshell he explained that speed was good down and decent up. He also told me that different houses on the same street would get different upload speeds and that it can't be shared between properties. Confused me slightly with that one...latest speed test from speedtest.wholesale.net indicated 56 down and 7.2 up...it's getting better...still not reset hub yet. Might try at weekend along with unplugging the modem. Sorry for long post btw.