Line repeatedly being capped at 0.5Mbps

Hi All,
Been having problems with my line speed being capped, since last August. See previous posts:

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/showthreaded.php?Bo...

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/showthreaded.php?Bo...

What has followed since is a monthly repetition of this process:

Line gets capped at 0.5Mbps >> complaint made to ISP >> ISP gets cap removed (usually within 1 day of complaint) >> Line re-syncs at around 7Mbps to begin then drops to around 4-5Mbps over the next week or so >> Line settles for a few weeks (only a few days this time) then suddenly drops to 0.5Mbps and stays there.

I'm told that I'm not on a long line and that the line does not appear to be "noisy". Prior to the line fault last August, I had no problem in the two previous years since the line was broadband enabled.

So, the question is - what do I do next? I've asked support to get BT to investigate the line, several times - seems the ISP won't do this. I've asked support for advice on resolving the issue - no response other than to say the cap has been removed and to let them know if I have any further problems!!!

I can't see anything obviously causing problems on my side of the line. I'm loathe to buy a new router just to test if the old one is faulty...
To clarify; the router is not wireless, I don't have a sky box, the router is plugged into the master socket, I've disconnected the ring wire and the router is left on 24/7.

Is there any way I can get BT to investigate the line for faults?

Cheers.
Steve.

To save us trawling through all the old posts; can you post two sets of figures...
1. Your current stats from your router (connection speed up & down, line attenuation up & down, noise margin up & down).
2. The full results from the BT speedtest site http://speedtester.bt.com/

There could be a number of causes, and without the requested data, we'd just be guessing.

Are there any good LLU services (i.e. O2, BEthere, Sky, UKonline/Easynet) available at your exchange?
If so, the simple solution would be to kick BT into touch and go with an LLU provider (especially given your BT connection keeps doing this, so there's obviously something very wrong with their equipment, or yours, or your line, or you keep going over their usage limits).

Hi.
Current router stats are:
Upstream Speed: 288 kbps
Downstream Speed: 576 kbps

noise margin downstream: 31 db
output power upstream: 12 db
attenuation downstream: 39 db (note this is usually reported as 43 db when line not capped)

noise margin upstream: 26 db
output power downstream: 15 db
attenuation upstream: 24 db

Speedtester results:

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
Your DSL connection rate: 576 kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 288 kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP profile for your line is - 500 kbps
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 421 kbps

Strangely, the speedtester asked for my login details before it would run the test - is this usual now?

LLU providers at my exchange are:
AOL
Talk Talk
Sky
Orange

Would switching to LLU be worthwhile? If the problem is the phone line, then won't I still have the problem? Plus, the providers listed don't fill me with confidence in regards to resolving an issue...

My typical usage is around 2 Gb a month (on a 10Gb a month package), so don't think usage limit is the problem.

Cheers.

This looks different to the usual wandering around of ADSL sync speed, since it matches exactly a fixed profile 0.5Meg service on Max.

Chase the ISP again, and ask them to find out why this keeps happening. Putting people onto a fixed rate profile is a manual request thing.

Yes the tester asks for the login these days. I assume if you reboot the router that the speeds remain the same.

That looks like a fixed 512 connection. The stats look ok and you could go considerably faster.
Out of the LLU providers then the only one which is worth going with would be Sky. So if you have Sky tv then make the jump.

Hi.
Yes, Namesco support tell me that BT's systems are saying I am on both Max and a fixed profile. Each time the cap is "removed" (6 times so far) the line retrains. Initial sync rate is around 7Mb, which eventuallly settles around 4-5Mb before suddenly dropping to 0.5Mb. There's no pattern to the time before the line gets capped - other than it seems to be happening more quickly each time.
Who would request the fixed rate profile? My usage is fairly low and I'm not downloading music or films.
I have chased the ISP again today, asking for an explanation but they have not offered any previously, so I don't hold out much hope.
Yes, the speed remains constant upon reboot of the router.
I'd be grateful for any further help with this.

Thanks.

Hi.
Thanks for the reply.

I don't and won't have Sky TV, for idealogical reasons, so I'm reluctant to switch to them.

The line will go and has gone considerably faster - but something is causing an instability and I have no idea what. I was told by BT that the line fault last August was at the exchange - presumably this was never completely resolved..

Cheers.

You cannot be on Max and a fixed profile - they are different products.

Somewhere there is a problem with one of th systems which you need to Namesco to resolve with BT. You need to have every reference to the fixed rate product removed and your line details removed from te Fixed Rate database.

I've just tested my speed and it is 179 kbs and it should be upto 8mbs. I'm in the process of signing up with Plus Net due to a similar problem I've had with Orange. My feeling is they have too many subscribers and then cannot cope, resulting in a reduced speed.

In reply to a post by MHC:

You cannot be on Max and a fixed profile - they are different products.

Somewhere there is a problem with one of th systems which you need to Namesco to resolve with BT. You need to have every reference to the fixed rate product removed and your line details removed from te Fixed Rate database.

I agree, This has the appearance of an administrative error, rather than a technical problem. It looks as if something, somewhere, is identifying the OP's service as a fixed-rate product, so when it's realised it's not, it is assumed to be an error, and gets switched back. To stop it happening again, the reference to it being fixed-rate needs to be found and removed.