Unable to use the bt speed test utility and stuck in a loop

I don't know if I am posting this in the right place?

I haven't been able to use the BT speed tester for more than two and a half years and I have issues which AOL (my ISP) seem unable to resolve without it.

I could ramble on for pages but here are the hard facts.

1) I have an enabled line speed of 7.5 Mb . I (almost) always have 7.5+ Mb download rate after 1am and before 7am.

2) From 7am til 12 noon throughput decreases to 4-5Mb still more than usable. Throughput then falls by 2 Mb/hour roughly 'til at about 3.30pm my throughput (tested by the TBB speed test tool) starts to crawl along anywhere from 0.1 to 0.3 Mb/hour and stays that way until 1am.

I've lost count of the times I have called into AOL about this as I work and don't really like to have to get up at 3am to be sure of getting my email from google without waiting 5 minutes for a non html version to load.

My neighbours either side are on Virgin and BT Broadband and they do not have a problem running the BT speed test, nor do they have throughput problems that I do. I take my laptop in to their properties and the test completes just fine. Other AOL users in my area are able to use the BT speed test site.

I go through basic tests which are insisted upon by the 1st level support staff which I can do in my sleep before they put me through to the 2nd level team.

Here's what has been happening for all this time with the BT test site.

speedtester.bt.com loads, I enter my phone number, the java invokes and gets as far as "Initialising...In start method 1"

Then for 4 or 5 minutes it sits there whilst it does nothing and the status on the bottom bar says waiting for 217.32.105.42 - it never connects and it never completes. Java doesn't report any activity past the first message.

I get various messages but the most common one now is The Performance Tester is currently unable to run a speed test for your broadband connection. Please try again shortly, however if this problem persists, raise the issue with your service provider.

AOL keep putting in fault reports to BT. Nothing ever happens and BT tell AOL my line is fine (I already knew it was nothing to do with the line and I stress this always). The fault gets closed without so much as a kiss my cheeks in the way of reparation or contact to me from BT or AOL.

BT won't accept there is a problem without a speed test which shows the IP profile being produced, so I go round and around in this loop and it's more than just a bit frustrating.

My exhange is not fully LLU, my postcode is SA72.

So here I am stuck with superfast broadband overnight and snails pace when I want to use it after work. AOL can't do anything about it without the BT speed test.

Would you prefer to stay with AOL?

I ask because after two and a half years, that's quite a time to be getting messed around by a problem which doesn't seem to be line related.

Having said that, if there's no line problem (as far as you know), then there's no need to use the BT speedtester as such. Use another. You can use TBB's speedtester to gather screenshots or URL's of speeds available, use the ping tool to monitor the latency of the line through a given day etc.

If the line can manage 7 Meg at night, but not through the day, it's either contention, or throttling. Do your neighbours on AOL have slow speeds at all? Does your broadband line seem weather sensitive?

FWIW I stopped using the BT speedtester more than five years ago. iirc it required that you changed the login details on the router so that you bypassed your ISP. I always did what was asked, and never got a connection. Never worked out why, but just moaned a fair bit to my ISP about it, and eventually they accepted that the BT speedtest was not an option. Not sure if that's how the thing works now though. Get any old speedtests, as long as your setup and test method is consistent, there's no problem.

If AOL insist on BT tests, tell them why etc, and explain that you can get 7 Meg, so it can't be a throughput issue/line issue, so it must be AOL.

Lastly, right after you complete a speedtest, take a note of your router/modem line stats (Up and down SNR and attenuation) and pings to the speedtest site. If there's a line problem, it will show up.

My exhange is not fully LLU, my postcode is SA72.

is it LLU at all ? Look up the exchange at http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search

no not unbundled - apart from IP services available from suppliers other than BT

I dont think you even bothered to read the post.

It's not a case of not wanting to use the BT speed test site - it's the fact I cannot.

Only when I can manage this small and properly expected tool to be available to me will I be able to prove this -

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/button/12973...

0.4 mb isn't so bad. I could live with it. But this is exceptional and not the norm.

BT will NOT accept there is a ANY problem without the BT speed test (which contains the IP profile)

I dont think you even bothered to read the post.

On the contrary, the person to whom you so summarily give the brush-off will have read it, and is asking for information you could have easily supplied about your exchange. More easily than your actual reply.

He happens to be one of the most experienced and helpful people here. If he explained his reasons every time he asked a relative tyro particular questions they wouldn't have a clue what he was on about. In fact the post could be so long and complicated they would probably give up after the first couple of paragraphs.

Off the top of my head I can think of two reasons he needs to know, nothing to do with LLU. There could easily be others of which I am unaware.

Edited by RobertoS (Thu 10-Feb-11 20:46:36)

If you are confused or irritated by my original post then I apologise for my curt reply.

I will re-iterate so there can be no confusion.

I cannot use the BT speed test site on my broadband connection - I can use it on both sides of my next-doors. I can use it at all of my friends homes locally without exception and irrespective of IP.

The BT speed test has not resolved or completed for two and a half years, ever, despite daily tests at various times of the day and night.

The BT speed test needs to be completed in order that BT can acknowledge there is a problem with my service with AOL

AOL cannot submit or resolve the problem without the results being harvested from the BT speed test site which is precluded from my line and service with AOL.

There had been a response about my exchange and the LLU status.

The question and facts are that I am unable to use the BT speed test site to prove I have a problem with throughput and that from (c) 3pm until (c) 1am my throughput is devastatingly low.

Overnight and until 7 am it is exceptionally fast.

I think you may have lost the thread. I know for sure the previous poster had.

If you are confused or irritated by my original post then I apologise for my curt reply.

I am not confused or irritated, as the curt reply was not to me so I had no reason to be. However, you seem to be unable to read, and are "stuck in a loop".

What is confusing is why you came to the forums anyway, other than just to have a rant. You clearly consider yourself to have all the answers.

Except for the solution to the two loops you are in.

Enjoy your AOL misery. I presume you know the frequent corruption of how that is said, and its rather poor reputation before TT takeover and even worse one now.

Post deleted by BatBoy

Pembroke

SA72