Speed issues

I am on AOL broadband.

The speed has been slowly dropping for a couple of months now. It used to average at 8Mbps (the advertised speed) but now is never more than 2Mbps. It's all rather odd. I got a new modem router this month and replaced all of the cables. The same speeds are reported by the new modem router.

AOL is the only operator at my local exchange which has its own equipment; the rest use BT.

You will find my current settings below.

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 2515 kbps 423 kbps
Line Attenuation 33.5 db 15.9 db
Noise Margin 11.8 db 11.5 db

Protocol: PPPoE
Encapsulation: LLC
VPI: 0
VCI: 38

I would like advice on improving the connection speed or how to enquire about this problem at AOL without being told a load of nonsense about ethernet cables.

- David

Please accept my apologies for an error in my previous post. AOL are not the only LLU operator at my local exchange now apparently; I just checked SamKnows.

- David

While we think about it, please can we have the link to what samknows says?

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/NSBLG

- David

What ADSL Mode is the router running? You'll need to Telnet into it; see here http://www.kitz.co.uk/routers/netgeardg834_interleav...

Which Netgear router is that?

Which AOL package are you on? One of the "up to" 8 Meg ones?

Have you tried plugging your router into the test socket within modernish BT master sockets? It may rule in/out your internal wiring as a problem.

See http://www.dslzoneuk.net/socket.php?type=html

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

What ADSL Mode is the router running? You'll need to Telnet into it; see here http://www.kitz.co.uk/routers/netgeardg834_interleav...

Which Netgear router is that?

Which AOL package are you on? One of the "up to" 8 Meg ones?

It's the Netgear DGN2200. At the link you provided I can't find any specific information on how to do Telnet on a DGN2200, and I lost the note I had of the chipset. The package I am on is line rental, calls and broadband "up to" 8Meg.

In reply to a post by john2007:

Have you tried plugging your router into the test socket within modernish BT master sockets? It may rule in/out your internal wiring as a problem.

See http://www.dslzoneuk.net/socket.php?type=html

No I have not. It's one of those annoying new ones with a built-in ADSL filter.

It should still be possible to remove the faceplate and access the test socket inside .

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

What ADSL Mode is the router running? You'll need to Telnet into it; see here http://www.kitz.co.uk/routers/netgeardg834_interleav...

Which Netgear router is that?

Which AOL package are you on? One of the "up to" 8 Meg ones?

It's the Netgear DGN2200. At the link you provided I can't find any specific information on how to do Telnet on a DGN2200, and I lost the note I had of the chipset. The package I am on is line rental, calls and broadband "up to" 8Meg.

Further to this I followed the instructions after confirming once again the chipset and apparently the router does not allow this.

- David

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

It's the Netgear DGN2200.

Think that's a Broadcom chipset. Try that one or this tailored link: http://192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?PATH=/bin:/sbin:/usr/bi... . Please let me know if you use my link OK; I'm interested in which Netgear routers it works for.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

It should still be possible to remove the faceplate and access the test socket inside .

Perhaps, but the last time I had this issue (I also posted on ThinkBroadband for that) it wasn't related in any way to the phone line and subsequently improved without me making any changes. The quality of service seems to go up and down periodically. If I have to I will get out the screwdriver and fiddle about, but I really don't think it has anything to do with the line.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

It's the Netgear DGN2200.

Think that's a Broadcom chipset. Try that one or this tailored link: http://192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?PATH=/bin:/sbin:/usr/bi... . Please let me know if you use my link OK; I'm interested in which Netgear routers it works for.

It doesn't work I'm afraid.

Sync rates are determined by the condition of the line.

Still worth a try even if to eliminate it. The test socket is the only way of getting honest stats.

Have you had a new Sky box, new phone, microwave, TV or anything else electrical or electronic since it was OK? Has it been happening since before you or any neighbours put up Christmas lights?

In reply to a post by john2007:

Sync rates are determined by the condition of the line.

Hmm... as I said they used to be significantly better. The speed was solid and the quality was perfect. The router is plugged in literally where the line comes into the house, which reduces the chance of dodgy wiring to the socket. That leaves what's left, and what confuses me is that the quality has been gradually dropping after having been bad before and improved.

- David

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

I followed the instructions after confirming once again the chipset and apparently the router does not allow this.

In what way did it object?

Had you changed its IP addy from default 192.168.0.1? In which case you will need to modify instructions accordingly.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Have you had a new Sky box, new phone, microwave, TV or anything else electrical or electronic since it was OK? Has it been happening since before you or any neighbours put up Christmas lights?

It's been the same since August/September perhaps. I hadn't changed the location of anything, like the phone, or introduced any equipment such that you mentioned.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

Still worth a try even if to eliminate it. The test socket is the only way of getting honest stats.

Right, I will.

Perhaps the filtered faceplate is failing. It has been known.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

I followed the instructions after confirming once again the chipset and apparently the router does not allow this.

In what way did it object?

Had you changed its IP addy from default 192.168.0.1? In which case you will need to modify instructions accordingly.

It did nothing. Didn't give me anything. I get a blank page on Firefox and a "page not found" on IE. Telnet didn't bring me any joy either, so I'm assuming it didn't work.

In reply to a post by john2007:

Perhaps the filtered faceplate is failing. It has been known.

It could be that, but others in my area have bad speeds also. The notspot broadband site claims there is a big 'black spot' near my residence but I have no idea if it would even be linked in terms of the infrastructure.

David

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

In reply to a post by john2007:

Perhaps the filtered faceplate is failing. It has been known.

It could be that, but others in my area have bad speeds also. The notspot broadband site claims there is a big 'black spot' near my residence but I have no idea if it would even be linked in terms of the infrastructure.

David

I will certainly not rule out this possibility until I have done the test socket.

David

try following the instructions on Kitz for the other chipsets in case its not a Broadcom.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

try following the instructions on Kitz for the other chipsets in case its not a Broadcom.

I didn't get anywhere. I did some more searching and apparently it is a Broadcom but in the latest version of the firmware (the one I'm using) telnet is not enabled. :/

David

You're clearly not daft, so I'm just checking a mistake most of us have made in the past - your OS is telnet-enabled? From Vista onwards, maybe even XP (I forget) the default is not.

Seems to be a pig of a problem .

Yes! Is telnet locked on DGN2200 router? It is!

First step.

Restart router and grab stats as soon as possible after that. If the Noise margin downstream is 11 to 13dB, then they probably have slowed the line down a little to improve stability, and it may be worth getting onto AOL support to ask them to speed things up, in geek speak 'can they lower the target noise margin'

Also monitor the noise margins over the course of a day, if rock solid and never alter probably not a line issue, if they vary a lot, then test socket which disconnects any other wiring in the property. An unused socket can still pick up noise, the wires act like a radio antenna.

On the neighbours, ask for their stats, if everyone is bad speed, but good attenuation it points towards something in the area creating RF noise e.g. a badly operating security light.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

First step.

Restart router and grab stats as soon as possible after that. If the Noise margin downstream is 11 to 13dB, then they probably have slowed the line down a little to improve stability, and it may be worth getting onto AOL support to ask them to speed things up, in geek speak 'can they lower the target noise margin'

Also monitor the noise margins over the course of a day, if rock solid and never alter probably not a line issue, if they vary a lot, then test socket which disconnects any other wiring in the property. An unused socket can still pick up noise, the wires act like a radio antenna.

On the neighbours, ask for their stats, if everyone is bad speed, but good attenuation it points towards something in the area creating RF noise e.g. a badly operating security light.

I did as you asked. Posted below are the typical results as of 20:00 today after monitoring since your post. The noise hasn't changed significantly (range of 11-12db) from the original data (11.8db).

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 2481 kbps 428 kbps
Line Attenuation 33.5 db 15.8 db
Noise Margin 11.8 db 11.5 db

As for your last point, would the source of RF noise not have to be very close to the telephone cable? The telephone cables around here are entirely underground. There is only one telephone socket in our residence. The telephone cable into our residence is located near possible sources of interference, but turning said sources off doesn't seem to do much. Sorry if I have picked this up the wrong way but I'm not clear on how radio noise works in this case.

- David

This is an update to my earlier post.

I have seen a sudden increase in speed and the noise margins are now significantly lower. I do not know why. I will monitor the situation very carefully and make sure that the now acceptable levels are maintained. Hopefully I will not need to post here again about the same issue any time soon.

Thanks to everyone who answered my original post. Enjoy your holidays.

- David

That would be the automatic reduction of target noise margin once system detects what it thinks is a line with less errors/noise.

Usually takes two weeks, but a lot of changes of late, so it may be faster now