I don't understand these speedtest results

I'm having problems again tonight. I had problems last night, but switching everything off for ten minutes and trying again fixed it.

Not so tonight.

I noticed browsing was very sluggish, and I couldn't even use the BBC iPlayer at all, because I was getting "insufficient bandwidth" messages. So, I used the TBB speedtest, and the best I have been able to get (of several) is:



I'm syncing at 4.7Mbps, and have checked my Plusnet BRAS profile, which is 4000Kbps (seems correct).

Then I did a BT Speedtest. It told me my BT IP profile is also 4000Kbps (again, sounds fine), but my speedtest results are:

Download speed achieved during the test was - 4099 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 600-4000 Kbps.

In other words, I am getting a speed above what is theoretically possible?

Clearly, in reality, I'm not (reference the TBB Speedtest shown above).

So what can this all mean?

These results are when connected to the master socket, by the way.


Edit: fixed typo only

Edited by TLM (Sun 14-Mar-10 19:58:12)

Hmmm. Over 60 views, but nobody can shed any light on these weird results?

Anyway, speeds seem to have sorted themselves out this morning. Very odd, as I have tampered with absolutely nothing at this end. Neither can I find any indication on the Portal of recent relevant incidents at PN or the exchange.

I'd still be interested in any suggested explanations of the original results, just in case it happens again.

Edit: Results from the BT Speedtester still aren't making much sense:

Download speedachieved during the test was - 4168 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speedsis 600-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :4768 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 4000 Kbps
The throughput of Best Efforts (BE) classes achieved during the test is - 18.86:23.94:57.2 (SBE:NBE:PBE)
These figures represent the ratio while sententiously passing Sub BE, Normal BE and Priority BE marked traffic.

Note the different style of results this time (I don't usually get the ratios at the end). Also the stated maximum achievable has suddenly risen to 7150Kbps.

But I am still shown as achieving (marginally) more than my profile of 4000Kbps.

I did have a jumpering issue recently, but thought this was all fixed. Is it possible something is still not right? My speedtest results seem very odd.

Edited by TLM (Mon 15-Mar-10 09:57:25)

If speeds are still bad (is it just in the evening?) do a tracert and then try to get the connection on to a new gateway.

Then TBB speedtests to see if it's improved things at all.

Might be worth checking/eliminating your exchange for any issues.


Edit > didn't see your second post due to answering the phone (someone wanting to quote for car ins.) and then sending off my post.

Edited by Apprentice (Mon 15-Mar-10 10:12:09)

Thanks anyway for trying.

Definitely no problems reported at the exchange. As you will by now have seen from my 2nd post, speeds as reported by TBB speedtester are miles better this morning (2.5Mbps, which is more like I'd expect), but results from the BT Speedtest are still a little weird, to say the least.

In particular, how can I be getting a higher speed than my profile? I know it is only slightly higher, so could be accounted for by one figure being rounded, but the other literal.

However, frankly, I still don't believe this result. I've never been able to get my full profile speed (and don't believe I ever should). The 2.5Mbps reported here is much more plausible.

So, why is the BT Speedtest telling me nonsense? Is something still cross-jumpered, after all this time?

Hmm... radius log check is reporting the username I'd expect and a dsl status check puts you with a profile of 4000 (in sync at 4768 at the moment) - does that tally up with what you're seeing?

Hi Matt,

Yeah, the sync speed is right, but no way am I getting the >4Mbps speed the BT test seems to think I am getting. How could I be getting an "actual" that is higher than the profile?

TBB's speedtest is telling me 2.5Mbps, which is more believable.

Tina

What does www.speedtest.net say? (Even though I don't like it).