BT Speedtest = OK, connection very slow

Strange one this. My sister's PlusNet connection has always been fine - they are close to the exchange and normally enjoy good speeds.

However in the last couple of days, her connection has slowed to a crawl. Her own desktop computer and partner's laptop both exhibit painful download speeds, suggesting the problem is localised at the router (PlusNet supplied Thomson TG585). I've suggested the usual: router reboots, new microfilter, plugged router in at test socket etc...all to no avail.

Internet speed tests (and yes I know that they are not always accurate) indicate very poor download speeds at all times of the day, e.g. the Namesco BBMAX tester:

Last Result:
Download Speed: 119 kbps (14.9 KB/sec ) Upload Speed: 76 kbps (9.5 KB/sec )

The router is synched at 8128/448, and the stats show nothing out of the ordinary:

Uptime: 0 days, 0:35:56
DSL Type: G.992.1 annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 448 / 8,128
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/kB]: 0.00 / 0.00
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.0 / 19.5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 9.0 / 16.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 24.0 / 13.5
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / P
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 0
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 4
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 4

However, the BT speedtester results are showing no problems.... which i find extremely odd:

01/04/2010 13.30

Download speedachieved during the test was - 5679 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 600-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :8128 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 7150 Kbps

Anybody any ideas about what I could try next? Could it be related to the Paddington outage? She is located in rural Shropshire...

Have they reached their bandwidth limit and had their connection restricted to 128kb/s?

Possible - which exchange is she on?

That's an interesting question - one to which the answer looks like yes. I logged into her member center and saw this:

Paid-for usage 15.6GB 8am - Midnight
Paid-for allowance: Up-to 15GB 8am - Midnight

She is on "PlusNet Broadband Your Way Option 2 (Monthly Contract)"... which I guess is a legacy product. This seems to suggest she would get restricted:

http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/products/archi...

What's the best way of getting the restriction removed, considering she is mid month on her usage cycle? Does she need to change products?

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

I have a feeling it is more likely to be the restircted access "feature" for over-usage!

You may also want to ask her why the usage is so high. If it has not happened before and suddenly this month she hits teh cap halfway through then something must have changed.

Usage habits? Maybe her partner has started to watch or download movies ...

Is there a virus of some sort?

Has her wireless access been hacked?

Yes, good point. She has actually been very close or just over the 15GB for the last 4 months. This time she has hit it mid-month, but she has three teenage boys (who will use Youtube until the end of the world), and all of whom have been off school ill in the last few days/weeks. That probably explains the high usage.

She should be able to pay for additional bandwidth for this month (and manage it fr the rest of the month) assuming that this should not happen most months from now on. Alternatively she could switch products to one with a better usage allowance.

Probably right ... 01743 78 is not one of the exchanges affected.