Slowdown

What causes this behaviour, is it congestion or a problem elsewhere?

Basically I've always had a good connection with sky broadband. Always seen over 1mb/s
Now all of a sudden, for the past few days my downloads have been around 100 kb/s top. If I launch a youtube video it buffers the whole way through
If I download something such as itunes it downloads at around 100 kb/s

I have tried 2 spare routers, exactly the same. I have tried changing the wireless channel and even connecting via ethernet.

I have tried all of the testing when I am the only person connected to the router.
My sync speed is still 14mbps in the router with a noise margin always pretty bang on 7db.

Interestingly, if I launch a torrent it goes at 1.4 mb/s no problems

Here are the router stats, obviously nothing wrong here.

Downstream Upstream

Connection Speed
14986 kbps 1101 kbps
Line Attenuation
30.0 dB 18.5 dB
Noise Margin
7.2 dB 8.6 dB

I have this issue on all 5 laptops and 1 macbook. Even with this sync speed my general browsing is depressingly slow

So to summarise: everything is slow, other than torrents which go full wack. I am seeing around 1mbps when doing a general download. Youtube, iplayer etc all buffer

I'm at a loss with this one personally. Probably time to call them?

Multithreaded downloads are they faster than a single download?

Torrents may also be getting data from other Sky users - thus avoiding congested peering links, if that is the case

How do I try a multithreaded download?

Just an update on this, had a resync overnight (this NEVER normally occurs) and it's all back to normal now

I will monitor it closely. Also DLM has been restarted on the line for some reason - I'm assuming this did the resync.

Download two different files at the same time, or use the feature in http://www.thinkbroadband.com/tbbmeter.html

Cheers, it's slowed down once again. Sync hasn't changed. Will do this in a few mins.

Do a speed test from the thinkbroadband web site, what speed do you get?

You should be getting about 12M+ download. I sync at 8000 and get about 7.5M downlaod, so somthing is wrong

Stupidly slow compared to the sync.

Edit. Never had great results from this tester though. I'm getting 500 kb/s on a standard download.

If I launch 3 or 4 downloads at the same time I'm getting around 12 mbps

Edited by ukhardy07 (Mon 06-Feb-12 19:16:58)

If you are the only one seeing it, tempted to say something odd with router/computer (you are using ethernet rather than wireless?)

Same on 5 computers, iPhone, iPad, MacBook pro
All tested when only one device is connected
Have already tried several different routers. No difference

Ethernet was used to test for speedtest above

With some ISPs it is a sign of a simple form of traffic management, but never meant to happen on Sky, hence thinking its something else.

It's still not going above 2mbps on general downloading etc/

iplayer is buffering and saying that there's insufficient bandwidth. I really don't understand how a torrent will go at 1.3 mb/s but an iplayer 480kbps episode wont play without stopping constantly.

I've never seen this kind of behaviour before. I plugged in my own router with a traffic management part. The usage isn't increasing what-so-ever other than things I'm doing which rules out the data somehow being used up mysteriously.

I'm near a university but never had these problems before.

Getting 1 mb/s on an itunes download now. Considering 2 other people are online right now it seems about right.
Peak time congestion? Would getting openreach out help with this?

EDIT: at 00:47... everyones gone to sleep, checked via ethernet just now. Back down to 300 kb/s.

Seems to be quite variable :/

Edited by ukhardy07 (Tue 07-Feb-12 00:47:43)

Just for comparison, these are my speeds on a 16,796 kbps synch.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1757467704.png

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/button/13286...

Thanks for this... Back to full speeds now

http://www.speedtest.net/iphone/206178038.png

It's literally only affecting peak hours from the looks of it
I can't live with this. Got DLM running so after 10 days if this persists I'll be in touch

There appears to be a few people complaining about this issue on another forum.

If this is a backhaul or server issue, the best advise is to call Sky and let them know. Be patient as last year when Sky had issues with their backhaul, the first level of support didn't know what to do, so you will need to speak with CST.

By everyone calling in, Sky can then get a better picture of what is actually happening and hopefully a map can appear to show where the fault lies.

Which forum is this?

SkyUser.

The reports are dribbling in, but there does seem to be a pattern emerging.

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

It's literally only affecting peak hours from the looks of it

I think I'm ok on peak times too, but I'll post a speed test when the network gets busier tonight.

Speedtest.net is showing around 10mbps now whereas an itunes download is 350 kb/s and a windows xp service pack 3 download also only goes to 350kb/s

With speedtest.net the speed suddenly shoots up - and in networking under task manager there is a sudden jump to 14 mbps. It then drops down speedwise to around 3mbps in networking under task manager & speedtester.net slowly reduces the speed until at the end it's around 10mbps. (so I find the way it reports the speed quite misleading)

Thinkbroadband seems to do an average which seems much more realistic

Now at under 2mbps, probably going to stay here until around 3am now.


That's being the only person connected.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Tue 07-Feb-12 17:20:18)

My synch is still 16796 kbps. Tests:

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1758281191.png

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/button/13286...

sky are going to try a new line card overnight

Not 100% what this does, perhaps you can shed some light

With some 2,400 exchanges it is possible that you have some local congestion issues, should be rare with Sky but not impossible.

Certainly should not be in the core network.

P2P can be UDP which means it can be quick even if the issue is upstream congestion, while TCP downloads can have issues as the ACK's are delayed.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

With some 2,400 exchanges it is possible that you have some local congestion issues, should be rare with Sky but not impossible.

I guess you hit reply on the wrong post, no congestion issues here.

Was reading in flat mode, so goes onto last post

would a new line card rule out local congestion at the exchange?

It's may have local congestion TBH. A large proportion of houses around here are 4 - 6 bedroomed student lets & I guess students use the connection quite fiercely but it's not been a problem previously.

In reply to a post by ScubaGirl:

There appears to be a few people complaining about this issue on another forum.

If this is a backhaul or server issue, the best advise is to call Sky and let them know. Be patient as last year when Sky had issues with their backhaul, the first level of support didn't know what to do, so you will need to speak with CST.

By everyone calling in, Sky can then get a better picture of what is actually happening and hopefully a map can appear to show where the fault lies.

I also noticed a slowdown on my local exchange recently. However it was much easier for me to spot since I used quality monitor here to setup monitoring on my exchange. Sky have used information I have provided from these graphs to resolve problems in my exchange before. http://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-Broadband-Setup-Cabl...

This is a link to the topic I have. For a few nights now I have again noticed increased latency at times and slower downloads so these graphs are really useful. I have been talking with sky via twitter and keeping them updated so they are aware of the problem

Unlikely, but it would rule out a fault with a port or card.

Sky should be aware of the congestion through monitoring, but solution if it involves getting extra capacity from Openreach back to their own backbone may take a while.

This is the equipment that your line is physically connected to at the telephone exchange.

This means that that are planning either a "Lift and shift" where they physically disconnect you from the current connection and connection you to another or a replacement card will be fitted. It is normal for the first one to be used.

Sky are really handling this badly.
They keep promising to do something at customer solutions team, then I get a text saying the case has been closed as 'more information is needed'

This has happened numerous times now...

I am getting nothing done about this and CST keep claiming it's something at my end. Definitely not..

The way this is heading me and sky are likely to be in the small claims court as I'm in a contract. I wont put up with this sort of slowdown. Iplayer doesn't even work.

BT infinity may be seeing me soon.
The way I've been treated by sky, honestly has made me see them in a completely different light. Some of the staff are totally arrogant. I may have had a poor experience with virginmedia but the staff who spoke with me were far nicer.

One guy from CST said they would look at getting an out of reach engineer out. I informed the woman I spoke to today of this and she said:
''We would never make this claim, openreach work until 6pm. We clearly cannot make miracles happen and would not suggest so. Please get your facts straight'

I mean excuse me? What happened to the customer is always right. Her collegue clearly has his facts mixed up - not me. I have left the telephone raging inside with these last few telephone calls.

Don't get me wrong sky have always been a blessing to me. I've always had a brilliant connection and never had any problems. All good things must come to an end though :/

Anyway I've emailed head office (again) so here's hoping!

Could I suggest that you download and install Router Stats Lite?

This may be able to show what you connection is doing at your end over a period of time. It doesn't show the throughput figures though.

You said that you are emailing Head Office. Would this be the Executive team?

Did this a couple of days ago...

Sync never changes and SNR fluctuates between 6.8 and 7.2db

During the problem times it's the same

Seems no issues with the line IMO

Edited by ukhardy07 (Sat 11-Feb-12 11:26:24)

Good. By offering the results from Router Stats Lite you can demonstrate this to someone at Sky who will then see more clearly that it is not a connection issue too.

Just out of interest, are you using Sky's own DNS or OpenDNS?

It you are using OpenDNS it maybe returning Youtube's US facing IP so the traffic will take a longer route.

Also I have noticed when watching some clips on YT that they buffer, the trick to get around this is:

Request the clip and copy the address from the address bar.

Close and reopen the address bar and paste the clip address back in.

You should find the clip loads without buffering because this time it is playing back Google's UK cache servers rather than the ones in the States.

Using Skys DNS server.

I've got someone decent handling the case now. Hopefully hear something back soon

Still battling this one out with sky

A lift and shift should have occurred Friday but didn't. Should be getting a call back tomorrow & hopefully find out why & hopefully get it done ASAP

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

Still battling this one out with sky

A lift and shift should have occurred Friday but didn't. Should be getting a call back tomorrow & hopefully find out why & hopefully get it done ASAP

Hows it going, im having the exact problem as youve been describing above on the wrexham exchange. At peak times a single download will max at about 1.5-2mbps, my line syncs at 7.5. I i set multiple downloads going i can max out my connection but its not good for iplayer or youtube which is unwatchable. The sky staff insist its a problem at my end but ive explained its only at certain times of the day. Day 3 of talking to sky and not getting anyway, theyre talking about a new router *sigh*

Just keep trying to get through to CST

I've dealt with several people but finally got somebody decent

It's a real hit & miss with who you speak to at CST... Most of them know less than myself.

I've had a lift & shift and no difference. The guy at sky is suggesting the sagem routers seem to be replicating this issue far more than others

I'm trying my own router in a few days just waiting for it to arrive.
On this occasion sky actually gave me the username & password for the router - shows it can be done

In reply to a post by scooch:

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

Still battling this one out with sky

A lift and shift should have occurred Friday but didn't. Should be getting a call back tomorrow & hopefully find out why & hopefully get it done ASAP

Hows it going, im having the exact problem as youve been describing above on the wrexham exchange. At peak times a single download will max at about 1.5-2mbps, my line syncs at 7.5. I i set multiple downloads going i can max out my connection but its not good for iplayer or youtube which is unwatchable. The sky staff insist its a problem at my end but ive explained its only at certain times of the day. Day 3 of talking to sky and not getting anyway, theyre talking about a new router *sigh*

Tried a different router, no difference. For reference.

Really don't want the hastle of switching providers etc.

Just thought I should let you know. There is a known problem.

http://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-Broadband-Setup-Cabl...

My exchange isn't listed however I am having the exact issues that are mentioned as the issues.

Sky CST have basically admitted a problem today to me also via email correspondence.

I am seeing the same problems, although my exchange isn't listed (Weymouth)

Having the same issues, sync stays the same but download speeds drop and fluctuate during peak time.

I use Ethernet and the router is connected to the test socket with no other people/applications consuming bandwidth. Strangely it only started happening this week. I am on Shrewsbury exchange (WNSY).

Since I only sync at 3mbps anyway becuase of my long line it makes using the internet unusable when it slows down.

Edited by deleted (Fri 09-Mar-12 15:08:06)

Anyone else having this issue? Its still ongoing ) :

Cant watch iplayer at all with my whooping 130kb/s download speeds right now.

Edited by deleted (Sun 11-Mar-12 21:26:23)

My exhange wasn't listed

It's back to normal now as of Friday evening

Fingers crossed! & I hope everyone else gets things sorted too!

In reply to a post by Alex1M6:

Anyone else having this issue? Its still ongoing ) :

Cant watch iplayer at all with my whooping 130kb/s download speeds right now.

I've been experiencing this for awhile now.

Check out this topic I made - It includes graphs showing latency on my exchange!

http://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-Broadband-Speed/Re-I...

Here's mine whist having the issues which lasted over a month...

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping/share/1492b37811f...

And here's mine as of when things seemed to have got better

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping/share/5faf650d238...

I'm back to normal now but sky really need to offer more support on this issue