Is this Orange's contention / congestion / throttling ?

Hi,

My speeds are fluctuating a bit recently, and using www.speedtest.net I get varying figures between 3Mb and 7Mb between tests on different days (no particular pattern to my testing, just when I feel like it !).

http://www.speedtester.bt.com/ says that the IP profile for my line is 7150Kbps and the download speed is 6200Kbps, yet www.speedtest.net only gives me about half of those figures when tested within minutes of each other and this site's tester, http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest.html, gives me only 2.7Mb !!!

Why the big discrepancy ? Is it congestion in Orange's network ? I'm just out of contract with Orange, so shifting ISP's is a definite option - if anyone thinks doing so might improve things ? Is there anything I can do to improve matters ? It used to be consistently good about a year ago - with all tests always coming back 6Mb+. Now, it just seems so sporadic.

Detailed Stats:
BT Exchange: NON-LLU, ADSL Max only - ~800 Meters straight line distance away.
ISP: Orange
Router: Inventel Livebox (old version)
Sync Rate: 8128 / 448
Noise Margin: 10.4dB
Attenuation: 19.0 dB
Mode: G.DMT
Type: Interleave
OS: WinXP SP3

Edited by deleted (Sun 28-Mar-10 23:17:20)

Looks the most likely cause, i.e. congestion in the Orange segment

Yes - wildly varying speed test results are a pretty sure sign of contention. If it was throttling you'd see a fairly stable ceiling to your download speed.

Thanks folks. Do you think there is much point in me complaining to Orange about it ?.... and would a different ISP make any difference ? (I'm guessing that jumping ISP would be a leap into the unknown with regards to their contention ratios ?)

Or congestion /limited capacity in the BT segment? As it's IPStream.

Possibly, but that would affect a large number of people on an exchange i.e. all those sharing that VP.

With Orange probability on IPStream lends towards contention on BT Centrals, which ISP has a choice over how many they rent.

This is backed up by a good result from speedtester.bt

Some drop is to be expected at peak times, just like driving, rush hour will be slower for almost everyone, but a change of ISP can mean the drop is less or not noticeable.

Question is how much do you want to pay, and how much do you use (GigaBytes per month), that is the limiting thing on an IPStream only exchange.

I pay £35 a month for 50GB, but runs at line speed almost all the time.

Given its 2.7Mbps I doubt a complaint will get anywhere, people with biggers drops have not got anywhere in the past

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

I pay £5 a month (but must keep up my Orange mobile contract for £15pm minimum to qualify for the £5 Broadband) and my usage varies. To be honest, I don't really know what it is. I watch iPlayer programs now and then, and occasionally download something like 4GB in one go, but nothing super-heavy.

I think the broadband is a fair-ish deal, but I could probably ditch the monthly contract mobile, go PAYG and get something like Be's broadband for £7.50 for a 40GB limit. I do like the Orange 'Second Line' VOIP facility though. Cheaper than using the BT landline.

If I *knew* I could improve my connection, I'd leave Orange as it gets irritating when Youtube and iPlayer start buffering, but it seems I won't know until (if) I make the move.


Thanks for your help - again !

Cheers !