Issues with my internet..

So, I wouldn't call it an issue per say, but I would call it speeds that I should be getting that I'm not.

http://imgur.com/NY0V7bQ,hEGLt5S,S7NK4f4,GTrib20,G4C...

That is a gallery of pictures that I have collected from the modem. In one of them, you will see that I should be getting 38Mbps (The number changes, but only in small amounts).

Realistically, I'm only getting 32Mbps and no higher.
I have an engineer coming out on Monday to check the line and they said that there is a possible charge of £130 if there's something wrong with the equipment in my home (I think).

Just wondering if it's worth having someone out, or if there is indeed a line fault and those extra 6-7Mbps are just hiding somewhere? Thanks.

Can you post the results of the following telnet command, please?
xdslcmd info --pbParams

http://puu.sh/8Gsz5.png

It looks like the higher frequencies are being severely attenuated, probably due to a long line, maybe aluminium cable or even some sort of low-pass filter on the line.

You can eliminate a problem with your wiring and equipment by checking the stats are the same in the test socket inside the master. I'm assuming a new FTTC faceplate was installed when you got Infinity?

Test socket? Not quite sure what you mean.

When we moved into our home nearly two years ago the previous owners already had BT Infinity so the faceplate wasn't changed; but this is the one we have now:

http://cdn.cupofcoffee.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011...

How would I go about checking the stats?

http://www.coolwebhome.co.uk/faceplate/

Shows how to get to the test socket

On a small screen so hope I saw the pictures right

The attainable rate at 38 Meg is a theoretical figure, the relnet stats you posted are actually in line with your speed tests. A 6 Meg difference between attainable and actual sync may be that some noise at sync time has since vanished.

What was the full range of the estimates from the BT Wholesale checker

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

On a small screen so hope I saw the pictures right

The attainable rate at 38 Meg is a theoretical figure, the relnet stats you posted are actually in line with your speed tests. A 6 Meg difference between attainable and actual sync may be that some noise at sync time has since vanished.

What was the full range of the estimates from the BT Wholesale checker

The speed has gone down since; but:
http://puu.sh/8GuVq.png

Here's ADSL Checker showing what I should be capable of getting:
http://puu.sh/8GuYk.png

Unfortunately I can't use the test socket as I don't have one of those filters laying around / nor do we use our phone line.

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

On a small screen so hope I saw the pictures right

The attainable rate at 38 Meg is a theoretical figure, the relnet stats you posted are actually in line with your speed tests. A 6 Meg difference between attainable and actual sync may be that some noise at sync time has since vanished.

What was the full range of the estimates from the BT Wholesale checker

The speed has gone down since; but:
http://puu.sh/8GuVq.png

Here's ADSL Checker showing what I should be capable of getting:
http://puu.sh/8GuYk.png

Unfortunately I can't use the test socket as I don't have one of those filters laying around / nor do we use our phone line.

It might be worth mentioning that our phone line has never actually rung. We've tried with two sets of phones but they just don't ring, and I've tried this in all four slots in our home. Also, we're not sure if this is a phone fault or not but we can't hang up the phone when we are in a call. Might be completely unrelated however.

Does the phone behave properly when you use the test socket? If it does then fixing the issue will probably be chargeable.

Odd behaviour of the phone points to something that may be also affecting the vdxl

When using a phone in the test socket none of the telephone extensions should give you a dial tone

That sounds like a bad install. It's always unfortunate that a line which clearly has issues according to the DSLChecker is further impacted by a poor install.

My expectation of an "engineer-install" would be for a perfect install so that the line runs as fast as possible, but this is almost certainly not the case here.

It is possible the original install was good, but a previous resident retro fitted some extra extensions

If they were to fix it because of the phone line, would that even change the speed?

Fixing the voice issue may help improve the VDSL speeds

Test socket tests are key to determining where fault may lie

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Fixing the voice issue may help improve the VDSL speeds

Test socket tests are key to determining where fault may lie

Hi,

So I unscrewed the socket and plugged this phone into the test socket and rang it.
It didn't ring, but was able to pick it up and hear the other end just fine, but wasn't able to hang up on the DSL's end, only my mobile.

A receiver never has been able to terminate a call, only the initiator can do that.

Try dialling the mobile from your house phone, then you should be able to hang up.

Edited by deleted (Sat 10-May-14 12:55:58)

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

A receiver never has been able to terminate a call, only the initiator can do that.

Point is, plugging it into the test socket made no difference.

You need a ring-signal on pin 3 then. Does it ring with the master socket fully assembled?

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

You need a ring-signal on pin 3 then. Does it ring with the master socket fully assembled?

No it does not. We have one port in one bedroom, another in another bedroom, one in the hallway and one behind the TV (Master Socket).

The one in the hallway doesn't appear to functional at all, there's no noise / indicator on the phone that it's actually on.

As for the rest though, noise is heard through the phone if you pick it up but simply doesn't ring.

You unscrewed the small bottom half and did you also remove the VDSL faceplate to expose the real test socket?

If any of the other sockets in the house had a dial tone then your wiring is wrong

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

You unscrewed the small bottom half and did you also remove the VDSL faceplate to expose the real test socket?

If any of the other sockets in the house had a dial tone then your wiring is wrong

The only one that doesn't have a dial tone is the one in the hallway.
The router, modem and all that are plugged into the Living Room.

And yes I unscrewed the bottom half and removed the faceplate.

So to double check you had dial tone in other sockets than the test socket when you were using it?

If that is the case you have extension wiring that needs resolving as it will be having an adverse impact on the VDSL2

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

So to double check you had dial tone in other sockets than the test socket when you were using it?

If that is the case you have extension wiring that needs resolving as it will be having an adverse impact on the VDSL2

Oh I see what you mean, no I did not check if the other lines had a dial tone when I had the face plate off. Should I?

It sounds like the extensions have been incorrectly wired. What should happen is that the master socket has the Infinity faceplate fitted and this generates the ring-signal. The other extensions are then wired from the faceplate so they all carry the ring-signal. The Infinity modem (or modem/router) will only work in the master socket.

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

It sounds like the extensions have been incorrectly wired. What should happen is that the master socket has the Infinity faceplate fitted and this generates the ring-signal. The other extensions are then wired from the faceplate so they all carry the ring-signal. The Infinity modem (or modem/router) will only work in the master socket.

The infinity modem/router will only work in the master socket anyway because in the other faceplates around the home there is no DSL connection. Only a plug for a phone.

One of those micro-filters (that you don't have) will do.

It will also generate the ring-signal.

Edited by deleted (Sat 10-May-14 14:29:22)

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

One of those micro-filters (that you don't have) will do.

It will also generate the ring-signal.

I've asked my sister if she had a spare one and she said that she doesn't as she is also with BT. She lives a minute walk away from me and she can get 37-38Mbps plugged in directly.

So, what is the solution here?

Hopefully the engineer will fix any problems on monday

Yes

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Yes

So there's still a good possibility that I'll get fee'd then.. [censored].

If issue is wiring inside the property that is your responsibility then yes

Without visiting to look and test the wiring it is impossible to know

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

If issue is wiring inside the property that is your responsibility then yes

Without visiting to look and test the wiring it is impossible to know

How can I test the wiring myself?

reading this thread I would not be surprised if the ringer on the phone was switched off. Before going any further can you take the phone to a neighbour and check it does in fact work on their line.

If the phone does work. repeat the checks at the test socket. With the test socket still exposed, check you have no dial tone at any other phone socket.

Do you have an alarm system, and is this connected to the phone line?

In reply to a post by systemx:

reading this thread I would not be surprised if the ringer on the phone was switched off. Before going any further can you take the phone to a neighbour and check it does in fact work on their line.

If the phone does work. repeat the checks at the test socket. With the test socket still exposed, check you have no dial tone at any other phone socket.

Do you have an alarm system, and is this connected to the phone line?

The ringer on the phone is turned on.
I did some experimenting with the test port open/closed, and here are my results.

http://puu.sh/8GPeq.png

For some reason, one of the socket's still has a dialtone even though the test port is exposed and open and that shouldn't be happening....

Edited by deleted (Sat 10-May-14 17:58:13)

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

In reply to a post by systemx:

reading this thread I would not be surprised if the ringer on the phone was switched off. Before going any further can you take the phone to a neighbour and check it does in fact work on their line.

If the phone does work. repeat the checks at the test socket. With the test socket still exposed, check you have no dial tone at any other phone socket.

Do you have an alarm system, and is this connected to the phone line?

The ringer on the phone is turned on.
I did some experimenting with the test port open/closed, and here are my results.

http://puu.sh/8GPeq.png

For some reason, one of the socket's still has a dialtone even though the test port is exposed and open and that shouldn't be happening....

If you are sure that the phone is working correctly, but does not ring when connected to the test socket, then the master socket is faulty and you need to get Openreach to replace it,

The dial tone present at any socket when the test socket is exposed indicates that it is still connected to the line and this also requires attention, you may be better allowing Openreach to attend to this as well, but they will certainly charge.

A faulty master socket is rare, Are you sure your telephone works correctly, can you check it's operation on a neighbours line?

In reply to a post by systemx:

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

In reply to a post by systemx:

reading this thread I would not be surprised if the ringer on the phone was switched off. Before going any further can you take the phone to a neighbour and check it does in fact work on their line.

If the phone does work. repeat the checks at the test socket. With the test socket still exposed, check you have no dial tone at any other phone socket.

Do you have an alarm system, and is this connected to the phone line?

The ringer on the phone is turned on.
I did some experimenting with the test port open/closed, and here are my results.

http://puu.sh/8GPeq.png

For some reason, one of the socket's still has a dialtone even though the test port is exposed and open and that shouldn't be happening....

If you are sure that the phone is working correctly, but does not ring when connected to the test socket, then the master socket is faulty and you need to get Openreach to replace it,

The dial tone present at any socket when the test socket is exposed indicates that it is still connected to the line and this also requires attention, you may be better allowing Openreach to attend to this as well, but they will certainly charge.

A faulty master socket is rare, Are you sure your telephone works correctly, can you check it's operation on a neighbours line?

I'll see if I can get testing it at some point tonight at my sister's (who's line works fine). If this issue was to get fixed, will the download/upload rate have a huge increase?

I'll stick my neck out and say that if the wiring problem is fixed (dial tone at extension socket when test socket is exposed) then you may see an increase in speeds, but nobody can give you a definitive answer one way or the other.

Make sure your phone is working properly before you go any further with this problem.

By doing what you have been doing

Everything is pointing to some issues with the socket and/or wiring, if the phone is working perfectly.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

By doing what you have been doing

Everything is pointing to some issues with the socket and/or wiring, if the phone is working perfectly.

Tested the phone on another landline, no ringing. The ringer must be broken on the phone.

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

By doing what you have been doing

Everything is pointing to some issues with the socket and/or wiring, if the phone is working perfectly.

Tested the phone on another landline, no ringing. The ringer must be broken on the phone.

Now we are getting somewhere, first thing is to get a wired phone that works

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/552...

Or any supermarket would have one at a similar price. then we can assist with the wiring problem if you feel able to correct this yourself.

In reply to a post by systemx:

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

By doing what you have been doing

Everything is pointing to some issues with the socket and/or wiring, if the phone is working perfectly.

Tested the phone on another landline, no ringing. The ringer must be broken on the phone.

Now we are getting somewhere, first thing is to get a wired phone that works

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/552...

Or any supermarket would have one at a similar price. then we can assist with the wiring problem if you feel able to correct this yourself.

Morning. So, I found an old phone that was never used and plugged it into all four sockets.

They all started to ring when I called the number except for the one in the Hallway.
I wanted to dig into the hallway cabling a little myself so I unscrewed the faceplate and noticed that it wasn't even connected! There's a green and white cable that looks like they have been cut off, hence no signal was going in or out of that socket.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wiqrfa889ifhyew/20140511_1...

In one of the bedrooms, it appears as though when I plugged the phone into that socket, the internet cut out!

Edited by deleted (Sun 11-May-14 11:27:13)

The picture you linked to looks like a master socket and not an extension socket. Your extension wiring should be hanging off the back of the face plate you removed.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

The picture you linked to looks like a master socket and not an extension socket. Your extension wiring should be hanging off the back of the face plate you removed.

It wasn't, there were no cables connected to the faceplate.

In which case the extensions should be working when the faceplate has been removed and their wiring will be impacting on your VDSL speeds

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

In which case the extensions should be working when the faceplate has been removed and their wiring will be impacting on your VDSL speeds

Fantastic. I've cancelled the Engineer Appointment.

So, a little update on the situation.

I contacted the head(s) of BT and one of them, Liz, got back to me via phone and told me that she would book an engineer appointment free of charge to sort the wiring out in my home.

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

So, a little update on the situation.

I contacted the head(s) of BT and one of them, Liz, got back to me via phone and told me that she would book an engineer appointment free of charge to sort the wiring out in my home.

Another update, Liz confirmed to me that it was a "Boost Engineer" which supposedly means that he'll do whatever he can to try and boost my connection. Have to get the appointment confirmed tomorrow for Wednesday Morning.

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

So, a little update on the situation.

I contacted the head(s) of BT and one of them, Liz, got back to me via phone and told me that she would book an engineer appointment free of charge to sort the wiring out in my home.

Another update, Liz confirmed to me that it was a "Boost Engineer" which supposedly means that he'll do whatever he can to try and boost my connection. Have to get the appointment confirmed tomorrow for Wednesday Morning.

Appointment confirmed. Boost Engineer coming tomorrow between 8am - 1pm at no charge.

Treat him nicely ... tea/coffee, biscuits ... every little helps!

In reply to a post by MHC:

Treat him nicely ... tea/coffee, biscuits ... every little helps!

Engineer just left. His device said that I'm getting 38Mbps Download after he reset the line. He sent a text off to some number and it reset.

Speed is still round about the same right now on my end..
http://puu.sh/8LJk7.png

I'm impressed by the accuracy of the latency result, 35.38ms. LOL

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

Engineer just left. His device said that I'm getting 38Mbps Download after he reset the line. He sent a text off to some number and it reset.

Did he rewire your sockets?

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

Engineer just left. His device said that I'm getting 38Mbps Download after he reset the line. He sent a text off to some number and it reset.

Did he rewire your sockets?

He did not. He said that he wasn't experienced with wiring and that he was only there to test the fibre.

Speed Tests are significantly worse now, hitting at best 15Mbps Down.

That doesn't sound like a Boost engineer.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

That doesn't sound like a Boost engineer.

I emailed Liz a status report about what happened, etc and she told me to report back to her on Friday how things are.

I'll tell her that the "Boost Engineer" did nothing that a Normal Engineer can't do.

This would be a more accurate assessment

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

I'll tell her that the "Boost Engineer" did nothing

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

This would be a more accurate assessment

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

I'll tell her that the "Boost Engineer" did nothing

Alright well the 12 hour period has passed and I seem to be getting 33-34Mbps.
However, that is with my laptop being directly connected to the router.

On my desktop, which is connected through a Powerline, can't seem to go past 10Mbps. Restarting them, re-syncing them, unplugging/replugging them seem to have made no change.

:/

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

On my desktop, which is connected through a Powerline, can't seem to go past 10Mbps.

That is probably the problem.

What make and model of Powerline plugs?

For FTTC speeds you need the 500 Mbps units generally.

In reply to a post by MHC:

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

On my desktop, which is connected through a Powerline, can't seem to go past 10Mbps.

That is probably the problem.

This literally never happened before, it only happened as soon as the engineer left.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

What make and model of Powerline plugs?

For FTTC speeds you need the 500 Mbps units generally.

TP-LINK, 500Mbps. They were bought new like two months ago because my old ones started to die out.

You have said that DIRECT connection gives the good >30Mbps speeds. That proves that the VDSL link is working fine, as is the router. Once it leaves the Router it is out of BTs remit.

Could be that the router ethernet port and the TPLink ethernet port are for some reason only connecting at 10Mbps. Or even the other end - the TPLink to the PC could for some reason be only 10Mbps.

Not sure what management software is available with the TPLink but ideally it should hopefully show the status of the connections and what speeds they are running at - that could pinpoint the issue.

In reply to a post by ian72:

Could be that the router ethernet port and the TPLink ethernet port are for some reason only connecting at 10Mbps. Or even the other end - the TPLink to the PC could for some reason be only 10Mbps.

Not sure what management software is available with the TPLink but ideally it should hopefully show the status of the connections and what speeds they are running at - that could pinpoint the issue.

http://puu.sh/8NblM.jpg shows 100Mbps.

What about the other end - the TP Link to the router? And is there a TP Link utility that shows the speeds being achieved over the household electrical wiring? I know a utility exists for netgear that does this but have no personal experience of the TP Links.

In reply to a post by ian72:

What about the other end - the TP Link to the router? And is there a TP Link utility that shows the speeds being achieved over the household electrical wiring? I know a utility exists for netgear that does this but have no personal experience of the TP Links.

I think there's a utility for getting the powerline speeds of both which I'll take a look at later (not home right now); not too sure of the speeds achieved of over the electric.

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

In reply to a post by ian72:

What about the other end - the TP Link to the router? And is there a TP Link utility that shows the speeds being achieved over the household electrical wiring? I know a utility exists for netgear that does this but have no personal experience of the TP Links.

I think there's a utility for getting the powerline speeds of both which I'll take a look at later (not home right now); not too sure of the speeds achieved of over the electric.

Alright I'm home, downloaded the TP-LINK Utility and it's reporting 153Mbps on the powerlines. Which, as long as it's above 100, I don't really care about.

Speed Tests currently showing around 4-5Mbps right now. Something isn't right.

Do you have a Homehub 5?

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

Do you have a Homehub 5?

I do not, we got our contract nearly two years ago and back then they were giving us a Home Hub 3 which I recently discontinued as it was starting to go faulty (random dropouts).

I use a WNDR 4500 running DDWRT

Edited by deleted (Thu 15-May-14 23:10:01)

Pity, the limited line stats on the HH5 may give a clue. Alternatively, an unlocked HG612 modem will give the line stats.

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

Pity, the limited line stats on the HH5 may give a clue. Alternatively, an unlocked HG612 modem will give the line stats.

I've already unlocked my HG612, hang on I'll get connected to it.

http://puu.sh/8NNqZ.png

Any other page you want me to check?

Edit: http://puu.sh/8NNyM.png
I have the modem (LAN2) connected to my router so it's easy to access the stuff.

I should also mention that my upload is just fine, it's JUST the download that's the big issue right now.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/3503356822.png :/

Edited by deleted (Thu 15-May-14 23:27:28)

Your modem is synced at 36Mbps so the poor speed is possibly down to congestion

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

Your modem is synced at 36Mbps so the poor speed is possibly down to congestion

Managed to solve it. Gave the modem a good hard reboot and that seems to have kicked it back up to 30Mbps (thank god). But it's still no improvement to my original speeds.

BT Whole Sale: http://puu.sh/8NP0S.png
Modem Line: http://puu.sh/8NPbp.png

Edited by deleted (Thu 15-May-14 23:44:59)

Now DLM has kicked in and raised your SNR Margin. Presumably the reboot has given you a new IP address and maybe a different gateway.

Do all your sockets get disconnected now when you remove the faceplate from the Infinity master, or did the engineer not fix that?

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

Now DLM has kicked in and raised your SNR Margin. Presumably the reboot has given you a new IP address and maybe a different gateway.

Do all your sockets get disconnected now when you remove the faceplate from the Infinity master, or did the engineer not fix that?

He says that it has been although I haven't been able to confirm as I've been busy/out and about.
EDIT: Speeds just dropped back down to 5Mbps again..

Edited by deleted (Fri 16-May-14 00:16:56)

Did you turn off CWMP, TR069 and BT Agent on your unlocked modem?

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

Did you turn off CWMP, TR069 and BT Agent on your unlocked modem?

CWMP and BT Agent appear to be off, TR069 is online though.
http://puu.sh/8OeS2.png

I'd disable that if I were you, just remove the tick from WAN connection.
You can turn QOS off as well to gain a bit extra on the upload, unless you have BT TV.

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

I'd disable that if I were you, just remove the tick from WAN connection.
You can turn QOS off as well to gain a bit extra on the upload, unless you have BT TV.

Turned off, speed is around 31.69Mbps, uplod around 6.5Mbps.
QOS was already turned off.

Next day..

http://puu.sh/8PLfl.png

Liz has gotten in contact with me and she said that she was able to downgrade my package and give me a huge discount.

She could downgrade me to BT Infinity 1 with my normal call package and it would only cost £18.78. I don't know however if that includes line rental but it sounded like it did the way she worded it in the email.

Right now we're paying £44 for BT Infinity 2.

With the money you save, you could employ an ex-BT Engineer to sort out your wiring. Or DIY

Update, that included line rental. I contacted EE and they were able to give us up to 38Mbps broadband for £23.80 per month for 6 months then £31.80 after that.

They said they would also pay the cancellation fee that BT gives us, so that's nice. Guess I'm leaving BT.

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

EE and they were able to give us up to 38Mbps broadband for £23.80 per month for 6 months then £31.80 after that.

Why on earth would you want to switch to that when you can get the same thing from BT for much less, £18.78 pm?

The EE one sounds to me as though that includes line rental. I could be wrong.

The BT Offer did not include Line Rental in the price I was given. With the line rental it went to around £36-37.

The EE offer does.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

The EE one sounds to me as though that includes line rental.

Of course it does. I compare like with like:

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

Update, that (referring to previous BT price) included line rental.

Ah, you've changed your story midstream, and while i was posting .

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

Ah, you've changed your story midstream, and while i was posting .

Yeah either or I'll be saving money by switching to EE. Even if it only is a few pounds, plus I get a discount for being a customer already (Mobile).

Are you saying 40/10 Infinity + line rental comes out at £18.38?

Not me but the OP originally claimed he had a written offer (over 2 posts).

He has now retracted so this topic is a dead horse.

Ah, I see where you were .

In reply to a post by CainKilgore:

Update, that included line rental. I contacted EE and they were able to give us up to 38Mbps broadband for £23.80 per month for 6 months then £31.80 after that.

They said they would also pay the cancellation fee that BT gives us, so that's nice. Guess I'm leaving BT.

Be careful! EE may not mean they will pay out your contract with BT.

£18.78 did NOT include Line Rental, it wasn't until after I found that out and she told me it would cost additional.