intermittent speed problems - BT business.

Ever since switching to BT business ~(from BT residential - wanted a static IP) I've been plagued with speed dropping out to unuseable levels - ie dropping from over 600kb/sec down to below three or four (not three or four hundred) - ie slower than dial up!

I call up BT support and they either see the problem and arrange an engineer to come out - by which time the fault has cleared apparently all by itself, or they can't help me because it's fine at the time I'm calling.

Now they're suggesting that I buy another router from them, because there's a chance that my router might be causing the problem. I said I don't have a problem buying another router, if I'm certain that's where the problem lies. If the problem returns with the new router, then I'll need to be able to return it - although it would be used, and NOT faulty.

I NEVER had a problem when I was using BT residential, and now on BT business, using tht same equipment at my end, I am plagued with this problem, maybe a few hours once or twice a week when I can hardly get connected at all. (over 4hrs to download a 10MB file).

Any assistance would be very much appreciated - BT will charge me �97 for a new router - I'm sure I can get one for a LOT less than that, but if I don't need one at all - well I guess you know what I'm talking about.

They have done line tests, I've removed all phone extensions and am now only using my master socket for phone (with filter) and broadband connection. They have seen the speed issues first hand.

Is this likely to be a router issue, or are they just telling me to replace it so I'll get off the phone to them, and hopefully be transferred through to a different engineer next time?

yours faithfully,
Guy Carnegie

what is the precise package you are on and what is the router upstream and downstream sync speed ?

I'm on BT Business Broadband Option 1.

Upstream, my router is telling me about 450, and downstream, about 6600.

Edited by bluphoto (Tue 13-May-08 09:24:36)

so is the sync speed all over the place or just the throughput ?

Perhaps Business Option 1 is traffic managed a lot, being a cheapie 10 GB/month account.

Cheers Phil,
No the sync speed seems to be pretty solid, but the throughput is up and down. Problem is it only happens two or three times a week for an hour or two at a time, usually during the evening - although I'm not at home during the day so it may happen then as well. I wonder if there's a "throughput logger" which I could leave running which would dowload a small file every hour or half hour, for example, and log the length of time it takes.

BT did tell me during the changeover from BT Residential to BT business that the reason my speed was all over the place for a while was that they were assessing the line to get my max sync speed. When I explained that they already knew the max sync speed as I'd been with BT residential for the last four years with no problems whatsoever, they told me that the line had to be changed to using "Business" equipment in the exchange, and this was what they were assessing. Perhaps this equipment is where the problem lies.

Their technical experts also told me today that I should get a "business router", as opposed to my "residential router", as apparently using a residential ASDL router won't give the best service on a business line. I asked them if they could explain a little about the differences between this "business ASDL protocol" and the "residential ASDL protocol", so I could understand the requirement for a new router. I think that's the point at which they changed the subject.

Maybe I should add that although I'm on the Business Broadband package, I am on a residential line, and don't run a business from my home at all. The reason I needed BT business broadband was to get a Static IP address, as I use remote access software, and having the IP address changing all the time realy annoys me.

Anyone any idea what equipment they would be changing me over to on the exchange with me switching to business broadband but staying on a residential line. Call me skeptical, but something smelled funny there too.

they wouldn't change any equipment anywhere as it's still a MaxDSL service. Business accounts may get traffic managed to a lower priority in the evening to free up bandwidth for residential use.

They may call it "Business" but it's Home MaxDSL you're on at 448 upstream.

Can I assume that electrical interference shouldn't be an issue, as I guess I'm not really looking at a consistent speed issue here, but rather a intermittent problem.

A friend of my dads who is a retired BT engineer relocated my master socket for me into my electrical cupboard (at my request), and now I have my router in there as well as my ethernet hub too.

Of course the fuse box is metal and grounded so there shouldn't be any 50Hz interference coming from there, and there's no 50Hz "hum" on the phone line.

He fitted one of those new NT5a boxes with "Openreach" on it, which I think already has the bell wire filtered.

Again, though, if any of this were the problem, surely it would be affecting me ALL the time.

I live in a residential area in the centre of a small town (10,000 people). Apparently my exchange is uncongested (as far as residential use is concerned), but I'm not sure about for non-residential use.

Is there any way i can find out what the traffic management policy is for BT Business in the evenings, and also find out how many BT business broadband users I'm sharing a line with (, specifically in my case, rather than quoting the general 20:1 contention ratio)?

you are on a residential Home connection from BT Wholesale, wrapped as "Business" by BT Retail.

you are on a residential service.


what service are you on ?

there is no 20:1 anything anymore, especially not on residential services like MaxDSL Home.

Electrical noise would affect the sync speed which you say is consistent.

So basically, I'm on a residential line with respect to all equipment (whether BT wholesale / Openreach owned or not).

I guess I could look at it like I have simply have changed ISP from BT Res to BT Bus? with the assurance of the sales guy that I would get a better service than with BT Res.

So if no physical equipment has changed, this fault must be purely coincidental, in that it happened at the same time as the changeover of ISP from res to bus, right?

I fail to see what possible advantage I could get from changing from res to bus, other than being able to get a static IP address, which res was unable to provide me with.

So not only does the static IP cost me extra, but the package itself is more expensive too. I'll have to ask what I'm getting for my money compared to BT res, although no doubt they'll tell me something "fluffy" like 24/7 access to technical expertise etc (business ASDL vs residential ASDL anyone?)