SFI test yes or no ?

I've been sent an SFI form to sign and return from my ISP but I'm 99% sure that the problem is not at this end .
It all started two weeks since with very slow speeds and times where a download would just hang for a few minuets . I later found that the whole area had been affected engineers were working to find the fault and some people had engineers visit them .

For a couple of days last weekend it appeared to be back to normal then I had times with no internet at all for a few hours at a time. I've done all the checks different routers different computers plus router in test socket and unplugging all other filters and phones also with different filters and rj11 leads.

My line stats are nearly always as normal BT test profile is 7150 was 4500 for a while yesterday but is back up again. but my dowload speed is only 143 kbps.

I feel it would be too big a risk to get bt to check the line from this end if they see the line rate and say there's no problem with the line.

If you are certain that other people are being affected (and to be honest 143 KBps from a 7150 sync doesn't sound like something that can be an internal fault) then go ahead - it's the ISP's money that is being wasted.

Wont it be me who ends up paying this is part of the form I'm asked to sign.

http://i49.tinypic.com/2vuacd3.jpg

Yes, it would be you.

Matt

in my opinion it cannot be a line fault if you have 8128 sync speed and a 7150 profile. So the bit that Openreach are responsible for is fine.

The grey area is when Openreach engineers on SFI visits are effectively acting as agents for the ISP and BT Wholesale. An overloaded backhaul from the exchange or faulty backhaul kit seems likely if "the whole area had been affected".

I've seen Openreach attend lines with high sync speeds and virtually no throughput (bits/second at best) and say the line is fine which TBH it is - it's the stuff the other end that is at fault and that isn't under their control.

I'd suggest you try running router stats for a day or 2 and see what the connection is doing over a sustained period. If its disconnecting and reconnecting at varying speeds and then this may indicate an issue between you and the exchange.
As others in the area have been affected it may indicate a common cable issue.

I heard secondhand from someone who had an engineer visit that new equipment (cards ) had been installed and they were at fault but BT were not admitting to it .

My Router doesn't reconnect often but I do get connection was reset messages when browsing .

There also seems to be a DNS problem but not for the last 2 days where only Google would load and get search results but from there no links would work.

Another time only DS forums would work no Google or anything else.


My Line stats
http://i49.tinypic.com/dr8kcn.jpg

Edited by deleted (Sat 05-Jun-10 13:03:10)

quite an amusing policy from openreach.

I would say no problem but I want the following all tested before I agree to fees. In addition the engineer needs to give you a form to sign at the end that you can sign off his work.

dropwire - swap round to prove old one not at fault.
dslam/msan - swap round to prove not at fault
line - swap pair and test at least 4 points on route.
mole/hawk test

if engineer is gone within 1 hour, excempt from fee.

you can play the same game back.

unless the low throughput is due to crc errors?

This ping test I did 2 days ago shows the line as in good shape

http://www.pingtest.net/result/18089923.png


Another I've just run now

http://www.pingtest.net/result/18229798.png


then 1 minuet later another as good as the first one.

Edited by deleted (Sat 05-Jun-10 14:24:50)