BT inability to address the root of the problem

Here in SW Wales we have had to live with being in a slow spot area; however, it seems that it's not just the relative infrastructure weakness that is at fault.

I have been trying to get my ISP to properly address what appears to be a central problem in our area. Since the start of this year our broadband speed has been very poor (0.1-0.3M) with occasional periods of excellence (once I even recorded 2M for a 24-hour period). I've now given up contacting the phone helpline and now email in 'complaints'. I've had two engineers visit the house to test the line, etc. and can find no fault at this end - their line tests indicated that the line should support 2.5M (in one case) and 3.5M (in the second). The third engineer contacted me from the local exchange to inform me that a problem existed at the exchange and that there had been over 800 complaints registered about it. In each case a phone call from BT assured me that action was underway to correct the fault. Each time the connection to the server would be re-started with an initial substantial improvement in bandwidth (usually around 1.5M) but within a week it returns to the usual trickle. Needless to say each one of these 'remedies' takes a couple of weeks.

I've run the BT diagnostic regularly which shows that the IP profile starts at a good level but drops with the bandwidth speed. One of the engineers did mention that the 'noise' level on my line does not follow the normal pattern, but could not suggest a reason.

I'm unsure whether it is a coincidence but most times the start of the reduction in bandwidth seems to be after a weekend.

I've now received a call from BT Vision offering terms for a contract. The rep expressed disbelief that I couldn't get 2M as his records indicated that 2M should be the minimum I get. Checking the thinkbroadband 'map' there are a lot of tests below 0.5M although a number above 3M.

I'd appreciate any advice on the likely cause of this behaviour in my connection, but what I'd really like is advice as to how I proceed now to submit a complaint to Ofcom about BT's apparent reluctance to conduct a proper investigation leading to a permanent solution.

In addition, am I right in thinking that there's no point in trying a different ISP if the root of the problem does lie in the exchange?

I'd appreciate any advice

Mike

Post your router stats.

Thanks for your time. I'm a newbie so I hope that this is what you asked for.

ADSL line status
Connection Information
Line state Connected
Connection time 0 days, 00:08:25
Downstream 2,336 Kbps
Upstream 448 Kbps

ADSL Settings
VPI/VCI 0/38
Type PPPoA
Modulation G.992.1 Annex A
Latency type Interleaved
Noise margin (Down/Up) 10.1 dB / 22.0 dB
Line attenuation (Down/Up) 44.8 dB / 27.0 dB
Output power (Down/Up) 4.1 dBm / 1.6 dBm
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote) 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote) 0 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote) 0 / 0
FEC Errors (Down/Up) 46 / 0
CRC Errors (Down/Up) 58 / 5
HEC Errors (Down/Up) 103 / 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote) 23 / 2

You should be getting 6 Meg Sync. You might have noisy house wiring.

Do you have extensions? Are all phones filtered? What are stats when plugged into hidden test socket behind faceplate of master socket?

Thanks for the feedback.

All phones are filtered. As to the telephone wiring, etc it is over 20 years old. The two engineers who actually visited the house declared that it was fine although conducted their tests from the extension - the main box is hidden in the depths of the roof space. They recorded 2.5M and 3.5M sync on their tests

The third engineer who only went to the exchange indicated that when he connected his hub there he found a similar fall off in performance. The thinkbroadband map for my area (around Aberporth) shows that there are others getting a similar poor bandwidth suggesting that it may be a central problem rather than specifically at my house. My neighbour (Sky) also has very low bandwidth.

Mike

In reply to a post by mrobert:

My neighbour (Sky) also has very low bandwidth.

Mike

Unfortunately, that means nothing without the router stats.

In reply to a post by mrobert:

The thinkbroadband map for my area (around Aberporth) shows that there are others getting a similar poor bandwidth suggesting that it may be a central problem rather than specifically at my house.

Not very conclusive; not a representative sample. My map shows me at about 13 Meg surrounded by others on 1, 2 or 5 Meg just as far from same exchange.

The Local Error seconds allied to your description of the wiring suggest a problem within the house which is worth a simple job to try correcting.

Such a problem could very well cause a low speed in itself, plus instability resulting in the high downstream margin. The high margin is reducing your connection speed by at least 500Kbps and possibly much more, but as XRaySpeX says, on that attenuation you should be connection at 6-7Mbps. It is highly unlikely to be a "central" problem, but it could be something like a regular source of considerable noise between the area and the exchange affecting a lot of lines.

Edit - 500Mbps was an amazing speed loss. Thanks to cheshire_man for pointing it out.

Edited by RobertoS (Thu 25-Aug-11 23:08:06)

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

The high margin is reducing your connection speed by at least 500Mbps and possibly much more

Wow, can we all have some of that

[gulp].

Thanks - edited, and see the footnote.