Blackscooby

Could do with some opinion !

I have just upgraded on BT Internet, I was on a package that gave me download speeds of around 2Mb when tested on ADSL speed test sites. I've upgraded to 8Mb. I don't really expect 8Mb as it's a bit of a theoretical figure.... but I really didn't expect download speeds to plummet !!!

Last night I only managed 800Kb which is pants to say the least

Anyone any ideas ?

On my side I've reset my WiFi router and replaced the ADSL adaptor.

Cheers

Mark

Dracoro

8kb speeds is about 6.4Mb so you're doing ok.

There's a difference between megaBYTES and megaBITS remember.

Blackscooby

Sorry meant to put 800 Kbits (less than 1 megabit)

ChefDude

remember, divide the bit speed by 9 and that's your kilobyte speed (8 bits per byte + 1 parity bit)

swampster

iTrader: (1)

How long have you been on the 8Mb service?

It can take upto a fortnight from activation for the speeds to stabilise, the worst thing you can do is to keep resetting your router during this training period as the exchange equipment can mistake this for instability and lower you max stable rate accordingly until it reaches what it thinks is a stable rate for your line.

Have a read of ::. Kitz - MaxDSL dslMax .:: for some good info about how it all works, and this should give you an understanding why (at the moment) you're getting crap speeds.

Oh and what does the BT Wholesale checker suggest you will get for max DSL? BT Wholesale

Blackscooby

BT Wholesale result

Your exchange is ADSL enabled, and our initial test on your line indicates that your line should be able to have an ADSL broadband service that provides a line rate up to 2Mbps.

Our test also indicates that your line should be able to support a potential ADSL Max broadband line rate of 8Mbps.

Hmmmm line rate of 2Mbps...... great... Not !

cottonfoo

8 not 9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megabit_per_second

ChefDude

we're both wrong cottonfoo

you just translated bits to bytes, which does not mean that's what you get down the dsl line. the protocols probably comandeer bits for themselves meaning you'd get 8 out of maybe 10 bits that is transferred.

my 8+1 was old modem tech and I don't think this applies to dsl.

some protocols may use 7+1.

the reason i still thought that is when i had a 512K dsl line, I never got over 56Kbytes per sec. And now I have a 384Kbps 3G card, I never see more than 42kbytes per second.

so, realistically divide by 9 and you're pretty much there, but not for the reason i thought lol

cottonfoo

Ahh, but throughput isn't counted that way, it only refers to each and every bit, it doesn't differentiate between protocol/encapsulation/etc. HTTP for example has a reasonably small overhead, but something like SMB is terribly chatty. Downloading something over vanilla HTTP at 10KB/s will be quicker than copying the same data over an SSH tunnelled Samba server at 10KB/s, but it's still 10KB/s.

ChefDude

you have me there. this is the sort of thing i switch off about when my design engineer dad goes on about it lol

swampster

iTrader: (1)

Is the bit you are interested in, you should have no real problems with maxDSL once the training period is over with.

What stats do you get from your modem at the moment? I mean what rate is it synch'd at not the rate you're downloading at?

Blackscooby

Sync'd at 2.2mbps which is was I used to get when testing with ADSL speed tests. Now it's no where close.

I'll bide my time with the cr@p download speeds !

GaryK

What utter bollox on that site

Can you imagine it, heres your new scooby sir, it potentially can do more than 30mph but hey have it 10 days and see what speed you can get out of it and thats probably going to be as fast as it goes!

swampster

iTrader: (1)

You should be synching higher than that if your line is anywhere near as good as the checker suggests, and considering you were previously on a 2Mb fixed connection it should be ok. If you're only synching 2.2Mbs you'll probably only end up with a 1.5Mbs BRAS profile (1.5Mbs being the max data rate).

I know I said don't reset your modem, but in this instance I would (when you're finished with it tonight) turn it off (completely off - take the power out if need be), and leave it off overnight. Then turn it back on tomorrow morning (during daylight hours).

Out of interest what modem/router are you using?

Also you don't have any extension wiring running from the master NTE5 box do you (the BT box where your line comes into your house?), as this can have a bit of a dire effect if your internal wiring is a bit ropey. If you do then it's worth removing the front of NTE5 box, and plugging the router straight into the BT test socket behind the faceplate (without filter). See if that makes a difference.

Blackscooby

New(ish) Belkin router plugged straight into main socket model to be confirmed. No attached phone devices as it's my 2nd line.

I'll take off the front plate and try it direct. I tried 3 adsl adaptors which made naff all difference as I realised they were years old and wondered if they degraded / oxidized contacts etc (well it was an idea !)

I'll leave it off tonight.

Cheers

Nimbus

Some useful info from the BT site for my line...

Blackscooby

Talking complete bollox about my router.
It's a Netgear Super Wireless DG834GT

Stats according to status screen
DownStream Connection Speed 2272 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed 288 kbps

Blackscooby

Just downloading a new virus DAT file. Coming down at a painful 11KB/s

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

Stats according to status screen
DownStream Connection Speed 2272 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed 288 kbps

thats shocking !!! for an 8mbit connection

I'd do the easy thing and phone them up... do you speak punjabi

bob

Had the same when I first went 8 Meg after a few days speed doubled the a day later doubled again...

Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test

Chris L

Don't forget that with all DSL services (no matter what their name), the ultimate bandwidth you receive will be dictated by two things: the number of active subscribers at your exchange and the Internet bandwidth provided by the ISP. The DSLAM (DSL Access Multiplexor) will divide the available bandwidth between the users, depending on your subscription. However the amount of bandwidth available is finite and when the limit is reached, it doesn't matter what service you subscribe to, the amount of bandwidth available per user will be cut and hence there will be a drop in performance.

On a personal note, I've done a lot of work on DSL in the past and I've not been aware of weather having a huge effect on performance (as mentioned in the article posted by swampster) - unless there is a satellite connection involved. Also I wouldn't let anything with the word 'Belkin' on it within 10 miles of my PC - I have been serially unimpressed with their equipment both from a performance and reliability point-of-view.

swampster

iTrader: (1)

The problem here is not about contention on a shared pipe though. It's simply down to the fact his modem is synching at the threshold for a 2Mb profile.

If he's still in the 10 days training period, BT Broadband won't escalate it to BT Wholesale.. they won't do anything until that 10 day period is over.

Given time, once he's restarted his modem today an then leaves it on, he'll probably find the same thing occurs that happened to bob, it will increase speed.. or at least his synch rate will increase. It can take time for the data profile to catch up - this is usually somewhere around the 3 days mark, although they have been known to get stuck.

That is unless he's particularly unlucky (like me), and has a real crappy line made from Aluminium or something (I think mine is made from string). I only synch at 3Mb, which gives me a 2.5Mb data rate profile if I'm lucky. I often find this drops and I end up below the threshold and end up with a 2Mb profile (as I am at the moment).

In this case the BT Wholesale checker would suggest no problems with the line so he should be ok (although it has been know to be completley wrong).

Oh I would tend to agree about the belkin routers, although a lot of people rate some of them for maxDSL. However some of the most highly rated are certain models of the speedtouch range. Eg: http://www.dsldepot.co.uk/product_de...?idProduct=641

I have the router above, and this gave me a half - 1 meg speed increase over my old Draytek Vigor 2600! It holds onto the connection like a limpet too only letting go when the SNR margin gets down to below 1db!

Blackscooby

Left the modem off last night and tested again now.


Not brilliant, but a significant improvement over yesterday.
The result is inline with with my sync of 2.2Mb.

bob

That's about the speed I had when I first started. I checked the speedtester every day then after about a week it doubled that speed. The very next day it doubled again and I have had 6000kbs constantly since.

swampster

iTrader: (1)

When did you actually get switched over to maxDSl? (not the sign up date, but the activation date). What I find odd here is that your router is still only synching at 2272. Which is what is normally set for a 2Mb static connection. Most people usually find that if it is possible (i.e the line isn't crap) the router synch's at higher speeds, while their data rate is being pegged at a lower profile.

Also trying using the BT Wholesale performance tester and post back the results here.. btw I've only managed to get it working with IE. Off the tester are here: ::. Kitz - BTw Performance Speedtest .::
Tester is here: Test Result

You should get a result something like:
Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test:
IP profile for your line is - 2000 kbps <-- data/BRAS profile rate
DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 2592 kbps(DOWN-STREAM) <-- modem Synch Speed
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 1750 kbps <-- Actual Throughput

Blackscooby

Not that I'm getting hung up on this.... much !


Bloody awful for a 2Mbit connection let alone 8Mbit

swampster

iTrader: (1)

Think yourself lucky mine went down to 36kbs during the training period..lol

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

Your BRAS profile is stuck. Its quite common for people who have migrated from a fixed dsl service to the max service for this to happen. That profile is a 2mb fixed svs speed.
You could reboot your modem and see if that changes your stats (especially if your modem was connected during the changeover)

Blackscooby

I've rebooted the router (power cycled). I've got an old 3com office connect that I'll try tonight just in the interest of science compared to the Netgear.

It's not that I'm at 2Mbit that bothers me, its that the connection is PANTS and goes as slow as 200Kbit/s.