Can anybody help?!! (Draytek Vigor 120, ASUS RT-N56U + Be Broadband related

hughythomas

hughythomas

hughythomas

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Hi guys

I have moved into a new flat and got Be Broadband (Unlimited) same as my paren'ts place (where they have been the best ISP we've ever dealt with) however I am experiencing some strange slow down problems with my broadband in the flat.

Regularly, I speedtest.net the connection and max DL is only 2.75MB/s. This seems to be the golden figure which it stays at for most of the time.

However, sometimes it CAN go up to Be's predicted speeds (~11MB/s).

I have called Be and they are certain that their equipment is not to blame and the problem lies at mine.

I play a lot of League Of Legends. I notice how unstable my ping is on nearly every match with having random lag spikes every 4-5minutes.

There is a micro filter plugged into a master socket (provided by BT) which I got free with the BeBox Be sent (which I did use in the past but found it to be HORRIBLE for gaming on):

IMG_0520-1.jpg


and the line connects straight into the Draytek Vigor 120 (in bridged mode iirc) and then into the ASUS Black Diamond router:

IMG_0522-1.jpg


With this in mind - does anybody have any ideas as to why our speeds fluctuate so much?

Here is a copy and paste from my Draytek Vigor 120's status page (which I can only access if I plug an ethernet cable into my computer and the modem itself ie. remove Asus from link):

ADSL Status Mode State Up Speed Down Speed SNR Margin Loop Att.
ADSL2(G.992.3) SHOWTIME 841076 3237280 6 40

As you can see, the sync speed ('Down Speed') is reaaaaal slow.

Also, as an added bonus the phone is uber crackly when speaking to others. Granted it's a wireless phone but I have used it for years without problem at my parents' place. Should I be speaking to BT by this point?

Has anyone got any bright ideas?

Thanks in advance!
 
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Any line noise is a bad sign and could be causing your issues.

Disconnect everything except the phone and try a quite line test (dial 17010 and select option 2), you shouldn't hear any noise.

Ideally use a standard wired phone and connect to the test socket (behind the removable section of the master socket).

If there’s noise on the line report it.

If there isn’t any noise reattach your equipment piece by piece and repeat the tests to find out what’s causing the noise at your end of the connection.
 
Thanks for the reply bremen.

I unscrewed the faceplate of the master socket and attached my wireless phone to the test socket. As soon as I pressed the green button on the handset I could hear the same crackling just on the dialing tone.

I proceeded to dial 100, option 2 and enter my phone number. The automated fault checker called back 5 minutes later and said there was no fault with my line.

Just out of curiosity, I plugged my modem into the test socket (without the faceplate, micro-filter or phone plugged in) and I am still experiencing exactly the same low speeds.

How accurate is that automated BT fault checker generally? Would we need a wired phone to discount the possibility that the wireless phone is causing it?

Bear in mind the original wireless phone I bought for the flat did exactly the same thing and I assumed it was a crap phone so went and grabbed the good one from my parents house. Obviously, this has returned the exact same noise issues.

Thanks!
 
It should also be noted that this flat is in fact an old fact which we bought and restored. It was uninhabited for the last ten years and when the BT engineer initially came round to do the install, apart from not really seeming to know what to do he connected up the line and said there was a problem and he would have to return. Then, all of a sudden the line started working and he never came back? Not sure if that's really relevant but thought I'd throw it in anyhow!
 
I'm just seen that I gave the wrong number for the quiet line test, it should be 17070 not 17010.

You are best to use a wired phone is possible. If your wireless phone is DECT rather than analogue, and a decent make, it's probably good enough.

Dial 17070, select option 2 and listen for any noise, you shouldn’t hear anything. If you are getting line noise then report it.

I don’t think the automated BT line checker will help with noise on the line.
 
OK I have just done the test - the second time the automated voice said 'quiet line test' it went crazy. Loads of crackling, distortion and noise. However, subsequent times were OK.

Should I report it to BT?
 
Yes.

EDIT - Try remove the BT faceplate and plug your phone in directly into the test socket and try the 17070 opt2 noise test again.. Let us know.
 
Actually I had already removed the faceplate and done the test on the test socket inside!

Just spoken to BT and we have booked an engineer for Monday...hopefully it does turn out to be their fault as I can't really afford £130 squid if not!!!!

Thanks for your help. I'll report back Monday.
 
hughythomas said:
Actually I had already removed the faceplate and done the test on the test socket inside!

Just spoken to BT and we have booked an engineer for Monday...hopefully it does turn out to be their fault as I can't really afford £130 squid if not!!!!

Thanks for your help. I'll report back Monday.
Click to expand...

If the call out is potentially going to cost £130 I'd suggest getting hold of a standard wired phone asap and making sure that there really is noise on the line.
 
As the others have said, get a wired phone and do the Quiet Line test (17070 opt2) on the test socket. If it's noisy (intermittently or always) ring BT and get them to send an Engineer out to fix it.

As you're not a BT Broadband customer don't ring them up asking to speed up the internet or anything, ask them to sort out the noise on the telephone line.
 
OK - BT came Monday and I hear did a load of tests on the line without any sort of conclusion (although I was at work at the time). Since then however we thought we were in the clear as everything has been fine speed wise. Been getting our full 11mbs every day since. However, just this morning I noticed the net felt slow and so I ran a speed test.

the 'magical' 2.75Mbits is back.

What gives? Seriously?

It's been at 11 for the whole week since the BT engineer came round but now has dropped off again. The BT engineer did apparently say it is probably a broadband problem. Thanks, that really narrows it down...

I reset my equipment (Draytek Vigor 120 and ASUS RT-N56U) to see if the sync speed would go back up to where it should be but to no avail.

What is your recommendations guys?

I contacted Draytek who replied with this:

"Hello Tom,

Thanks for your email. Please try re flashing the modem with the modem codes below. Try one then test then the other and so on. It may be that the modem code that is currently on the modem is not best suited for the line.

ftp://ftp.draytek.com/Vigor120/Firmware/V3.2.4.4/V120V3.2.4.4A3211201.zip

ftp://ftp.draytek.com/Vigor120/Firmware/V3.2.4.4/V120V3.2.4.4A310801.zip

ftp://ftp.draytek.com/Vigor120/Firmware/V3.2.4.4/V120V3.2.4.4A343701.zip

Regards,"

However, the firmware flasher was not having any of it saying the files were invalid or summit?

Thing is, I remember when we first moved in and we were getting this speed with the BeBox and after calling Be they said it would settle down (which it did eventually). Little did I know it was gonna morph into this fluctuation problem.

Just to remind you all - its either at 2.75 OR 11. Mostly the former but there seems to be no logical reason for the fluctuation?

Seriously confused.
 
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But should I call Be (my ISP) or BT (who own the line)?

EDIT: I called Be and the phone was crackling like hell - could hardly hear the music when on hold. Noticed after 5 minutes though it passed. I then quickly went and did a speed test while I was holding and it had gone up to 5Mega bits!!

So, the noise seems to be associated with when the net is slow...

Is this indicative of any problem in particular?
 
Well the noise is back again!

I really can't understand what is causing this as BT maintain (after a visit last week) that everything is OK. However, it clearly is not as my line is crackling like hell (only when internet speeds are slow).

To reiterate - IF the internet is slow (like it is now) it drops to 1.2-2.75MB/s. I can pickup the phone and hear loads of crackling on the line.

IF however it is fast - there is no crackling or noise on the telephone...

What the hell is going on? Anybody got any bright ideas cos I'm sick to death of this!!!!!
 
Are you keeping records to see if there's any pattern to the problem? Date, time, weather conditions, etc.

If you phone someone can the other party also hear the crackling?
 
Hi

OK me and my gf will start recording it and yes other person can hear crackling. The weather has been great here recently although just today it has gone very windy and rainy. Is it a coincidence that internet has slowed and crackling increased with the poor weather conditions or unrelated?

Cheers

Tom
 
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Called BT and booked another engineer for tomorrow between 1pm-6pm. Luckily, my manager agreed to let me come in and go early so I should be able to finish around 2.30pm and get back by 3pm.

My gf is in from midday so we got that covered although she's pretty clueless so hopefully the engineer will turn up when I'm around!

I'll chat to him/her tomorrow and see where we stand with it all and report back!

Cheers
 
Sweeet!

THIS time the BT engineer said he found a lot of attenuation on the line. In the end, he literally replaced the entire line between our flat and the exchange! What a legend!

Had no problems since. Line is quiet as anything and internet speeds are stable with a 5ms ping!

Thanks for all your help guys. Moral of the story is -

don't trust BT as far as you can throw them...they maintained all the way through that OUR equipment was to blame. LOL!
 
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