Good connection, slow download speed

Marsman

Marsman

Marsman

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Joined
18 Oct 2009
Posts
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Friend A of mine moved to AOL's 8mb package a year ago, and he has had pretty low speeds for most of that period. Friend B, who is also with AOL has just been moved to 8mb package by AOL, from 2mb fixed. Friend B lives 2 miles from his exchange, and gets 2.3kbps connection speed. His download speed is as fast as his connection will allow. Friend A, lives in the same town as I do, but further from the exchange, just over half a mile at a guess. He was fed up with the poor speeds with AOL, so grabbed his MAC and left to join ICUK, only to find his speeds were pretty much the same. I asked him to run a speed test, which range from 4.8kbps to 5.7kbps downstream, but his download speeds suggest a connection of no more than 960kbps. From the same link, I can get as fast a download speed as my connection will allow, but he still gets 960kpbs on average. I asked him to check his line stats via the router, which were pretty consistent with mine, albeit slight lower noise margin and slightly higher attenuation, which would reflect being further from the exchange. I get 6.7kbps connection with my ISP and speeds to match most of the time, so I and friend A cannot understand why his speeds are poor in comparison to what he should be getting, with 2 different ISP's. He tried a different router, which made no difference. He tried his dads laptop, in case it was his PC, still the same. He has no internal wiring, he has the router connected directly to the master socket.

I am completely stumped. Has anyone got any ideas?

BTW, noise margin is 8db, attenuation 13db.
 
Marsman,

Pretty much none of the information you have provided allows any meaningful diagnosis to be made. What I think I've gathered so far is that 'friend B' is putting up with his connection for the time being while 'friend A' is not getting the throughput ("download speed") appropriate for his synchronisation rate ("connection speed"). However, statements like the following confuse the situation.
I asked him to run a speed test, which range from 4.8kbps to 5.7kbps downstream, but his download speeds suggest a connection of no more than 960kbps.
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It looks like there is a mix up in the use of terminology and units.

Rather than make a load of assumptions, troubleshooting requires some clearer details. For example,

  • Name of your local exchange.
  • Provider and specific package chosen.
  • Modem manufacturer and model.
  • Modem line stats for any users you are comparing the connection for, i.e. modulation (if known), up/down sync rates, attenuation and noise margin.
  • What socket the modem is connected to. i.e. master (using the test socket?) or an extension.
  • Whether (and how) other devices are connected to either the line or modem/router, e.g. other PCs, consoles, PDA/iPhone, cordless phone, Sky box.
  • How the user's PC is connected to the modem/router, i.e. wired or wireless.
  • Throughput test results in correct units, including the sites used and if possible the time of day by, where applicable, providing a screenshot.
    - This could include use of so-called "speed test" sites such as My Broadband Speed or direct download from a high-bandwidth site, e.g. one of the Ubuntu UK mirrors here (HTTP), here (HTTP) or here (FTP). Obviously in the latter case you don't need to download the full ISO, just get an idea of the speed.

At a guess it is possibly all down to being on a, dare I say, "legacy" BT Wholesale package being provided through a reseller. Let's get some details and see.
 
I mentioned friend B, not because he is fed up with his speed, quite the contrary, he is very happy with it, as he says he has no need for 8mb speeds. AOL moved him to 8mb package, so he had no choice in the matter, he would have just stayed with fixed line 2mb otherwise. The reason I mentioned him, is because his connection is 2300kbps, and gets speeds to reflect that connection. So whatever problems friend A has, cannot solely be down to AOL. I did mention though that friend A left AOL and went to ICUK in the OP, something that rexehuk failed to spot.

Yes you are right I did mess up the terminology. I'll list the facts, and we can go from there.

I think it's best to forget friend B at this point, I only used him as an example to show that friend A's problems at the time were not down to AOL alone.

Friend A was with AOL. He lives in the same town as I do, just a little further from the exchange, no more than 2/3 of a mile from it. Exchange is Barmouth WNBAR. He got 4100kbps on speedtest.net, but his throughput speed was only 960kbps. At this point he was convinced his poor speeds were down to AOL, despite the fact Friend B had no issue with them, so he got his MAC and moved to ICUK. Expecting vastly increased speeds upon moving to ICUK, those speeds did not materialise. He ran speedtest various times and got a faster connection speeds of 4800kpbs to 5700kbps, but his throughput still remains around 960kbps mark. I questioned him about his line stats, which turn out to be what I consider to be fine. Downstream is 13db attenuation, 8db noise margin. Sync rate of 7100kbps. He did tell me the upstream, but I can't recall at the time. I'll have to post them later. Router is Netgear DG834G, which is the same one I use. Just as a point of interest, I get 8db attenuation, 13db noise margin, my connection speed is 6200-6700kbps, but my throughput speed is what it should be. Looking at his line stats, his throughput speed should be much closer to his connection speed.

His PC is connected via Linksys wireless PCI card, which is located on the floor directly above the router. He has no phone sockets upstairs, so can't connect via ethernet cable. I asked him to try his dads laptop, incase it was an issue with his wireless card or PC, but he gets the same speeds using that. He does have another router, Thomson Speedtouch, which he got when he joined AOL. I asked him to try the Speedtouch, but the result is the same. The router is connected directly to their master socket, with a filter to which he has a DECT phone connected also. He did try another filter, which again made no difference to the outcome.

I did tell him to give it time after moving to ICUK, things may improve over the next week. He is a tad impatient TBH, so I said I would see if anyone has any ideas.

I'll get him to try various speed testers, I just ran My Broadband Speed, and it's telling me I have a connection speed of 9992kbps-13446kbps :confused:

BTW, thanks for your input. :)
 
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Firstly, 'friend A', and yourself if you're interested, should use the BT Speed Tester to determine if the reported IP profile is appropriately matched to the modem sync rate.

Piecing the details together from your posts,
Code: 
[u]Modem Stats[/u]		[u]You[/u]			[u]Friend A[/u]
Sync Rate / kbps	6200-6700		7100
Attenuation / dB	8			13
Noise Margin / dB	13			8

[u]Usage or Throughput[/u]
General Speed		"fine"			960 kbps
MyBroadbandSpeed	9992-13446 kbps		?
Ubuntu Download		?			?

IP Profile		?			?

His PC is connected via Linksys wireless PCI card, which is located on the floor directly above the router. He has no phone sockets upstairs, so can't connect via ethernet cable. -snip- The router is connected directly to their master socket, with a filter to which he has a DECT phone connected also. He did try another filter, which again made no difference to the outcome.
Click to expand...

  • Use a wired connection between the PC and modem/router while troubleshooting.
  • A standard ethernet cable (RJ45) isn't compatible with a telephone socket (BS6312) or through a microfilter (BS6312 <-> BS6312 & RJ11).
  • Keep the modem/router as close to the BT master socket as practically possible, ideally under two metres or so.
  • Connect the modem/router to the test socket inside the master socket. If an improvement in sync rate is noted you can consider running it like this permanently or re-attach the faceplate and try double filtering the cordless telephone base.
The first point could have a dramatic effect on throughput. The latter two points are related to improving the sync rate itself, not improving throughput at a given sync.

Some screwy results from the MyBroadbandSpeed site for you. I've not seen that before and it generally works fine, unlike speedtest.net which I suggest you avoid.

Neither of you are getting an ideal sync rate for your attenuation or, in simplified terms, distance from the exchange. I would generally expect you both to get the full 8 meg sync on ADSL1 and around 7 Mbps (875 kB/s) download throughput.
 
He ran speedtest various times and got a faster connection speeds of 4800kpbs to 5700kbps, but his throughput still remains around 960kbps mark
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Are you sure it isn't 4800Kb/s to 5700Kb/s and around 960KB/s? speedtest gives results in Kb/s (now in Mb/s) but Internet explorer will show download speed in KB/s which usually causes confusion for some ppl, to me 960KB/s sounds about right for a 8Mb connection
 
No, it is 960kilobits, which is about 120 kilobytes. He told me that he was getting no more than download speeds of 120. I know what you mean though, it can get confusing with the correct terminology. In my OP, I put 4.8kbps, when I should have put 4.8Mbps

I got him to use the BT speed tester last night. He has an IP profile of 6000kbps, sync is 7100kbps. Download speed is 5600kbps. That was night though, chances are it will be a slower download speed in the daytime.

I did see a comment somewhere about changing web browser. He uses Firefox, so I told him to try Google Chrome, see if it made any difference. He tried downloading a game patch from a website, and he was amazed because it was going at 600KBps. I'll ask him to run BT tester in daytime hours, see what he gets. I'll also get him to try that Ubtuntu link provided by ncjok.

I ran BT tester on my connection. My sync is 8100kbps, IP profile is 7100kbps, and download speed is 6700kbps. That was last night, today it is somewhat slower st 4600kbps download speed. I can live with that. Been with Entanet for 2.3 years, and haven't had much to complain about. :)
 
ubersonic said:
to me 960KB/s sounds about right for a 8Mb connection
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It might at first glance but you forgot to account for ethernet and ATM overheads.

Marsman, now we are getting somewhere :)

Friend A's IP profile is consistent with his sync rate of 7100 kbps. No problems there. You can largely ignore the download speed reported by the BT speed tester, it was the IP profile we were interested in. Use a 'proper' download, such as those Ubuntu links or similar, to gauge the real-world speed.

If the PC is wired to the modem/router and getting slow downloads when the sync rate and IP profile are fine then it's something like congestion at the exchange, on the link to the server or BT's infamous traffic shaping. (Hang on, does the latter even apply to resellers?..) If the connection is wireless then that's something else to troubleshoot.

Similarly, your IP profile is spot on for the sync rate. Happy days? :D
 
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TBH, now he has used Chrome and got a fast download, it shows that his connection is capable of that kind of speed. I think he was with AOL on their 8Mb package for just over a year, rarely did he get speeds over 220KBps, which he and I assumed was down to AOL being a middle of the road ISP. In hindsight, I should have asked him to test his connection more at the time, but I think that would just have proven what BT's speed test confirmed, the connection is fast, but the real world speeds are slow, which would have left the finger firmly pointed at AOL. Moving to ICUK, a more credible ISP, and a good rating on ISPreview, an improvement in speeds was expected. After such speeds did not materialise, he was bothered he was paying x amount for his internet, which going by the numbers, should be easily capable of 600KBps, and not getting what his connection should be capable of. He thought all the finger pointing at AOL for the poor speeds he was getting with them, might have been unjustified, seeing he was getting the same speeds with a credible ISP. Obviously things are a little more complex than just having an 8Mb package and getting super fast downloads all the time, but when the numbers say you should be getting x amount download speeds, and in reality it's not happening, I guess it's a tad frustrating.

Maybe, if it had occurred to me to ask him to use a different web browser, we might have discovered faster speeds were achievable, and it wasn't some hard to find problem that defied all logic. Of course, that isn't to say using Chrome will mean he will get fast speeds all the time, but it's nice to see light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. :)

Thanks for all your input. :)
 
Changing browser was just a random fluke that the speed picked up at the same time, back the old slow speeds. I lent him my router, and I tested his. The wifi was certainly flaky with his router, but I was able to get speeds of upto 700KBps, something he never got, but it was up and down like a yoyo. The wifi on my router is a lot more solid, but he was still getting the same slow speeds. Slow wifi with PC and laptop with 3 routers, seems to be some kind of interference is causing disruption, only thing that makes any sense.

Obviously, wired connection to router is always preferable, but with no upstairs phone sockets, that isn't possible. My friend has the DIY skills of a wet fart, and his dad doesn't want to install an extension, so only option is to look at home network plugs.
 
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