Help: Internet problem with speed

.Lethal · 27 Sep 2009 at 01:30

Hi all.

I have an issue with my internet where I can only download at a max speed of about 112kb/113kb. Now I know this is incorrect and I am fully aware I can recieve a much higher connection as I had done previously/had it confirmed.

A little background.

November 2008. I moved into an apartment and ordered SKY broadband with my SKY package and had this enabled as you do. I also had a phone line installed by BT around the same time.

The phone line was installed fine. And the internet was eventually activated on the time given.

I was having various problems with my internet where I could only "gain" internet access when I was using the landline (very strange, perhaps a landline/exchange fault you say) so I eventually had a BT engineer come out and use his laptop to run some tests at my apartment.

Before the BT engineer was arranged to come out I was speaking to (I cant remember there wording I think it was something along the lines of "Support 3" or something where your problem gets elevated - the 3rd one being someone who is very well informed with there job (in my experience)). The guy played around with my line from where he was and he didn't know what the problem was, however! When we hung up the problem had gone and I could use the internet as normal. Except my speed was reduced at around 112kb/113kb.

The BT engineer came round and it turned out there was nothing wrong with the exchange or my landline as he could download at a very high rate and had shown me this to backup what he was saying, I was disapointed because this still ment I had an issue unresolved with my download speed being restricted.

My question, is it possible I have somehow "accidently" done this myself? I am not a genuis with playing around with Networks but I can find my way around a router/network settings when needed and can use information pretty well given to me/found on the internet.

How would I resolve this? or is this a case of ...

"The BT engineer could only download at such speed because he was using his "special" laptop that had nothing to do with my SKY router or my personal account?"

or

"It is a case of ringing SKY broadband support and going through this hassel all over again"

or finally

"You can do this or that with your PC which can fix the problem"

Any help appreciated. While typing this out and thinking to myself I am now thinking it is a case of ringing SKY because the BT engineer had no problems and the fact I am normally pretty level headed with my knowledge with networks it is very unlikly to be a fault I have done myself.

If anyone is wondering why have I left it so long it is due to the fact SKY support is terrible, long waiting queues and you have to go through the same dull questions every single time. It was also costing a fortune in calls (Which now will be free due to BT not charging for 0800 numbers).

PS: I forgot to add I have had 3 different routers sent out to me (I believe line 1 support just didn't know what to do and kept throwing these things at me to try).

tolien · 27 Sep 2009 at 11:50

Is it Sky via their LLU operation, or via BT Wholesale?

Get the ADSL stats (sync rate, SNR margin, attenuation would be a start) out of your router too.

.Lethal · 28 Sep 2009 at 12:09

tolien said:
Is it Sky via their LLU operation, or via BT Wholesale?

Get the ADSL stats (sync rate, SNR margin, attenuation would be a start) out of your router too.

Thanks for the reply Tolien and sorry for the delay replying back.

I will get all the details and post them as soon as I get in from work.

The SKY package is there standard "Unlimited" plan for £15 a month. The actual phone line is with BT though.

I can only take a guess at your question regarding LLU and assume that it is. I believe this because SKY could fiddle around with my line from where they were when I was talking to them late last year. A quick google appears to mention SKY Broadband is LLU. As far as I am aware my line is LLU as I haven't been told otherwise.

Liquidfox · 28 Sep 2009 at 12:14

Have you asked them to reset your IP Profile?
If you were only able to use the internet when you were on the phone, the router would connect when you were talking, then disconnect when you hung up.

This would lead the exchange to believe that you weren't able to hold a stable fast connection so would drop your speed accordingly, as far as i'm aware, BT are able to bypass this issue with their kit therefore missing the problem.

We've experienced this with a BT Broadband customer and asking them for the profile reset fixed things, until they went and hit their cap and got throttled :rolleyes:

tolien · 28 Sep 2009 at 17:25

Who the voice service is with isn't relevant, but if you're not on Broadband Connect it sounds like you're on their LLU operation.
There's another thread in here about Sky's Dynamic Line Management which sounds like a brain-damaged version of what BT Wholesale do and might be having an effect on the speed you're connected at.

Liquidfox said:
Have you asked them to reset your IP Profile?
...

Won't apply if the OP's on Sky's LLU.

.Lethal · 28 Sep 2009 at 18:40

tolien said:
Get the ADSL stats (sync rate, SNR margin, attenuation would be a start) out of your router too.

I cant believe I have missed this. I have just logged into my router to find the following information:

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 1024 kbps 416 kbps
Line Attenuation 58 db 31 db
Noise Margin 9 db 12 db

I guess that is why I am restricted to 1mb for now but I was not informed or told about this! Does anyone have any advice for how I should bring this up to sky? Is there anything specificly I can ask to (hopfully) resolve this matter.

tolien · 28 Sep 2009 at 20:16

It's not got that much to do with Sky. It's mostly because your line's very long, or very broken.

If you haven't already, you should eliminate your own wiring by trying with the router connected directly to the master socket with no extensions or phones. You don't really need a filter either.

Mattus · 29 Sep 2009 at 02:29

Sounds like you have a lot of interference on your line. 58dB attenuation indicates quite a long line, but you should still be able to achieve more than 1024k.

You need to do as tolien says to rule out any sources of interference. However, this might not increase your speed by itself, because Sky's line management might have recognised 1024kbps as the most stable speed for your line and thus limited the maximum sync. In that case, you'd see the noise margin going up but the connection speed staying the same, and you'd probably have to call Sky to get the limit lifted.

.Lethal · 29 Sep 2009 at 10:50

tolien said:
It's not got that much to do with Sky. It's mostly because your line's very long, or very broken.

If you haven't already, you should eliminate your own wiring by trying with the router connected directly to the master socket with no extensions or phones. You don't really need a filter either.

I was able to get 3mb apparently before the problems started.

The length of the cable from the exchange is indeed very long but the speed was confirmed to me a few times by 2 of the more senior people I spoke to with Sky.

I have tried the master socket many times, this was standard protocal with line 1 support. At one point I was doing this almost daily.

Mattus said:
Sounds like you have a lot of interference on your line. 58dB attenuation indicates quite a long line, but you should still be able to achieve more than 1024k.

You need to do as tolien says to rule out any sources of interference. However, this might not increase your speed by itself, because Sky's line management might have recognised 1024kbps as the most stable speed for your line and thus limited the maximum sync. In that case, you'd see the noise margin going up but the connection speed staying the same, and you'd probably have to call Sky to get the limit lifted.

IDD regarding the interference and you are correct about me being able to achieve more than 1024. The last time I spoke to someone at sky I was talking to a guy at line 3 support who was playing with my line speed, he had boosted it to some very high speed (I cant remember maybe 20mb, 50mb, 100mb) which I guess was to test my download speed and interference, he then reduced it to 1mb to (I guess here) test the interference on that level. He basically said he wasn't sure what the problem was as it was something he had not experienced before (and he had been working there for many years). This was when he arranged an engineer to come out and going by the looks of things, I can only assume he has left it at 1mb which is why I have a crippled connection.

Does this mean I need to get in touch with sky and ask them to adjust my connection speed to an acceptable level where the interference won't cause any problems?

I hardly think paying £15 a month for 1mb is a very good deal personally.

Matteysan · 29 Sep 2009 at 10:59

Damonic said:
I was able to get 3mb apparently before the problems started.

The length of the cable from the exchange is indeed very long but the speed was confirmed to me a few times by 2 of the more senior people I spoke to with Sky.

I have tried the master socket many times, this was standard protocal with line 1 support. At one point I was doing this almost daily.

IDD regarding the interference and you are correct about me being able to achieve more than 1024. The last time I spoke to someone at sky I was talking to a guy at line 3 support who was playing with my line speed, he had boosted it to some very high speed (I cant remember maybe 20mb, 50mb, 100mb) which I guess was to test my download speed and interference, he then reduced it to 1mb to (I guess here) test the interference on that level. He basically said he wasn't sure what the problem was as it was something he had not experienced before (and he had been working there for many years). This was when he arranged an engineer to come out and going by the looks of things, I can only assume he has left it at 1mb which is why I have a crippled connection.

Does this mean I need to get in touch with sky and ask them to adjust my connection speed to an acceptable level where the interference won't cause any problems?

I hardly think paying £15 a month for 1mb is a very good deal personally.

Ring Sky & ask them if they can raise the speed of your connection.

They did this for me when I joined them after the 10 day DLM period my connection got capped to 9mb by DLM. A quick call to Sky & they raised it to 13mb no questions asked. Even told me to ring back in a few days if the connection dropped it has been fine though

.Lethal · 29 Sep 2009 at 12:39

Also, if the BT engineer was able to download from my line exceptionally faster than my current speed without any problems then there will be no reason I cant!

I shall ring them tonight and let you know what happens, no doubt more drama

.Lethal · 29 Sep 2009 at 14:18

I forgot to ask regarding my Line Attenuation being at 58 db

Is there a way SKY can reduce this or is this just due to the large distance from the exchange? It seems rather high even for my distance and being capped at 1 mb.

Last question I need before I can ring them really as I want to have something I can use to get my point across rather than "well someone told me this" and not know for sure if this can be sorted out in some way.

Thanks

.Lethal · 7 Oct 2009 at 22:58

OK after lengthy conversations with SKY (for approx 3 hours, 3 disconnects etc etc) I finally got what I wanted, my speed is now gone from 1mb to 2mb. The max apparently is 2.5mb in my area but for now we have left it at 2mb as for now it is at least twice what I was getting previously.

I also managed to find the problem with my noise margin, it was due to the wireless phone being close to the Router :rolleyes:

New stats.

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 2048 kbps 608 kbps
Line Attenuation 57 db 31 db
Noise Margin 11 db 12 db

The reason my connection is a crappy 2mb is because I am about a billion miles away from the exchange, ok, well, 7 miles. That is a hell of a long way IMO.

I can only achieve this speed via the master socket (in the test socket) so I cannot use any other extensions for now. I have ordered a new faceplace for the master socket so I can directly connect the Router to that and gain access to my extensions without the use of filters.

The reason I will leave the Router in the main socket is because there is less chance of noise and a slower connection, to give an example: When I put the Router back in one of the extensions the Max speed (cap) displayed on the Router went from 2mb to 1.3mb.

I plan to re-wire all my extensions once my IDC tool and faceplate arrive.

Mattus · 8 Oct 2009 at 00:45

If that 11db noise margin is stable, you have a bit more room for improvement there. I reckon that would be stable at 2.5-3mb. The minimum noise margin you want is generally 6db.

Rroff · 8 Oct 2009 at 17:09

I'm suprised your getting 1Mbit let alone higher at 7 miles - that a min of 35,000foot cable distance, prolly closer to 40,000... judging by the latest results you could get atleast 3Mbit/s with a 6db profile assuming no unusual noise/interference... thats extremely good at ~11KM... 256-512kbit would be more usual.

turboChiken · 8 Oct 2009 at 17:48

These things are so variable. I used to get sync at 3.3M with a noise margin of 6db whilst being 7km from our exchange, 2km of this being overhead line.

18 months ago BT decided that the errors on the line were too much and upped the margin to 15db which cut the speed to 1.3M to make it more stable. No amount of arguing with the ISP (Plusnet) or BT would get them to lower this to it's previous level of 6db as they assume that 1.3M is good for a line as long as mine.

I have to say that the "increased" stability is lost on me. All I notice is that it's much slower than it was previously.