Line stats check please

Duke

Duke

Duke

Man of Honour
Joined
29 Jun 2003
Posts
34,613
Location
Wiltshire
Hi all,

Got someone having problems with Virgin ADSL (urgh, I know). They were connected fine for years until Virgin contacted them to lower their price, since then the connection has been all over the place. It looks like they've made some change at the exchange or their end?

How are these line stats?

16280417.jpg


This is connected into the test socket in the master socket. When connected into just the master socket, the connection speed drops to 2mbit which is a large drop :confused: but they are not getting near that anyway. Two speed test sites give 0.1mbit speed which is confirmed by downloading a file from BY FTP at 15-20k/s. However at other times the speed goes up to about 1mbit.

I've suggested to move to another ISP, which he is happy to (and cheaper), but wanted to check if its a line issue which will still happen on any ISP.

They don't have any LLU services at the exchange, as its only in a village with 1000 people connected.

Thanks
 
There's nothing wrong with those stats although the SNR margin's quite high. If the connection's been unstable, though, it would make sense that it's been increased in an attempt to fix that.
Assuming it's via BT Wholesale (and with that upstream rate it would seem likely), throughput could be limited by the IP profile.
 
Bit of an update with this one. They changed ISP to Plusnet who were far cheaper than Virgin. BT have come out as I spotted some of the cabling outside was getting weathered so they fixed that and checked all the wiring inside and put a new wall socket on. Updated line stats are below.

50701719.jpg


Ignore the fact the downstream has dropped as that was on the test socket before.

The same issue exists unfortunately. Uploading is fine but downloading is very slow, as in under 20k/s which is confirmed on speed tests giving about 100kbps.

Going to read up if Plusnet have a particular issue but its still the same as Virgin, so could be exchange issue?
 
Which speed test are you using, are you using the BT Speed Testing utility?

If not, please use the BT speed test here http://speedtester.bt.com/ and report back with the results

It could be an exchange issue, I would run a line test via BT Wholesale if I was able to provide you with my e-mail address without being told off by the moderators.
 
Duke said:
Bit of an update with this one. They changed ISP to Plusnet who were far cheaper than Virgin. BT have come out as I spotted some of the cabling outside was getting weathered so they fixed that and checked all the wiring inside and put a new wall socket on. Updated line stats are below.

50701719.jpg


Ignore the fact the downstream has dropped as that was on the test socket before.

The same issue exists unfortunately. Uploading is fine but downloading is very slow, as in under 20k/s which is confirmed on speed tests giving about 100kbps.

Going to read up if Plusnet have a particular issue but its still the same as Virgin, so could be exchange issue?
Click to expand...

That's worse than Virgin, the downspeed has dropped and so has the SNR you are getting almost half the speed and a lower noise margin
Something is still not right with the connection mate.
 
Locky said:
That's worse than Virgin, the downspeed has dropped and so has the SNR you are getting almost half the speed and a lower noise margin
Something is still not right with the connection mate.
Click to expand...

Yeah did mention in my post to ignore the line speed as the original was on the test socket which still has the same 'cap' issue. The speed hasn't changed on the socket they use (still same issue on both sockets and test socket).
 
As hinted by tolien around seven weeks ago, and elaborated on by swbroadband, you should check up with BT's 'Performance Tester' to determine if the IP Profile is appropriately matched to the modem's sync rate.

If that comes back fine and you're still getting slow downloads then I might point the finger at traffic shaping.

Is there a good reason you want to sacrifice 2 Mb/s sync rate by not using the test socket?
 
swbroadband said:
It could be an exchange issue, I would run a line test via BT Wholesale if I was able to provide you with my e-mail address without being told off by the moderators.
Click to expand...

Sigh. You were not, and would not be, told off for offering to help people. That's what we're all here for.
You were, however, warned for attempting to pimp your business. That's not allowed and the rules explicity say that.

Other people have been banned from here for whoring a business they had an interest in but you were allowed to stay because the balance of your posts were towards being useful rather than just pimping.
 
Duke said:
Yeah did mention in my post to ignore the line speed as the original was on the test socket which still has the same 'cap' issue. The speed hasn't changed on the socket they use (still same issue on both sockets and test socket).
Click to expand...

The speed on the IP profile will not change unless you keep a higher consistant sync speed.
 
20kB/s would mean you're on the 150kbps IP profile so it would have to drop a hell of a lot to get there though :confused:
The change of ISP's not relevant here - they're both via BT Wholesale so nothing has actually changed (other than you're slightly more likely to find someone with a clue).
 
In which case, if you like Duke - e-mail me your telephone number that you're having problems with to rdevonshireREMOVE{&@_@&}swbroadband.co.uk and I'll do a line check with BT Wholesale to see what statistics they have for your line.

Let me know if you'd like the reply within the post or via e-mail. Not a problem if you're not comfortable with releasing your telephone number.

However, from the information you've already supplied - it does seem like traffic management may be the main culprit. What did the BT test return?
 
swbroadband said:
However, from the information you've already supplied - it does seem like traffic management may be the main culprit. What did the BT test return?
Click to expand...

Its not my line but will get them to drop you a quick email, ta. Not sure what BT test you mean? They have been out to do some physical work but thats all I think.


edit: will run the test later, ta
 
Last edited:
Test result below. The IP Profile is obviously wrong but is that auto set or put on by the ISP?

96913725.jpg
 
The IP Profile is automatically set depending on the stability of your line and target SNR.

If you experience multiple disconnections, your IP profile is decreased gradually until the line remains stable.

What I don't understand is, your line stats BT have detected do not match the screen shots from your Netgear router.

Your IP Profile of 135 Kbps would definitely be the reason why you're getting minimal download speeds.

You need to contact Plusnet, however - the general advice you'll get is to wait 24-48 hours. How long has the WAN been connected now?
 
Thanks for the info and your email. They used to have one of those awful USB Modems (which was naturally turned off each night) but I put in a new Netgear DG834 a few weeks ago and told them to leave it on all the time.

I put new filters on yesterday and cycled the modem, so its been on for just over 24 hours.

I had hoped it was the dodgy wiring outside causing the line speed to drop and that it would pick up again over a few days of stability but that hasn't happened.
 
Bit of an update. It seems the line is being re-profiled as the connection speed in the router has dropped a lot and the line stats have changed (are they looking better?).

81572675.jpg


42868096.jpg


I did the last reset of the modem a day earlier than I thought, so you can see the uptime of the router is 43 hours but the line has been connected for just 18 hours.

I've asked the owner to note the down/up speeds each morning for the next couple of days and let me know.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom