Broadband speeds - getting slower

hellboy99

I was onto BT tech support yesterday for near an hour, started off with the guy wanting me to check my router connection speed in its settings, so I said whats the point as it always says 3MB, what reply do I get, it seems fine then and you've no problem :rolleyes:
So I go to him that I've been running various speed tests and tried downloading the BT test file and was only getting download speeds of between 50 - 70KB/s. Ended up having to do that all again, then onto connecting up another router, to my surprise I get the same result :rolleyes: .
Then he comes up with an answer to the problem, "we'll downgrade you to 1MB as your line doesn't seem to support 3MB very well and that will solve the problem". I'm like how does this solve it, I have and pay for a 3MB service and expect to get what you advertise and I pay for, besides even if I opt to downgrade I'm still not even going to get 1MB as my speeds are below that. Then he goes to me "well what do you want me to do", I replied "fix the problem, what else" :mad: . Conversation ends up with the usual, we'll ask for a test to be carried out on the exchange.

JNive

if your modem syncs at 3mb with adequate SNR Margin ( above 10db ) and attenuation ( <50db ) then 'your line doesnt support it well = bull****. since whether its supported is obvious from the SNR/Attenuation figures combined with any CRC error detections

hellboy99

If the line here doesn't support 3MB "very well" then why has it been working fine up until a few weeks ago. I'm beginning to think no one has a clue at BT support, he didn't even know that you could get into a settings screen on my router, hence the reason why I had to connect up another one. Maybe I should apply for a job there, then again maybe not, I'd just tell people to go to another provider.

Conar

My BT line seems to have been working ok.

My parents UTV line has been terrible since the New Year though and dropped offline for a day last week.
Maybe its Eircom doing the messing with the exchanges/lines?

zilog_jones

I've been experiencing slowness recently on BT as well the past few days. Just reset my connection and it seems OK again, however irishisptest.com is only reporting about 1Mb/s download speeds (I'm connected at 2Mb/s).

hellboy99

anyones speed get back to normal ? mine has got worse, been getting an average download speed of 7 - 30KB/s over the past few days now, I'd be better off using dialup :mad:

check speed here : http://www.btyahoo.com/speedtest

Conar

My BT speed has gone to crap too.
I thought that your link to test the speed may not have been a great indication so I tried downloading XP SP2 (used this in the past and always got full speed) but I'm only getting 30-40KB/s there too.
I tried calling BT support today but managed to cut myself off after holding for 50 minutes :mad:
I'll try again tomorrow and see what they say.

hellboy99

Got a call back from BT TS just before 9pm and was told that there is a fault with the exchange here and that the status of the repair with Eircom is still pending and should be fixed in the next day or so.

hellboy99

Esat TS gave me a call the other day to say that Eircom had fixed the problem and asked me to download their test file, speeds were still just as slow, so he went to log the fault again with Eircom. Now today I got a call from an Eircom engineer saying that there was no fault and that he would come round with his own modem and if it came up saying it was connected at 3MB then there was no problem with the line, oh yeah, and he'd charged me €57 to do this. I went onto say that no way I'd pay him and that it was a complete waste of time doing this as it will say and always says it's connected at 3MB anyway and that is not the way to check download speeds. What reply did I get, that I knew nothing ! :mad: So looks like I'll be cancelling my BB then and staying well away from any provider that uses "Eircons" line.

lucernarian

@hellboy99: There's no way in hell I'd let them away with that. While you're a customer of theirs you should let them know you are still paying them.

I presume your modem shows you connected at 3072/384? What is the attenuation and signal to noise ratio like? That data will rule out a lot of possible issues.

If, as I suspect, the line stats are reasonable, then I'd point the finger at contention. Assuming your location is right, I'd say it's contention as Drogheda is having pretty bad problems with speeds/contention and Dundalk is suffering from "evening contention" from what I've heard. The smaller towns are not having contention issues though.

Find out from anyone living in the same town or area with phoneline broadband and see what company they are with. That might show if it's an eircom or BT issue.

There are a lot of complaint mechanisms. Don't let a snotty engineer dictate to you when he doesn't even know his own job properly. Hope it works out for you.

hellboy99

Thanks To_be_confirmed, I'm in Dundalk and I know a few mates of mine that are both with Esat and Eircom that are having the same problems and all started round the same time, a few weeks before Christmas. I guess I'm just gonna have to get back on to Esat, more than likely before the end of the week if I'm still having problems I'll just cancel service and go elsewhere.
It's a joke :mad:

hellboy99

Got another call from Esat TS earlier, "we'll send you another router (that will be the third one I'll have from them now :rolleyes:, four including my own, so I don't think it's a router problem ), if that doesn't work then we'll take it to the next level". What part of it's not my router do they not understand :mad:

Conar

Hey Hellboy.
Just so you know, Enfield is just as bad.
It didn't start till after Christmas but its getting worse and worse.



Thats my 3Mb BT line this evening, and thats actually quite high compared to some tests lately.

hellboy99

Another call back from Esat TS today (fair dues to them for keeping tabs on it and me informed), Eircon again have said they've fixed the line (this is the third time now in 2 weeks :rolleyes: ). I'm asked to download the BT test file and what speed do I get, 9.89KB/s :mad: ,at this stage I'd be better off getting a carrier pigeon. Not only am I fed up at this stage but by the sounds of the TS guy he is too.

And Eircom want to put line rental up :rolleyes:

dak

BT - 9pm last night ASDL dropped out for the night (Portmarnock) .Anyone else have the same problem. Anyone know if eircom are working on lines in this area ? Really annoying!

Sponge Bob

dropping DSL out for the night , or for an hour or two usually at night after 9pm , is an eircom specialty

they are constantly twiddling with firmwares on their DSL kit in the exchanges and rumour has it that they rejumper to create 'special' bundles of cable of mixed distances.

all very hush hush but long term its better for us that they learn and adapt rather than their usual customer service total crap of prentending your line works perfectly while you are looking at the cable lying in the middle of the road .

hellboy99

Got another callback from Esat TS and I'm being downgraded to 2MB to see if that works any better, "Thanks Eircon !!" :mad:
It's about time something was done with the monopoly that is Eircom.

Sponge Bob

thats OK, it means that you will pay less and maybe get a more stable connection, stable 2mb better than unstable 3mb anyday.

thumbs up to BT TS for being on the ball.

hellboy99

Sponge Bob wrote:

thats OK, it means that you will pay less and maybe get a more stable connection, stable 2mb better than unstable 3mb anyday.

thumbs up to BT TS for being on the ball.

Hopefully that does the trick, have to give the BT TS guys credit for keeping me informed and trying to get the problem fixed

lucernarian

Hopefully it will work out fine. If your attenuation was below 50 dB then I would be querying BT's idea but if above then it was probably the best thing to do.

SB, what is this rejumpering thing about? Do they join pairs together in the exchange/cabinet?

hellboy99

To_be_confirmed wrote:

If your attenuation was below 50 dB then I would be querying BT's idea

It was up on 50.5dB

lucernarian

Yikes, that's a close call. Though I understood that if a line could not manage 3072 kbps, then eircom DSL, being rate adaptive, would simply retrain to a lower speed which would have no problems. 9 KBps would be near to the minimum DSL sync speed. Have you noticed the improvement?

hellboy99

To_be_confirmed wrote:

Have you noticed the improvement?

Haven't been downgraded yet still 3MB but here's what I'm getting tonight :



BT test file downloading at 315KB/s too.

Now I'm baffled , it's going faster than it ever did before, would this be because there may not be many people on the line tonight ?

rebel.ranter

I'm with BT in Cork city (Douglas) & the speeds have gone to pot, I'm on a 1Mb line, Tech Support told me it would pass for a 4Mb connection.
It seems to have started around Christms time. It's fine right now but painfully slow ther times, especially for streaming videos etc.
PC is virus & spyware free, in fact I've tried three different laptops & a PC.
Wish they would do something to solve it.
Was onto BT CS about similar issue a while back but it fixed itself, haven't the patience to ring them again!!

lucernarian

Sounds like the attenuation is not the only issue. If you can get 315 KB at one time of the day and 9 KB at another time then it's 99.9% likely that the line is perfect. If contention is the problem, then the peak times in the evening (4.30 to 10 pm perhaps) will be the slowest. 3AM is the quietest time to use the internet in Ireland.

To be honest, I still don't buy that Esat TS answer of an unsuitable line. But the best way to tell is use the internet in the evening or early night and see if you notice a difference before or after they downgrade your speed.

rebel.ranter, file a complaint with BT as you have asked for the problem to be fixed but you are still waiting. If that doesn't work, email ComReg and explain how your official complaint with BT has not been appropriately resolved. Oh and get in touch with www.irelandoffline.org. They may be able to help you out.

hellboy99

I don't know what to make of it, looks like it could be to do with other people using the line at the same time, here's what I'm getting at the minute :



Back to dialup I think :rolleyes:

Praetor

Hi everyone

Hellboy99, to diagnose your problem I will need several things. First your modem manufacturer, then I need you to check your Downstream Noise Margin during different times.

You attenuation is a bit high, your distance to the exchange seems over 2.2 km though its hard to tell, this doesnt mean your connection should be slow though. Anyway, please post your Noise margins here and I will be able to help you further. Also if you can post your HEC errors, Super Frames, DMT Frames and if possible paste your BIN/SNR table that will be perfect.

If you dont know how to get them let me know, just tell me your router's manufacturer.

About the line test its a bit difficult to explain, BT has his hands tight. I will explain.

When BT books a broadband fault it can book it obviously for several reasons, no service (No or flashing DSL light), in sync but not connecting (solid DSL Light but cant connect to ATM network), failed install or intermittent connection.

BT sends this fault to EIRCOM where they will run a line check, then they will accept or reject the fault depending on the outcome of the test. For example, if you are complaining of no sync and they detect that the service is in sync then they will automatically reject that fault. Another example will be that they might see that your PSTN line is faulty, so instead of them booking a PSTN line fault they will reject the fault waiting for your ISP, in this case BT, to book it for you (if you are with them, otherwise they will call you back so you'll do it).

Once that's done they will send an engineer to check this at the Exchange, if the engineer sees that the circuit in fine there then he will not proceed any further as, legaly stated on EIRCOMs SLA, they dont have to. They are basically saying that Broadband is working fine. Now this doesnt mean that there isnt a problem but that Broadband itself is there, if there is a problem it must be between the MDF and the customers ATU-R (router).

Now you will all be saying, but isnt EIRCOm suppose to fix it up to the NTU/NTP localted at customers premises?

Well yes and no. Unfortunately there are no Broadband regulations, comreg cannot do anything about this, and unfortunately neither can ISPs.

The only possible solution is that you get a PSTN line booked (only if your line tests red) and get an engineer out, he, if you are lucky, will maximum change your NTU or main point socket. He will make sure that the telephone is working and, thats about it.

Now, to be honest its very very difficult that a problem might ocurr between the DSLAM and the CPE, with this I mean the Exchange and your house, well, more than your house your Eircom Box or NTU, depending on your line setup.

Most of the time the problem is internal wiring, interferences or contention issues, if your have a strong signal of course.

There is a lot more than you can possibly imagine, anyway i'm writing too much...

just paste here your logs please I need a bit more information.

Thanks!!!

hellboy99

Here you go Praetor & thanks

Modem : ZyXel Prestige 630-11 USB

ADSL PERFORMANCE PARAMETER LOG
______________________________
NT: no configuration parameters
 
NT side operational data
actualBitrateFarInt= 384 kbit/s
actualBitrateFarFast= 0 kbit/s
actualBitrateNearInt= 3072 kbit/s
actualBitrateNearFast= 0 kbit/s
relCapacityOccupationUpstr= 47 %
relCapacityOccupationDnstr= 51 %
noiseMarginUpstr= 13.0 dB
noiseMarginDnstr= 10.0 dB
outputPowerDnstr= 12.0 dBm
outputPowerUpstr= 0.5 dBm
attenuationUpstr= 31.0 dB
attenuationDnstr= 50.0 dB
NT: no attainable bitrate
Carrier Load Upstream
Tone 0: 0 bits/symbol
Tone 1: 0 bits/symbol
Tone 2: 0 bits/symbol
Tone 3: 0 bits/symbol
Tone 4: 0 bits/symbol
Tone 5: 0 bits/symbol
Tone 6: 0 bits/symbol
Tone 7: 2 bits/symbol
Tone 8: 2 bits/symbol
Tone 9: 3 bits/symbol
Tone 10: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 11: 5 bits/symbol
Tone 12: 6 bits/symbol
Tone 13: 6 bits/symbol
Tone 14: 6 bits/symbol
Tone 15: 6 bits/symbol
Tone 16: 7 bits/symbol
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Tone 19: 7 bits/symbol
Tone 20: 7 bits/symbol
Tone 21: 6 bits/symbol
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Tone 24: 6 bits/symbol
Tone 25: 5 bits/symbol
Tone 26: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 27: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 28: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 29: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 30: 0 bits/symbol
Tone 31: 0 bits/symbol
Carrier Load Downstream
Tone 32: 0 bits/symbol
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Tone 49: 9 bits/symbol
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Tone 54: 9 bits/symbol
Tone 55: 9 bits/symbol
Tone 56: 9 bits/symbol
Tone 57: 9 bits/symbol
Tone 58: 7 bits/symbol
Tone 59: 8 bits/symbol
Tone 60: 9 bits/symbol
Tone 61: 9 bits/symbol
Tone 62: 9 bits/symbol
Tone 63: 9 bits/symbol
Tone 64: 9 bits/symbol
Tone 65: 9 bits/symbol
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Tone 69: 8 bits/symbol
Tone 70: 9 bits/symbol
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Tone 72: 2 bits/symbol
Tone 73: 9 bits/symbol
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Tone 106: 8 bits/symbol
Tone 107: 7 bits/symbol
Tone 108: 8 bits/symbol
Tone 109: 7 bits/symbol
Tone 110: 7 bits/symbol
Tone 111: 7 bits/symbol
Tone 112: 7 bits/symbol
Tone 113: 7 bits/symbol
Tone 114: 7 bits/symbol
Tone 115: 7 bits/symbol
Tone 116: 7 bits/symbol
Tone 117: 7 bits/symbol
Tone 118: 7 bits/symbol
Tone 119: 7 bits/symbol
Tone 120: 6 bits/symbol
Tone 121: 7 bits/symbol
Tone 122: 6 bits/symbol
Tone 123: 6 bits/symbol
Tone 124: 6 bits/symbol
Tone 125: 6 bits/symbol
Tone 126: 6 bits/symbol
Tone 127: 5 bits/symbol
Tone 128: 5 bits/symbol
Tone 129: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 130: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 131: 0 bits/symbol
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Tone 133: 4 bits/symbol
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Tone 135: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 136: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 137: 5 bits/symbol
Tone 138: 5 bits/symbol
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Tone 141: 5 bits/symbol
Tone 142: 5 bits/symbol
Tone 143: 5 bits/symbol
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Tone 145: 5 bits/symbol
Tone 146: 2 bits/symbol
Tone 147: 5 bits/symbol
Tone 148: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 149: 5 bits/symbol
Tone 150: 5 bits/symbol
Tone 151: 5 bits/symbol
Tone 152: 5 bits/symbol
Tone 153: 5 bits/symbol
Tone 154: 5 bits/symbol
Tone 155: 4 bits/symbol
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Tone 159: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 160: 2 bits/symbol
Tone 161: 0 bits/symbol
Tone 162: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 163: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 164: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 165: 2 bits/symbol
Tone 166: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 167: 0 bits/symbol
Tone 168: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 169: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 170: 4 bits/symbol
Tone 171: 2 bits/symbol
Tone 172: 3 bits/symbol
Tone 173: 0 bits/symbol
Tone 174: 2 bits/symbol
Tone 175: 0 bits/symbol
Tone 176: 2 bits/symbol
Tone 177: 0 bits/symbol
Tone 178: 2 bits/symbol
Tone 179: 2 bits/symbol
Tone 180: 2 bits/symbol
Tone 181: 3 bits/symbol
Tone 182: 3 bits/symbol
Tone 183: 3 bits/symbol
Tone 184: 3 bits/symbol
Tone 185: 2 bits/symbol
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Tone 187: 2 bits/symbol
Tone 188: 0 bits/symbol
Tone 189: 2 bits/symbol
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Tone 201: 2 bits/symbol
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Tone 204: 0 bits/symbol
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Tone 208: 2 bits/symbol
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Tone 253: 0 bits/symbol
Tone 254: 0 bits/symbol
Tone 255: 0 bits/symbol
 
Performance Counters
Near End FecNotInterleaved= 0
Near End FecInterleaved= 0
Near End CrcNotInterleaved= 0
Near End CrcInterleaved= 141
Near End HecNotInterleaved= 0
Near End HecInterleaved= 75
Far End FecNotInterleaved= 0
Far End FecInterleaved= 0
Far End CrcNotInterleaved= 0
Far End CrcInterleaved= 1
Far End HecNotInterleaved= 0
Far End HecInterleaved= 0
 
Defects Bitmaps
Near End Status= 0x00
Near End Change= 0x00
Far End Status= 0x00
Far End Change= 0x00

All day Thursday the Downstream attenuation was between 50 - 60dB and the Downstream Noise margin between 7.5 - 10dB.
Last night my Downstream attenuation was at 50.5dB and the Downstream Noise margin was 14.5dB.

I've tried other various routers; wireless, ether and usb and still the same results and I've tried them all on a laptop so it's not my PC. As for internal phone wiring it's all new and the main socket is only 6ft away from my PC.

Praetor

noiseMarginUpstr= 13.0 dB
noiseMarginDnstr= 10.0 dB
outputPowerDnstr= 12.0 dBm
outputPowerUpstr= 0.5 dBm
attenuationUpstr= 31.0 dB
attenuationDnstr= 50.0 dB

The figures you must pay attention to are the following

noiseMarginDnstr= 10.0 dB
attenuationDnstr= 50.0 dB

You have some problems with the line as it can be seeing on the BIN/SNR table.

From tone 159 you start loosing bits rapidly.

Very low or nonexistent bits per tone in the high frequency band indicate the presence of a long loop, probably a bridge tap or wet section on the span.

You see high frequencies are more likely to be affected by attenuation.

Anything over 63 its normally consider "long line" and then is when you hear the famous words... you are too far from the exchange....

This is not necessarely always true but it is on 99% of the cases.

Then your noise margin is 10 which is low. A line with a Noise Margin of 10 its very likely to experience problems.

You will probably get disconnected if your noise margin drops below 6 dB.

Under normal circunstances a "normal" reading should be

DS Noise Margin: 16-24 dB
Attenuation: <25 dB

Mine for example is, right now, 31 for Noise Margin and 10 for Atten.

In theory my line should allow speeds up to 8 mbps (ADSL).

Unfortunately there is not much you can do regarding the attenuation but you could try improving your noise margin by connecting from the main socket or even installing a faceplate, but thats just my opinion and it might not make much difference.

Some other routers are known to work better with low noise margin such as Netgear or DLink but again it could perfectly be a waste of money.

Your problem is with the span, you will need to wait until EIRCOM fixes it.

Obviously this is just a basic analysis as you need a ADSL Tester to get accurate readings.

Hope it helps

hellboy99

Thanks Praetor, is it right to say then even when I am downgraded this won't solve anything.
(According to Eircom there is nothing wrong with the line and it's cleared for 3MB)