Issue with BT's SpeedTester - can't access second test

[#1]

Hello,
I am trying to test my broadband speed (which seems pretty slow) - and I read that I should use the BT internal speed tester.
I have visited the site and successfully completed the first test  (results in the picture below) however I am unable to  get to the second test and was wondering if anyone had any tips or could see what I'm doing wrong.

The speedtester site says that I ought to change my dsl login in my router from myname@plusdsl.net to bt_test_user@plusdsl.net then revisit the speedtester site.
I have attempted this, but every time I change the login details I cannot load the speedtester site.  The router successfully gets a PPPoA connection up, but its as if the address speedtester.bt.com will not resolve.  I have tried quitting the browser and renewing my DCHP lease from the router (thus getting any new DNS server addresses) but nothing works.
Does anyone else know what I'm doing wrong?  Many thanks in advance for any help.

[#2]

I wouldn't worry for the moment about being unable to access the second stage of the BT test. The low-speed problem on the first test is likely to be due to the after effects of syncing at a very low speed which restarting the router has eliminated.
Could you check the Current line speed shown in the Member Centre here. If the value is 250kbps that is the cause of your low speeds. It should update automatically to match the BT IP Profile value of 2000kbps shown by the BT speedtest  (the correct value for a sync speed of 2752kbps), but the update can take 12-24hours to filter through from BT Wholesale and be applied.
From your sync speed I assume you are some distance from the exchange. Posting your router stats here (sync speeds/line rates/bandwidths, attenuations, and SN/noise margins) helps us give better comment. See Kitz's frogstats page if you are unsure how to get these.

[#3]

Thanks very much for the reply.
I had terribly low sync rates for most of last week (sub 500Kbps) and noise on my phone - it turned out to be a faulty microfilter / mastersocket faceplate - which I removed on about tuesday (three days ago.)  
My current line speed is indeed 250.  
I am quite a distance from the exchange and quite rural.  Here are the stats from my router:

	                DSL Status: 	 Up	 	 
 	 	 	DSL Modulation Mode: 	 GDMT	 	 
 	 	 	DSL Path Mode: 	 INTERLEAVED	 	 
 	 	 	Downstream Rate: 	 2528 Kbps	 	 
 	 	 	Upstream Rate: 	 448 Kbps	 	 
 	 	 	Downstream Margin: 	 1 db	 	 
 	 	 	Upstream Margin: 	 17 db	 	 
 	 	 	Downstream Line Attenuation: 	 55	 	 
 	 	 	Upstream Line Attenuation: 	 31	 	 
 	 	 	Downstream Transmit Power: 	 0	 	 
 	 	 	Upstream Transmit Power: 	 0

if it helps here are even more stats:

ADSL Line Type	       GDMT
ADSL Line Coding     ADSL 
Line Coding	               INTERLEAVED
Line Attenuation	       (Down):55  (Up):31
Noise Margin	       (Down):4  (Up):17
Total Output Power    (Down):0  (Up):0
Current State	       DownStr: 2528(K)  UpStr: 448(K)
undefined	               UP
FEC(FAST)	              (Near):0  (Far):0
FEC(INTERL)	      (Near):12988  (Far):2848002
CRC(FAST)	              (Near):0  (Far):0
undefined	              (Near):44  (Far):68
HEC(FAST)	              (Near):0  (Far):0
HEC(FAST)	              (Near):68  (Far):0
Showtime last(sec)    1267229471
ADSL FW Version      0.52
ADSL Board Type      Annex A

[#4]

OK, definitely no need to bother about the second stage of the BT speedtester checks. In fact it's rarely worth bothering about it unless specifically asked to do it by Plusnet faults analysts.
To get your speeds up quickly I suggest you give the CSC a ring and ask for your Plusnet profile to be increased to 2000kbps to match that shown by the BT speedtester. That can be done in a couple of minutes - though you might get told it will happen automatically but you need to wait 3 days. That isn't correct - the comment refers to the BT value which has already increased.
After it has been changed you need to disconnect from Plusnet, then reconnect to see the effect. If your router has an Internet disconnect/ reconnect button clicking that (twice) will do the necessary, no need to restart the router and re-sync. Doing a re-sync after dark is best avoided since noise margins are normally at their lowest then.
Your stats show a lower sync speed now than earlier, and the downstream noise margin is only 1dB in the first list, 4dB in the second - the target noise margin is 6dB. I think it would be useful to monitor the variations if possible. What make/model of router do you have?

[#5]

Thanks for the help.
It turns out that the microfilter wasn't what was causing the noise on the line - it comes and goes and my sync rate goes up and down like a tart's knickers.
Speed currently an acceptable 1.3Mb/s - but I'm not sure how to report noise on the line to BT when it's intermittent, an engineer came last week and couldn't do anything because there was no noise at all.  Hmm...

[#6]

Quote from: Diggory

I'm not sure how to report noise on the line to BT when it's intermittent

There is no easy way to schedule a BT engineer to co-incide with the noise, unless you happen to notice that it occurs at certain times of day, or certain days of the week.
The one positive thing you can do is to call 154, and report it as a noise fault, at a time it is actually being noisy - at least the other person will be able to hear the noise on the line at the time.