Possible stuck profile

[#1]

Prior to going over to 21CN my profile speed would typically be 5000 - 6000 and the results of download speed tests would be within a few 100's of this figure. My initial change to 21CN (ADSL2+) resulted in a profile of 6000 and download results of 5500 to nearly 5800, again only a few 100 down. Since then my profile has increased to 8000 but download speed seems to have got stuck at 6536 +/- 1 on PlusNet test and similar results from others. Time of day does not seem to affect result. I was expecting a figure in the 7000's. Any one got any ideas please?

[#2]

[Moderator's note by Adie (Adiewoo) split from question thread for better visibility]

[#3]

Hiya,
I've double checked and your Plusnet profile of 8000Kbps matches the BT IP Profile of 8000Kbps.

[#4]

Agree that PN and BT profile are set to 8000 but why can't I get better download test speed?

[#5]

That's not a bad result.  It's fairly similar to what I get on my O2 line, with almost identical line conditions.

[#6]

the only thing you can try to squeeze every last bit of thoughput on a profile is make sure your rwin is set right for the current connection speed and your local network is performing o.k.
if you have xp then drtcp is needed but if your on vista this is automatic and it does make a gd job of it too
http://www.dslreports.com/drtcp
do the tweak tester and it will surrgest settings to enter into drtcp

[#7]

Thanks for replies above. I am still surprised at the constitancy of my download speeds which are all contained in the 6530's on PlusNet speed tester. Similar results are obtained with other testers. My operating system is Vista SP2 and modem/router is Belkin 7633. History of speed testing attached. Note consistancy since May 7 when my profile was set to 8000 which has remained static since then. Is this normal?

[#8]

That looks pretty good to me

[#9]

The system does seem to loose a lot of possible speed. Current sync speed is 9453 resulting in profile of 8000. As shown above max download as measured by speed tester is just over 6500. The system therefore seems to be gobbling up nearly 1/3 of available bandwidth for itself. This seems rather excessive to me. Prior to going onto the trial I managed just over 5000 download speed from a of profile of 5500 and sync speed of about 6400 a loss to the system of just over a 1/5. 

[#10]

You can't think of it that way.
ADSL & ADSL2+ are contended (shared) services.  There is a finite amount of bandwidth available both at our end and at BTs end.  Because it's shared, you may only get the full capabilities of your broadband connection when others are asleep, on other words, when there are less people using the service.

[#11]

But it doesn't seem to be working that way. If you examine my speed table above you will see that download speeds are almost identical whether I test morning, late afternoon or just before 10:00pm. Its the very small range of download speed differences that makes me think something on my system or elsewhere is 'capping' the max download speed. Before switching to the 21CN trial I could see the effects of contention as speed tests would result in poorer download speeds as the day wore on and into the evening but this does not seem to be happening now. I will try to do some testing later in the day/evening to see if it makes a difference.

[#12]

Have now performed speed tests at various times of day and night and they are all within a spread of 6532 - 6538 so I don't think contention is the factor here. Connection seems to be very stable with only recent re-sync being induced by me. I have attached recent speed test results and router stats. The fact that speed doesn't change more throughout the day seems strange to me, does it to others?

[#13]

Yep - It doesn't look like contention.
It could possibly help with some MTU & rWin tweaking though.
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/troubleshooting/rwin_guide.shtml
Can you please try with an MTU of 1430 (on your router and your computer) and using a receive wiondow of 111200 and see if you notice an improvement.  You will need to reboot your router and your computer after making these chanegs.

[#14]

James,
I looked at your recommendations above, but I am running Vista and DSLreports suggests that no changes should be/can be made. Would you agree or am I reading it wrongly? My BT/PN profile has dropped from 8000 to 7150 but my speedtester download speed remains in the 6530's which seems strange to me. I would have thought a drop in profile would also result in a drop in download speed?
My sync speed has remained at 9484 (other than a short drop to 4/5000 which soon self corrected) but profile has fallen from 8000 to 7150. Kitz site suggests that for a sync speed of 9484 that profile should be 8000. Why isn't mine?

[#15]

Hiya,
Bt say that they saw a sync speed of 8192Kbps yesterday, hence why the profile has remained at 7150Kbps.
Hopefully it should pick up in a few days if you're getting the higher speed currently.