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Slow broadband - network problem?

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ec5778
Grafter
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Registered: ‎16-04-2018

Slow broadband - network problem?

Today I have noticed the internet has been slower and less reliable than usual. Normally pages load pretty quickly and we don't have to wait for images to download (reminds me of the dial-up days!) however today things have been slow.

 

The router appears to be syncing fine - here is the information from the "helpdesk" page:

1 - Product name: Plusnet Router
2 - Serial number: xxxxxx 
3 - Firmware version: 7.275.6_F2704N_Plusnet
4 - Board version: F@ST2704N
5 - Mode ADSL
6 - Uptime: 0 days 00:12:01
7 - Data rate: 1169/10696
8 - Maximum data rate: 1184/11396
9 - Noise margin: 6.4/2.9
10 - Line attenuation: 18.5/36.5
12 - Data sent/received: 9.8M/110.5M
20 - Broadband username: <removed>
21 - Wi-Fi network/SSID: Ournet
22 - Wi-Fi connections: Enable(802.11 b/g/n(up to 144 Mb/s))20 MHz WPS disabled
23 - Wi-Fi security: WPA2
24 - Wi-Fi channel: Automatic (Smart Wireless)
25 - Firewall: Default
26 - MAC Address: b8:ee:0e:65:96:a3
27 - Software variant Version 1.0
28 - Boot loader: 7.275.6

 

If I read that correctly it should give me speeds of approximately 8-10Mbps and indeed that's what I used to get when I would run an internet speed test.

Now if I run an internet speed test I'm getting speeds in the range 2-4Mbps, and if I actually try to download a file the 'real' speed reported by my browser is closer to 1Mbps.

Interestingly, the BT Wholesale Speed Checker is producing much better results, showing 7.75Mbps but even though it gives me those results I can't seem to get that for any of my other browsing.

In case of any interference on WiFi or unexpected traffic from other devices I tried connecting my laptop directly to the router using an ethernet cable and disabling the WiFi from the router's admin pages to eliminate all possible other traffic or interference. but this made no difference. I have also restarted the router and tried reseating the telephone line cable with the RJ11 connector. My phone socket has an ADSL faceplate installed so I don't need microfilters.

Right now browsing the internet feels slightly faster than it did earlier this afternoon (around 4pm) but internet speed tests are still showing poor speeds. Please can you look into this?

Thanks

 

Moderator's note by Adie (Dvorak) obfuscated the serial number

47 REPLIES 47
Gel
Aspiring Champion
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Re: Slow broadband - network problem?

If data in your post was via wifi, you need to recheck using a network lead; does that significantly change figures?
Next suggestion is to plug router into BT's Master Socket, Test Socket; this would eliminate internal wiring
problems in your property. Any change?

jab1
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Re: Slow broadband - network problem?

@ec5778  The only thing on your 'helpdesk' shot that strikes me ia your download SNR figure - it suggests you have been given a 3dB profile, and unless you are quite close to the exchange with a good quality line, my experience says that is too low.

Have you noticed a large number of disconnections recently?, as I see you had only got an uptime of 12 minutes in your data.

John
ec5778
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Re: Slow broadband - network problem?

Thanks @Gel and @jab1 

 

My original message was a bit long so some of the details may have got a bit buried but I did say:

@Gel - I had tried disabling WiFi on the router (to eliminate any other possible traffic) and connecting via an ethernet cable

 

@jab1 - The uptime of 12 minutes is because I had just restarted the router to see if that would help.

 

The master socket isn't easily accessible, it requires moving furniture so as to be able to get a screwdriver in to unscrew the faceplate.

Yes the SNR is low but I think its probably always been like that, maybe not that low I can't remember but the sync speeds are definitely similar to what I've had previously. I haven't noticed a lot of disconnections.

 

Any other ideas? Because the link is stable and sync speeds are as high as they always were I'm wondering if its a network/traffic shaping issue, could our account have been accidentally throttled?

jab1
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Re: Slow broadband - network problem?

@ec5778 I suspected you might have tried a router reboot, so no worries on that score.

PN don't do traffic shaping/throttling, so that shouldn't be an issue. From the data in your original post, I can't see anything obvious, so I'm afraid you'll have to hope one of the Help Team pick this up and run some tests for you.

If I do have any more thoughts, I'll come back to you.

John
BD
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
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Re: Slow broadband - network problem?

Hi @ec5778, I'm sorry to hear you've been having conenction issues as of recent. As @jab1 pointed out, the 3dB SNR ratio is concerning and more than likely what's behind teh intermittent conenction you're seeing your side. Although 3dB can work on some shorter lines, yours seems to need a bump up in SNR given the line length and errors showing more than likely due to this.

The good news is it's a fairly easy fix and I have placed an order to up your signal strength which should complete pretty much straight away. If you can then, please turn the router off and then on the connection should be back to normal for you. Let us know how it goes.

 

ec5778
Grafter
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Re: Slow broadband - network problem?

Hi BD,

Thanks very much for your message and for looking into it.

We noticed that the internet seems to have just re-sycned on its own.

The SNR has changed, its now showing

9 - Noise margin:

7.3/6.0

 

However speed test results are still low (I'm getting 3.75Mbps when we used to get around 9Mbps). I don't think the SNR was a problem as we haven't been noticing an intermittent connection, it seems just as stable as it always was - but very slow. That's why I wondered if there was some network issue on Plusnet's side?

Given that it has just resynced of its own accord is there still any benefit in restarting the router myself?

Thanks again for getting back to me

ec5778
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Re: Slow broadband - network problem?

We've just tried restarting the router anyway and we're still getting the same results.

Oh, and the other reason I wondered if it was something on Plusnet's side is that BT Wholesale speed tester consistently gives much higher readings than any other speed test or download that we do - they tend to be approximately double although still lower than we had previously.

jab1
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Re: Slow broadband - network problem?

In that case, @ec5778 , you still have an underlying issue - sorry.

@BD Any further thoughts?

John
BD
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
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Registered: ‎24-04-2017

Re: Slow broadband - network problem?

Hi @ec5778, thank you for getting back to us.

When testing, we are still seeing a few errored seconds coming through here and there which if flarring up during your speed tests could very well be impacting the speed results. We wouldn't expect errored seconds (especially of this few) to be causing a constant 6Mbps or so speed loss however. One thing it may be which we see occur from time to time is a potential wrong reading from speed tests so something I'd recommend if you haven't already is try a different speed test on a wired conenction to see if the problem persists. Having said that, if you have another wired device I'd also suggest checking teh speed on there also to rule the device out as the issue.

 

I'll be honest in that if the SNR change hasn't done the trick there's no real hints this side as to what's behind the loss of throughput your side. One troubleshoot step we'd always suggest (and may hopefully rid of any errored seconds showing) would be to get the rotuer in the optimal set-up and see if the issue persists.

This can be done by plugging your router into your test socket which is under the faceplate of your master socket and seeing if the speed issue persists. This rules out internal wiring, face plates and extension sockets as being the cause. How to locate the test socket and set your connection into it can be found here:
https://community.plus.net/t5/Library/Testing-From-The-Master-Socket/ba-p/1322242

 

If the problem still persists then the next step would be rasiing a fault to investigate further. Please report the issue here and let us know when you've completed it.

ec5778
Grafter
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Registered: ‎16-04-2018

Re: Slow broadband - network problem?

I've now tried connecting two different routers to the test socket underneath the faceplates (I normally have an ADSL filter faceplate installed).

 

Results are in the same range - 2-4Mbps instead of the usual 8-10Mbps.

I've tried with:

  • multiple computers (not at the same time!)
  • ethernet and Wireless (for the ethernet tests I ensured nothing else was connected to the WiFi by changing the SSID for the duration of the test to ensure there was no interference)
  • two different routers - a plusnet one and the old Technicolor one from a previous provider

I've completed that troubleshooter that you linked to and I'll wait to hear back from you.

 

Thanks

TheMightyAJ
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Re: Slow broadband - network problem?

Hi @ec5778,

Thanks for going through the troubleshooter and providing this information. I've raised a further response via the ticket raised on your account, which can be viewed here. Once you've had the chance to respond to the ticket please let us know and we'll pick this back up as soon as possible.

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Alex H
 Plusnet Help Team
DS
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Re: Slow broadband - network problem?

The only thing I can suggest

Oh, and the other reason I wondered if it was something on Plusnet's side is that BT Wholesale speed tester consistently gives much higher readings than any other speed test or download that we do - they tend to be approximately double although still lower than we had previously.

Were these carried out using the same browser?

(if not, ignore this)

I've found that some browsers give incorrect results. One, which I use often, is Firefox.

Internet Explorer, or Edge (for windows 10), seem to give more realistic and consistent figures across multiple test sites.

ec5778
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Registered: ‎16-04-2018

Re: Slow broadband - network problem?

@TheMightyAJ Thanks for your message - that was quick! I've replied to the ticket.

@DS I'm using a Linux machine so I don't have Internet Explorer or Edge available but I've tried Chrome and Firefox from a variety of different sites and they're all giving similar results (except the BT Wholesale Speed tester which always gives much higher results than other speed testers)

DS
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Re: Slow broadband - network problem?

I've still got some systems on 95, 98, 2k, xp, vista (all in storage) and W7. Obviously W10, but never tried Linux myself. I might do one day.

For a while FF was right on BTw but IE/E were wrong. Now it tends to be the other way around.

I know the TBBspeedtest gives okay(ish) downloads on FF but sticks at 2Mbps on the upload, whereas IE/E both work fine with TBB.

Must admit not tried Chrome for a while - had too many so got rid of most.

 

If you use BTw, make sure you do the further diagnostics (tap3) test as these get saved to their server (PN can access them from there).