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Unusual Speed Problem?

jayelem
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎18-06-2013

Unusual Speed Problem?

I am a new PlusNet fibre customer, and after the settling-in period, I am seeing about 25Mbs download speed and ~60ms ping  (wired, and also with PPPoE test direct into BT modem) on my XP laptop, two Win7 laptops and an iPad.  After lots of tests and OpenReach visits, the third OpenReach guy connected his Win8 laptop, and wham! 10ms ping and 70Mbs download, making me look a bit silly.
I am convinced now my line is OK (and PlusNet were very good at service and follow-up, BTW) so all the normal ISP-type advice isn't relevant, but my problem is, where to from here? 
It seems unlikely that all four of my machines have the same fault, but I can't deny the OpenReach figures were perfect.  Any idea what I can configure in my PC(s) or router to help?  Would a new router do it? (The Technicolor 528 seems very flimsy) or is it just that without the very latest hardware/software you can't get the best speeds.  My laptop is 1.7GHz processor 1.5GB RAM, Win XP
Thanks for any comments
12 REPLIES 12
ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
Thanks: 631
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Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: Unusual Speed Problem?

What security software the Windows machines run could be a factor.
jayelem
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎18-06-2013

Re: Unusual Speed Problem?

Thanks for the comment.  Can you explain a bit more?  I've tried temporarily disabling both firewall and anti-virus to no effect, and the WinXP and Win7 machines obviously have different settings.  The iPad is also completely different, of course, but I'm told an iPad won't ever exceed about 35 wirelessly.  How could I test this?
w23
Pro
Posts: 6,347
Thanks: 96
Fixes: 4
Registered: ‎08-01-2008

Re: Unusual Speed Problem?

The majority of speedtests use flash/http, just out of interest what does this one give you: http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest.html (still flash but the first download test is a custom protocol, not http and give me good results when my laptop gets stuck on a low CPU speed - a strange problem it is sufering at the moment).
Call me 'w23'
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jayelem
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎18-06-2013

Re: Unusual Speed Problem?

No different really 23 down, 11 up.  I'm convinced it's not a testing problem, given OpenReach results
ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
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Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: Unusual Speed Problem?

It's not obvious whether you run the same security software on all the Win computers or not. Also, you can't always fully disable security software without uninstalling it.
I've got an old desktop with a pretty slow 2.0GHz processor, and a newer laptop with a much faster, but still 2.0GHz, processor. So "1.7GHz processor" doesn't tell us very much. However, if it's old enough to come with XP then it's probably several years old and fairly slow. The Win 7 laptops presumably date from 2009+ and should be perfectly capable of handling the fibre speeds.
Jaggies
Aspiring Pro
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Registered: ‎29-06-2010

Re: Unusual Speed Problem?

Could be the RWIN setting if you are using XP - take a look at DrTCP.
Read this page for further information - change the "Jump to topic" selection to "Receive Window".
w23
Pro
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Registered: ‎08-01-2008

Re: Unusual Speed Problem?

Thinking a bit more about this, the Openreach engineer presumably didn't connect using your Plusnet login details so it could be your Plusnet line profile that's amiss.
What is your 'Current line speed' here: https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=data_transfer_speed ?
Call me 'w23'
At any given moment in the universe many things happen. Coincidence is a matter of how close these events are in space, time and relationship.
Opinions expressed in forum posts are those of the poster, others may have different views.
jayelem
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎18-06-2013

Re: Unusual Speed Problem?

Thanks again for the comment.  The speed you asked about is 69.6, but as this is based on the sync speed, isn't that the same as the 70Mbs measured by OpenReach at my master socket? As I said, I'm convinced now the line is OK.
w23
Pro
Posts: 6,347
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Registered: ‎08-01-2008

Re: Unusual Speed Problem?

That should give a much better throughput than you're seeing - something is still definitely wrong.
Sorry if I've missed it but have you done a BTW Performance test (then run 'further diagnostics' to get your BT IP profile - this should indicate your current sync speed (less 3.3%))?
If that's correct (should be almost exactly the same as the Plusnet Current Line Speed as above) then it could be exchange congestion or something alse requiring further investigation by Plusnet.
Call me 'w23'
At any given moment in the universe many things happen. Coincidence is a matter of how close these events are in space, time and relationship.
Opinions expressed in forum posts are those of the poster, others may have different views.
jayelem
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎18-06-2013

Re: Unusual Speed Problem?

I did many BTW tests (PlusNet insist on it, though most of the BT guys just use Speedtest.net.  Personally, I believe the BTW test is the more accurate.  All the BTW tests I did on my laptop were typically 25Mbs.  The OpenReach result was on Speedtest.net, which in my experience, gives lower results.  I'm pretty sure the line is OK, it's been tested so much.
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: Unusual Speed Problem?

Might well be worth reporting a fault then, as your PN profile is currently at 69600kb/s and your BT side profile is showing at 69734. It would (as posted above) be good to know what your downstream profile is reported as on the BT Wholesale speed test: http://speedtest.btwholesale.com to see if that's any different to what we're seeing but either way I think this needs investigating with our suppliers.
jayelem
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎18-06-2013

Re: Unusual Speed Problem?

Matt.  Thanks for the reply, but I think we're way beyond that point.  I started the BB troubleshooter in April, and from that, I've had many Engineer visits, BT's Triage Team, Plusnet's suppliers, and the secondary team look at this.  The bottom line is that with a new Win8 laptop, the connection flies, so I'm now convinced the line is OK, and it's been tested to death, with not only no faults found, but with very few errors in the download test.
  My point was more that if there is something not quite right with all my PCs etc, I have no idea how to go about fixing that.  BTW Speedtest regularly reports 25Mbs on my laptop, iPad and on other Win7 machines. 
One thing I did was try a much newer Win 7 laptop, which reported 66Mbs wired, but only 30Mbs wirelessly, even though the laptop was within a few inches of the router.  I don't know if it will help, but the a technicolor doesn't look the best piece of hardware to me, and others say its WiFi performance is poor, so I'm going to try a new router.  (Just to be clear, though, all tests I've quoted have been wired).
Finally, as I said, I'be been impressed by Plusnet's service.  I was previously with Supanet, who seemed to me to verge on the criminal.