speed issues!

[#1]

Hello there.
I'm having loads of trouble with my broadband connection, in that the speeds are painfully slow. I only use the internet for general browsing, email, uploading/downloading photos, music etc but for the past week or two it's been mind numbingly slow - almost feels worse than dialup - and is very frustrating, especially for my missus who works from home and is having terrible trouble getting anything done!
I've done the fault checker and numerous speed tests on the plusnet site (results listed below) but the figures vary wildly from one test to another and I don't know what else to do (I'm not very computer literate). The phone line appears to be OK, no noise on it or anything, although my exchange is showing up as "red" in the fault checker.  I've raised a question via the help and support section (22595166) which I've just had a reply to saying the exchange problem could well affect my speeds and that until it's fixed (ETA fix date was 4 days ago!) PN can't raise a speed fault.
Speed Test Results from PN speed test page
Date Speed Achieved (kbps)
14-08-2007 16:07:19 549.4
14-08-2007 16:06:58 1773.3
14-08-2007 16:06:21 1351.4
14-08-2007 15:56:51 0
14-08-2007 15:51:42 0
14-08-2007 13:02:35 1860.5
14-08-2007 12:54:52 1875.1
14-08-2007 12:54:21 451
14-08-2007 12:52:32 1707.9
14-08-2007 12:48:22 5913.6
14-08-2007 12:46:42 3252.4
14-08-2007 12:46:06 1846.1
14-08-2007 12:45:42 1784.3
11-08-2006 17:47:48 1092.9
07-08-2007 16:08:35 0
07-08-2007 16:01:01 1528.4
07-08-2007 16:00:00 0
I've got a Voyager 105 modem which is apparently on a 6.5Mbps connection - the figures from my modem status are:
Rx data rate: 6592 kbps
Tx data rate: 448 kbps
These figures seem fine to me - they're the same as they were when my connection was running fine and at a decent speed - but I'm pretty sure they're not reflecting the service I'm getting. Is there anything I can do other than wait to see if the BT fix will sort it out?

[#2]

Hi there,
What results does a BT Speedtest give you?
I'd expect contention at the exchange to cause more issues in the evening peak times as this is when most people are using their connections.

[#3]

I tried to run that earlier and again just now, but the page just won't load!

[#4]

TBH, I wouldn't rely on the current portal speedtester, it's soon to be replaced with this one, what results does that give you?

[#5]

I tried that one twice earlier, these are the results


I've just done it again and got this - pretty poor all round

[#6]

i would rely on that one either. I have used the ookla powered speed test in the past and achieved over 11mb! which is quite obviously wrong.

[#7]

well either way, there's something not right with the figures and the way things are performing.

[#8]

Have you managed to get a result from the BT Speedtester yet?
With regard to exchange "fix" estimates.  When our exchange was in red status the fix date started off showing two-weeks hence.  However this advanced two-weeks at a time in step with the calendar.  Later it went in one-week steps until eventually it was fixed after some three months.
That doesn't help you directly but may indicate not to be surprised if the date slips.

[#9]

I've had a look at kevchalluk's BT line profiling and it looks fine, so chances are these speeds are the result of the contention at the exchange.
It might be worthwhile looking at your MTU/RWIN if it's been like this since upgrading to the higher speed service/having theaccount activated?

[#10]

Quote from: Bob

I've had a look at kevchalluk's BT line profiling and it looks fine, so chances are these speeds are the result of the contention at the exchange. It might be worthwhile looking at your MTU/RWIN if it's been like this since upgrading to the higher speed service/having theaccount activated?

i'm still not able to get any joy from the BT speedtester, and the fix date has now been "updated" to September 17th! 
the connection hasn't been this bad since upgrading to the 8mb service, it's only the last month or so that it's ground to a halt. before that everything was fine, no complaints at all.

[#11]

Hi,
Did you have a look at MTU/rWin, like Bob suggested?

[#12]

Quote from: James

Hi, Did you have a look at MTU/rWin, like Bob suggested?

er, i looked at that DSL reports test page but I kept getting ""timed out" errors - and to be honest I'm not that clued up on things like that anyway so would probably be totally baffled

[#13]

Are you able to download DrTCP from the DSLreports website?  I suggest selecting the ".exe" file, it's only 52.5KB.
If you can get that, double-click the downloaded file to run the program (it doesn't install on your computer) and post what it says in each of the boxes (including mentioning blanks).
Also post an updated set of router stats, including the Rx and Tx data rates you posted before but adding the SNR (noise) margins and attenuations.
This set of data might give clues toward resolving the problem.

[#14]

Quote from: kevchalluk

. It might be worthwhile looking at your MTU/RWIN if it's been like this since upgrading to the higher speed service/having theaccount activated?

i'm still not able to get any joy from the BT speedtester, and the fix date has now been "updated" to September 17th! 

I've tried the BT speedtester on a number of occasions.  It's very slow to load and often after putting in my phone number it takes a few minutes to move on and often comes back with an error message.
When I have managed to complete a test it gives high readings compared with a number of other speed tests.  ( Mybroadbandspeed, Thinkbroadband, dslzone etc)
How good is it?

[#15]

The BT Speedtester?  Pretty useful when it works.  It's not the most reliable resource though as it, as you have alluded to, often presents error messages.