5mb, 1.8mb.... 0.234kb/s?!

[#1]

Hey folks
Bit of a story for you lot but hope you dont mind..
About 6 months or so ago, we were with TalkTalk for both phone and broadband and we were getting a constant speed of between 4-5mb/s even at peak hours. Because funds were short we decided to try and get something cheaper so we though, PlusNet :)... Everything went through and our connection dipped to between 1mb and 1.8mb/s which was a bit of a let down but could still do our daily things (download/games etc etc)... Our last bill was due on the 26th of October and we didnt have the funds to pay until yesterday. In total we had been cut off for 3 days for non payments.
So finally we got it paid and they said that the broadband will be back on within 15 minutes of the phone call and the phone will be back on within 20 minutes.. Sure enough, it was back on... INCREDIBLY SLOW!!!
Here are 2 small screenshots of 2 different broadband speed checks:
1st: Tested whilst loading a forum topic with about 10 high-res pictures on -

2nd: Tested just now with nothing else using the internet -

As you can see, pretty damn slow!  I thought my best bet would be to enquire here to see if i can get any resolve on the matter before taking my frutrations out on some poor innocent call center agent haha
Also, ive noticed in a few other posts people copying and pasting thier net stats so here's mine (from what i can gather they're the important ones haha)
ADSL Modulation : ADSL2 PLUS
Cable Status : ADSL Link Up
Downstream Line Rate : 286 kbps
Upstream Line Rate : 410 kbps
Mode: ADSL2 PLUS
Type: ANNEX_A
Status: Showtime

                          Downstream Upstream
Rate (Kbps):               286 kbps 410 kbps

SNR Margin (dB):        18.9 10.8
Attenuation (dB):                 69.0 41.1
Output Power (dBm):         14.3 11.3

Super Frames:         1498464 1498466
RS Correctable Errors:    26440 186
RS Uncorrectable Errors:       0 175

HEC Errors:                               0 0
Total Cells:                   567537 211172
Data Cells:             16626020 2308324
Bit Errors:                               0 0

[#2]

Have you been rebooting your router a lot?

[#3]

Nope... reset it yesterday before the internet come back on.

[#4]

Your downstream attenuation is 69dB.  You could not possibly ever get even close 4-5 Mbps with that attenuation so you must have an incredibly bad connection somewhere.  Look for detached or nearly-detached wires or broken cables.  Do you have a dog or cat that likes to chew things?

[#5]

Or nappied occupants that can get everywhere they shouldn't?

[#6]

Is this over the same set of wires that you had TalkTalk or did you have a new line put in when you left them? As ReedRichards pointed out there's no way you'd get the speeds you suggest on TalkTalk with that attenuation.

[#7]

Your connection is dropping out fairly frequently, add that into the high attenuation and it's going to leave you with a very low speed.
Are you plugged into the master socket through a single filter and have you checked that all other telephone sockets that are in use have a filter on them too?
Is there any noise on the phone line? Dial 17070 and follow the steps for a quiet line test.

[#8]

Also are you using just the lead supplied with the router to plug in to the telephone socket without any extension leads?

[#9]

Its plugged into the main phone socket with a single filter and no other outlet has anything plugged into it. Its tucked away nicely behind the couch and not been disturbed or new lines been fitted or anything like that. There is an extension but for the phone... Basically the DSL Filter is plugged into the socket and from there i have a cable running to the router and and extension for the phone.
Also, ive done a distance check to my nearest telephone exchange and we are 2.09km away in a straight line (obviously the cables differ in length)... My friend also did a check on how far he is away from his nearest exchange and he is 3.59km away... We have also checked his line Attenuation and his is as follows:
Line Attenuation Up 61.0 dB Down 38.0 dB
As you can see there is a 5db difference between my up Attenuation and his and a 4db difference on the Down.... But he gets a constant 3mb.....

[#10]

Can you unplug the phone extension and grab the line stats from the router again? Post them up so we can see if it's made a difference.

[#11]

DSL Line Speed
up 406 kbps

down 286 kbps

Line Attenuation
up 41.0

down 69.0
It was saying that the down was 66.0 before unplugging the phone extension....

[#12]

Ok, i thought i may aswell have a little looksee at the stats if i plugged the router into the test socket in the main socket... Exactly the same stats bar a .4db on the upstream Attenuation.... I just want my tinterwebs back 

[#13]

Quote from: DJSmurf

We have also checked his line Attenuation and his is as follows: Line Attenuation Up 61.0 dB Down 38.0 dB As you can see there is a 5db difference between my up Attenuation and his and a 4db difference on the Down.... But he gets a constant 3mb.....

His downstream attenuation is 38dB, yours is 69dB.  That's a 31dB difference (or 8dB if you quoted his figures the wrong way round).  Can you try a different cable between the router and the socket?

[#14]

Broadly speaking, you need your downstream attenuation to be 50dB or less to achieve 5Mbps sync rate.  At 69dB your signal is around one hudredth of the strength required for that speed.  That's down to the laws of physics, not who your ISP happens to be.  There is a calculator here you can play with http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/max_speed_calc.php but it won't accept any attenuation figure greater than 67dB

[#15]

Quote from: ReedRichards

Quote from: DJSmurf We have also checked his line Attenuation and his is as follows: Line Attenuation Up 61.0 dB Down 38.0 dB As you can see there is a 5db difference between my up Attenuation and his and a 4db difference on the Down.... But he gets a constant 3mb..... His downstream attenuation is 38dB, yours is 69dB.  That's a 31dB difference (or 8dB if you quoted his figures the wrong way round).  Can you try a different cable between the router and the socket?

Yeah, got it mixed up.... and my 69db has now gone down to 66db, thats why i said 5db difference... The cable is roughly 2 months old, i cant see it being that and i think i binned the other one....
Here's the comparison between my Stats and my friends:
My friends -
Mine -