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ADSL Connection/Speed Problems

jennystead
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎07-10-2015

ADSL Connection/Speed Problems

Hello,
I have a slow broadband connection and was hoping my stats might help point towards a potential cause. I'm using the master socket for phone and router (using microfilter). I have a download speed of 2.43Mbps using the BT speed test link, how do I get this closer to the 7.15Mbps max achievable speed?
All tests done on the 7th of Oct 2015 at around 10am
Using a BT Home Hub 4, so unfortunately not all stats are available, helpdesk report is as follows...
1. Product name: BT Home Hub
2. Serial number: +068340+NQ40735333
3. Firmware version: Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.130.1.26 (Type A) Last updated 02/05/15
4. Board version: BT Hub 4A
5. ADSL uptime: 0 days, 15:23:45
6. Bandwidth: 448 / 3424
7. Data sent/received: 225.0 MB / 3.9 GB
8. Broadband username: @@@@@@@@@@
9. BT Wi-fi: No
10. 2.4 GHz Wireless network/SSID: BTHub4-RNF5
11. 2.4 GHz Wireless connections: Enabled (802.11 b/g/n (up to 144 Mb/s))
12. 2.4 GHz Wireless security: WPA and WPA2
13. 2.4 GHz Wireless channel: Automatic (Smart Wireless)
14. 5 GHz Wireless network/SSID: BTHub4-RNF5
15. 5 GHz Wireless connections: Enabled (802.11 a/n (up to 300 Mb/s))
16. 5 GHz Wireless security: WPA2
17. 5 GHz Wireless channel: Automatic (Smart Wireless)
18. Firewall: Default
19. MAC Address: 34:8a:ae:a6:1c:1a
20. VPI/VCI: 0 / 38
21. Modulation: G.992.1 Annex A
22. Latency type: Interleaved
23. Software variant: -
24. Boot loader: -
==================================
From the Event Log the last re connection details...
12:06:25, 07 Oct. (64146.450000) DSL noise margin: 23.00 dB upstream, 9.10 dB downstream
12:06:24, 07 Oct. (64146.380000) DSL line rate: 448 Kbps upstream, 3776 Kbps downstream
===================================
Taken from plusnet (Phone number and exchange removed)
Estimated line speed:
2.0Mb (This may vary between 1.5Mb and 4.5Mb) - Checked on 2015-07-22 20:23:03
Current line speed:
21 Mb
==================================
BT Speed Test.....
1. Best Effort Test:  -provides background information.
Download  Speed
2.43 Mbps

7.15 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed
Download speedachieved during the test was - 2.43 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 0.6 Mbps-7.15 Mbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :4.13 Mbps(DOWN-STREAM), 0.45 Mbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 2.5 Mbps
9 REPLIES 9
Townman
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 22,922
Thanks: 9,538
Fixes: 158
Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: ADSL Connection/Speed Problems

Hi Jenny,
A warm welcome to the forums.
To help you, we need  a bit of information which you've not provided / is not disclosed by your router - the line's attenuation.  That is an indication of the line's length and is the governing factor for the line's synch speed.
There are also an indicator that the profiles are not right.  With a synch speed of 3424kbps on 20CN you should have a profile of 3Mbps (not the 2.5Mbps reported by the BT speed test).  The PlusNet profile figure (current speed) is clearly wrong!
7.15Mbps is only going to be achieved if you are almost living in the exchange.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

jennystead
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎07-10-2015

Re: ADSL Connection/Speed Problems

Thanks for your response, I've dug out a Home Hub 2 as he Hub 4 doesn't provide that information, here are the stats from it

Connection information
Line state Connected
Connection time 0 days, 0:04:55
Downstream 2,912 Kbps
Upstream 448 Kbps
ADSL settings
VPI/VCI 0/38
Type PPPoA
Modulation ITU-T G.992.1
Latency type Interleaved
Noise margin (Down/Up) 8.5 dB / 19.0 dB
Line attenuation (Down/Up) 51.0 dB / 28.0 dB
Output power (Down/Up) 18.1 dBm / 12.1 dBm
Townman
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 22,922
Thanks: 9,538
Fixes: 158
Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: ADSL Connection/Speed Problems

An attenuation of 51dB ought to deliver a sync speed in the region of 4.6Mbps.
Is there any extension wiring from the master socket (used or otherwise)?
Is the phone line quiet?  Dial 17070 option 2.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

jennystead
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎07-10-2015

Re: ADSL Connection/Speed Problems

Yes, there are two other telephone sockets, nothing is plugged into these, although there is a BT 80D external bell hardwired to the last socket, I should also probably mention there is an I-Plate fitted to the master socket. I realise the bell/extensions harm the broadband but need the bell, would it be better connecting it via a microfilter?  I wanted to see what kind of connection speed would be possible without the extension wiring/bell, so late yesterday afternoon I removed the removable faceplate on the master socket (which has the extension wiring on) and plugged the microfilter for the phone/router into the iplate socket. I've performed a speed check just now...
1. Best Effort Test:  -provides background information.
Download  Speed
1.4 Mbps

0 Mbps 2 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed
Download speedachieved during the test was - 1.4 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 0.4 Mbps-2 Mbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :3.84 Mbps(DOWN-STREAM), 0.45 Mbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 1.5 Mbps
Today's stats after re connection due to performing a quiet line test
13:40:11, 08 Oct. (80408.130000) DSL noise margin: 23.00 dB upstream, 9.10 dB downstream
13:40:11, 08 Oct. (80408.060000) DSL line rate: 448 Kbps upstream, 3840 Kbps downstream

I have performed two quiet line tests using the test socket, one yesterday and one today and the line was perfectly quiet both times.
Townman
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 22,922
Thanks: 9,538
Fixes: 158
Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: ADSL Connection/Speed Problems

Hi Jenny,
It looks as though removing the extension wiring (and the bell) has made a marked difference (improvement) to the synch speed, however the data speed profile is not lower than it was in the original post.  No doubt this is down to all of the disconnections and potentially a period of being much slower.  Also the SNRM is up at 9dB and that will also depress the synch speed.
We need a plan to get you sorted...
1. What colours are the wires attached to the back of the removable face plate?
2. Do you really need that bell?  Could you make do with a phone handset on that extension instead?  I suspect that the bell must have the ring wire (terminal 3 on the back of the face plate) connected and it is that wire which can be so detrimental to the performance of ADSL services.  Would a multi hand set DECT phone 'system' be more convenient - the additional hand sets can be placed wherever you need them without the restriction of the need to connect them to the phone line.
Kevin

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
Thanks: 631
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: ADSL Connection/Speed Problems

Wait, the bell isn't connected via any microfilter? A filtered faceplate on the master socket seems like the obvious solution then. With a filtered faceplate, having the bell wire connected is not supposed to be a problem.
A decent quality microfilter contains its own components to re-create the bell wire for its filtered telephone socket, and its plug probably only connects to pins 2 and 5. A defectively designed microfilter, however, might just wire pins 3 and 4 straight through with no filtering on those whatsoever. But since the external bell is hard wired, you couldn't just connect it via a plug-in microfilter in the last extension socket, but a filtered faceplate would filter all extension wiring.
jennystead
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎07-10-2015

Re: ADSL Connection/Speed Problems

Thanks for your messages, last night I checked the routers WAN event log (attached), it was full of messages from the preceding 12 hours, nine disconnections, all bar one preceded by a "PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]". It may explain why the profile is not increasing, I cant confirm it for sure as the log is so short and got filled by just yesterdays messages, no so disconnections so far today.
The wires attached from the removable faceplate are...
1. -
2. Blue
3. Orange
4. White with Orange Stripes
5. White with Blue Stripes
6. -
I live on a farm and the bell is important to know if people are trying to get in touch while working outside. Yes the bell is connected via terminal 3 (and 5)
@ejs So something like this (http://www.adslnation.com/products/xte2005.php) would replace the current removable faceplate on the master socket and prevent the bell from interfering with the connection?
ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
Thanks: 631
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: ADSL Connection/Speed Problems

Yes the xte-2005 would work, although I suppose most people would get a BT Openreach SSFP these days.
If you want to test that filtering off the extension wiring solves the problem, you could plug the microfilter into the test socket, and then plug the lower front plate with the extension wiring into the telephone socket of the microfilter. That's assuming the wires connected to the lower front plate are long enough to allow that. All those bits dangling out of the test socket would look horribly untidy, of course.
jennystead
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎07-10-2015

Re: ADSL Connection/Speed Problems

My BT Openreach SSFP (MK3) came yesterday and I have fitted it.
Before:
Note - this was while the router/phone were connected (via micro-filter) straight to the iplate on the master socket (no extension wiring/bell connected)
DSL noise margin: 23.00 dB upstream, 9.20 dB downstream
DSL line rate: 448 Kbps upstream, 3136 Kbps downstream
After:
DSL noise margin: 22.00 dB upstream, 6.00 dB downstream
DSL line rate: 448 Kbps upstream, 4544 Kbps downstream
This is a massive improvement in the line rate, so thanks for your advice. I've asked Plusnet to reset the IP Profile, hopefully I'll be seeing a speed improvement soon.



BT Speed Test Results
1. Best Effort Test:  -provides background information.
Download  Speed
1.7 Mbps

0 Mbps 7.15 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed
Download speedachieved during the test was - 1.7 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 0.6 Mbps-7.15 Mbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :4.54 Mbps(DOWN-STREAM), 0.45 Mbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 2.5 Mbps

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