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ADSL2+ soooooooo slow!

DBGlos
Grafter
Posts: 40
Registered: ‎12-01-2013

ADSL2+ soooooooo slow!

Hi there
Our new PlusNet BB service started last night.  We moved from an 8Mb service from a different provider and were given speed estimates of approx. 13.5 Mb/s as opposed to our old speed of around 6-7 Mb/s so were looking forward to a welcome boost.
We understand that the exchange will test the connection over a 10 day period to ensure we get a stable connection but our speed is pitifully slow to point that some websites are simply unusable... even loading the forums is a difficult process.
The BT tester reports a download speed of 0.2 Mb/s with a profile of 0.25Mb/s and reports all is working perfectly!
Does the 10 day stabilisation phase really lower speeds to this slow as part of the process?  I'm questioning it because knowing our luck there really is a problem and we will be sat for days and days with a slow connection before someone finally twigs something is wrong!
55 REPLIES 55
DBGlos
Grafter
Posts: 40
Registered: ‎12-01-2013

Re: New ADSL2+ soooooooo slow!

I should add the following...
Modem is plugged into Master socket with iPlate.
Filters are in place
The following info from the modem:
Line mode:          ADSL2+ A
Line Coding:        Enable
Line Up Count:  1
Statistics:          Downstream  /  Upstream
Line Rate                287 kbps  /    440 kbps
Attainable LR      9340 kbps  /    888 kbps
Noise Margin            21.1 dB  /    30.8 dB
Attenuation                31.0 db  /    12.9 dB
Output power            18.3 dB  /    12.5 dB
Hope this helps with advising me further!
Thanks in advance
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: ADSL2+ soooooooo slow!

That's dreadful!  It looks as if you have very rapidly arrived at what is called a 'banded profile' where your line rate is fixed (within a tight band of rates) and as slow as it can be.  That would only happen if your line had suffered a huge quantity of disconnections in the short time it has been with Plusnet.
Nobody but you will ever twig something has gone wrong.  The situation will rectify itself in a few days if the disconnections have ceased and the line is now stable but unless you know for sure that this has happened then you need to contact Plusnet and report this as a fault.  And when you have sorted out whatever caused the fault, you will need to ask for the line to be retrained to remove its bad reputation.   
spraxyt
Resting Legend
Posts: 10,063
Thanks: 674
Fixes: 75
Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: ADSL2+ soooooooo slow!

Quote from: DBGlos
Does the 10 day stabilisation phase really lower speeds to this slow as part of the process?  I'm questioning it because knowing our luck there really is a problem and we will be sat for days and days with a slow connection before someone finally twigs something is wrong!

That certainly isn't normal and as RR said something is (or was) wrong.
In another thread you said …
Quote from: DBGlos
... I … was expecting some fluctuation around my forecast speed of 13.5 Mbps but it dropped very quickly after activation to the painfully slow speed we are getting now and has stayed there ever since!

Speed dropping like that suggests excessive noise on the line at the time of activation - current stats suggest the noise is no longer present. Has anything changed in the set up since then? You mentioned "filters are in place" - are these the rat-tail type? Is one fitted on every extension socket? Do you have a Sky box, if so is that filtered? If you do a quiet line test using a corded phone (dial 17070 and select option 2) is the line silent?
David
DBGlos
Grafter
Posts: 40
Registered: ‎12-01-2013

Re: ADSL2+ soooooooo slow!

Hi there
Yes the filters are the rat tail type and they were replaced a while ago because of them was faulty.  There are two... one in the main socket (with the iPlate) and that has the ADSL modem cable and the house alarm (in the phone socket) plugged into it and there is an extension from the main socket which the telephone base station is plugged into (with a filter).  And if I remember correctly I removed the ringer cable in the master socket some years ago (belt and braces).  Those are the only items that are plugged into the telephone line (no Sky or anything like that).
I don't have a corded telephone so can't do that test but with (what is a brand new digital telephone) the line is totally silent.
I should add that when I returned from work on Friday I had no internet - Orange BB had obviously been switched off and my router was reporting login and password incorrect.  I had not however received an activation email from PN so I gave them a call.  Apparently my date had been put back but when checked further their had been a tie pair issue (had been replaced) and PN nagged and it all went ahead.  PN CS did the activation whilst I was on the line and I received a text before I had hung up the telephone.  Up until that point the modem was reporting >12000 Mbps ADSL2+A connection until that point.  A Netgear DM111P v2 in bridge mode.  So I could see something had changed.
What would you suggest next?
DBGlos
Grafter
Posts: 40
Registered: ‎12-01-2013

Re: ADSL2+ soooooooo slow!

And I have just checked the modem and the attainable line rate is now rising to over 10000 but the actual isnt following.
spraxyt
Resting Legend
Posts: 10,063
Thanks: 674
Fixes: 75
Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: ADSL2+ soooooooo slow!

It looks like sync speed has been banded into the lowest speed band (160-288kbps). Until banding is removed the sync speed won't increase above the top end of that band.
Since sync speed started off at circa 12000kbps I wonder if it was large numbers of transmission errors that provoked the DLM into increasing target noise margin and eventually banding the connection. Are you able to get error stats from your router/modem combination? Apart from the presence of banding the stats you posted previously don't suggest a problem (though with 31dB attenuation I'd expect attainable rate to approach the estimated level you were quoted originally).
To take this further I suspect you will need specialist help from the Plusnet faults team. It will probably be necessary to raise a low speed fault at http://faults.plus.net to start the investigation off.
David
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: ADSL2+ soooooooo slow!

Or indeed will your router tell you how long the DSL(/WAN) connection has been up/running? That will give some indication of whether it has stabilised.
DBGlos
Grafter
Posts: 40
Registered: ‎12-01-2013

Re: ADSL2+ soooooooo slow!

The latest from the modem - hope this helps!
Has been up for 18 hours now.... and before that over 24.  There was only a break because I disconnected through the modem web interface and checked something and then logged back in so does not seem to be disconnecting.
Thanks again for all your help!
DBGlos
Grafter
Posts: 40
Registered: ‎12-01-2013

Re: ADSL2+ soooooooo slow!

Apparently, according to PN support my router/modem has disconnected 7 times since Friday so the exchange has throttled me right back as a safety measure and to ensure a consistent connection albeit slow (and frankly slow isn't the word).
PN support also tell me that the disconnections have been 'user initiated'.  They also told me that a certain number of disconnections in a 24 hour period (two i think) or so many more over 72 hours will trigger throttling of the connection to maintain stability.  This is apparently regardless of whether you request the disconnection or whether it is a fault.
DLM does not seem to make any differentiation between requested disconnections and faults so all I can say is never plan to do any DIY or fiddling around with your router if anything changes otherwise you'll be stuck for days with something not much better than BT Home Highway (remember that?).
I find it particularly galling as I returned home from work to find Orange BB had been disconnected but as I had my modem in bridge mode the ADSL connection was already there and therefore to change the settings I had to restart it.  I then took the opportunity to reconfigure my network and wireless access points and lo and behold I've triggered the DLM system.  In fact thinking back there was a couple of disconnections a couple of hours after it went live that were nothing to do with me - I just thought that is was the training period dropping the connection especially when it came back on its own.
Unfortunately, I cannot account for the other disconnections but apparently they have happened.  And I gather that I will get little sympathy because I was repeatedly told that the disconnections were user initiated.
So all in all, I'm not impressed with DLM at the moment and frankly waiting 72 hours is slightly unnecessary but perhaps someone will convince me otherwise.
I just hope that our yearly winter power interruptions never happen again otherwise I shall be continually connected at pitiful speeds.  Heaven forbid I never need to restart my router because I want to decorate or have any maintenance to the wiring carried out or somesuch because again BTW will throttle the connection!!!
Feeling a bit miffed!
spraxyt
Resting Legend
Posts: 10,063
Thanks: 674
Fixes: 75
Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: ADSL2+ soooooooo slow!

Some of those numbers in the bottom part of that stats image look suspicious to me. Possibly just that values aren't reset when the connection is re-established, but for me it makes it difficult to establish any trends. Do you have a conventional router/modem to try?
The uncommanded re-syncs might be when the DLM was changing target noise margin, though I wouldn't have expected those to appear as user initiated.
David
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: ADSL2+ soooooooo slow!

If a disconnection is genuinely 'user-initiated' then the DLM cannot hold it against you.  If 'user initiated' just means that the disconnection was not initiated by the DLM  then it could be a line fault or a router fault as well as something you did yourself that caused the router to restart.
DBGlos
Grafter
Posts: 40
Registered: ‎12-01-2013

Re: ADSL2+ soooooooo slow!

Well I can only go by what I am told...
The guy I spoke to at customer support implied that as they have been logged as 'user-initiated' then they are not faults and I genuinely got the impression that it is me that is at fault as far as he is concerned.  Who knows what the definition of 'user-initiated' means...
I am resigning myself to having to wait for 72 hours as instructed although you can imagine what the phone call will be like after 72 hours.  I have a funny feeling everything will be the same...
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: ADSL2+ soooooooo slow!

No, on ADSL2+ a banded profile will clear itself after around 72 hours provided the line is stable.  I have seen it happen.  Just monitor the router up time to check there are no more disconnections (and don't switch it off).  However you must  repeat the training period or the line will be marked down as dreadful in the records and this will make it much more difficult to get BT to look at any future line faults that arise.
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: ADSL2+ soooooooo slow!

Hi there,
Sorry to hear you're having problems, here's what a BT sync check is reporting as of this morning:
Upstream Link Info
Loop LossSNR MarginErrored SecondsHec ErrorsCell CountSpeed
12.82900424440

Downstream Link Info
Loop LossSNR MarginErrored SecondsHec ErrorsCell CountSpeed
3123.30N/A 106287

Downstream BIP Interface Data
Current Line RateLine Rate Change  TimeStampMaximum Stable Rate  RecalculatedProfile TimeStampMaximum Stable  RateFault tdreshold  RateInterleaving  Flag
25313/01/2013 08:10:07N11/01/2013 20:40:4022722272A

Not sure why it's that slow, there haven't been too many disconnections:
<img src="http://ccgi.psmith12.plus.com/visradius/generated/image13581574266394.png"/>
I can see you've started with the faults wizard at http://faults.plus.net so thanks for that - but unfortunately we need all the questions answering before the ticket will go through to our faults team. Once that's done please let us know and we'll get some tests done.