Broadband disconnects and is sloooooow

[#1]

Hi,
I'm having trouble with my broadband...
We used to have speeds of 14MB+, but things have been deteriorating and now we're on 3MB and we get frequent disconnections.
Disconnections:
Just a short extract of the log from the router - these are some of the times that the connection went down and it was redialled with a new IP assigned (i.e. a new connection)
21st Feb: 18:35, 18:23, 18:08, 17:53, 17:38, 17:23, 17:08, 16:54, 16:39, 16:23, 13:32, 13:19, 13:09, 08:35, 08:08, 08:01, 07:54, 07:39, 07:24, 07:09, 06:54, 06:39, 06:18, 05:50, 05:45, 05:38
22nd Feb: 23:49, 23:36, 22:22, 22:21, 21:34, 21:23, 19:01, 18:58, 18:55, 18:35, 18:11, 18:05, 17:43, 17:41 
Broadband speed
We used to get 14+ plus that was stable, but now speeds are a lot lower. This is what the router said last night:
ADSL
  Type Interleave Path
  Status SHOWTIME
 
                                  Downstream  Upstream   
Data rate(Kbps) 3072Kb                 440Kb
  Noise Margin 17              29
  Output power(dBm) 127             183
  Attenuation(dB)     32 8
I realise that our speed may have been reduced to try and make the line stable, but it used to be stable at higher speeds.... Our line should be capable of 15+.
What I've done to try and fix this
Unplugged the router etc
We have two phone sockets in the house, I've tried both of them
Changed the microfilters
I haven't tried a different router as I don't have one. I am using my own Belkin F5D8633. If you want to send me a PlusNet one I'll happily try that

What can be done? I'm pretty annoyed with this:
- working from home is difficult. I use a terminal server style application to access the work network and whenever the line disconnects I lose all my work. The other evening I lost about an hours work twice (!!!) because the line dropped out. Frustrated and annoyed doesn't do justice!
- watching iplayer is very difficult at these speeds
- i used to have a decent speed!
Thanks for any help!!!
Andrew

[#2]

Do you have a master socket like this and if so can you plug your router into the test socket marked?

[#3]

Hello
We don't have one of those - we just have two phone sockets that look normal. Nothing that says 'Openreach'. There is a small box above the front door which is where I assume the BT connection comes in and stops, but it doesn't have a plate like that and there's no slot to insert a phone cable. The box is maybe an inch tall and and 2 or 3 inches wide...
Does this mean anything?
Thanks!!
Andrew

[#4]

Hi abathgate,
Looks like your line's been banded (restricted sync rate) because of the instability. It does this to try to keep a connection rather than it dropping all the time. First thing I would do is look at our troubleshooting guide for some tips on how to tackle this. At the bottom of the page you will see a link called broadband troubleshooter which will let you raise a fault.
Jojo

[#5]

Afternoon!
As per the earlier messages I've been having no end of troubles with our broadband. It's been banded because of line instablilities, frequent disconnect etc etc. A right nightmare.
I started the fault reporting tool and have done everything (new microfilters, different wall socket etc etc) and the only option left is to try a new router. I have one, it's plugged in and we've had 8 hours so far without a disconnect. Hurrah!
The issue is that I think the line has dropped down to a lower banding route - we're only getting 1776 kbps download speed which is crazy.
In order to test the line with the new router I suspect that we need to test it at higher speeds to see if the line remains stable or if there still are disconnects and we therefore need to get a BT engineer out.
Could somebody help and remove the banding (or whatever the technical term is) so we can try with faster speeds? I'll then keep an eye on what happens with the line and cross fingers it'll improve (although I'm not overly optimistic!)
Many thanks
Andrew

[#6]

Is the speed quoted as measured on a speedtester? If that is the case is the sync speed just under 2272kbps which is one step down from your previous band?
I suspect Plusnet will need to see a couple of days without drops and with minimal transmission errors (CRC and HEC) before they can get BT to lift the banding.

[#7]

Hiya
Good point about the speeds - a few different tests!
mybroadbandspeed.co.uk says download speed is 1505 kps
my router says 'downStream Connection Speed' is 1776 kbps
the BT Speedtest thing said:
Download speedachieved during the test was - 1435 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speedsis 800-2000 Kbps
Your DSL Connection Rate :1776 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 445 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 1500 Kbps
Thanks!!!!
Andrew

[#8]

A sync/connection speed of 1776kbps is not at the extremities of either of the 1152-2272kbps or the 1472-3072kbps bands. So even if banded it isn't restricting you. The replacement router could be faulty, but most likely I suspect the DLM has increased your target noise margin due to continued instability (which results in reduced sync speed).
What model is your replacement router, and what are the line stats (sync speed, attenuation and noise margin)?

[#9]

Hello,
Thanks for your questions and help!
Overnight it seems we've had a bit of a boost - router is now reporting DownStream Connection Speed - 3070 kbps
Router is Netgear DG834G.
Line stats are:
ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 3070 kbps 445 kbps
Line Attenuation 17 db 3.5 db
Noise Margin 19 db 25 db
Router log is saying that I have 8 disconnections ("LCP down") between Sunday lunchtime and Monday morning which isn't a good sign...
Andrew

[#10]

Hi abathgate,
I can see the drops in connection on our logs here, I can also see you started raising a fault however unfortunately because all the questions weren't completed within 48 hours it's been closed I'm afraid. Please can you go back to http://faults.plus.net and run through that? We'll then be able to test the line and get this investigated properly for you.

[#11]

Will do. I only got halfway through reporting a fault last time as I decided to get another router.
Thanks
Andrew

[#12]

Hi everyone
So, I registered a fault with PlusNet and they identified an issue with the phone line. The BT guy came round on Saturday (26th) and said the fault was being registered as we didn't have a master test socket. He said this always happens if there isn't a master test socket as it means they can't test the line properly.He said it was unlikely to have any influence on the broadband speed...
Whilst our speed hasn't changed, it seems the number of line disconnects has. How random but hurrah!
From what I can see, our line has disconnected once in the last week at 4am on Thursday (31st) morning. Line stats are currently:
ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 3070 kbps 445 kbps
Line Attenuation 16 db 3.5 db
Noise Margin 23 db 26 db
So, first question - does this match with PlusNet's stats about disconnects on our line?
Second question, is there any chance of removing some of the line banding so we can see if the line will go any quicker again?
Thanks!!
Andrew

[#13]

That's good news.
I imagine sync speed won't have increased because your connection is banded (in the 1472-3072kbps range). If your connection stays up until Monday Plusnet will probably be happy to request banding be removed.

[#14]

Quote from: abathgate

The BT guy . .  said the fault was being registered as we didn't have a master test socket. He said this always happens if there isn't a master test socket as it means they can't test the line properly.

Does 'registering the fault' mean that they will be coming to fit a master socket? Three guesses as to why I'm interested in this!!
Glad your problem seems to be fixed, by the way.
Trevor

[#15]

Hi abathgate,
I'll look into having the banding removed now the fault has been cleared.
Jojo