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Can someone please help

dadnarg
Dabbler
Posts: 21
Registered: ‎25-09-2007

Can someone please help

Can anyone please help with this.  I raised a ticket with PN staff, but no one seems to be able to help me.
Since 11.11.07 I have been using Newsleecher to download from thundernews.com.  During off-peak I was getting around 650KB/s but about a week ago this dropped to 300KB/s and then 4 days ago it dropped again to 60KB/s and has remained at this speed ever since.
I know there are restrictions at peak time but surely I should get high speeds during off peak.
If I log on the Plusnet Portal, click Connection Settings\High Speed Broadband. It reads 6500 Kbps which by my calculations works out at 812.5 KBps.

Using mybroadbandspeed.co.uk I get:-
Today 16:26  5313 kbps (664kB/s)  382 kbps (47.8kB/s)
Today 16:27  3830 kbps (479kB/s)  378 kbps (47.3kB/s)
Today 16:30  3620 kbps (453kB/s)  373 kbps (46.6kB/s)
So why can I not download above 60KB/s during the off peak period (early hours).
I've been in touch with thundernews.com and there are no speed restrictions at their end.
There seems to be a lot of 'in the know' members on the forums, surely someone could point me in the right direction Please.
21 REPLIES 21
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Can someone please help

Hi there,
When you say off peak times, what are you referring to?
Usenet traffic will be in bronze (prioritisation) and depending on the time of day, there will also be rate limits in place.
dadnarg
Dabbler
Posts: 21
Registered: ‎25-09-2007

Re: Can someone please help

By off peak I mean any time between midnight and 8 am.
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Can someone please help

It really does depend on the amount of traffic going through our network at any given time.  I would however expect speeds to pick up during especially the middle of those off peak hours.
dadnarg
Dabbler
Posts: 21
Registered: ‎25-09-2007

Re: Can someone please help

If I try downloading at 2am I get 60KB/s.  If I try downloading at 10am I get 60 KB/s.  If I try downloading at 4pm I get 60 KB/s.   
On the other hand, I can download, for example a demo game from reflexive.com at a speed averaging 500KB/s at any time of day.
I think I must have a permanent throttle on my broadband when it comes to usenet.  There's something strange going on.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Can someone please help

What account type are you on and how much have you downloaded so far this month?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
dadnarg
Dabbler
Posts: 21
Registered: ‎25-09-2007

Re: Can someone please help

I am on Premier Account and have been for some years.  Any downloads during the hours of 12 midnight and 4pm (which are my off-peak hours) do not add to my download tally.  (This I checked with a member of Plusnet staff who lives quite close to me), so your question is irrelevant my friend. 
If I changed to another account my off-peak hours would be 12 midnight to 8am.
I do most downloading between 2am and 7am. and have never been capped while I've been a Plusnet customer.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Can someone please help

I'm not so sure I like the attitude you exhibit in your response - I was just checking the possibilities and if you look around these forums people getting slow speeds because they have gone over their allowance is not uncommon.
Is the 60 KB/s on usenet and if so how many connections are you using? It could be that the NNTP server restricts you to that speed. When I use usenet I use 30 connections (10 each to 3 different servers all from Astraweb) and I get 700KB/s+.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
dadnarg
Dabbler
Posts: 21
Registered: ‎25-09-2007

Re: Can someone please help

Jelv. First I'd like to apologise if I offended you.
I use the Thundernews server and use newsleecher for downloading the NZB files.  I can use a maximum fof 20 connections.  I get the 60KB/s speed when downloading this way although I was originally getting over 650KB/s until a few days ago.  If I download from any other sites (http://) I get a high speed download.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Can someone please help

Not being familiar with newsleecher I don't know if you can tell this: If you can see the speed you are getting on each connection does the aggregate always come to 60 if you change the number of connections used (2x30, 3x20, 4x15 etc.)? (I use BNR3 and can see that information) You could also check that it is properly using all the configured 20 connections.
If the limit stays on a solid 60 no matter how you mess about I'd say that would have to be a restriction imposed by Plusnet. Have you tried disconnect/reconnect - it would also be worth checking if you get the same on different gateways.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
dadnarg
Dabbler
Posts: 21
Registered: ‎25-09-2007

Re: Can someone please help

Thanks for the advice Jelv.  I have reset my router almost a dozen times now, but it always puts me back on the same gateway.  As for individual speeds for each connection, they all show roughly the same speed and totalling these up comes to around 60.  I'll be trying again in the early hours and will keep you posted if anything changes.  Do you think another program apart from newsleecher might help. Cheers.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Can someone please help

Which gateway?
When it worked previously I don't see why changing reader would help.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
dadnarg
Dabbler
Posts: 21
Registered: ‎25-09-2007

Re: Can someone please help

I was on the "Telehouse North, Juniper 6" gateway.  Each time I rebooted my router it put me back on the same gateway.
This morning I did a complete format and recoveredmy PC and I'm now on the "Telehouse East, Juniper 3" gateway also known as pte-ag1.  There is still no improvement in my download speed though.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Can someone please help

This is more and more looking like a restriction on your PN account. A clincher would be if you know someone else on whose PC you could test downloading using your thundernews.com account. Is that something you could try?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
dadnarg
Dabbler
Posts: 21
Registered: ‎25-09-2007

Re: Can someone please help

Thanks for the suggestion Jelv.  I've been in contact with Plusnet but it's just a waste of time.  They insist there is no restriction on my account. 
My son, who lives about 3 miles from me uses the same news server and also uses newsleecher and he gets speeds in excess of 600KB/s, although he is on a different exchange.  I will get him to try downloading using my thundernews account.  I will keep you informed.