Download speed up during 'open questions', down again when closed

[#1]

Both answers from Townman and ejs are very interesting and I can understand the basics of what you are saying. I've been out for most of the latter part of the day and evening so will have to refer to the latest links given another time. I have added comments to my still-open question on Plusnet Support, which was left with a 14 day window that had a couple of days left, so presumably that's kept it open till someone responds.
Extension cable - yes, broadband probably hadn't been invented when I put that in, under the carpet. It's not that long ago (only last year) that I found out about 'twisted pair' and still haven't actually seen one. What gets me, being a novice at this stuff, is that the cable that comes INTO the house from the exchange seems so feeble and rubbishy to the eye and yet its everything IN the house that seems to cause issues! I used to work for a cable making firm and we made all sorts of stuff, cable for BT as well although apart from general machining and fabrication work I did, I worked more on maintenance on braiding machines that braided cable with twisted multi cores, not the tiny solid stuff that seems to be my phone line. Earlier I took the cover off the little box outside my front door to see what's in there, and cleaned out the cobwebs and dead spiders. There were about eight or ten little wires in there and most weren't connected, just bent out of the way! It looked to me like just two blue and white ones did anything!

[#2]

8-10 wires = 4-5 pairs.
It is not usual for there to be numerous pairs from the distribution point to the house; these provide for redundancy and multiple phone lines if required.  Sounds far better than the old figure of 8 drop wires!
Hopefully your SNRM reset will be done soon and you will see the maximum potential for your line.

[#3]

I would have thought the SNRM reset should wait until after the wiring is sorted out, unless mickthefitter is planning on keeping the modem in the test socket, ideally leaving it there for the 10 days following the reset, and then hoping to get any new extension wiring done right first time.

[#4]

Plusnet reckon that disconnections, whether created by myself or just the system dropping out (which the last tech guy I spoke said can happen for many reasons at any time) will only result in a permanent drop in speed if they happen repeatedly in a specific time frame i.e. when I turned the router off at night. Which suggests if I get a better speed and then decide to do a spot of rewiring, there shouldn't be a permanent deficit. After all, I could get a power cut such as in the past when Eon have changed my meter! I am undecided whether I want to do an extended power cord to the spot where the router is right now, or re-site it where it was on the phone table and source the shortest possible 'twisted pair' extension to take the line to it. Either way, to do a neat job, which is important to me, carpets need to come up off the grippers and then be put back again after. There are pros and cons with either route I take. At the moment I want to see if cutting out my old phone extension line actually has any tangible benefits in day to day use, rather than just an improved bunch of technical stats. Had a long day at work yesterday (I drive lorries now) and have another errand this morning before work so no chance to do anything yet except drop in here! 

[#5]

Just had time, after doing my errand, to run an Ookla speed test. Nearly 4Mbps, which is interesting. I don't think Plusnet have intervened yet (I've had no messages). Upload speeds seem to vary, whenever I run a speed test, between about 0.3 Mbps and the truly pathetic. I'm not sure why. These don't seem related to how good or bad my upload speed is.

[#6]

@CRT,
Is the upstream capped on this line?  If yes, can it be uncapped along with the SNRM reset please?

Kevin

[#7]

Kevin, you are correct.
I've uncapped the circuit which should complete tomorrow. The account has been added to Chris' list, and we can hopefully reset the SNRM tomorrow.

[#8]

Right thanks. I've noticed an increase in both directions when I've come home from work tonight. Upstream was about 0.6Mbps I think when I checked it, downstream over 5.5Mbps. Great. Watched some of Motors TV on the telly while the laptop was turned on, all without a hitch! I've more or less decided now that when I do a neat installation, it will be the main leads I extend and run under the carpet. But I will, of course, have to turn off the router for a while when that happens! 

[#9]

Mick,
Good to see that you have a result - sight of your stats would be good please?
Really good that you can see for yourself the difference between the two locations for the router.
Kevin

[#10]

Okay so it's late Saturday afternoon now but I've just about recovered from probably the longest working week I've ever had culminating with effectively  a 16 hour working day yesterday! Derby>Milton Keynes>Brighton>Derby + Friday afternoon = stuck on the M25. About to go into town now so will do the necessary stat checks and post them later. Cheers.

[#11]

Okay, Sunday night, wifi off, ADSL lead plugged in, so the DSL connection stats are now as follows:
Link Information
Uptime: 3 days, 9:46:16
DSL Type: ITU-T G.992.5
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 780 / 6.724
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [MB/GB]: 90,07 / 1,99
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12,2 / 20,3
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 23,5 / 44,0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 5,5 / 11,3
System Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / ----
Chipset Vendor ID (Local/Remote): BDCM / TSTC
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 27 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 3 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): -
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 142 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 75.027 / 77.018
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 19 / 226
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 22 / 2.677

The results of a BT Wholesale Speed Test are as follows (I've seen better this week but maybe that's because it is Sunday night)

1. Best Effort Test:  -provides background information.
Download  Speed
4.71 Mbps

0 Mbps 7.15 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed
Download speed achieved during the test was - 4.71 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 2 Mbps-7.15 Mbps.
IP Profile for your line is - 5.93 Mbps
2. Upstream Test:  -provides background information.
Upload Speed
0.46 Mbps

0 Mbps 0.83 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed
Upload speed achieved during the test was - 0.46Mbps
Additional Information:
Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 0.83 Mbps
And the info provided when I click on the link to see my current line speed says this....
Estimated line speed:
There's no speed estimate currently held on your account.
Current line speed:
5.9 Mb
So, basically it is looking good. Doing the 'commercial' Ookla test in the week I'd sometimes seen at least a 5.5Mbps download speed and almost a 0.6Mbps upload speed even on wi fi and even using my so-called smart TV and its clunky Safari browser. So maybe everyone is on eBay and social media on a Sunday night slowing things down a bit? I certainly used to find that effect back in the Stone Ages when I was on dial-up!  So thanks very much for the help. My only concern now is what happens when I pull the plug to neaten my installation. I won't be touching it now for at least another week, and what I'm doing is running a mains extension lead under the carpet, then I will refit the standard faceplate to the BT phone socket and put the same filter back in, DSL lead one side and my telephone extensions in the other. I would think I can expect to see a drop in speeds right after but they should build up again, shouldn't they?
Cheers,
Mick.

[#12]

I've just seen 5.50Mbps download and 0.63Mbps upload on Ookla before I pull the DSL lead out and go back to wi fi. Dunno why BT is showing it slower but my main grumble was not being able to use some smart TV functions when I was getting 2.4Mbps download. We seem to be past that.  

[#13]

Mick,
There is still a lot to look into on your service.  The change in location of the router has removed but one problem.  The SNRM is somewhat higher than we would expect - we need to find out why.
Also do not confuse cable terms - the cable between the router and phone socket us the "DSL" cable, whilst that between the router and any connected device is a "LAN" or Ethernet cable.
Need to fully review this thread!
@CRT,
Has a CLT been done here please?  What has the line's error history been?  Is there a change coincident with the time Mick relocated the router?  What is the current error rate like?  Can you please post a radius plot.
Given the variation in synch speed still being seen, is a SNRM restet still premature?
What do you think?
Kevin

[#14]

CLT is passing and attached.
RADIUS is far from the worst that I've seen.
<img src="http://community.plus.net/visualradius/generated/image14277956693524.png"/>

[#15]

Tony,
Thanks for these - as you say - not bad at all really!  I suspect that many of the drops can be put down to Mick doing tests, relocating the router etc.
Is there any history on the line of high errors?  Seeking to understand the high SNRM.
Are you happy to consider a SNRM reset please to see what Mick can get from this line with his router direct into the master socket?

Thanks,
Kevin