HEEEEELLLLP!

[#1]

I despreately need some help from you guys because trying to get Plusnet to acknowledge and accept that I have an issue with my broadband connection is......... well I don't have an adequate description but I am at the point of loading a shotgun and blowing my head off!

A brief synopsis,

We are at the far end of a very long line and duly accept that our speeds will never be lightening fast, but if we get 2.0mbps we will be " happy". After nearly 4 years of variable connection, firstly with BT as our isp then Plusnet, and after at least a dozen engineer visits we got to last December with a pretty consistent 1.7 to 1.9.

In fact, so happy was I that I bought  streaming stick and was able to watch Youtube and others. 

However, since then things have not been so rosey; speed has dropped to around 1.0 to 1.3, but more importantly the speed is totally erratic, dropping to 0.3 or less every 3 to 4 seconds. This causes many sites to lose connection and means many transactions are near to impossible.

Despite raising queries with Plusnet tthey wont accept that our connection is so erratic and insist that connection is stable!

Any thoughts from the techies amongst you?

[#2]

I'm really sorry to hear you're having a bad time with your BB speed.

I take it at this stage that you've gone through the normal rigmarole of plugging in to test socket, swapping routers etc etc etc and that the speeds you are seeing are based on connection from router to whatever using an ethernet cable - not wireless. Given the number of engineer visits you've had I hope that at least one of them checked the incoming wire back to any outside connector - ours is on a telegraph pole exposed to wind/rain/snow/sun and did eventually start to fail - causing highly erratic connections especially in wet weather.

Option 1. Consider satellite BB - setup cost can be a bit Ouch! but....  http://www.ispreview.co.uk/isp_list/ISP_List_Satellite.php

Option 2. What sort of mobile data signal can you get - no, don't laugh - if you keep your eyes open there are good data offers around at some times of year. Simple mifi device and away you go.

Back down to earth - the best suggestion I have is to do your own line logging over an extended period so you have some hard evidence of what is happening.

This may sound scary but in fact is easy to set up and there are many good folk on this forum who can help interpret the results. So if you're willing to have a go you can get the software from http://www.s446074245.websitehome.co.uk/files/dslstats32W-5.8.zip assuming you are using Windows

Once you have installed the software and started the it, you need to configure a couple of things. The first bit is allowing it to talk to your router. See the screenshot below. The entries are all standard for PN router model shown - you'll have your admin password on the little white card with the router.

I have also shown the other config boxes the way they are on my machine - essentially I capture pretty well everything.

Once you press the green arrow - top left - it will start to record your BB performance. Carry on doing normal stuff, run iPlayer - and just let it error etc. Do this for a couple of days to get a full picture of what's happening.  The main bits you'll need are Connection Speed and Errors.

[#3]

What router are you using?

A few years ago now, I had a project to roll out a number of VOIP applications to people living often a long way from the exchange. We used the old BT Business 2 Wire 2700HGV hubs, which consistently gave better results than other routers available at the time. Plenty still available on well known online auction sites.