IPStream Max change-over problems - Stuck IP Profile

[#1]

Having read a couple of stories on this forum about stuck IP Profles limiting data throughput where the line is capable of more, I want to add my own experience.
I have been with PlusNet since 2003 and when I signed up originally the service was called "IPStream". I don't remember if it changed type or name over the years, but, almost a month ago now, on 29th July, I was informed by PlusNet that they would be changing the service on my line to "IPStream Max".
Until 11th August I had a reliable and fast-ish connection, with typical download sync's in the range 4800-5300 (Interleaved).
However, from 12th August I have been having speed and dropped connection problems. But, because of the email warning about things needing time to settle on the new service, I have been patient so far.
Out of curiosity I kept track of modem sync speeds and throughput speeds. And, although it all started off very promising, with sync speeds as high as 'Fast 7168 Kbps', the speed gradually came down over time, below what I was used to, until it was really dreadful two days ago: sync'ing at just over 4000 Kbps but with a throughput of only 116-134 Kbps?!
Basically, at the moment, I can upload faster than I can download!
And rebooting my router no longer helps either. Occasionally when I had a low (sync) speed in the past, I just needed to reboot a couple of times until I got a 'normal' one again, somewhere between 4800 and 5300. Now the sync speed almost seems constant and I can't get it above 4500 Kbps anymore.
So I ran http://www.speedtester.bt.com/ a couple of times, and this is what it told me:
19/08/2009 01:30
Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test:
    Your DSL connection rate: 4032 kbps(DOWN-STREAM),  448 kbps(UP-STREAM)
    IP profile for your line is - 135 kbps
    Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 118 kbps
20/08/2009 09:20
The Performance Tester is now testing Broadband connection.
Your configured download throughput speed for this service is 135 k
Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test:
    Your DSL connection rate: 3840 kbps(DOWN-STREAM),  448 kbps(UP-STREAM)
    IP profile for your line is - 135 kbps
    Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 94 kbps
20/08/2009 13:07
Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test:
    Your DSL connection rate: 4352 kbps(DOWN-STREAM),  448 kbps(UP-STREAM)
    IP profile for your line is - 135 kbps
    Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 116 kbps
The "IP profile" line above suggests to me that my line's throughput is deliberately being held back.
I first used the Help Assistant to log the problem but that only got me a standard reply, although no doubt useful for the average user.
As my download speeds are clearly less than BT's minimum for my kind of line (for a +2Mbps rated line the minimum is 400Kbps), I then used the Broadband Fault Checker to log a fault.
I am currently still waiting for this problem to be resolved but have had to spend a fair amount of time reading PlusNet documentation, logging the problem, and following procedures in general, in addition to the time lost doing other things because of the slow connection.
I hope that it will be resolved soon.

[#2]

first impression is that your not catchin the router when it has sync blip down in to the 100kbps region.
whats the wiring like have you got extension sockets running of the master sockets if so can you try using the test socket and pluging your router straight in to this and keep an eye on the sync, snr/noise margin, attention,  power levels grab the stats before and after youve pluged into the test socket http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/frogstats.php

any sky boxs ect pluged into the phone line?

[#3]

Hi,
I strongly suspect that the various drops occurring on your connection are preventing the IP Profile from updating properly - probably suggesting that your reconnection speeds are variable.
Like Asbo Dog says, try using the test socket to see if you're able to maintain a stable connection first.

[#4]

Thanks both for your replies.
The http://www.kitz.co.uk/ site is great, BTW - if only I had the time to read it all. I used to be a bit of a techie but I have a life now. Still tempted though 
I have been thinking about the many dropped connections.
Initially, I caused many drops myself by rebooting the router when noticing a slow sync speed, although I stopped doing that after a while because it didn't make a difference. But I thought that the other drops were simply being caused by the line testing that is going on as part of the change-over to IPStream Max, ie during the stabilisation period?
In addition, maybe I need to mention that, whenever I stop using my laptop, even during the day, I turn everything off, including the router, as I have found the energy saving to be substantial. This means that the router is turned off/on several times during the day and is off for most of the night. Although this is not new behaviour on my part - I have been doing this for the last two years - it may not be a good thing to do during the stabilisation period for IPStream Max?

[#5]

UPDATE
I think I spoke too soon when I labeled my problem "Stuck IP Profile". My current IP Profile is limiting my data throughput speed, making Internet access really slow, but I should not call the IP Profile "stuck", not yet anyway.
Below is the DSL Max Data for my line as provided by PlusNet during the investigation (Great stuff. Tx!)
 
BIP Interface Data
- Current line rate:  135
- Line rate change timestamp:  2009-08-18T10:53:39
- Maximum Stable Rate:  N
- Recalcuated Profile Timestamp:    2009-08-16T12:51:14
- Maximum Stable Rate:    2272
- Fault Threshold Rate:  2272
- Interleaving Flag:  A
- Service Option:    1
- Service Option Status: 
- ServiceOption Update Timestamp:  2009-07-29T09:07:13
I read somewhere that IP Profiles are like No Claims Discounts in car insurance: quick to penalise you for an accident but slow to reward good behaviour. Or in this case: an IP Profile gets updated downwards quickly if there is a poor connection, for whatever reason (eg lightning) but it takes 3 days or more days of substantially better connections to 'recover'.
As the DSL Max Data above indicates that my current 135 kbps IP Profile was only established on 18-08-2009, I take it that I will have to wait, at least until some time tomorrow.

[#6]

I would like to quickly comment on the friendly advice given to me by others above and also found in question 6 of a mini-questionnaire sent out by PlusNet during the fault investigation.
"6. Please connect your modem/router to the master socket, leaving all other equipment disconnected and see if the intermittency problem still happens (if you are not able to check this, you can leave it like this for 24 hours and ask us to check for you). Please also bear in mind that as your speed is low this is a profile issue and will quite likely remain so for a couple of days even if plugged into the master socket.""
It is the right thing to do but, considering the amount of work involved, asked for at the wrong point in time. There are other things that surely must be easier to try first.
For me, disconnecting the equipment is not a simple thing at all, because of the way all cabling is done, nice and tidy with cable clips and ducts etc. And then there is moving and reconnecting the lot near the master socket: the location of the master socket, in the hallway, lacks space to put the equipment, so I have to put it on the floor and cannot leave it there unattended. And, let's not forget, how/where am I supposed to work in the mean time?
When dealing with a problem it is good practice to start by looking at what was changed since the good times.
If, like in this case, the last and only known change of circumstances is the change-over to IPStream Max, then the first thing to do would be to reset the IP Profile or even to restart the MaxDSL training period for my line, before venturing into all kinds and potentially wasting a lot of my time.
 
It is simple common-sense and the equivalent of me saying "Have you tried rebooting your PC guys?". Flukes and glitches do happen and a simple reset of the equipment is all that's required in that case.
If the problem persists after the IPStream Max or IP Profile was reset, only then is it time to look into it further and try other things, including the good practice of trying to isolate the problem, which is what connecting directly to the master socket is about.
Sorry, I just had to get this off my chest.

[#7]

UPDATE
I left my router switched on overnight, plugged into BT's master test socket, and I did not have a single dropped connection between 4.32pm yesterday until 3.54pm today.
For most of the time, including all through the night, a sync speed of 4288 was maintained.
This morning I manually initiated two reconnects, at 8.05am and at 9.38am, each producing even higher sync speeds of 4544 and 4576 respectively. I did that, because reading up on DSLMax and "Adaptive Max Logic" gave me the impression that it wasn't so much the length of time that a connection could be maintained at a given speed that was important, but simply the sync speeds each time.
Anyway, at about 3.54pm, I sadly noticed that the line was dropped and re-sync'ed at 3968.
So I decided to run another BT Speed Test at http://www.speedtester.bt.com/ which gave the following result:
Your configured download throughput speed for this service is 4000 k
Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test:
    Your DSL connection rate: 3968 kbps(DOWN-STREAM),  448 kbps(UP-STREAM)
    IP profile for your line is - 4000 kbps
    Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 210 kbps
While the same test this morning still reported an IP Profile of 135 kbps, like it had been for the last three days, today, in the afternoon of day four, it has finally gone up to 4000 kbps.
The irony: look how the sync rate when running the test was, at 3968, actually lower than 4000. I do hope that this is not going to drag the IP Profile down once again...
Anyway, as you can tell from the test results above, it's not all over yet! I have now encountered another bottleneck, and I guess that it is Plusnet this time, given that https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=data_transfer_speed tells me that my "Current line speed = 250".
How long before this one gets lifted, automatically or manually?

[#8]

Normally within 12 hours - I think it is done twice every 24 hours

[#9]

Glad to hear that I don't need to wait another three or four days    Thanks Oldjim.

[#10]

UPDATE
My IP Profile has gone down again. To 350 kbps this time.
In fact, notwithstanding the 4000 kbps profile that I reported earlier, I have never been able to get more than 1500 kbps actual data throughput speed because of the delay before BT's profile gets reflected in Plusnet's copy.
Anyway, I have started monitoring my connection now, with the excellent RouterStats program (http://www.vwlowen.co.uk/internet/files.htm).  Although my modem wasn't listed, it was easy to get it to work with my Solwise SAR110.
I have attached my data for yesterday. I am extremely concerned that this will prove to be typical for my line.
From when I started the day, switching on all equipment at about 9.30am until I switched everything off again at midnight, I only had 4 different sync speeds, two of which came about because I deliberately restarted the connection to get a better speed.
The table below shows the sync speeds and how long each connection lasted:

Sync speeds (kbps)	2536	3680	416	3264
Time connected (minutes)	2	503	15	348

If you weight the syncs by the time they were maintained, then my average sync speed during the day was 3454.18. However, because of the brief (15 mins) sync at 416, my IP Profile became 350...

In fact, at the time when I wrote this – at 12:35 on Wed 26th August – the IP Profile is still at 350. Ie 19.5 hours after the 416-sync-speed event which occurred at 17:55 yesterday.
Although I understand and agree in principle with IP Profiles, I think that BT's implementation is fundamentally flawed and unfair, even with BT's "Adaptive Max Logic" which is supposed to alleviate the problem but which is not effective in practice, not for my kind of line anyway.
I hope that there is a solution. If not, then I want to be switched back to what I had before.
I didn't ask for this change-over to IPStream Max to happen. Up until the moment when the change-over procedure started, on 12th August 2009, I had good, consistent speeds on this very same line - nothing has changed at this end!

[#11]

To be honest with that variation in noise margin you won't get anywhere near a stable connection unless you can find the cause and fix it.
Do you have the possibility to use a wireless connection on your PC. If so Plusnet may agree to loan you a Thompson 585 wireless router which you could then put next to the master socket.
Alternatively is there any possibility of running a temporary ethernet cable from your router (located next to the master socket) to your PC.

[#12]

Thanks for your time on the phone.
As I mentioned, I'd like to see what happens if you leave the router alone for 24 hours so I can see if the connection is still disconnecting.
If it is, it'll be easier to raise with BT.

[#13]

@Oldjim
To clarify my current setup:

• I am actually using WiFi at the moment, as my Solwise SAR110 is connected to a Linksys Wireless-G router


• The Solwise SAR110 ADSL modem is connected to the master socket as requested by Plusnet some time ago. (I didn't like the work involved, but I stll did it anyway...

I agree that there is quite a bit of variation in my Signal Noise Ratio Margin levels, BUT, for most of the time, my connections still hold.
E.g. for the entire day yesterday, only 4 connections were made in total. And for two of them I was the one initiating them by restarting the loop on my router because I couldn't accept the low sync speed that had just been established automatically - see attachments on my previous post.

@Jameseh
Thanks for your call. 
As agreed, I will leave the line alone and the modem switched on for 24 hours, ie no more restarts initiated by me for the time being, and I won't turn the modem off over-night tonight.

[#14]

When you say the master socket is that the test socket thereby removing your internal wiring from the equation