Ping problem

[#1]

I hope this is the correct subject area as I'm seriously miffed with my connection at the moment.
I've read through all the forums and I can't see an answer. My ping which used to be a rock solid 40ms to a german Quake server is now pants. I've looked at the priority thing and that looks OK. I've checked the exchange, OK. I tried my speed and at 1846kbps seems OK. My download speed is OK. I ping to the BBC and my avg. is 35ms mmm, not that good.
The only thing I haven't tried is the interleaving business. The problem is the ping is far from stable. From a solid 40 to now between 40 - 120. It's never the same within a few seconds so I think I'm right in saying I should leave the interleaving alone.
I've had issues before with my ping going to the U.S. then back to Europe but this was sorted. I don't think it's doing this anymore. I'm paying for a 30:1 contentionn ratio (how do I know if I'm getting this by the way?) so I'm pretty frustrated at the moment.
I see other UK users pings and they're far better than mine.
Can anyone suggest anything? P.S. nothing at all has changed at my end for this to happen.
T.I.A. Flatspot.
PPS. I should add this has been going on for about 6weeks. I hoped it would sort itself out. It hasn't.

[#2]

First you need to establish if interleaving is on or off. If its on then that will add 20 -> 30ms to your ping times which may explain what you are seeing. During periods when connection problems occur, BT can enable it to try and stabilise the line and this can happen without your knowledge.
What router do you use as some do report it.
Also there has never has been a 30:1 contended product. Do you mean 20:1?
What product are you actually on?

[#3]

Don't know about the interleaving. I've never heard of it before coming here. Should I raise a ticket to ask? I don't normally bother with them because it used to be such a hassle.
I don't use a router, just my Linksys modem.
As for the product I'm not totally sure. It's £21.99 a month, I know that. Also I think it's 2MB unlimited usage. I thought it was 30:1 but you're probably correct with the 20:1. BTW, how do I know I'm getting this. Do I just take their word for it? I've been paying for it for years.
The connection used to be great. 

[#4]

To find out which product you are on:
Login to the portal;
Click Connection Settings in the left-hand menus;
Click the View My Usage icon in the My Account panel.
That will display a summary of your usage in the current billing month.  You should find the name of your product under the "Summary" heading.
Please could you let us know which model of Linksys modem you have.  If in doubt it should be written on a plate on the bottom of the modem.  Given that we should be able to identify where (and if) line properties can be displayed.

[#5]

Hi Flatspot,
Few things.
You're not on an unlimited product.  You're in Premier Option 1 which carries a 20GB usage allowance.  You may want to look at our other products to see if they are of any interest:
http://www.plus.net/residential/broadband/
You're on a fixed rate 2Mbps product which used to carry a contention ratio of 50:1, although this isn't really the case these days as BT have scrapped the talk of contention.  I'll be more than happy to place an order to move you onto the upto 8Mbps service for you should you want me to do so.
Give me a shout and I'll see what I can do to get things sorted for you.

[#6]

Yes it's the premier (read expensive option). My modem is a lynksys ADSL2.
I'm not bothered about my usage (normally about 3.5Gb)or speed to be honest, I just want my solid low ping back.

I heard stability is a problem with the 8mb, so thats why I didn't change. I've been on plusnet 2 years and after the last hiccup with the routing all has been well. I may well go to a cheaper package, but I want to keep everything the same for the moment so there are no more variables in the problem.
Anymore ideas on the ping thing?
Cheers F.S.

[#7]

Regarding Max, it's a lot more stable than it used to be.  Fault levels are pretty low at the moment which is indicative of the improvements that have been made on the upto 8Mbps service.

[#8]

Yes, but I can just see it now. I change to 8meg then suddenly the ping issue could "possibly be related to that Sir. I'm afraid there is nothing we can do".
So I'll stick with what I've got for the moment so then I know nothing has changed. Just my ping.

[#9]

Hi!
It is possible to go back to a 2Mb service if you find the 8Mb isn't suitable for you. We sometimes have to do this if the customer is initially provisioned on the MaxDSL service, and after a line fault we are recommended to regrade to the lower line speed.
We would of course look at every avenue if anything we to happen.
Just let us know
Thanks

[#10]

Thanks, I'll consider it, but what about my ping? What else is there to try I already haven't? Something has changed recently.

[#11]

Other than ensuring that you're connecting to your master socket, your filters and hardware are known to be working fine then there not really that much else you can do.
You could have a look at tweaking your MTU and rWin.
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/troubleshooting/rwin_video.shtml

[#12]

I've just had a read if the tweaking pages and this was one of the comments.....  Tweaking will not fix
Packet loss
Multiplayer games over UDP
Your ping time
PC freezes

Would a different ISP give a different ping result?