QoS query

[#1]

Hi,
I've been on Plusnet for a while now and maybe 4-5 months ago the QoS seemed to simply stop working for my broadband. Suddenly things like Netflix or even refreshing an image-heavy page would cause high latency in games I'm playing. It's not exclusive to any particular game so it can't be just that it's unrecognised, the list includes many popular games like Counterstrike, Guild Wars 2, I can list many more if it would help. As I said the QoS was fine from the beginning of the service until a few months ago, and I contacted Plusnet tech support who said they'd look into it but they kept asking for speedtests which obviously showed that my internet was fine if nothing else was using the connection, which is a requirement for the test anyhow and I didn't understand how that would demonstrate that traffic priority was a problem, the connection itself is fine. I used to be able to download at full speed (only 800k/second in my area) and play games flawlessly, but now even watching a youtube video the bandwidth will all be used and the game latency will suffer until it's finished loading.
I messaged someone from Plusnet called Kelly who was unfortunately not in the office but suggested I post here with the following:

Quote

Things that need checking: Is your bandwidth being consumed by something you don't realised which is maxing your upstream, or being prioritised by us accidentally. (virus infection, downloads maxing your upstream a lot) Is your profile correct on ourside (we should be able to check that.  If you profile is too high, you'll be able to max line without the qos kicking in You have an exchange issue.  Can we see other customers at your exchange with similar issues.

I'm positive there's no wifi leeching, and no viruses maxing the bandwidth as when I do want to download something it goes at full speed and normally gaming is flawless IF nothing else is using bandwidth. Like I said I only have 800k/sec so it's fairly easy to tell if it's being used. The latter two things are presumably something Plusnet can hopefully help with?
The thing that confuses me is that it was fine until a few months ago, and nothing changed at all with my internet setup at the time that I can think of.
Thanks,
Alasdair

[#2]

To test some of those ideas can you do the following -

Run the BT Wholesale Broadband Performance Test
Enter your telephone number in the box to the right of "Telephone Number of the broadband circuit:".
Hit the button labeled "Run Diagnostic Test"
Hit "OK" to confirm your telephone number, and then wait for the "Test Results" screen to appear.
Copy an paste the results contained in the box across the middle of the screen, into this forum topic.

Next, using the following link, login to the Plusnet "Member Centre" to get to the "High-speed Broadband" webpage.
Can you post here what the number following "Current line speed:" says it is set to ?

[#3]

I've just performed a couple of line tests and I can see that your line in incredibly stable. However I can't see that a delta report has ever been generated for your line, which could be causing some issues.
We can investigate this further but as a first thought can you try logging in to the router, disconnecting, powering the router down and then reconnecting. I'd suggest doing this during daylight hours.
My hope is that when you establish sync this time around a line report is generated. If not we can investigate further.
Let us know when you've been able to do the above.

[#4]

Thanks for the replies!
You mean logging into the router and disconnecting from Plusnet using the UI, then turning the router off and back on? It reconnects automatically, right?

[#5]

Yes that is what was meant.
It should reconnect automatically, but if it doesn't then go back to the UI and click on "Connect".
As 'Chris' said do it during daylight hours - perhaps around 10am tomorrow morning.
If was me, I would also wait half an hour between disconnecting and powering down, and another half an hour before powering up again.

It would also be helpful if you could post results from the tests I suggested in Reply #1, from both before and then again perhaps six hours after (to allow the Plusnet profile to catch up) doing the disconnect sequence that 'Chris' suggested.

[#6]

I've been on Plusnet for over a year now, and have disconnected and/or restarted my router many times, wouldn't these have established a sync? I've done what you suggested, though.
Here's the line test before:
Download speedachieved during the test was - 6.41 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 0.6 Mbps-7.15 Mbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :8.13 Mbps(DOWN-STREAM), 0.45 Mbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 7.15 Mbps
And after:
Download speedachieved during the test was - 6.44 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 0.6 Mbps-7.15 Mbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :8.13 Mbps(DOWN-STREAM), 0.45 Mbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 7.15 Mbps
And on my profile: Current line speed:
7.15 Mb
Additionally, this is another thing that was never solved, my upload used to be 0.6 mbps before I changed my Plusnet package to unlimited, and after that it seemed to go down to 0.3, this isn't a huge priority but I just wondered if it was something that was changed by mistake or if it's something to do with my exchange?
Thanks

[#7]

There is something a bit odd with that information
Given the downstream speed is probably 8128kbps and the IP profile is 7.17Mbps I would have assumed that you are on 21CN (it would have been 7.15Mbps on 20CN) and you reporting that you used to get upload speeds of 0.6Mbps would also indicate 21CN
Is the 7.17Mbps a typo
However the lack of an upstream IP profile would indicate 20CN
Did you move house when you changed to unlimited
If you put your phone number in here what does it say about WBC on 21CN http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/
Can you post the full stats from your router - if it is a Plusnet supplied oner they can be seen here http://192.168.1.254/cgi/b/dsl/dt/?ce=1&be=0&l0=1&l1=0

[#8]

It doesn't say 7.17, does it?
I have not moved house since I've used Plusnet, no, and the plusnet website says BT have no planned date for 21CN.
And the router information:

Quote

Uptime: 0 days, 21:19:33 DSL Type: ITU-T G.992.1 Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 448 / 8,128 Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [MB/GB]: 328.06 / 3.64 Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.0 / 9.8 Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 2.0 / 4.5 SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 26.0 / 13.9 System Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / ---- Chipset Vendor ID (Local/Remote): BDCM / TSTC Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / - Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 0 / - Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / - Loss of Link (Remote): - Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 10 / - FEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 0 CRC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 10 HEC Errors (Up/Down): - / 5

[#9]

Those stats look OK.
Don't mind 'OldJim' not being able to read, this isn't the first time it has been suggested that he needs to go to Specsavers ! 

The next thing to check is whether your exchange is slowing you down with congestion, which WOULD cause the Plusnet QoS to fail.
Can you post back here the exchange name and 5-digit exchange code, that your phone line is connected to.
This information an be found by entering your telephone number into the SamKnows - UK Exchange Search
Then ask for a member of Plusnet CRT forum staff to check for you whether BT are reporting any issues at your exchange.

[#10]

Disregarding my well known eyesight problems 
You are definitely stuck with an upspeed of 448kbps so you could not have got the upload speed of 0.6Mbps unless you were paying for Max Premium and that dropped off when you changed packages

[#11]

Most of the VPs at your exchange are showing as 'amber', unfortunately there doesn't appear to be an upgrade date showing next to them. Do you know of anyone else on the same exchange seeing the same issues you are?

[#12]

The name of the exchange is: Milborne Port (WWMPRT)
I don't really know anyone who lives in the area who is likely notice this kind of thing. The only thing I know is that pretty much any online game becomes unplayable if any kind of download, even an image-heavy website refresh happens.
Oldjim, I'm sure I used to upload at around 60k/s as I used to be able to stream, albeit in very low quality and I can't do that anymore.

[#13]

Does http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/adslchecker.welcome give you a date for when FTTC will be available on your cabinet?

[#14]

Do you have the Pro add-on?

[#15]

Fibee's supposed to be on its way but I haven't heard of an ETA, they did something to the exchange earlier this year AFAIK.
I don't know what the pro addon is, so probably not.