Slow connection

[#1]

It's all been working fine for months but this week everything is slow. We've even lost the Internet connection twice and I've tried rebooting the router.
No faults reported as far as I can see.

Can someone have a look into it please.

[#2]

[#3]

Please could you post the information requested here: http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,96155.0.html
Alex

[#4]

Sorry Alex. Here it is;
DSL Connection
Link Information

Uptime: 0 days, 2:25:43
DSL Type: G.992.3 annex A
Maximum Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 1,020 / 2,460
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 444 / 575
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [MB/MB]: 19.57 / 112.99
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.5 / 17.0
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 32.0 / 54.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 22.5 / 4.0
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / IFTN
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 36,960 / 10,888,176
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 1,284 / 4
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 1 / 17
Speedtest results
Download 0.52
Upload 0.32
Ping Latency 43.13
High-speed Broadband
Estimated line speed:
   Not recorded (service activated before we introduced estimates).
Current line speed:
   2.2 Mb
adie:quote

[#5]

Lovely thanks,

Quote from: gstrickland

Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 444 / 575 SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 22.5 / 4.0

I've highlighted your problem above in bold. Basically there looks to be a lot of noise on your line, which is holding your speeds back. Can you try connecting your router directly to the test socket (the one behind the bottom lower half of the faceplate on the master socket).
Have you noticed any noise on your line recently, and have you changed anything about your setup?

[#6]

That's an impressive level of Forward Error Corrections for a router up time of 2 hours!
Perhaps the router is spending all its time doing the error correction routines to unscramble the data rather than passing it on
Hence the slow speeds.
The sync seems very low even for a 54 attenuation line - should it not be nearer 3000?

[#7]

Quote from: houlton23

Can you try connecting your router directly to the test socket (the one behind the bottom lower half of the faceplate on the master socket). Have you noticed any noise on your line recently, and have you changed anything about your setup?

Haven't tried the test socket, as nothing as been touched on the router, cabling or anything else for that matter. I'm very much one who believes in if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Nope, No noise on the line as far as I am aware.

[#8]

Could be an external line fault, but something is definitely broken, looking at your error counts (~10 million corrected in 2 hours) and old stats (where you were syncing ~3000kbps).
If you raise a fault with PN, they will just tell you to try the test socket, change the filter etc before they will even raise it with BT, purely to stop you being charged if the fault is found to be with your equipment.

[#9]

Okey-doke, I'll do that and then give them a call.
Thanks.
dick:quote

[#10]

Hi gstrickland,
I have placed a SNR reset on your line that should unband your profile and give you your previous speeds.
This can take up-to 24 hours to take effect but usually takes around 4 hours.
Let me know how you get on.
Chris

[#11]

The interesting thing is, when I reboot the router, I get good speeds back for a few hours, then it grinds to a snails pace.
Tonight, it was taking 5 minutes to refresh a webpage. Google images? Forget it. No chance even to get the first imagine up.
Link Information

Uptime: 0 days, 4:24:33
DSL Type: G.992.3 annex A
Maximum Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 932 / 1,792
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 443 / 2,168
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [MB/MB]: 21.96 / 18.84
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.5 / 16.5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 32.0 / 54.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 20.0 / 3.5
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / IFTN
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 3 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 20 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 12,992 / 0
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 2,557 / 842,686
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 684,326,910 / 762,264
So would that be 684 thousand, 326 hundred and 910 in just 4 hours?!!!! Each CRC error requires a retransmission of the IP frame, so double those figures.
I'm afraid Plusnet, I shall be on the phoning you tomorrow as I am NOT a happy person.
As I have stated above, nothing has changed internally within our house. The router and cabling has been untouched and not moved for months. All this flannel about filters is also total rubbish. It is VERY rare a filter goes wrong.
I think that either it's the router - a low cost cheap Thompson "crappio" model, a BT line problem (unlikely) or a BT exchange card problem. Of the three, the router is highly suspect as it's [Censored], or more likely the BT exchange card has gone bad. My money is on the exchange card.
Could Plusnet also ask BT to check the ADSL card revision and firmware. all too often BT exchange cards are badly made or are well out of date.
Oh, and if you could afford to send me a decent router rather than this Thomson [Censored], I'd like that too! Cisco or 3Com are my recommendation. Of the two, I'd recommend 3Com for the home user (Cisco's menu systems are [Censored], Cisco IOS interface is confusing for most). 3Com are not paying me to say this.
Thanks.
adie:quote

[#12]

You are almost there but Plusnet would tell you that you have to wait until the speed throttle they apply to your line adjusts itself to match the much-improved new router sync rate.  If you call they can adjust this manually and you should see an improvement right away.
I don't think the error count has been reset when the connection was re-established - I wouldn't worry about that unless you switched the router off for a while and the errors have accumulated since you switched it back on.

[#13]

Within an hour of contacting Plusnet this evening, the service was back to normal.
That time period would not of allowed Plusnet to contact BT and to have BT to check the card in the BT exchange or for BT to physically check the line. Having been in communications industry for more than 30 years and myself having provided Technical Support to BT, I know without question that all requests from the ISP's are put into a queue for investigations by the BT Wholesale engineers who maintain the lines and the BT exchanges.
The problem was/is blatantly within the Plusnet service.
I want to know what Plusnet changed and why they did it.
I'd also like to know in advance when it's likely to happen next.
Plusnet should easily be able to tell me this.

[#14]

Quote from: gstrickland

Within an hour of contacting Plusnet this evening, the service was back to normal. That time period would not of allowed Plusnet ....

would not have allowed Plusnet

Quote from: gstrickland

The problem was/is blatantly within the Plusnet service.

Only the final link in the chain of events required to fix your problem completely.

Quote from: gstrickland

I want to know what Plusnet changed and why they did it.

It's all here in these posts.  They saw that something had caused the target signal to noise ratio on your line to increase.  This is a figure controlled by the automatic equipment in the telephone exchange and it is increased if your router disconnects frequently in an attempt to stop it happening.  But it causes your download speed to be decreased as a consequence.  Plusnet did the only thing they could which was to send a request to reset the equipment, as Chrispurvey wrote.  You posted back your router stats showing that this had had the desired effect.  I told you to then ask Plusnet to update the speed throttle they were applying (which can take several days to update automatically).  They did that and you immediately saw the effect and instead of being pleased you got cross about it! 

Quote from: gstrickland

I'd also like to know in advance when it's likely to happen next. Plusnet should easily be able to tell me this.

That question is so easy I can tell you the answer.  The cycle will begin again when your router next suffers a rapid series of disconnections, triggering the automatic equipment in the telephone exchange to raise your target SNR and thus drop your speed.  A thunderstorm is a very likely cause.  You could have a rogue piece of electrical equipment in your house.  You have already picked up an extra 2.5dB of noise from the time it was reset (to 6dB) to the time you took your readings.

Quote from: gstrickland

Having been in communications industry for more than 30 years and myself having provided Technical Support to BT

Given your position, I was surprised you did not already know this stuff.

[#15]

If you want a better idea of what is going on I can heartily recommend a program called RouterStats Lite http://www.vwlowen.co.uk/internet/betatesters.htm (or the more complex RouterStats if your router is supported).  This polls your router every 15 seconds or so and records the noise level and speed.  Since using it myself I have found:
My noise level degrades by about 1.5dB at night.
A computer upstairs added over 1 dB of extra noise when switched on.  I fixed that by changing the PSU.
A line where I work suffers from occasional and apparently random bursts of noise; some of which are large enough to cause the router to disconnect even though the target noise margin has been automatically backed-off to 12dB.  I'm still trying to get to the bottom of this one.