Speed query...gone real slow!

[#1]

Hi,
I posted in July last year with a query about my broadbandspeed which at the time was very slow. After rasing the query I was told that Plusnet's system hadn't updated and had me on a fixed 2Mb speed which was altered to fit the profile of my line (5500). Everything improved.
Just this week my speed has plummeted. After consistently getting speeds of 4-5Mb I now an getting 1.2Mb at best!! If anything I thought our speed would be a tad better as we have had our external phone cable changed as the old one was very degraded.
Can someone from Plusnet help and restore me to my old speeds as I don't know why I should suddenly be getting a slow connection. The router is fine and I'm only about 200-300 yards from my nearest exchange.
I was asked for my router stats last time, so if it helps with the problem here they are:
Link Information
   

Uptime: 0 days, 2:39:38

DSL Type: G.992.1 annex A

Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 448 / 6,656

Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/kB]: 0.00 / 0.00

Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.0 / 9.5

Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 4.0 / 7.0

SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 24.0 / 15.0

Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / TSTC

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): 0 / 0
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 0

HEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 0
I hope this can be sorted. ICheers!

[#2]

I can't see any issues with your account from here and the profile seems to be correct at 5500.
Can you try a speedtest here: www.speedtester.bt.com and paste the results as a reply to this post please?

[#3]

With that attenuation you should be syncing with the exchange at max speed, try rebooting your router sometime between 10 am and 3pm and see if you sync higher, if you do then it'll just be a 3 day wait for your ip proflie to go up.

[#4]

The test results are:
Download speedachieved during the test was - 1970 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 600-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :6656 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 5500 Kbps

[#5]

Any ideas, I've pasted the speed test results.
Regarding the rebooting of my router idea, I had a problem with my router and was advised by Plusnet to switch my wireless channel on 17 Jan which solved that particular connection issue. I had to reboot my router in doing that. Could this have had an effect on my broadband speed? If so, I'm still none the wiser how to get back to my old faster speeds.
Any help appreciated!

[#6]

What has killed your broadband speed is the 15dB default noise margin.
The only thing you can do is wait for it to correct itself.
Do you have any idea what caused it to go that high.
For example a lot of disconnections in a very short time or plugging in something without a filter and then realising it and unplugging it again

[#7]

When we contacted BT last week about our line fault we had to do the usual checks which did involve plugging in the phone without the filter, and disconnecting the router from the filter...the usual stuff to establish it was a lne fault and not equipment interfernce. Might this explain it?
Before our line was fixed it was very crackly, and the router connection would drop out quite a bit (the internet light would flicker on the router a lot....I assume that signifies drop outs?). Could this have had an effect?
Also, when we're not using the internet we switch off the wireless router as can't see the point of it being on when not in us. We've always done this with no drop in connection speed before.
Does any of this info explain the drop in line speed? If so, is it a case of waiting for it to correct itself....and if so how long  would this usually take?
Many thanks for the replies so far.

[#8]

Hi there,
Your line doesn't look particularly unstable (3 or so connections per day, which I'm assuming is you turning the router off when not in use?) so it looks like the testing you did is the cause of the SNR changes.
It can take a while to sort itself naturally, but I can get it reset for you if you like? This will reset the 10 day training period for your line as well though.

[#9]

Hi Mand,
I'm not sure what you mean by resetting the 10 day training period and what effect that has on my connection. (Sorry, I'm not very tech savvy!).
I think whatever is the quickest option to get my broadband speed back to where it was (between 4-5Mb I think) would be great. If waiting for it to sort itself naturally would take longer then please do the re-set, otherwise I'll wait it out.
If you could reply to this and fill me in that would be great. Many thanks.

[#10]

Resetting the 10 day training period effectively wipes the slate clean, resets the target noise margin to 6dB (the really important bit) and the DLM learns the characteristics of your line from scratch just as it did when the maxADSL service was first activated on your line. That should give you the best performance available now that the fault has been repaired.
Given time (perhaps 4 or more weeks) the DLM might sort itself out, but rather than wait - in hope - I suggest you confirm you would like the reset to be done now. During the training period leaving your router on 24x7 provides maximum information to the DLM; you can restart the router once per day (during daylight hours) if you want to, though personally I wouldn't bother.

[#11]

I've been doing speedchecks the last few days, yesterday averaged about 1.5 - 2.0 Mb but today has been between 3.8 - 4.5Mb....so far!
I wonder if it's best to monitor my speeds this week and see if it has consistently improved before deciding on having my connection reset? Or by resetting everything (including the noise margin) should I still get faster speeds?

[#12]

If it's on the up I'd advise sticking by the old 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' adage though if it doesn't resettle at the previous speed and the SNR looks a bit high then let us know and we'll arrange the SNR reset for you.

[#13]

In that case I'll just monitor the speeds for a while and see if it improves.
Finally, could you just confirm/explain the SNR thing. Is that the 'SN Margin' figure on my router stats page? As previously posted the figure at the moment is:
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 24.0 / 15.0
Just looking back at a post I did on August 18 2009, my stats were SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 23.0 / 15.0...roughly the same as now.  What figure should I be looking at it to reduce too so that I don't ask for a SNR reset needlessly? I have no idea what a is considered a  high or low SNR, and indeed what mine should roughly be considering my router stats and short distance from the exchange.
Many thanks.

[#14]

Well the ideal SNR is 6dB provided the line can handle it (the SNR is the difference between the signal and the background noise on the line). It goes up from there in 3dB increments, and for a raise in 3dB you can expect to lose approx. 800kb of sync speed (conversely the opposite is true - if your SNR drops by 3dB you can expect an increase in sync speed of 800kb ish).
Hope that helps,

[#15]

Yes, the SN Margin line (Signal to Noise Ratio Margin) is the one that is being mentioned. However on reflection your downstream figure of 15.0dB is not that high considering you are almost next door to the exchange. Probably 9-10dB is as low as it would go on up-to-8Mbps maxADSL. It is possible the DLM will reduce the present target (which seems to be 15dB) given time.