Strange Speed test results?

[#1]

Plusnet have concluded that my maximum 51mb speed on a quoted 76-80mb line is all well and good.  I am reluctantly coming to terms with this, but I am seeing some other strange behaviour  - 

My speed test results vary,  some days I will see a ping of less than 15ms, a steady 51mb down and about 13mb up.  

Other days the Ping will range from between 50-800ms,  Download will be below 20mb generally, and upload will be about the same.  

Now, this is where it gets interesting - I usually run the tests on the BTW tester, but I also try others, (ookla etc)   -  When the connection works (cough) well,  my ISP will show as Plusnet PLC, and my location pops up on the ookla map.   However, when it is slow,  the ISP shows as "UK Internet Provider"  and my location appears about 300 miles away on the map!  Also, the graph bar on ookla looks like a heart monitor readout  - instead of a long solid bar it is a regular pattern with regular peaks and troughs. 

Any idea whats going on here? 

[#2]

Hi there. First don't rely on ping results from the BTw speedtester (or come to that any speedtester) they will be quite variable depending on server usage (and if you are running anything else on your connection at the same time - which you shouldn't anyway when running these tests).

If you want an accurate assessment of your ping, open a Command Window and use the ping command and
ping ntp.plus.net

As far as location goes, if you are on Plusnet's older Network, then you should be connected to a London gateway and that's probably what will be shown as you location. If you are on the new Network then you should be connected to the nearest PoP to you.
A tracert (say to ntp.plus.net) should help clear that one up.

What does the BT DSL Checker say the estimate for your line is?
What does the Current Line Speed say?
What is the IP Profile from the BTw Speedtest Diagnostic test?

[#3]

Are you testing using a wired connection or over WiFi?

WiFi speeds may well be variable due to local signal level and other routers using the same WiFi channel as yours.

[#4]

@Zoidster

Links to help you get the information @Anotherone mentioned

http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/

https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=data_transfer_speed

http://www.speedtest.btwholesale.com/PerformanceTesterWS/diagnostics.do

[#5]

All tests I use for reference have been done via LAN with the router plugged straight into the master socket, with faceplate removed and also present. (Since becoming a Plusnet customer obsessing over this stuff has taken over my life)  Although as a point of interest, any Speedtests I do on my laptop via Wifi also show pretty much the same results, so I am happy to conclude any problems are not on my side of the socket! 

 Its funny, my Sky connection was up to 38mb, and it ran at 36mb absolutely every single time it was ever tested, whether over Ethernet or Wifi.  

 I  struggle to believe that since switching to Plusnet, the reduced speed and vast deviations I can see from day to day are anything to do with anyone other than Plusnet themselves?  - yesterday my speed dropped to less than 20mb, on a 76mb service?  this just never happened on Sky, same line.  

[#6]

BT says my profile is 53.1mb  When it works well I see 51mb (max) but when its playing around it drops below 20mb  - Plusnet have investigated and say its because of the length of the line, (although the cabinet is just around the corner, about 200m) and nothing can be done.  

Funny how that line length never caused the speed to drop under Sky eh? 

[#7]

Ah look, this was my first speedtest after having Plusnet activated (admittedly over Wifi) ,  I guess this was before the line realised it was too long?   

[#8]

I'd suggest that you go through the full BTw speedtest when it is acting up. If you get the results you describe on that then Plusnet will act on the error report. They did so for me and called out Openreach pretty quickly and a line fault was fixed.

My SamKnows box reports reasonably constant speeds at any time albeit with the occasional blip so any fault must be at your exchange or on your local loop because it isn't within the Plusnet internal network or I'd be seeing it too as would countless others.

This is showing UK internet provider and not Plusnet but is pretty much the same as I always get...

It's strange that Plusnet isn't identified as I have a fixed IP which was allocated to me some years back so it isn't a case of new IP blocks being unknown to ookla

[#9]

@Zoidster First my apologies for forgetting to put the links in for the checks I mentioned in message 2 which @SpendLessTime kindly provided in message 4.

Zoidster wrote:
Since becoming a Plusnet customer obsessing over this stuff has taken over my life

Tell me about things like that since Plusnet have been going downhill I think a lot of people have been finding the same.
I've just been reading your other thread and the stats you posted here - you do need to follow the exact line of the cable to the Cab usually direct via road, so it's likely to be nearer the 300m you mentioned. Quite why Plusnet's estimate for your line was as high as it was compared to the BT DSL Checker is odd, as Plusnet's is/should be based on the DSL Checker. Is that DSL Checker result definitely your line as it should show some Left in Jumpers? and it's not!

Anyway, there seems to be a couple of different things going on here. First your lower than expect sync speed - hence IP profile, from this speed it suggests your distance to the Cab would be nearer 600m OR something is wrong. Second these speeds of ~20Mbps, I take it this is a BTw Speedtest Result BUT your IP Profile remains the same 53Mbps?

Let's deal with the 2nd thing first. If your IP Profile is not changing, then reductions in throughput speed will be nothing to do with your local loop - ie. your connection to the Cab. If you are finding that this is primarily occurring at peak times, then it's most likely due to congestion either at the exchange or further upstream - BT Backhaul or Plusnet Network. This (as I understand it) is more likely if you are on the older network and as I mentioned previously a tracert to ntp.plus.net would probably give us a clue.
So if your IP profile is remaining constant with these speed variations, then being told it's the length of your line is complete BS. You are probably being told this by a 1st line support agent that doesn't understand the issues. The other thing of course is that nothing else should be using the connection when running the test - no streaming or computer use.

Taking the first thing now, with the IP Profile/sync speed being lower than expected. There quite a lot of things to check through here. You gave a speedtest result when you were first connected - it's not uncommon to get high results like that in the first 24hrs on shorter lines as DLM hasn't assessed the connection and the line is unrestricted. Do you have a BTw (or any result) 48hours after first being connected?
If you are indeed on Cab P11 then it's an ECI Cab (as most in the area are). As you using the Plusnet Hub One, can you login to it and have a look at the Event Log. Select the Category WAN and then post all the DSL entries since first connection - just do a copy/paste into a post. ie all the entries similar to this sort of thing -

03:40:29, 11 Jun.

DSL Link Up: Down Rate=54998Kbps, Up Rate=9999Kbps; SNR Margin Down=12.9dB, Up=22.2dB

When you contacted Plusnet about your speed problem, was there a ticket raised on the account? Have a look for any Open or Closed questions/tickets. If there was, did they run a GEA test - the results would be in the ticket. Do a copy and paste into a post (but make sure the agent's name and your personal info is redacted).

Now, other things that might affect the connection at your end.
What sort of master socket do you have? - Scroll down the page a bit, does it look like the one on the LHS and does it have a vDSL plate like the one on the RH image?
Do you have any extension sockets and where is the Hub One currently plugged in?
If you don't have a vDSL plate, do all your filters look similar to this?

[#10]

Please bear with me, I will try to provide the information you ask, and I really do appreciate your trying to help,  but I am literaly sick to the back teeth of having to borrow or bring home an old laptop with an LAN connector to do these tests, especially when, when I run the same test on my own laptop wirelessley the result is ALWAYS exactly the same!!  

I do recall one of Plusnets tests telling my my line length was 600m!  Which amazes me as the cabinet is nowhere near that far away, the cable must take a scenic route.  

Tonight I didn't even notice the connection messing but these are the results I tend to see (yes, I realise these don't count and I'm probably loosing 50mb over wifi      Once again, what I don't understand is that my speeds never dropped to even THESE speeds, over wifi, with several other devices connected!!  (Sorry, this is driving me hysterical) 

The reason for the OOKLA one is not so much the speed, but the weird "pulse pattern" that it seems to show every time its on a go slow. 

[#11]

[#12]

I take it that the GEA test result was from when you were on the incorrect profile that was mentioned in your other thread, and you don't have a more recent one? But that line attenuation shows something is not right if your line doesn't take the "scenic route". So if you are able to answer all the other queries, that could be very helpful.

The tracert ntp.plus.net from a Command Window could be extremely helpful at pointing a finger.

If you have satisfied yourself that when running speed tests, the results over wireless are the same as with ethernet, then if your wireless device is close to the router when running future tests, you are unlikely to be losing speed over the wireless connection. What I suggest you do is run the BTw Diagnostic Test and when you get a really bad result, don't run the BTw one again. The last result only is visible to Plusnet on the BT Server.

You could also try using the TBB Speedtester as well as the Ookla one to see how your connection is doing.

[#13]

Thanks,  Just to confirm no, that GEA test was long after the profile was corrected.  

[#14]

 

Not sure if this means a lot as the connection is performing flat out this morning (i.e. 50mb)   I'll try to do it next time it messes around. 

[#15]

The Cabinet is at the dropped pin, my house is at the white dot by "Lower Herne Road" , Google maps walking distance by road says .2 of a mile (320m).  It would have to go some pretty bizarre route to double that surely? In fact I can see the first 50-75m or so (my telephone line!)  heading straight in the cabinets direction for a start!