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[kitz]

In other words, you're being 'throttled'.

Nope - not throttled at all.
 
They are saying it could be the SVLAN.   In other words - local congestion somewhere between the user and the exchange.

All the signs from the tests last week pointed to congestion somewhere - possibly on the LAN. 
The fact that Happy can get full speed via the lappy, would seem to indicate that its not the SVLAN, but the LAN.


--------------
Edited to add

I think PN may be covering their own backs with that statement...   after all its not unknown for new technology to suffer some sort of congestion.
When adsl was first introduced then we saw some pretty bad cases of exchange contention/congestion.   
Roll out of the 2Mbps trials.. Hello congestion BIG time.   
Roll out  rate adaptive dsl..     I cant recall the exact figures, but there was one point when more than half the exchanges in the UK were suffering.
I shouldnt laugh, but I can certainly see the line of thought that why should FTTC be any different until BTw can gauge what bandwidth certain parts of the network need.

[burakkucat]

I've just thought of another test that could be performed. 

Connect both desktop computers to each other with an Ethernet patch cable and see what throughput is achieved sending a big file from System A to System B (and the converse). Those results should show whether the problem is desktop system orientated or is due to using the router as a switch.

Whatever the result, I am convinced that you are getting the correct service "down the wire" and out of the LAN1 port on the HG612 that PlusNet are letting you trial (80/20 Mbps) for the price of your "signed up for" service (either 40/10 or 40/2). 

[silversurfer44]

This problem sort of reminds me of a fault I had with a photocopier (yes I was an office machinery service engineer).
The problem was that the machine refused to work at all although all the lights were on. I checked that there was the correct voltages all over the machine, and there was. Obviously the fuse was not blown in the socket. I eventually tried another socket and it worked!
Now because I couldn't leave the machine plugged in the good socket and I wasn't allowed to mess about with the mains wiring I had to get the works electrician on the job. It turned out that the neutral wire had become disconnected in the socket. The lights and voltages that I was reading were present because all that was being fed via the earth bonding. Which gave the voltage but no amps.

This relates to this problem in that I was overlooking the obvious thing. The socket.

Now Happy37, if you can get good readings when you leave out the router, which do you reckon could be at fault. Unless I have missed something in all your testing. It is difficult to work out what has been plugged into what! Perhaps a refresher might help. Like Have you plugged your PC directly into the modem? or just the laptop? Have you plugged the laptop into the router and then the PC?

I've just gone through the entire thread and can see that nearly all my questions have been answered except :-
have you plugged the laptop into the lan port on the router?

Edited to add the last paragraph.

[happy37]

Now Happy37, if you can get good readings when you leave out the router, which do you reckon could be at fault. Unless I have missed something in all your testing. It is difficult to work out what has been plugged into what! Perhaps a refresher might help. Like Have you plugged your PC directly into the modem? or just the laptop? Have you plugged the laptop into the router and then the PC?

ss44

Good morning - hope you're well.

Thanks for your reply.

It's easy to see how you are getting mixed up.....it is indeed very confusing!

Anyway, here goes:-

When I leave out the router, I get good readings (full speeds) on the laptop only. This is by plugging the router directly into the laptop, and hey, full whack/top speeds!

When I plug the router directly into both of my PCs, I only get 20-25Mbps speeds, even though I have upgraded the NICs in both of them.

Only my 2 PCs are plugged into the router using a LAN cable, and the laptop normally uses the wireless signal. The laptop is/has never been plugged into the router with a cable, except only for line testing purposes.

The next thing I am going to try is to take the router off the line completely and plug my DLink switch into the router using 1 port. I will then connect 1 PC and then the other to see what sort of speeds I get.

I must also stress that the router I'm using is an ISP supplied Technicolor TG582n. This is the second one that they've sent to me since I signed up on the 24th July. The first router has an intermittent fault whereas the Internet works sometimes, and then it doesn't. The second one was bricked last night as PlusNet asked me to try a firmware upgrade to see if the issues that I'm having at the moment could have been fixed.

Not at all!!! - the tech support guy couldn't fix it remotely, and yes, you've guessed it - they are sending out a 3rd replacement router today.

I've just gone through the entire thread and can see that nearly all my questions have been answered except :-
have you plugged the laptop into the lan port on the router?

Not tried that yet, but I can see what you're thinking. Will try that and see what speeds I get on the laptop when I do that. If I don't get full speeds on the laptop and both PCs when they're plugged into the router using a LAN cable, then dare I suggest that one or both of the routers are faulty/they have an issue with how they are being used?

The BT Openreach modem (HG612) plugs into the Technicolor router using a LAN cable, and then all the PCs connect to the router using their own separate LAN cables.

Having read all this, what do you reckon is going on here/what's at fault?

Grateful for your continued thoughts.

Regards

happy37

[silversurfer44]

Thanks for that Happy37, things are clearer now. I would be inclined to plug the laptop onto the router and see if there is a difference.
What about the OS? I do believe you have different ones in the laptop & the PC's.

The main thing at the moment is to keep your testing as simple as you can.

[happy37]

Thanks ss44.

Good to see that you understand what's going on now.

I would be inclined to plug the laptop onto the router and see if there is a difference.

Will try that and wil post back with results in due course.

What about the OS? I do believe you have different ones in the laptop & the PC's.

You're right - The laptop has Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit, and one of my PCs uses Windows XP Professional. The other PC uses Windows 7 Professional.

The main thing at the moment is to keep your testing as simple as you can.

I agree, but I am fast running out of ideas now...........have done most of the testing and I am going round in circles now as it's driving me crazy just keeping up with all that's going on. 

Am really so grateful for your and everyone's continued assistance in this matter - it's very much appreciated.

Regards

happy37

[alexrolls]

Hi happy37,

I have updated your support ticket this morning and sent an SMS to your mobile with the next step.

Keep us posted. 

[happy37]

Hi Alex,

Good morning.

Thanks - I have read the support ticket and have also received the SMS.

Will try this tonight and I will post back on here with my results in due course.

If the re-flashing of the second router works successfully, I don't think that there's any need for you/PlusNet to send out another new router? Am I correct?

Can you please confirm if you are able to take me off the 80/20 trial and put me on the 40/10 service instead as per Bob's earlier email?

Regards

happy37

[burakkucat]

@Happy37,

I have reviewed the most recent postings to this thread, those which are new to me. I think I have seen two typos (either that or I do not have a full grasp of your local set-up!) --

When I leave out the router, I get good readings (full speeds) on the laptop only. This is by plugging the router directly into the laptop, and hey, full whack/top speeds!

I believe you meant to type --

When I leave out the router, I get good readings (full speeds) on the laptop only. This is by plugging the HG612 modem directly into the laptop, and hey, full whack/top speeds!

Likewise, a few sentences further on --

The next thing I am going to try is to take the router off the line completely and plug my DLink switch into the router using 1 port. I will then connect 1 PC and then the other to see what sort of speeds I get.

Again, I believe you meant to type --

The next thing I am going to try is to take the router off the line completely and plug my DLink switch into the HG612 modem using the LAN1 port. I will then connect 1 PC and then the other to see what sort of speeds I get.

Or am I just caterwauling from the wrong tree-top? 

[happy37]

@Happy37,

I have reviewed the most recent postings to this thread, those which are new to me. I think I have seen two typos (either that or I do not have a full grasp of your local set-up!) --

When I leave out the router, I get good readings (full speeds) on the laptop only. This is by plugging the router directly into the laptop, and hey, full whack/top speeds!

I believe you meant to type --

When I leave out the router, I get good readings (full speeds) on the laptop only. This is by plugging the HG612 modem directly into the laptop, and hey, full whack/top speeds!

Likewise, a few sentences further on --

The next thing I am going to try is to take the router off the line completely and plug my DLink switch into the router using 1 port. I will then connect 1 PC and then the other to see what sort of speeds I get.

Again, I believe you meant to type --

The next thing I am going to try is to take the router off the line completely and plug my DLink switch into the HG612 modem using the LAN1 port. I will then connect 1 PC and then the other to see what sort of speeds I get.

Or am I just caterwauling from the wrong tree-top? 

Mr B Cat et al,

Good afternoon.

Thanks for the very astute observations here.....very well noticed.     

No, you weren't caterwauling from the wrong tree-top, as you so rightly put it - it's me, I'm afraid.

I have been going round in circles lately trying to get this matter sorted out.

Here's the latest:-

I asked PlusNet to downgrade my speeds yesterday from the 80/20 trial to a 40/10 package. I was originally on the 40/2 one, but was offered the 40/10 instead at the same price. Needless to say, I took the offer.

As per kitz's suggestion in previous posts, I have now installed 2 new NICs. These are:-

http://tinyurl.com/8ar9xz9

(Intel 100/1000 Pro GT network cards) in both my Windows XP Pro and the Windows 7 Pro PCs respectively.
 
I did a quick speedtest on my Windows XP Pro machine this morning after reconfiguring TCP Optimiser to use a 40MB profile.
 
As I didn't save the result weblink on the Windows XP PC, if I now remember correctly, the speedtest gave me a result of
circa 30MB download speed, and an upload speed or circa 8.09MB.

Now, onto next steps.....

I am hoping that things should now settle down after all this palaver of trying to get decent speeds on both of my PCs. I am going to keep an eye on both of these for the rest of the week and the weekend.

My comment --

One who considers a Broadband service's throughput speed without analysing the corresponding line statistics is essentially "working with one eye shut".     

Talking of line stats, I am going to take home my Ebay purchased HG612 with me tonight, and I've got asbokid's printed instructions to hand. I now want to do this once and for all so that I can see and interpret my line stats so that I can understand how the line is performing.

I hope to post up full line stats very soon. What in particular should I be looking at?

Thanks.

Your thoughts and further helpful comments, as always, are most welcome.

Regards

happy37

[burakkucat]

As per kitz's suggestion in previous posts, I have now installed 2 new NICs. These are:-

http://tinyurl.com/8ar9xz9

(Intel 100/1000 Pro GT network cards) in both my Windows XP Pro and the Windows 7 Pro PCs respectively.
 
I did a quick speedtest on my Windows XP Pro machine this morning after reconfiguring TCP Optimiser to use a 40MB profile.
 
As I didn't save the result weblink on the Windows XP PC, if I now remember correctly, the speedtest gave me a result of
circa 30MB download speed, and an upload speed or circa 8.09MB.

Good, reliable NICs.   I would expect you to obtain a throughput speedtest result of about 34 - 38 Mbps DS and 7 - 8 Mbps US, dependant upon the time of day, etc.

Talking of line stats, I am going to take home my Ebay purchased HG612 with me tonight, and I've got asbokid's printed instructions to hand. I now want to do this once and for all so that I can see and interpret my line stats so that I can understand how the line is performing.

I hope to post up full line stats very soon. What in particular should I be looking at?

The four static graphs of the Bit loading, the SNRM, the HLOG and the QLN are always the first to consider. After that, it is over to Bald_Eagle1 and his on-going statistics harvesting scripts . . . Once we've had a chance to see the static graphs, the maestro will then "take you under his wing". 

[happy37]

Mr B Cat et al,

Am popping back to say that I have now flashed the Ebay purchased router using asbokid's instructions and have put it on t
the line. Am connected fine to the Internet, so no issues there.

In Windows XP though, I've had to enable the Telnet service using services.msc, but I still cannot connect via Telnet?

The telnet window comes up on the screen and then just switches off after a few seconds?

I can't also seem to access the modem using 192.168.1.1 in a browser?

What am I doing wrong here?

Thanks.

Regards

happy37

[happy37]

Here's a BT Speedtester screenshot taken just now with the Ebay HG612 attached to the line.

Any thoughts?

Thanks again.

Regards

happy37

[Bald_Eagle1]

In Windows XP though, I've had to enable the Telnet service using services.msc, but I still cannot connect via Telnet?

The telnet window comes up on the screen and then just switches off after a few seconds?

I can't also seem to access the modem using 192.168.1.1 in a browser?

What am I doing wrong here?

Assuming the modem was successfully unlocked, the modem's LAN2 port has to be used to access connection stats.
This can be done by connecting the modem's LAN2 to a spare router port, or by directly connecting the PC to the modem's LAN2 port.

How are you physically connecting cables to the unlocked modem's ports?

[happy37]

Hi Bald_Eagle1

Thanks for the tip.

I have now connected a LAN cable from the modem's LAN 2 port to a spare port on the Technicolor router, and bingo, am in..........  

Here's what I get by running the xdslcmd command:-

# xdslcmd info --state
xdslcmd: ADSL driver and PHY status
Status: Showtime
Retrain Reason: 0
Max:    Upstream rate = 29258 Kbps, Downstream rate = 75900 Kbps
Path:   0, Upstream rate = 10000 Kbps, Downstream rate = 39998 Kbps

As well as that, here's the full set (?) of stats from 192.168.1.1:-

Connection Status
Mode VDSL2
Traffic type PTM
DSL synchronization status Up
DSL up time 12222
Line Status
Downstream Upstream
Attainable rate (kbit/s) 75720 29298
SNR margin (dB) 17.4 22.7
Line attenuation (dB) 0 0
Output power (dBmV) 13.6 6.9
Statistics
Path 0 Path 1
Downstream Upstream Downstream Upstream
Line rate (kbit/s) 39998 10000 0 0
CRC errors 0 0 0 0
FEC errors 420 0 0 0
HEC errors 82 0 0 0

Any thoughts on these, please? Is the downstream SNR margin of 17.4 a bit high, and should it not be lower like 6db which is the default level for ADSL2+?

Looks like the line attenuation is a bug, thus reading 0 for downstream and upstream?

Thanks.

Regards

happy37