Kitz Forum
Broadband Related => FTTC and FTTP Issues => Topic started by: displaced on October 24, 2016, 10:27:17 PM
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Hi everyone!
Long-time reader, first time poster :)
I recently switched from BT Infinity Option 2 (that's the fast one, right?) to Vodafone Broadband. After 2 weeks of battling with their Customer Services and their shonky router which dropped its connection twice-daily, I finally extracted my PPPoE details from them and switched back to my Openreach Huawei HG612 modem.
Now, I'd had a solid 5.7MByte/sec download, and 1.2-1.5MByte/sec upload. Unfortunately, I can't give sync rates as I never unlocked the Huawei to extract that info. In 4 years, Infinity had been extremely reliable. Steady speeds and I could count the service drops in 4 years on one hand.
So, on Vodafone, I'm only seeing ~3.2MByte/sec downloads and ~0.8MByte/sec uploads.
I've now unlocked the HG612 with the latest G.INP-capable firmware and set up DSLstats/MyDSLWebStats monitoring. Thanks to the author, Eric, I managed to get it running on my FreeBSD server (I'll take some time later to package it up for submission to FreeBSD's Ports repository for others to use).
Unfortunately, I've now run out of knowledge :) I know something's not right, but can't discern enough from the voluminous information to conclude what's going on with my line speeds.
If any of the smart people here wouldn't mind taking a gander at my stats, I'd very much appreciate it. My MyDSLWebStats username is displaced.
(I know my line is reasonably long, so I'm not expecting miracles, but I'd really like to get the most out of what I've got!)
Cheers,
Chris
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Are you speed testing over wifi or ethernet?
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Ethernet.
I've got the 'cacti' monitoring system running on my server, performing a speedtest.net test (via the speedtest-cli command) every 30 minutes.
Attached is my graph for today. The ping spikes and the brief drop are due to other usage on the line, but I believe it gives a good overall representation of performance.
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You have lots of attainable to use above the ds sync .I wonder if your line is banded presently hence lowering the ds sync??
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Hmm. You're right! And that 'attainable' figure looks more like what I'm used to.
Is this something which DLM will eventually figure out and restore, or do I have to deal with Vodafone? (*sigh*).
If it's DLM, I'm happy to wait. I can spend the time kicking the now-unused Vodafone router/modem against a wall :)
(not really, of course).
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I think dlm should relent but it could take a long long time based on previous comments...
Have a search on the forum for line being banded etc..
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Cheers, skyeci -- I'll have a look around!
Chris
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I am unable to see much -- other than to agree with skyeci's observation that there is significant SNRm overhead showing for your DS.
In 24 hours time your circuit should, hopefully, have begun to disclose its main features.
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If you continue to sync at exactly 34,999 then your line has been banded by DLM. recent experience is that banding sticks, requiring an on site OpenReach engineer to perform a DLM reset to remove it.
Not Vodafones fault btw, and is happening with any ISP. IMO it seems to be more common on Huawei cabinets due to high ES from the lack of G.INP after an ISP migration. This leaves the EU to blame the new ISP. OpenReach really need to sort out the excessive permanent banding.
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Thanks, j0hn -- that rather 'exact' sync figure did make me wonder if something was being forced.
What do you reckon would be the best way of requesting a reset? I'm guessing I'll need to speak to Vodafone. That'll be fun. They've already got the hump because I nagged my PPPoE login out of them so I could use the Huawei.
Wish me luck!
(Any tips on how to ask for a DLM reset?!)
Cheers,
Chris
(P.S: My online stats aren't updating at the moment -- I had the ethernet cable strung across the hallway between the modem and my switch. Got to drill another hole in the front of the bottom step to run it through -- a job for the weekend!)
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Hi all,
Well I ran the Ethernet cable needed to collect stats continuously. I've now got a solid 24hrs worth of data on MDWS.
I can't see anything obviously wrong with my line. I've been trying to get in touch with Vodafone, but I've not had any luck yet.
It's quite annoying that there's no simple way to get VF/OR to take 10 mins to have a quick check and do whatever's needed to get my line back to how it used to be...
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Are you on a 40/10 package now?
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Don't be annoyed at VF, it's really not their fault. On ADSL the ISP can control some factors of the DLM. On FTTC however, OpenReach completely control the DLM. The ISP can do nothing to change it. As stated above, an on site OR engineer is required to perform a DLM reset.
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Hi,
Nope -- I'm paying for the 76Mbit package.
And yep -- point taken regarding VF. The problem is they've been a shambles in virtually every aspect so far. I switched my mobile to them, and they seem incapable of collecting the direct debit, despite all details being correct. Their Vodafone phone app for checking usage doesn't work and the account section on their website only works intermittently.
Then I switched to their phone/broadband offering. First I couldn't purchase the broadband/phone on the same account as my mobile because the 'Title' field wasn't populated -- but there's no option to populate it. Their Live Chat advisor had me sign up to bb/phone using a new account, so now I have two, which causes aggro every time I contact them.
Then the router fiasco. In the two weeks before my activation date, they allegedly posted three routers to me. None ever arrived. Eventually someone with a clue at their side arranged for me to collect one in-store on my switch date. However, they failed to tell me I'd need to call them and provide the router serial number in order for the service to activate. Only found that out myself after being on hold for literally hours.
And finally, despite being told pre-sales that using my own router/modem is absolutely supported and not a problem, it took me 2 weeks of begging in order to get my PPPoE details. That at least has allowed me to ditch the VF router whose 3x daily resyncs and reboots have apparently caused my line to get capped.
I just know that getting this sorted via VF is going to be a total pain in the you-know-wheres.
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Ok, so I managed to get a Vodafone broadband tech on Live Chat just before popping out this evening. I need to call back tomorrow so they can run some tests (as well as plug their router back in).
The guy was very helpful and concurred that the VF box dropping connection regularly more than likely caused the profile to be lowered. He said that's something they'd be able to resolve themselves, so that's hopeful!
In the meantime, I want to do a quick health-check on my line to give it the best chance after whatever needs resetting is reset. I've got a really straightforward setup compared to some of the entertaining horror stories I've read on these forums!
My NTE5 is about 50cm from the HG612, still connected via the cable it came with. The NTE5 has a 2014-era faceplate (OR-fitted). It has the OR logo, but no 'MKx' next to it -- so presumably a MK1. A filtered extension is run into the lounge (about 6 metres).
Now that I've had the nerdly joy of sending my stats, I've been looking at my HLog and QLN graphs. The HLog in particular has a sizeable gap -- almost entirely empty between tones 2599 and 2800. Is there anything I might be able to do to help with that?
I'll be getting a nice new DSL cable from ADSLNation soon. Just trying to get the most out of what's given to me ;D
Thanks all for your help!
(and this is truly an excellent forum. I've lost hours reading through some of the brilliant tales of woe and success on here. Even ended up down a Wikipedia-hole reading about GPO telephones :D)
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DLM reset cannot be done by ISP for vdsl. Needs an engineer or as I have experienced the engineer had to get the noc to do it remotely whilst at my house.
By plugging in the vf router etc wont change anything. If you opt to put yours back leave 31 mins between swap. But as you are banded it probably wont make any difference. Keep swaps to a minimum.
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Hehe. I think I didn't successfully convey my scepticism when relaying what the VF guy said. Still, I'll have to let them follow their script, at least until the call eventually finds someone competent.
As for the router, I don't want to reconnect the VF box, but Vodafone won't lift a finger if it's not their kit at the end of the line. I intend to hook up the VF box just before calling them, then wait 30+ minutes after the call's finished before reconnecting the Huawei. Since it appears that the VF box dropping the connection repeatedly got my line in this state in the first place, the less time I've got it connected, the better.
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I've taken a look at your Hlog plot and there is nothing out of the ordinary. There is absolutely nothing in the plot that would account for the problems you are currently experiencing.
You have the US0, DS1, US1, DS2, US2 and DS3 bands present . . . It is just the high frequency end of the US2 band where the circuit "runs out of steam". What can be done about it? :-\ Nothing. Just accept it as a feature of circumstance or view it as a unique "fingerprint" of the circuit.
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Thanks very much, burakkucat!
I thought it worth asking, since it seemed wise to get any 'fiddling' out of the way before calling Vodafone this afternoon to kick off the process of getting my banding removed.
As an OR engineer is required to get the DLM reset, I'm hoping Vodafone are quick to come to that conclusion and don't do too much faffing about!
I'll still get one of those nice ADSLNation cables. It'll be interesting to see what improvement (even marginal) I get versus the Huawei freebie.
Thanks all,
Chris
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Was on hold with VF for an hour (despite it being an estimated 7 minutes hold time!). Still, got a very helpful lady who agreed there was certainly something wrong. She's raised a ticket with their Level 2 techs who will monitor the line and call me on Saturday.
I had a good chat with her about having used the HG612 modem and she was really quite cool about it. She's noted that the line was completely stable with the HG612 but was previously very 'droppy' with the VF router. In her words, if I was fortunate enough to be given the PPPoE login then they really don't care what kit is used as long as a) it works for me, and b) I promise to use the VF router if calling for support. All sounds fair enough to me -- just wish that was their actual public policy!
So I've plugged the VF box back in whilst they do their monitoring. Let's hope Saturday's call ends with an OR visit being requested!
Interestingly, the VF support tech could see that my line had been up and down to begin with, then completely stable since I plugged in the HG612, up until 30 minutes before I called them when I turned it off in favour of the VF box.
I was told that I might be offered the lower tier package if the fault is irreparable. She agreed with me when I said I'd be thoroughly miffed if that were the case, knowing I've had 4+ years of good speeds with Infinity.
So, let's see what Saturday brings!
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Well, VF have bucked their trend and been really good!
Got a call today saying there was definitely an issue and they'll send Openreach round to reset the DLM. He caught on that I was interested in this stuff and we had a good chat. Again, seemed perfectly cool with me using the HG612 modem instead of theirs. So, OR engineer coming round on Thursday! In the day-and-a-bit I had the VF box connected, it dropped its VDSL connection twice. My line definitely prefers the 612!
In the meantime, I gave the customer side of the NTE5 a little spruce. I hadn't been using the phone socket - there's just an extension running to another room using the terminals on the back of the faceplate. I disconnected and cut back the bell wire, leaving only 2 and 5 and put some contact cleaner on all the BT plug/socket parts.
My DSL cable was about 3 times longer than it needed to be, so I lopped the slack off and punched it into the unfiltered terminals on the I-plate. Interestingly, the freebie cable doesn't appear to be twisted-pair -- just straight-through.
So, the HG612's back in use and reporting very slightly better attainable than before. The ADSLNation cable's on its way so it'll be interesting to see what that achieves -- purely an academic interest, I'm not expecting a significant increase!
Thanks for all your advice!
Chris
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That sounds good. I hope it goes well.
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Well, OR engineer was fantastic!
Ran his suite of tests on the line and made the call to do a 'speed reset'. Monitored it and saw a few errors, but well within limits. He even did a pair swap on the line between the cab and the pole just to cover all bases and to put a more modern terminal on the top of the pole.
Syncing now at 43Mbit even without G.INP which was disabled after the reset. Apparently that'll come back on in a few days. In the meantime, as expected, I've been hit with the Interleaving Hammer until G.INP wakes up -- not a problem.
As I mentioned in another thread, the D3 band has woken up and since the engineer did his stuff, it's showing decent usage in the Bits/Tone graph.
So, count me happy!
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Glad that's resolved and the banding removed. It's interesting to see the DLM reset has automatically given you interleaving+FEC. Recently I've seen a number of lines with G.INP removed left open, though that may be from change of product/DLM Profile.
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Thanks, j0hn!
I think my line would fall over and not get back up with everything on fast path!
Although I've not seen an INT figure as deep as I've got now -- 855. Delay is only 8, which I've seen worse before G.INP arrived.
I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when G.INP comes back -- hopefully sooner rather than later.
(as an aside, back when I got Infinity in 2014, I almost immediately modded my HG612 to access stats and -- I think -- disable BTAgent. Assuming the firmware at the time didn't support G.INP, then the first time I'd have got G.INP would either have been with the VF router, or with the HG612 recently when I updated the firmware manually. Either way, this could well be the first time I've had G.INP and an uncapped line!)
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Well, that was quick!
Line resync'd at 7am with G.INP enabled! Now syncing at 50Mbit-and-change, a handful of bits/sec above current attainable. Had some weird plunges in SNRM overnight, so let's hope that's nothing sinister.
I've gained 16Mbit sync speed and am pretty sure I'm getting the most out of my line.
Interestingly it seems Steam's download speed meter must include data compression benefits in the transfer speed. It's showing a peak of 6Mbytes/sec, which is quicker than I've ever seen.
So I'm happy! Thanks all for your input.