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[bbnovice]

Hi:

Had BT Infinity installed today and there is a significant speed improvement but I’m not 100% sure about the results of the speed tests I’m getting.

The OR Engineer was only on my premises for about 30 minutes. He installed a HG612 3B VDSL modem and a BT Home Hub V3 (Type B).

He did not  replace the existing faceplate on the NTE master socket (it was one of those provided by OR for ADSL2+ which has the filter built in).   In order to reach the power sockets  the modem and router have to be located about 3 metres from the master socket. This the same position where my old Netgear modem/router sat. He did not use a BT data extender but instead re-used my existing long modem cable between the NTE and modem.

An Eclipse (is that right?) test of the line indicated 40Mbs down and 10 up AT THE MODEM. This was also the “expected” speed when I placed the order.

The desktop computer (which is a Dell running XP) was then connected to the Home Hub (by ethernet not wireless) and the whole thing fired up automatically first time. So far so good.

However I then tested the speed on the computer using the Speedtest.net site. And this indicated between 16 and 17Mbz down and 8 up. However as this is just above the magic 15Mbs threshold for the line to be faulted he left the premises.

I was disappointed about this, so after he left I tried relocating the equipment and wiring to different positions to see if it made any difference to the speed and it did not. The results provided by speedtest.net on the downstream side varied between 12 and 17Mbs over a 3 hour period. The upstream side stayed relatively constant at between 7 and 8Mbs

I next tried connecting my son's HP laptop (running Windows 7) directly to the Home Hub again using an Ethernet cable. And speedtest.net then reported a speed of 37Mbs down and 8 Up – this was achieved consistently through several tests over about a 30 minute period.

So I guess that I am actually achieving 37Mbs but I am at a loss as to why the desktop PC reports such dramatically different results. I am currently waiting for another member of my family to arrive who is armed with a MAC laptop so that I can use that for testing.

One big issue of course is that I lost the ability to monitor the performance of the connection when the old Netgear/Routerstats set up was retired. I miss it already!
 
Anybody got any ideas or suggestions? 
 
One final observation is that the HG612 was left sitting on a corner of my desk. It soon got VERY warm and I remembered reading somewhere about wall mounting them. This I have now done and it is now running at a much reduced temperature.

[camallison]

I had a similar initial (at install) experience when Infinity was installed here.  The modem should NOT be laid flat and you quite rightly mounted it on the wall - something the OR engineer should have done.  Try a new length of Ethernet cable to the desktop if you have one.  We had a poor cable and saw similar.  Whatever you do, don't try powerline connection - the Solwise (and other) units throttle the connection to about 7Mb.

Any furhter questions, don't hesitate to ask - been through it since out install early December.

Colin

[Ottersnose]

How old is your Dell desktop thats running XP mate?

[bbnovice]

Hi:

camallison - I too have a Homeplug Network feeding the upstairs laptops but I am not running the speedtests via the Homeplug network - I'm directly connected to the HomeHub. In fact I disconnected the Homeplug network after testing that I could actually get a connection upstairs. These are 85Mb Homeplug 1.0 so I will not expect any blazing speed through those connections!

ottersnose - the Dell is a 3100 Dimension and I guess its about 5 years old. It has an onboard Intel Network Adaptor 10/100 which XP reports as running OK. However its only got 1Gb physical memory and runs on a 2Ghz Intel pentium. Its pretty sluggish anyway for local tasks so I am suspecting that posibly it may be the PC itself that is throttling the connection. The HP laptop I used is only a few months old and has a much higher specification as well as being Win7 rather then XP.


         

[Bald_Eagle1]

Hi bbnovice,

One big issue of course is that I lost the ability to monitor the performance of the connection when the old Netgear/Routerstats set up was retired. I miss it already!
 
Anybody got any ideas or suggestions? 
 

As a Windows user, you may find this link of some use:-

http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,10552.msg208937.html#msg208937

You would however need to "unlock" the modem to use the scripts.

Links to the unlocking instructions & firmware can be found on the right hand side of this blog:-

http://huaweihg612hacking.wordpress.com/

It has been confirmed that all this works with the HG612 3B & older HG612 models on Windows 7, Vista & XP.

Regarding low speed test results via XP, I have read that MTU / RWIN setting need optimising manually.
Windows 7 (that I use) does this automatically, hence the "better" speed test results.

HTH,


Paul.

EDIT:

Are you using XP Service Pack 3 or 2 & which browser version do you use on XP?

[bbnovice]

Mr Eagle,

Thank you for your contribution. In answer to your question the Dell runs XP SP3 and Firefox 10.0.2. I have tried running the tests using IE 9 but it does not seem to make any difference to the results.

Thanks for the tip about the HG612 but I'm note sure I feel brave enough (at least at this stage) to try and unlock it. So I'll keep that option open at the moment. What I have procured is a brand new 2Wire BT Business Hub 2701 HGV C for £10 from ebay and I understand that routerstats lite will work with this. I feel braver about swapping the HGV for the HH and try that first.

I know nothing about MTU/RWIN so I guess I will need to do some research over that. Are those settings on the PC or the modem/router?

Regards     

[burakkucat]

BBN,

Did we discuss the site for the modem (right by the NTE5/A which has a SSFP fitted) and the router/WAP (close to your "office", main computer), using an appropriate length of Cat5e Ethernet cable to link the two? Or was it someone else? I forget . . . 

One thing that nobody has yet mentioned, leave the modem connected and powered up for the first 24 hours. Resist the urge to disconnect it, move it about, press the reset button, etc. The first 24 hours from when a FTTC service is first deployed is when your modem and the DSLAM in the cabinet "get to fully understand each other" (to use a simplistic turn of phrase).

As for the poorer throughput speed, when determined on your XP 'puter, I think Bald_eagle1 has stated the likely reason -- the MTU and RWIN settings. Again, I think I have read of a similar situation recently, possibly a thread in a ThinkBroadband forum. But as I said above, I forget . . . 

[Bald_Eagle1]

Thanks for the tip about the HG612 but I'm note sure I feel brave enough (at least at this stage) to try and unlock it. So I'll keep that option open at the moment. What I have procured is a brand new 2Wire BT Business Hub 2701 HGV C for £10 from ebay and I understand that routerstats lite will work with this. I feel braver about swapping the HGV for the HH and try that first.

S'easy & I defy anyone to get it wrong, but I undestand your caution.

I know nothing about MTU/RWIN so I guess I will need to do some research over that. Are those settings on the PC or the modem/router?
     

I believe the settings need to be changed on the PC to match those in the router and/or modem.
My knowledge is rather sparse on that aspect as I have not needed to do that.

This may help with the XP speed matter:-

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/fibre/4097174-slow-speed-on-xp-pc-but-full-speed-on-w7-pc.html#Post4097174

I would also reiterate b*cat's comment - Resist the urge to disconnect it, move it about, press the reset button, etc. during the first couple of days or so.

[bbnovice]

Hi:

B_cat . Nope you did not discuss router sitings with me. At least I don't think so! I've done a quick bit of R&D on the net and it seems that the MTU on XP is 1480 as standard and that Infinity prefers 1492. But there are caveats.....I need to read some more. Don't worry - I'm not messing with the router/mdem - see below

Bald_eagle . The link you provided is interesting and its good to see (I suppose!) that others have seen this. Your warnings about not disconnecting the router/modem are well taken and I have taken great care to ensure that connectivity has not been interrupted during my testing. In fact I even managed to screw the modem to the wall without disconnecting it!

My next step will be to wait for my son to come home later this evening. I can then try his personal MAC (and his work MAC - money no object for him) and see what the results look like. I'll report back when I have some more meaningful data to reports.

In the meantime thanks for all your comments so far.     

[waltergmw]

@ BBN,

What I have procured is a brand new 2Wire BT Business Hub 2701 HGV C for £10 from ebay and I understand that routerstats lite will work with this. I feel braver about swapping the HGV for the HH and try that first.

Unless I've mis-understood the situation There seem to be two issues here. Viz.

Getting your XP machine to sit comfortably on the new network - this can be avoided when the Mac brigade arrives as we usually don't have any difficulties with network connections.

The second is trying to extract the VDSL performance data from the HG612 - this does not obtain data from either the new or old router.

It would be a good idea to record pictures (either using Mac Grab or pressing Command shift 4 and dragging over the required screen area) of a number of BT speed tests as those do give a little more modem information that other speed testers generally do not provide.

Kind regards,
Walter

[bbnovice]

Hi Walter:

Well that was interesting!

Following up your hint I tried the BT beta speed test site.  That site tested my fibre service and told me that my old XP is getting 37.65Mbs download.
 
But it also says that fibre products are not installed at my premises and therefore diagnostics are impossible !!!!!!!!!!

I think I'll go and have lie down now.

[bbnovice]

Well the MAC crew has arrived at last.

Using a MAC the speedtest.net site reported a speed of 48Mbs down and 8 up. Well that's pretty impressive for a download speed (if infeasible)!

The BT beta test site reports 37.73 Mbs down which is close to the 37.65Mbs I got from my old XP machine using the same website.

The only conclusions I can draw from all this is that the new connection is a lot faster (thats obvious by just watching the response times) but the actual metrics are very much open to question.

So it looks like I'll just have to accept what I'm getting (whatever it is!!). I couldn't possibly ever challenge BT on this evidence.   

[camallison]

But it also says that fibre products are not installed at my premises and therefore diagnostics are impossible !!!!!!!!!!

I think I'll go and have lie down now.

I had a similar "can't believe it" moment, explained to me by a kind support bod.  For at least 24 hours (settling period?) BT don't "mark" your installation as complete, not even installed!  Only then will it show for the tests!  Strange, but how it was explained to me.

Colin

[bbnovice]

Hi:

Just to finish this thread......

I've played around with relocating equipment, wiring and computers and I've now decided to call it a day.

In summary, my final results based on wired connections are:

(1) HP laptop (Win 7) and MAC consistently report circa 37Mbs downstream for all sites (eg speedtest.net, BT beta site etc)

(2) XP Desktop (Dell Dimension) reports the same speed (37Mbs) from the BT beta test site but all other sites produce variable results between 14-18Mbs. As an expriement I also tried the BT site using the Dell but tried the "under 24mbs" connection option - BT warns that this may give unreliable answers if you are on a fibre connection. And the results were between 16-18Mbs like the other non-BT sites. Bit of a coinicidence with the reults I get from other non BT sites?

I have read the pages from the links to other forums where XP users also reported anomalous results but they are not really conclusive in my opinion. So I've avoided mucking around with the MTU/RWIN settings.   

So unless you gentleman think otherwise I will presume that I am in reality getting nearly 40Mbs and write the Dell XP results off as the hardware  being "too old and decript" to handle the new speeds. (Bit like me really).       

[Bald_Eagle1]

Hi bbnovice,

So unless you gentleman think otherwise I will presume that I am in reality getting nearly 40Mbs and write the Dell XP results off as the hardware  being "too old and decript" to handle the new speeds. (Bit like me really).     

Just for fun, I fired up a very low spec XP machine (see attachment) that is on loan to me for testing the graphing scripts.

I was achieving lower speed test results than on my Windows 7 PC.

I ran SG TCP Optimizer, chose Optimal settings & confirmed PPOE for my FTTC connection & after a reboot, the XP machine was reporting the same speeds as my W 7 machine (see attached).

Please note that as my connection has "issues", both PCs are currently only reporting 22Mb downstream as that's all my connection is currently able to deliver.


Paul.


EDIT:
I have now attached the correct screenshot, showing the wired connection & not the previously incorrect wireless connection.

Also, just to confirm, my speed tests are always conducted via speedtest.net

[attachment deleted by admin]