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[tnp]

Hi ahgin.

Thought I'd check in againwith a question.

I have ADSL max and normally get a fast clean 3Mbps or so.

The last couple of weeks daytime actual speeds have been down to sub 400k though - DSL layer is fine, still synching, good error rates etc, no packet loss, ISP (claranet) report no internal problems, but I simply am getting horrendously slow download rates. Uploads are not affected at all.


The speed loss seems to be totally consistent with office hours Its brilliant before 8:30 and after 6pm.

I suspect someone on the exhange has a power connection and is smashing bandwidth to the exchange.

However Clara say that 'unless it goes below 256kbps on three consecutive days, its not a problem: BT will not do anything.'.

Is that really true?

I want to scream at someone, but who can I scream at?

[jabns]

Hi tnp,

What are you using to test the speed?

Have you tried downloading on a few different protocols(ftp,http ect...) to see if it is just one or whether it is across the board.

Also do you know whether you have had any bad syncs recently(blips) as this could have dropped your IP Profile on the DLM?

James

[tnp]

1/. Bras must be ok cos I get full speed out of hours
2/. Other protocols just as bad
3/. I have tried most of the free broadband checkers: they all give similar results and all show massive increase after 5:30pm
4/. ping tests show no packet loss.
5/. Route shows full speed connect and no line errors.
6/. ISP (claranet) deby and congestion, and lack of packet loss bears that out.

No, its in the backhaul almost 99.999% sure..


Wanna see a dirty picture?

I've been keeping count.

Right now its of course running at 3Mbps just fine..well actually 1.7, but thats is acceptable.

Today:
 16:55  308 kbps (38.5kB/s)     378 kbps (47.3kB/s)
 16:54  281 kbps (35.1kB/s)     376 kbps (47kB/s)
 15:26  424 kbps (53kB/s)         379 kbps (47.4kB/s)
 14:50  421 kbps (52.6kB/s)     313 kbps (39.1kB/s)
 14:07  371 kbps (46.4kB/s)     379 kbps (47.4kB/s)
 12:40  363 kbps (45.4kB/s)     378 kbps (47.3kB/s)
 11:22  568 kbps (71kB/s)         378 kbps (47.3kB/s)
 10:56    760 kbps (95kB/s)         377 kbps (47.1kB/s)     
 10:46    620 kbps (77.5kB/s)    379 kbps (47.4kB/s)    
 10:32    635 kbps (79.4kB/s)    378 kbps (47.3kB/s)    
 09:08    2947 kbps (368kB/s)    378 kbps (47.3kB/s)    
 01:37    2895 kbps (362kB/s)    286 kbps (35.8kB/s)    
 00:45    3388 kbps (424kB/s)    376 kbps (47kB/s)    
===========================================
Wed 22nd April 2008
 17:05  398 kbps (49.8kB/s)     378 kbps (47.3kB/s)     
 16:55    485 kbps (60.6kB/s)    315 kbps (39.4kB/s)    
 15:45    469 kbps (58.6kB/s)    377 kbps (47.1kB/s)    
 15:30    451 kbps (56.4kB/s)    356 kbps (44.5kB/s)    
 14:56  678 kbps (84.8kB/s)     378 kbps (47.3kB/s)     
 14:43    387 kbps (48.4kB/s)    377 kbps (47.1kB/s)    
 13:54  314 kbps (39.3kB/s)     366 kbps (45.8kB/s)     
 13:21    300 kbps (37.5kB/s)    373 kbps (46.6kB/s)    
 13:17    281 kbps (35.1kB/s)    338 kbps (42.3kB/s)    
 13:12    301 kbps (37.6kB/s)    316 kbps (39.5kB/s)    
 13:08    275 kbps (34.4kB/s)    376 kbps (47kB/s)       
 13:05    309 kbps (38.6kB/s)    377 kbps (47.1kB/s)

[kitz]

As jabns says try a few different speed tests.

In particular you should look at doing a BTw performance Test.
This will test your throughput and check your IPprofile.

>> However Clara say that 'unless it goes below 256kbps on three consecutive days, its not a problem: BT will not do anything.'.

Nope for a 2Mb or more account its 400 kbps for home users or 800 kbps for Business (max Premium)

The BT Handbook states
For BT IPstream Max users synchronising at 2272kbit/s or above the BT network through the BRAS will provide a minimum of 2Mbit/s throughput for 90% of the time.


see
http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/acceptablespeeds.htm

What I do find strange though is the times at which you are seeing the slower speeds - BT contention would normally kick in about 5pm till 10pm when the kids are home from school.
Check your exchange status here
http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/

----
edit
(your last post and mine crossed.)

[tnp]

Kitz, I tried em all. except the BT one which says that my user id is not what they have registered for the phone line, so that's out.

If what you say about the BT QOS is correct, then thats the first concrete bit of info I have recieved on that, so thank you. Up till a week ago that is exactly the sort of quality I WAS getting: Suddenly it's crumbled.

I am getting a strong suspicion that I am sharing a link with a fairly heavy business user: the times are suggestive, and I am wondering if he (I think its a single person) has a megastream or something pretty hefty wired in, that is pushing the exchange beyond its limits.I am not 100% sure as to what the exchange feed is: at least one is only fed from a small microwave dish, so can't be overly supplied with bandwidth.

Ok my next step would seem to be to escalate it as politely as possible up the food chain at Claranet.  If I can demonstrate BT is below spec, they can take it up.

[Pwiggler]

hi tmp

i've noticed that BTs shaping starts at 13:00 till 02:00 (morning), then ok till 06:00 when it takes a bit of a drop and stays like that till 13:00 again.

this is on usenet and torrents but http is always at full wack so i'd say its not QOS/shaping thats your prob as standard.  saying that, their evil machines can shape individuals based on their daily useage and it strange it happens just during business hours. 

i wonder if  BT monitor individual exchanges and QOS them during business hours to give everyone a fair chance if that particular exchange has poor performance??

[tnp]

Do you mean BT the ISP or BT the provider of backhaul?

BT are NOT my ISP.. and according to Kitz, they are supposed to guarantee a QOS to their IPstream custoers, whom I suppose my ISP actually is.



Hmm.  Curiouser and curiouser. The WAN connectivity just went dead now, though I remained logged in at the ADSL/PPP level, and now its come back, suddenly 3Mbps.

Maybe Clara just rebooted something. Odd tho.

[mr_chris]

Do you mean BT the ISP or BT the provider of backhaul?

BT are NOT my ISP.. and according to Kitz, they are supposed to guarantee a QOS to their IPstream custoers, whom I suppose my ISP actually is.

BT wholesale we're talking about now. Anything exchange-related is to do with BTw rather than BT the ISP.

I don't think they are supposed to guarantee a QOS... but they will investigate if the speed goes below the thresholds stated above. They shouldn't be shaping the traffic through the exchange, but will prioritise 'business' accounts e.g. Office 2000, and Max Premium over 'residential' ones.

[tnp]

You men I have to 'prove' it has dipped below 400Kbps?

Of course, now I am checking it regularly, its hovering around 5-600Kbps.
 

[mr_chris]

You really could do with trying to get the BT speedtester to work - the login name should be the exact one that's in your router.

It sounds like perhaps clara.net are trying to fob you off, because I've just received an announcement (for some weird reason I'm on their support announce mailing list!) that they had a DSL platform outage today. What's it like now?

[J.Man]

Judging by the times your connection slows I think its something to do with a restriction placed by your ISP.

PS. This post might be of no use but if it is you can disregard it.

[Mr_CheeZe]

""The speed loss seems to be totally consistent with office hours Its brilliant before 8:30 and after 6pm.

I suspect someone on the exhange has a power connection and is smashing bandwidth to the exchange.""


what the hell are you on about?

what snr figures do you have?
have you listened to your fone line to check for noise,  crackling/buzzing?
have you removed the front plate from your nte and plugged your router directly into the test socket?
stop guessing and talking crap about random theories. ask your neighbours about their adsl connections/service providers and then compare them to yours. if they are getting better, then you may have a line fault. if everyones is adsl is as bad then there could be a rein issue or cable fault nearby.

[Pwiggler]

oh, and good morning to you mr cheeze .........

[roseway]

Er yes. Mr_CheeZe, welcome to the forum, but please keep your comments polite, even if you think the person is talking nonsense. Thank you.

[Mr_CheeZe]

every week i visit people who come up with all kinds of conspiracy theories as to why they have a bad connection, just to find their dog has chewed the wire from the socket to the router, or their connection has gone down since the carpet fitters visited (nail thru cable), or they are using the rubbish 'skinny ribbon' extension wire that picks up interference like no-ones business.
having to listen to all the rubbish before someone says anything that makes any sense is very entertaining, you should see their faces when i tell them theyve slammed their extension wiring in the door once too often or they havent read the instructions properly and plugged the wire from the nte into the 'fone' socket on the router instead of the 'dsl' socket.


have you tried the things i suggested tnp?
what were the results?