| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Treacodactyl |
Broadband problems - technical help pleaseI normally have about 4Mbps line speed. This dropped yesterday to about 0.13Mbps and I've been trying to find out what is really the problem rather than the rubbish you tend to get told.So, BT have tested the line and there's no problem, but this is just for the phone. My ISP checked and apparently if the exchange detects a fault it sets the line speed down to 135Kbps for 72 hours and this cannot be reset! The only explanation I was given was a "port error" but they can't explain what that means, it could have been a line fault or router error or the router was turned off. The reset occured yesterday at about 7am, after a night of heavy rain and high winds. My guess is the rain and winds have affected my line but has anyone else heard of the exchange dropping the speed to 135k? If so, do you really need to wait 72 hours? Seems bizarre if it is the case, I can understand dropping the speed for a while but not so much, not for so long and to not be able to reset it seems stupid. |
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| Barefoot Andrew |
Most ADSL connections are "rate adaptive" - the modem will try and connect at its fastest speed, and then progressively negotiate the speed downwards until agreement is struck with the exchange.
If there's a problem with the line (e.g. poor signal-to-noise ratio), the modem would probably settle on a slowish rate, possibly even really slow. This would likely remain in force until the modem was power cycled, or the connection was lost and then renegotiated. Slower speeds are selected because as the signalling rate decreases, the error checking/recovering mechanism is better able to cope with line problems and rescue duff frames into something usable. I must say though that I've never heard of exchanged-enforced limits in the way you describe - that sounds to me like the hand of human intervention (i.e. a BT engineer) than something the exchange hardware does automagically - but I could be wrong. For the most part my "8" Mbs line works just fine at around 7.5ish, but occasionally I get bouts of poor connectivity and line speed drops to something rubbish, or the modem just gives up and it doesn't work at all. This situation always sorts itself out, and I've never experienced an enforced rate. As for "port error", I can only think that (a) whoever said is using terms they don't understand, or (b) the particular bit of exchange hardware your line is connected to is playing up. If this were suspected it should be no bother for an exchange engineer to patch you onto a different card, but for some reason these people occupy rarefied space and do such things at their leisure not ours. A. |
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| Treacodactyl |
I google shows I'm not the only one given the 135Kbps for 72hrs spiel. I've checked my PC logs and it was on when the line changed speed but I can't find anything that relates to any error.
What makes me think I'm not getting the full story from my ISP is the fact they said they can't report the problem to BT for 72hrs, if the problem goes away they can't report it and if the problem persists it's probably my fault so they can't report it. 
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| Barefoot Andrew |
Your ISP sounds like wasters! The lack of any decent information is for me n times more annoying than the underlying glitch!
There can be but two technically useful reasons why your speed is throttled back to slowsville:- 1. For a deliberate period of monitoring the signalling and looking for problems. This could be likely, but you think they'd at least tell you... It doesn't need 72 hours either. There's no way that someone is going to record 72 hours of line data and then study it... 2. The exchange systems defending themselves - say if repeated and continuous attempts to negotiate normal line speeds (when it blatantly isn't going to work for some reason) is causing load/problems. This is unlikely I must say. A. |
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| Treacodactyl |
Yep, but I doubt many others would be any better. The fact the ISP person I spoke to said they couldn't email details of the problem to me as they don't have access to email just proves the point. (Another example of needing to record conversations.) |
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| orangepippin |
My broadband was down for 3 days last week. The ISP (Plus.net) managed the problem very well and initially thought it was a line-noise problem. BT checked the line, having said that my ISP was giving me the "run around". That did not find anything. Plus.Net eventually escalated it to BT Wholesale who appeared to have had an accident on my bit at the local exchange. When they reset it, everything worked again - and was immediately back to full-speed, no 72-hour wait. | ||
| vegplot |
Broadband is anything but. | ||
| JB |
You can also get very low speeds if your router keeps resetting or being reset. The exchange end can detect the line drop and interpret it as a poor quality line and so will progressively lower speed.
I had a similar problem and BT gave me the usual spiel about have you checked other sockets, we've checked and the line is OK etc. After about two weeks an engineer turned up and fixed it in about 30 minutes turned out to be a dodgy connector box outside the house so it was their responsibility but for some reason the remote line tests didn't include that. Downsides are that it took about 2 weeks to get that far which, to be fair to BT, does give them time to try all the remote tests, see if it's a transient issue etc before sending an engineer. When you ask for an engineer you will be told that if it's not their fault then you will pay for the visit (again fair enough but does mean that they try to encourage you to try everything else first). Upsides are that once you do get a BT engineer their usually very good at what they do. What also helped was that I have BT for ISP and phone so I couldn't get to a position of two companies each trying to blame the other rather than do any work. |
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| Treacodactyl |
Well, I've just come off the phone to a 'manager' who seemed to know what he was doing. Their logs say that I had 5 "lost carriers" which seems to be an exchange problem and a few more "port errors" that they say is a problem with the router but it seems it doesn't necessarily mean there's a fault with the router.
After about 50 mins on the phone it seems they can report the exchange problems and it could well be a know problem with the exchange (which begs the question why don't they check first or report it when I first spoke to them). They of course mentioned the possible £170 charge if a fault can't be found but after querying it I would only get charged if they can't find a fault an I insist on a visit. The 72 hours is apparently the maximum time, although it's been over 36 and I still have a slow connection. There's also been a fair number of problems recorded in other exchanges. Even after pursuing this it's most likely no fault can be identified or nothing will be done as it takes them so long to investigate, waiting for a few days seems the only solution. I really can't see any excuse for no proper fault logging, it can't be that difficult to do but perhaps it would mean the exchanges would have to be more reliable.
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| Treacodactyl |
On a useful note, is there anything I can do to record the "lost carriers" and "port errors" or is it only something recorded by the exchange? | ||
| JB |
When I had similar issues I periodically tested line speed, both up and down, and recorded them myself. I also connected to the router which,as it recorded it's up time allowed me to see when the line had been reset, router reset etc. It meant that when an engineer turned up I was able to show him that the router hadn't been constantly reset, and on those occasions it had reset it had not improved line speed, nor had line speed progressively improved after a reset. None of which was strictly necessary but it did help persuade him I knew what I was talking about.
Dumb question - but have you tried connecting the router directly to the master socket without any other phones connected? |
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| Barefoot Andrew |
Fancier modems keep a 'system log' that persists until the modem is power cycled or rebooted; accessed by pointing a browser to the modem's IP.
A. |
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| Treacodactyl |
Router is connected to the master socket. I do have old wiring and junction boxes but I confirmed today they are BTs. They really need replacing but BT don't seem to want to unless there's a proven fault and the line test said everything is fine. I might try calling again to see if they will change it and not charge a small fortune. I can disconnect the phone as the fault only seems to occur a couple of times a year that's not really a long term solution. Disconnecting the phone doesn't increase the speed. I've tried another micro-filter. I might start looking out for another router even if I'm happy my current one is working perfectly if a little old. |
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| Barefoot Andrew |
I can really recommend these. I have an IX66 which has served me well for nearly 7 years.
A. |
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| Treacodactyl |
How much?  I don't really want to buy another router as I'm confident mine's ok so I'd just want a cheapie to say I've tried another one. My ISP has just sent an email saying "with all due respect" it is the router but they've ignored the fact that they have already confirmed some of the reported faults have nothing to do with the router.
So, what's the likelihood of the exchange having a problem and my router having an unrelated problem within a few minutes of each other?  I've replied asking them to confirm if I buy a new router and the problems still occur that they will refund the cost.
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| Johnno66 |
Re: Broadband problems - technical help please
I have been experiencing a similar problem. As I dont live in a cable area I have taken Virgin National telephone line and broadband which should be 3mbps. I was initially getting a speed of only 330 kbps, this soon dropped to 127kbps. 2 days ago BT came and fixed some internal (in the house) wiring. The engineer then informed me that because there had been a fault on the line the speed had been capped (they didnt mention to what speed, just that because 127kbps was the only download speed I had been able to receive at a stable rate that it was capped there and it would take 72hrs to get back to normal speed. I asked "can you not phone the exchange now and tell them to put it back up?" I was told it was the way the network was set up and would take place through software and no human intervention was possible. I wait to find out if my speed is up to the 3mbps the engineer was able to test on the line by 1pm tomorrow which will be 72hrs. I will post an update tomorrow. |
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| Treacodactyl |
Well an update from me. My speed went back to normal, between 4 - 5 Mbps, after a few days. I had a few strange comments from my ISP and they said their logs still showed 'port errors' so I must get a new router, I then pointed out the speed was back to normal so there's 'port errors' could not be causing the problem and they seemed lost as to what to say.
I eventually got an update where they state that the exchange had some routine maintenance done at the time my problems started but they were unable to tell me why they couldn't find this out, why they told me to do something that wasn't necessary (i.e. get a new router) and they haven't offered any compensation. I'm waiting for a final letter before I report the matter to the regulator. |
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| Barefoot Andrew |
UK broadband needs a thorough shake-up. The only people who really know what's going on are BT Wholesale (and their engineers) and they don't seem to wish to / be obliged to communicate anything to anyone else. The ISP helpdesks meanwhile don't have anything like the technical knowledge needed to be helpful, and yet seem to see no problem with this.
A. |