Broadband speed issues

[ac1]

Hi,

I've noticed that my download speed has reduced significantly over the last couple of days and I haven't made any changes recently to the setup of my broadband connection.

I currently use a Belkin ADSL router and I have been using it for the past few months.

A while ago, I changed my telephone extension cable as my old one appeared to be faulty, and the connection was ok for the first few days but then the downstream noise margin increased dramatically from 6 db to 12/13 db, and I have kept the connection on 24/7 since then to see if the noise margin will eventually decrease; however this does not appear to have happened.

On 13/5/14, my line stats from my Belkin router were:

ADSL
 Type   Interleave Path
Status Show Time
                         Downstream Upstream
 Data Rate (kbps)       2648         914
 Noise Margin (dB)      12.0          4.0
 Attenuation (dB)       54.2        31.4
 Output power(dbm)   17.7       12.7

The results from the speed test on 13/5/14 were:

Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
Download Speed
2.46 Mbps

0 Mbps 4 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed

Download speedachieved during the test was - 2.46 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 1.2 Mbps-4 Mbps.
IP Profile for your line is - 2.34 Mbps


2. Upstream Test: -provides background information.
Upload Speed
0.77 Mbps

0 Mbps 0.83 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed

Upload speed achieved during the test was - 0.77Mbps
Additional Information:
Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 0.83 Mbps

On 15/05/15, my line stats from my Belkin router were:

ADSL
 Type    Interleave Path
 Status    Show Time
                          Downstream Upstream
 Data Rate (kbps)        2136       922 
 Noise Margin (dB)       13.5        6.4
 Attenuation (dB)        54.2       31.4
 Output power(dbm)    17.5       12.7

The results from the speed test on 15/5/14 were:

Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
Download Speed
1.92 Mbps

0 Mbps 2 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed

Download speedachieved during the test was - 1.92 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 0.8 Mbps-2 Mbps.
IP Profile for your line is - 1.88 Mbps


2. Upstream Test: -provides background information.
Upload Speed
0.77 Mbps

0 Mbps 0.83 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed

Upload speed achieved during the test was - 0.77Mbps
Additional Information:
Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 0.83 Mbps

However, when I checked my line stats for my Belkin router today, the stats are:

ADSL
 Type   Interleave Path
 Status    Show Time
                          Downstream Upstream
 Data Rate (kbps)        1149       856
 Noise Margin (dB)        7.5         6.4
 Attenuation (dB)        55.8       31.5
 Output power(dbm)    16.1       12.7

The results from the speed test are:

1. Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
Download Speed
0.71 Mbps

0 Mbps 1 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed

Download speedachieved during the test was - 0.71 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 0.4 Mbps-1 Mbps.
IP Profile for your line is - 1.01 Mbps


2. Upstream Test: -provides background information.
Upload Speed
0.75 Mbps

0 Mbps 0.83 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed

Upload speed achieved during the test was - 0.75Mbps
Additional Information:
Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 0.83 Mbps

I've checked the service status on the BT website, and there does not appear to be any issues with the service, however I noticed that on the Exchange status checker on the Plus.net website, there appeared to be an issue with my Exchange on 10/5/14, although this appears to have been resolved.

I have also tried changing my telephone extension cable and adsl filters; however this did not make any difference. I also tried using my old BT Voyager router, and the line stats were still the same, although the downstream noise margin shown on my BT Voyager router was 17 db, however on my Belkin router, this is showing as 7.5 db. 

Therefore, I am unsure if there is still an issue with my Exchange or an issue which has yet to be reported with it?

I was wondering if I should try reporting a fault with BT first to see if there is an issue at the Exchange to see if this will fix my speed issues?

Thanks for your help in advance.

Kind Regards,

ac1

[imjolly]

Is it possible to connect to the test socke with new filter but instead of using a phone extension cable use a longer rj11 modem cable.  Extension cables especially the flat cable style are known to be detrimental to your broadband connection

resetting your router is one of the worst thing you can do to your broadband

[ac1]

Hi imjolly,

I haven't reset my broadband connection for a while, but I've reset it a few times during the past few days when I noticed that my broadband speed seemed to be dropping, and the downstream noise margin was increasing. 

The downstream noise margin was at 6 db a few weeks ago, but this increased to 12/15 db after a few days, and it has stayed at this noise margin over the past few weeks, but now the noise margin appears to have reduced to 7/8 db, but the download speed has reduced, and my BT voyager router showed the downstream noise margin to be 17 db, therefore I'm not sure why the line stats for my Belkin router are different.  

I'll keep an eye on it, and I'll try your suggestion in a few days.

Thanks.

Elaine.

[DigiCool]

I have noticed that the line attenuation is quite high on your line. Usually this is caused by you being too far from your local exchange. However sometimes reducing the amount of cable between the external drop line which enters your property and before your master socket can lower the attenuation a little bit, stabilise the noise margin issue because there are less amount of cabling for interference from other signals or electrical interference. How far is the master socket located from the entry point to your property? Usually it should be within 3 m of the drop line entering your property. previously my broadband was also experiencing similar issues and relocating my master socket helped wonderfully. If it is possible try to install a BT broadband accelerator which is also known as an Iplate in your master socket or ask a BT engineer to fit the latest SSFP master socket which will filter out any interference within the cables in your property. This will help to fix your noise margin issue 🙂

[DigiCool]

It might also be worth asking one of the moderators or BT customer services to switch your broadband latency to fast. This should give you a faster and snappier online experience this should also lower your noise margin as interleaving latency sometimes raises your noise margin. however, please be aware that sometimes interleaving is also used to stabilise the broadband connection so if after a few days you find that your broadband is more unstable please request for latency to be switched back to interleaving.

[john46]

Changing latency will not reduce the noise margin interleaving is normally on by default to produce a more stable connection the Iplate is not always the answer it is better to remove the bell wire from terminal 3 of each socket assuming the poster had more than one socket in the house

Changing the drop wire length on a 4km line will have no effect at all

[DigiCool]

I have just one master socket at my property which had been fitted yesterday, would removing the bell wire improve my broadband more?

[imjolly]

if you have only 1 socket - master - then there is no bellwire to remove - only applies when extension sockets fitted

[john46]

@digicool please do not double post as you can miss replies on your own thread also it can confuse the original posters problem