Router prob? or somthing else, slow speeds....

[YOUWIN]

lo all,

i got sky BB (max) connected yesterday morning, am using the sky router via wired ethernet - i have my pc, xbox 360, and xbox(media center), all connected to the router and everything is connected and up and running as it was before swapping from my original router for the sky one.

Everything seemed fine, was getting dowload speed of around 10000kbps.
Then yesterday afternoon i noticed speed slowing down considerably.
Have done some tests today with the results below:


my distance from the exchange = 1.08km

Everything seems ok so far.........

Speed test @ 16:30 - 10300 kbps dl 600 kbps ul
Stats@ that time - ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 15323 kbps 764 kbps
Line Attenuation 28.5 db 15.7 db
Noise Margin 10.0 db 13.0 db



but then after being connected for less than 2 hours, things slow down

Speed test @ 18:20 - 400-600 kbps dl 570-600 kbps ul (done 3 times)
Stats@ that time - ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 15323 kbps 764 kbps
Line Attenuation 28.5 db 15.7 db
Noise Margin 8.7 db 12.5 db


now my dl is a joke compared to what it was (and should be)

Speed test @ 18:45 - 335 kbps dl 585 kbps ul
Stats@ that time
ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 15323 kbps 764 kbps
Line Attenuation 28.5 db 15.7 db
Noise Margin 8.6 db 12.5 db


P.C reset/powered off @ 19:00 - 20:00
Router left on, (no change)

PC reset obviously has not improoved matters

Speed test @ 21:15 - 219 kbps dl 584kbps ul
Stats@ that time
ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 15323 kbps 764 kbps
Line Attenuation 28.5 db 15.7 db
Noise Margin 8.6 db 13.0 db


21:20 - router powered off
21:25 - router powered back on

At last back to a decent speed, it seems i have to reboot this damn router every 2 hours or sooner to keep my DL sppeds from crashing..

Speed test @ 21:25 - 10200 kbps dl 609 kbps ul
Stats@ that time
ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 15323 kbps 764 kbps
Line Attenuation 28.5 db 15.7 db
Noise Margin 8.9 db 13.0 db


The speed test site i used is Namesco BroadbandMax ADSL Broadband Bandwidth speedtest | Test your ADSL Broadband connection speed
(looking @ the speed test)now when the dl speed is good (above 10000kbps) the dial just increases in one swift movement, always moving up and round.
When the problems starts, looking at the speed test, the dial increases then dips increases then dips, etc, and i get a poor dl speed.


You will notice that throughout the day and all the tests that the upload speed is pretty much a constant 600kpbs - however obviously the download is the big problem.

My master socket is an adsl socket, one of those that has a seperate pc (rj45/rj11) socket and then th standard phone bit next to it - my router is connected directly to the master socket, via ethernet - i use no adsl filters at all, (when i first had adsl installed years ago, the master socket acts as the filter for everything)

I used to be on plus net 2mb - never ever had any speed problems with them @ all, everything is exactly as it was 2 days ago when still connected to plusnet, the only thing thats changed in my house is fitting the sky router.
router i was using = origo 8400, powered on and just left for years...

So am i missing somthing here, is the sky router evil, am i going to have to buy a new one that can cope with 10mb+, (origo 8400 max is 8mb)

Or is there settings i've not done correctly etc.
PC and router both set to 1500 MTU btw.


Sorry for the very long first post, but the more info the better right?
Thx
YOUWIN

[Saturday]

Welcome to the forum

A stab in the dark on this I'm afraid but one thing that comes to mind is that your line may be generating a lot of errors and as they build up your connection speed drops.

To see what is happening you need to post your extended router stats once your speed drops. These can be extracted using Mognut's excellent utility. If you are unsure how to use it, please ask.

It would also be helpful to know if the stats are different from your test socket which you'll find behind the faceplate of your master socket. You need to use the router for an hour or so to ensure there's a good set of stats to compare.

I had a BT ADSL socket fitted when Broadband first became available. I replaced it with a new one a couple of months back and the improvement was noticeable even on my old 2meg BT service. Strangely enough it seems they do degrade over time and this was confirmed to me by a BT engineer. Maybe this is your problem?

[YOUWIN]

lo there,

thx for the very swift reply
funnily enough i was just looking @ that utility to get my sky username and password.
i'll do some more tests tomorrow, and when the DL speeds drop i'll grab the info and post it.
Like you my master socket faceplate is quite a few years old now, have had adsl as soon as it was available, so perhaps it may need changing - thing is i never noticed any probs when on 2mb.

Could i use the filters supplied with the sky package, just on the ethernet adsl line - would that cause more problems?

i think im gonna try my old router tomorrow (fri) and see if the problem is still there

Unfortunately its really not easy or convenient to use the test socket as my master is upstairs and the pc/router downstairs.

will try and post those details tomorrow

cheers
YOUWIN

[Saturday]

Not quite sure what you mean about the filters

For clarity, the router must not be filtered (it can be connected through a filter but using the unfiltered connection. There's no harm in filtering all other devices (phone, fax, digibox etc) with a microfilter as well as the faceplate.

I can understand the difficulties with the test socket. As a compromise, can you do a test and extract the stats with the router running an hour or so connected normally, rebbot the router, then another with all other phone devices (especially the digibox) disconnected?

[YOUWIN]

i've managed to connect direct to the test socket, connect like this
test point on master socket--->adsl filter---->modem---->7m ethernet cable to pc. I tried not using the adsl filter but the router would not connect to the exchange without it, (which i presume is normal) anyway stats so far.....

connection settings @10.30
ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 15323 kbps 764 kbps
Line Attenuation 28.0 db 15.5 db
Noise Margin 9.8 db 13.5 db

speed test at this time: 10000+kbps dl / 600+kps ul. Using the same test site as before.

Gonna leave it all idle for an hour or so and see what happens...

[Saturday]

If your problem is being caused by errors on your line then the stats you posted are insufficient - you need to extract the extended stats as noted earlier.

However, the fact you are seeing the same problem with the test socket is not good news and points to a problem outside of your immediate control.

[NGee]

Hi Youwin

I have been experiencing similar problems as yourself. Although I can be connected constantly for a few days before the problem occurs.

Usually I unplug the router, wait for a few minutes, plug it back in, and the speed returns to normal.

Today when the speed dropped, I decided to leave the router switched on and still connected to the internet. The only lead I disconnected was the Ethernet cable between the router and my pc. I reconnected it after about 5 minutes, and the speed returned to normal.

This may mean that it’s a router problem, but I don’t know. I will try this again and see what the results are when it happens again though.

[YOUWIN]

If your problem is being caused by errors on your line then the stats you posted are insufficient - you need to extract the extended stats as noted earlier.

However, the fact you are seeing the same problem with the test socket is not good news and points to a problem outside of your immediate control.

lo m8, not sure why you thought the problem was still there when connected to the test socket?
The stats from earlier indicate that all was ok.....

Have just done some more speed tests (still connected to the test socket)
10150kbps DL / 600+kbps UL
Stats from the router @ this time (13:30)
ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 15323 kbps 764 kbps
Line Attenuation 28.0 db 15.5 db
Noise Margin 9.7 db 13.0 db

so in summary i have been connected to the test socket now for 3 hours and have had no speed loss at all - i'm guessing this indicates that there is a problem with either my internal wiring or the master socket face plate.

Because my adsl is wired seperately to the phone extensions and a direct connection to the master socket, is is safe to assume the phone line side of things is not likely to be the cause? And that its either the master socket faceplate or the adsl internal wiring from the faceplate to my pc?

Hope that makes sense,
cheers
YOUWIN

[Saturday]

lo m8, not sure why you thought the problem was still there when connected to the test socket?
YOUWIN

Sorry - misread your post - trying to do other things at the same time

If you're not getting the slowdown with the test socket then this certainly points to your internal phone wiring/sockets being at fault. If everything is connected up to a standard master socket then all the wiring creates one network and so a fault/noise in one part can affect all parts.

Fitting a replacement new filtered faceplate and running your ADSL extension as unfiltered will remove "contamination" from the other wiring but won't do anything for the extension itself.

To get the best connection needs the router to be plugged directly into the (ideally filtered) master socket not via an extension. However, if you can get a good connection then maybe best isn't important

[YOUWIN]

it's wierd but after messing around with the master socket this morning, and using the test socket, i hate to say it, but it all seems fine now - i've gone back to how it was wired originally, pc connection to adsl port on master socket, faceplate back on (obviously), and this afternoon i've had no problems at all - running @10000+kbps all afternoon.

I did remove orange/white from pin 3 on the phone side of things on the back of the faceplate, perhaps this was causing problems - i'll see how it all pans out, but at least it's narrowed it down a bit, thankyou for your help and advice Saturday,

fingers crossed.............

lo there NGee,

if i just had to reboot every few days i think i could live with that tbh, but when its every couple of hours it becomes infuriating, i hope yours works out, let us know what happens - im hoping mines sorted, but may have just improoved it, and end up like yours is behaving - time will tell i guess