Broadband getting slower - advice please

[Proto]

My home service provider is BT, I've been with them for years, never had a problem before, but recently I've detected a significant drop off in the speed of my broadband. I periodically check it, and I don't think I've ever got more than 2 -2.5 mbps, but lately, last couple of weeks it has been much slower, as slow as 500 kbps, and this morning 950 kbps. Surprisingly the upload speed was higher at 970 kbps.

I've contacted BT and asked them to call me but unsurprisingly they decided to phone my home even though I gave them a daytime contact number (work), so didn't speak to them. They subsequently emailed me with a general 'how to improve your speed' but it's very basic stuff and I'm fairly certain irrelevent.


BTW I'm using a BT Home Hub thingee, cabled nto a 4 port switch, which connects 3 PC's on a network. Speed is pretty well the same via the wired connection and wi-fi to my laptop, which makes me think it's not my network.

Any opinions? Does poor download but good upload speed (which does seem pretty speedy to me) indicate that the fault lies outside my home or within?

 

[ian turner]

What is the connection speed listed on the hub ?

 

[Proto]

It's a BT Home Hub V1.0 (a white one!)

Not at home but a Google search shows 24 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload.

 

[2Loose]

They will want to call you at home so that they can attempt to test the line while you are on the phone.
They won't be able to do anything while you are away from it, except tell you that nothing has been flagged on their systems as a problem.

 

[ian turner]

Connection speed as in what does it think it's connecting at to the servers which should either be on the main page or in a router status page.
Have you added any devices to the phone lines recently ?
Tried swapping the filters on the off chance someone stepped on it or the dog chewed it.

 

[Proto]

Out of my depth I think, but does that mean I need a address for the modem/router? No odea where I'll find that. I'll start ferreting around.

Update: I think I have to punch in http://192.168.1.254

 

[Proto]

The BT bloke wants me to get to the master socket and then contact them. Does it make any difference for the testing that my router is plugged into an extension socket not the master?

Can they only test up to the master socket for line quality?

 

[ian turner]

Eliminates the possibility that quality is being affected by non BT supplied equipment or lines.

 

[HLaB]

This minds me I'll have to get someone to investigate my folks BB connection; its good when the weather is good but if it wet its slow, intermittent or non existent. I can only guess water is getting into the system somewhere :?:

 

[ColinJ]

The BT bloke wants me to get to the master socket and then contact them. Does it make any difference for the testing that my router is plugged into an extension socket not the master?

Can they only test up to the master socket for line quality?

Presumably, if the test to the master socket is okay, but to the extension isn't, that would tell them that your extension has a problem? If the master socket test isn't okay, that also tells them something.

Incidentally, I had problems with my broadband connection a couple of times over the years. Once, I had stupidly plugged a phone into one extension without using a filter. The second time was due to using a cheap filter which went faulty. I got slow speeds and the router was losing the ADSL signal 3 or 4 times a day, perhaps when the phone rang?

 

[Proto]

My upload speed looks okay. Could a faulty line affect only the download or would you expect both to be poor?

Before I phone BT again I think I'll disconnect everything, and start all over again at the master socket with a new filter and a cable straight into my laptop. Eliminate the network, extension etc.

 

[Davidc]

The BT bloke wants me to get to the master socket and then contact them. Does it make any difference for the testing that my router is plugged into an extension socket not the master?

Can they only test up to the master socket for line quality?

Yes it does make a difference, but the change that's made the biggest difference to mine (which over several years had dropped from 1.5Mb/s to 850Mb/s) was changing the master socket for one which contains the filter. It means that the broadband is isolated where the line omes into the building, before the house phone wiring with all its branches and so on, and before any/ all of the equipment.

The first attempt put my speed up from 850kb/s to 2.5Mb/s. When another (newer) master socket face plate was put on it, with a filter on the bell wiring as well as the speech wiring, it went up to over 3.5Mb/s.

You may have to use all of your powers of persuasion to get that done because it costs money. The biggest cause of speed issues of this sort is said to be data and other interference being picked up from the house mains wiring, computer wiring and TV signal wiring, which without having investigated or measured it myself sounds a reasonable explanation.

If you get one of those you either have to put your modem/ router device at the master socket, or wire away from the master socket to it, as the broadband and speech circuits are effectively separated at the master socket and there's no broadband signal on the house phone wiring any longer.

 

[zexel]

How far away are you from the exchange?

Could try one of these

 

[Proto]

Disconnected everything, even the phone, and plugged the BT Home Hub straight into the master phone socket, with a new ADSL filter. Connected my laptop up with cat 5 cable. Ran a speed test and got 0.9 download and 0.95 upload.

Phoned (on my mobile) a very helpful BT fellow in India who ran some line checks. He phoned me back on completion and said my line was okay, and in fact should provide 7.5Mbps, however, he said the router was not responding correctly and that it should be replaced. It's a V1.0 hub and he'll send me the latest V3.0 which he assures me will sort the problem. Will be with me in 2 to 3 days.

Am I right to be sceptical?

I brought a brand new BT Business Hub home from work, thought I might try that, but BT man said it was unsuitable and I shouldn't use it. This seemed odd to me, I thought such things are all pretty much the same. Again, am I right to be sceptical

 

[ian turner]

Yup.

Sceptical that is.

What is the attenuation and noise on that line according to the hub ?
Don't know where you find that aside from in the status menus as I use netgears.