How can I solve poor connection issues (Be)?

piggeh

I recently changed over from Nilram to Be as Be were offering a cheaper service, Nildram had gone downhill a bit and Be were supposedly good all round - good connectivity, good service etc.

At the start when I switched, my broadband connection would drop every minute or so. It would only work if I left the phone off the hook, then was fine although the speed was sometimes quite low (100kb/s sometimes, occassionally lower) Eventually I found this out to be the router and switching back to my old router and it's pretty stable and phone can stay on the hook now!

However, they stated their service was up to 8Mb/s. When I was with Nildram I often got 2.5Mb/s on the same claim. However, with Be, the most I have got is 2Mb/s (they have changed my profile to the 'fastest available' yet it's still slower than Nildram's). Also, when connecting to a game server, my ping is pretty useless. I've had to give up playing some games as it's unplayable. This is despite the connection remaining stable at 2Mb/s or so.

Has anyone got any advice on how to try and improve matters please? Not so worried about download speed, the ping issues are more annoying.

Running a tracert gives me a * on the first hop (going to the ISP), if that helps.

aliEnRIK

Can you try without a router? (As in just a broadband modem?)

If its still the same then, then its clearly something at their end (Or a faulty connection somewhere in your house)

piggeh

I only have my router. Have requested a replacement router from Be for the one they supplied, so will try that when it arrives, although my router was fine under Nildram so doubt it's that.

Donnie

Check with Samknows to find the capability of your line.

Check your sockets to make sure the number three bellwire is not attached. Check your microfilters.
It's unlikely to be the router.

Woby_Tide

what do the stats say on your router/Bebox can you post them up.

Also have you used the utility on the homepage of the Be website to change your settings to optimise for speed/reliability and see if you get any difference, Only learnt about it today but speed optimisation added 2Mb to my Max line speed(admittedly it was higher than yours to begin with so percentage wise is less than on a slower line)

Woby_Tide

Mozkowitz wrote: »

You have to set your optimum Broadband speeds on their website? Thats pretty sneaky way to throttle their customers connections.

No they've given the most common options that people normally requested via their helpdesk. As Be has a high proportion of gamers there were often requests to switch on "Fastpath" (i,e switch off interleaving). They also allowed people to drop their SNR if they wanted. Otherwise they would have to permanently monitor peoples lines to check they were ok. The majority of consumers don't care and aren't savvy enough anyway. The options provided whilst increasing speed reduce the reliability in most cases. The average consumer will sacrifice that extra 1-2Mb for a stable connection, whereas a gamer etc. will be vice versa

It's actually refreshing an ISP isn't being heavy handed and helping their users. I was impressed using it for the first time last night to see instantly how the changes took place on router stats.
Edit: Official options you can choose are

Optimise for speed sets target SNR to 3dB - this will increase the speed you get but can decrease the stability of the line

Standard setting sets target SNR to 6dB - default profile

Optimise for reliability sets target SNR to 9dB - this will increase the stability but decrease the speed you get

Gamin Mode on/off - this will enable/disable fastpath

piggeh

You cant do it on their cheapest package though, although you can raise a ticket and get the profile changed. No fastpath for 'value' users though

Woby_tide what do you mean by which stats to post up? Can access various (Netgear control panel).

Woby_Tide

if it's a DG834 then you should be able to follow the below guide

http://www.beforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=9449

also various tips on what tweaks you can with line problems etc. the main use though is working out if it's your internal lines at fault or the lines to the exchange