Good ? Bad ? Indifferent ? Argh, frustrated

cally6008

I'm using laptop running Win XP and connecting via wireless to the internet.

I've been watching the "Wireless Network Connection Status" box since 19:47pm tonight and am annoyed as the "Speed" is constantly changing from 54 to 48 to 36 to 1 to 2 to 5.5 to 54 to 1 to 2 to 11.1 etc etc and there's only my laptop connected to the internet at my house at the moment.

Bearing in mind that my OH is currently in Newcastle and that house had had broadband problems all afternoon-evening.

I did ring BT Tech team up for 40 mins but failed to get anywhere as such due to language problems, wind noises over the phone (his breathing), talking at a distance as though he was 20 foot away etc. I dont use IE, I would not use IE, he wanted me to reset my browser to default (after about 10mins finally understood that he wanted me to clear my cache!), was I connecting to bt.com (no as speed was 1 at that time so page said bt.com taking too long to respond), had I tried switching hub off then on again, had i tried rebooting laptop (yep tried them both before I even thought of ringing BT) then he wanted me to type ncpl.ncp (or sumit) into Run to give him access to my computer (I didnt as I am wary of giving others access to my laptop) .. strangely enough my wireless completed disconnected itself and then connected as he was talking to me.

Then he started about phone sockets, wiring etc to which I said that everything was fine this morning and nothing had changed since then so I couldnt see that being a problem. He failed to grasp that I was actually sat upstairs on the phone and the only phone socket in house is downstairs .. etc etc.

At the moment it is set up as such - main phone socket downstairs in lounge, 30 foot+ extension lead (through lounge, up the stairs and in to the spare bedroom located above the lounge), ADSL filter which has phone line and Home Hub plugged into it. Home hub is the black BT one (hub 2.0?)

I just hung up on him in the end (you know that feeling when you've just had enough ..). Wierder still was that speed was a constant 48 until I put phone down and then it went back to playing funny numbers again. He tried phoning me back 3 times but failed to understand "Do not phone me back".

I've access the Home Hub page and changed the wireless channel to "Automatic" which has picked up channel 10 but the speed is still playing funny BEEP. Channel was on Channel 1 before. I can't find the list of recommended channels to use either.

The ASDL line status reads as below but I dont have a clue about any of it

ADSL line status

Line stateConnected
Connection time0 days, 2:30:42
Downstream8,128 Kbps
Upstream448 Kbps

ADSL settings

VPI/VCI0/38
TypePPPoA
ModulationITU-T G.992.1
Latency typeInterleaved
Noise margin (Down/Up)10.6 dB / 21.0 dB
Line attenuation (Down/Up)27.0 dB / 15.5 dB
Output power (Down/Up)19.8 dBm / 11.9 dBm
Loss of Framing (Local)0
Loss of Signal (Local)0
Loss of Power (Local)0
FEC Errors (Down/Up)701 / 0
CRC Errors (Down/Up)0 / 2147480000
HEC Errors (Down/Up)nil / 0
Error Seconds (Local)0

Normally there is my OH pc connected to internet via ethernet cable using Win 7 and he's an online gamer, watches movies etc whereas I just do emails, facebook, my website, forums etc. Both of us notice that come sorta 7pm or sometimes about half 10pm that the connection slows right down for us both, is that normal/as standard as we're on BT Broadband, option 3.

Can anyone suggest anything to try or do when my OH gets back to improve things ?

macman

Firstly, you need to test your speed using an ethernet connection rather than wireless. That will tell you if it's just your wireless connection. If it improves, then try changing the router channel to 2,6, or 11.
Secondly, you need to retest your speed from the master socket downstairs, using the BT test socket behind the faceplate. this will eliminate any possible problems with your internal wiring, which is what the BT guy was trying to tell you to do.
Have you got known working ADSL filters on all active extensions, including any Sky boxes?
Lastly, since it appears that your OH is a heavy downloader, is it possible that your speed is being throttled in the evenings under BT's FUP? BT CS should be able to tell you this.

4. What is BT's Traffic Management Policy?

BT continuously monitors network performance and reduces the speed available to very heavy users (typically less than 1 per cent of all customers) during a given month to ensure that the service received by other customers is not impacted through extremely heavy usage by a minority of people.
Customers who are classified as very heavy users will experience significantly reduced speed at peak times (typically 5pm-midnight every day but these times may change depending on the demand on the network) for a period of 30 days, or for as long as very heavy use continues. This applies to customers on all Options.
BT Total Broadband Option 3 and BT Infinity Option 2 allow unlimited downloads and uploads within the monthly rental price, so customers on these products will not be charged for over-use. However, this does not preclude BT from reducing your speed if you are a heavy user in order to protect the experience for the rest of our customers.
We may need to vary the policy from time to time to ensure the best possible experience for all our customers. This site will always be kept up to date with the latest information.

mrochester

cally6008 wrote: »

I'm using laptop running Win XP and connecting via wireless to the internet.

I've been watching the "Wireless Network Connection Status" box since 19:47pm tonight and am annoyed as the "Speed" is constantly changing from 54 to 48 to 36 to 1 to 2 to 5.5 to 54 to 1 to 2 to 11.1 etc etc and there's only my laptop connected to the internet at my house at the moment.

Bearing in mind that my OH is currently in Newcastle and that house had had broadband problems all afternoon-evening.

I did ring BT Tech team up for 40 mins but failed to get anywhere as such due to language problems, wind noises over the phone (his breathing), talking at a distance as though he was 20 foot away etc. I dont use IE, I would not use IE, he wanted me to reset my browser to default (after about 10mins finally understood that he wanted me to clear my cache!), was I connecting to bt.com (no as speed was 1 at that time so page said bt.com taking too long to respond), had I tried switching hub off then on again, had i tried rebooting laptop (yep tried them both before I even thought of ringing BT) then he wanted me to type ncpl.ncp (or sumit) into Run to give him access to my computer (I didnt as I am wary of giving others access to my laptop) .. strangely enough my wireless completed disconnected itself and then connected as he was talking to me.

Then he started about phone sockets, wiring etc to which I said that everything was fine this morning and nothing had changed since then so I couldnt see that being a problem. He failed to grasp that I was actually sat upstairs on the phone and the only phone socket in house is downstairs .. etc etc.

At the moment it is set up as such - main phone socket downstairs in lounge, 30 foot+ extension lead (through lounge, up the stairs and in to the spare bedroom located above the lounge), ADSL filter which has phone line and Home Hub plugged into it. Home hub is the black BT one (hub 2.0?)

I just hung up on him in the end (you know that feeling when you've just had enough ..). Wierder still was that speed was a constant 48 until I put phone down and then it went back to playing funny numbers again. He tried phoning me back 3 times but failed to understand "Do not phone me back".

I've access the Home Hub page and changed the wireless channel to "Automatic" which has picked up channel 10 but the speed is still playing funny BEEP. Channel was on Channel 1 before. I can't find the list of recommended channels to use either.

The ASDL line status reads as below but I dont have a clue about any of it

ADSL line status

Line stateConnected
Connection time0 days, 2:30:42
Downstream8,128 Kbps
Upstream448 Kbps

ADSL settings

VPI/VCI0/38
TypePPPoA
ModulationITU-T G.992.1
Latency typeInterleaved
Noise margin (Down/Up)10.6 dB / 21.0 dB
Line attenuation (Down/Up)27.0 dB / 15.5 dB
Output power (Down/Up)19.8 dBm / 11.9 dBm
Loss of Framing (Local)0
Loss of Signal (Local)0
Loss of Power (Local)0
FEC Errors (Down/Up)701 / 0
CRC Errors (Down/Up)0 / 2147480000
HEC Errors (Down/Up)nil / 0
Error Seconds (Local)0

Normally there is my OH pc connected to internet via ethernet cable using Win 7 and he's an online gamer, watches movies etc whereas I just do emails, facebook, my website, forums etc. Both of us notice that come sorta 7pm or sometimes about half 10pm that the connection slows right down for us both, is that normal/as standard as we're on BT Broadband, option 3.

Can anyone suggest anything to try or do when my OH gets back to improve things ?

The speed of the wireless connection between your laptop and the router has nothing to do with BT other than the router is supplied by them, and could be faulty, but it could equally be your laptop that is faulty. The only part of the connection that BT is responsible for is between the router and the outside line.

Try moving the laptop closer to the router to see if the connection stabilises. Try changing the wireless channel (run through all of them). If you can't get a stable wifi signal, try your laptop at a friends who has a wireless router to see if it is the laptop that is struggling, or try a different wireless router in your home.

Good luck!

cally6008

macman - Thanks for the router channel numbers. How do I test speed from downstairs ? Do I just take the router downstairs and plug it straight into phone socket ? As far as I know, the one filter that is plugged in is working fine since we can get online. We dont have Sky here or anything else, just the Freeview and the computers. Yeah we think we do get throttled by BT quite often, unfortunately.

mrochester - I can literally reach out and touch the router with my hand whilst sat at laptop. I was in Newcastle for 3 days this week and never noticed any problems whilst in that house (same house where OH is at the moment and they've had broadband problems yesterday as well, strange).

macman

Transfer the router downstairs, remove the master socket faceplate (2 screws, lower half) and plug into the BT test socket under that. That will isolate the internal wiring. Plugging straight into the master socket is not sufficient.
You need an ADSL filter on every active extension, that means your upstairs one and your master socket downstairs, assuming you have a phone plugged into that. Bad filters (or missing ones) will cause drop puts and slower line speeds. Just because you can get online doesn't means the filter is good.
But the first thing you need to do is test your existing set up with ethernet rather than wireless, it may be that it is just a wireless issue.