Super SLOW Broadband

Chickabiddybex

So I went to my mum's house today and noticed her Internet seems pretty slow! So I ran a speed test and got about 0.9Mb!

She has BT Internet just the standard Unlimited. I don't get it because she used to have much faster Broadband when I lived there. She switched from AOL to BT about a year ago I'm not sure if that's when it started or not but I think it must have been more recent. FYI I'm also with BT in a similar area and I get 7Mb.

She says the only recent change is she had to have a telephone wire replaced outside her house because it was eroding or something. Could that be the cause perhaps?

I'm stumped. I mean, if it had slowed a small amount then there are a number of things it could be. But it used to be around 7Mb like mine. That's a pretty epic drop!

Any ideas?

brewerdave

It COULD be a stuck profile. If they had a line fault then the exchange equipment could have tried to get a stable internet connection by increasing the noise margin and reducing the synch speed.The profile would naturally follow. After the repair the synch speed should have recovered but there are cases where the profile has got "stuck"at the lower value.
If you can ,run the BTW speed test including the "further diagnostics" option and report back.
http://speedtest.btwholesale.com/

macman

Are you running the speed test using ethernet from the BT test socket behind the master socket split faceplate? If using wireless and/or an extension socket, the test is fairly meaningless, as internal faults could be to blame. Retest as above if so.

Chickabiddybex

I was just testing it from the router but I'll try the other ways.

On the test linked above it says
1. Your computer is plugged into the broadband line to be tested.
2. Your computer is directly connected to your modem/router via an Ethernet Connection (i.e. not via a wireless or powerline adapters).

I'm not sure how it should be connected because to me that's telling me to do something conflicting. If I plug it into the line how can I also plug it into my router? Or am I misunderstanding? (probably!)

WTFH

I think you're misunderstanding. The first point is to make sure you are connected to the line you want to check, not that you are connected to some other internet connection.
Once you've done that, the second point is how you need to be connected to that line.

It's because some people will say their computer is slow, they are told to do the test and they test it on a different broadband connection, or they test using a slow connection to the router.

Chickabiddybex

Ohhhh I see! Thanks

matelodave

Ideally for a decent test the router should be plugged into the master socket test point which eliminates any problems from internal house wiring or other stuff that might be plugged into the phone line (like SKY boxes). The computer should be connected directly to the router using an Ethernet cable and not by using wi-fi.
That should give you the best connection and that's what they'll ask you to do if you phone them

Chickabiddybex

Yep I'll do that tonight and let you guys know what I find
(The router is connected to the master socket anyway!)

macman

You should connect to the test socket, which is behind the split faceplate master socket cover. Undo the two screws and hinge it forward.
Plugging into that isolates your extension wiring, so if it's still slow you can be confident that it's a line or exchange fault, and so not chargeable for an OR call-out.

Chickabiddybex

The results:


I'll call BT and see if they can check if there's a "stuck profile" issue or something.

Chickabiddybex

FYI I did use the test socket - unscrewed the front and put it into the socket inside.