Query on Varying Performance for Broadband

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knil

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#147462 19-Jun-2014 23:50

Hi,

I am looking for advice on how to proceed with varying speed performance for my Telecom broadband connection. Until recently the broadband connection to our home was causing no problems. On Sunday 15/6/14 my son complained about increased ping times, and then later of being unable to view downloads without interruptions.

That evening my wife and I experienced the intermittent start/stop of video when watching a TVNZ on demand programme. Using the Telecom "Test your speed" site the speed was around 0.9~1.2 Mbps download, 0.5~0.4Mbps upload and latency of around 120~130 ms. I rang the Telecom helpdesk who thoroughly went through our setup, and repeated the "Test your Speed" results. He said that he was experiencing speeds on my connection of around 20Mbps. He then said he would log this and get more tests done.
Later that evening around 11pm I noticed the video response was much better and repeated the Speed Test and got a result of around 16~18 Mpbs download, 0.5 Mbps upload and 30 ms latency.

The next day I duly got a text saying a throughput callback was booked for 23/6/14.

I was working from home today (19/6/14) and noticed a good speed (around 17Mbps) in the morning and early afternoon. However in the evening, when trying to watch Choice on Demand, again the video start/stopped, waiting for loading etc. A speed test showed download speed back down to 0.9Mbps. Again at around 11pm the download speed increased significantly again see image below:

I am not sure what the best course of action is now. It seems to me to be some sort of congestion, for those more knowledgeable about these cases is this a correct assumption?

I will call back Telecom next week, do I have any recourse? Any advice on how I should approach it?

I live in Tauranga between Bethlehem and Cambridge Heights.

I use a Speedtouch Modem, ST5x6v6, Software 7.4.2.6 (I have a number of PC's/Laptops all of which are identically affected)

The DSL stats are shown in the screen shot below: (This was taken at 11.49pm, when a good speed connection had been reestablished.)

I look forward to any assistance

Extra Info requested by Robot:
ISP: Telecom
Plan: 150GB/Month
Connection: ADSL2
Location: Urban
Connection Type: Unknown but probably ULL based on attenuation values (Link to Chorus site in Steve Biddle post no longer working)
Isolation Test Done: Yes

PeterReader

6019 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#1069634 19-Jun-2014 23:50

Hello... Our robot found some keywords in your post, so here is an automated reply with some important things to note regarding broadband speeds.

If you are posting regarding DSL speeds please check that

- you have reset your modem and router

- your PC (or other PCs in your LAN) is not downloading large files when you are testing

- you are not being throttled by your ISP due to going over the monthly cap

- your tests are always done on an ethernet connection to the router - do not use wireless for testing

- you read this topic and follow the instructions there.

Make sure you provide information for other users to help you. If you have not already done it, please EDIT your post and add this now:

- Your ISP and plan

- Type of connection (ADSL, ADSL2, VDSL)

- Your modem DSL stats (do not worry about posting Speedtest, we need sync rate, attenuation and noise margin)

- Your general location (or street)

- If you are rural or urban

- If you know your connection is to an exchange, cabinet or conklin

- If your connection is to a ULL or wholesale service

- If you have done an isolation test as per the link above

Most of the problems with speed are likely to be related to internal wiring issues. Read this discussion to find out more about this. Your ISP is not intentionally slowing you down today (unless you are on a managed plan). Also if this is the school holidays it's likely you will notice slower than usual speed due to more users online.

A master splitter is required for VDSL2 and in most cases will improve speeds on DSL connections. Regular disconnections can be a monitored alarm or a set top box trying to connect. If there's an alarm connected to your line even if you don't have an alarm contract it may still try to connect so it's worth checking.

I recommend you read these two blog posts:

- Is your premises phone wiring impacting your broadband performance? (very technical)

- Are you receiving a substandard ULL ADSL2+ connection from your ISP?

I am the Geekzone Robot and I am here to help. I am from the Internet. I do not interact. Do not expect other replies from me.

sbiddle

30853 posts

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#1069691 20-Jun-2014 07:25

First thing I would look at would be whether you're saturating your upstream by leaving torrents seeding. Due to the simple way that TCP/IP world, saturating the upstream will impact your downstream.

knil

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1069763 20-Jun-2014 09:57

Hi Steve,
Thanks for your comment, can you advise how I would check if I am seeding torrents. The only person who is likely to be doing this (ie has a torrent client installed) is my son so I will talk to him about this. The other PC's do not have torrent clients installed (to the best of my knowledge).
Cheers Hans

RunningMan

8955 posts

Uber Geek

#1070953 20-Jun-2014 13:13

Anything that is uploading at a reasonable rate will have a substantial and noticeable effect on downloads, so look for anything that backs up or uploads to the cloud - even an iPhone uploading photos to iCloud.

Turn off computers / devices a couple at a time and you should be able to narrow down if this is the issue fairly quickly.