Low throughput but high connect rate

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Low throughput but high connect rate - Telecom Xtra

Foiler

220 posts

Master Geek

#116136 19-Apr-2013 10:30

Recently my customer changed from iHug to Xtra and immediately encountered frustration with the new connection .. slow websites, websites not responding, VPN remote access to terminal server very slow etc etc.

A test to speedtest.net initially showed good results but repeating the test showed massive variations, eg downloads as good as 15Mbps but mostly poor and as low as 0.2Mbps.

Ping tests to trademe.co.nz showed little sign of any packet loss. Tracert testing also showed nothing abnormal.

Connect rate throughout all the testing (now spans about 2-3 weeks of frustration) seems to be steady and high:

Downstream Speed   17136 kbps
Upstream Speed   879 kbps
ADSL Modulation   ADSL2+ (ADSL2+)
Signal to Noise Ratio   Average/Minimum
Receive   17.0 dB/ NA
Attenuation
Receive   9.5 db
Transmit   dB db
Power   12.3

Network switch glitches have been excluded by various testing from different LAN clients, and total router throughput has been compared with testing throughput just after a speed test to exclude LAN congestion.

A throughput test to the youtube speed test video with quality set on 720p HD superimposed with the Windows network monitor shows an interesting cyclical pattern of throughput - ie bursts of data with intervening zero throughput - and masses of dropped packets.

After lots of ranting we finally got Chorus to attend the fault yesterday, but the tech had a glance at the connect rate and declared everything ok. We were desperately hoping for a port change.

This fault seems very similar to this earlier one... and I wonder if the customer has ended up with that other dodgy DSLAM port.

Hoping that someone can help with further diagnosis and maybe some help in moving the incredible Xtra Chorus wheels along.

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5980 posts

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Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#802116 19-Apr-2013 10:30

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.

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Foiler

220 posts

Master Geek

#802131 19-Apr-2013 10:36

Typical speedtest.net result with sawtooth throughput.

Foiler

220 posts

Master Geek

#802132 19-Apr-2013 10:39

Throughput test to the youtube speed test video with quality set on 720p HD superimposed with the Windows network monitor shows an interesting cyclical pattern of throughput - ie bursts of data with intervening zero throughput - and masses of dropped packets.

Talkiet

4690 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#802166 19-Apr-2013 11:27

What results do you get from the Telecom Speedtest site?

http://speedtest.telecom.co.nz

If you could also show the error counts from the ADSL router status page that would help, as would whether you have interleaving enabled or not.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are the product of my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

Talkiet

4690 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#802169 19-Apr-2013 11:28

Oh, what DNS servers are you using? and are you testing wired or wireless?

Please note all comments are the product of my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

Foiler

220 posts

Master Geek

#802252 19-Apr-2013 13:18

The Telecom speed test site gave more often a good throughput result, but still occasionally a dismal one. I ended up not trusting it.

The router is a Mako with Secureme service and I can't see how to display error counts .. and the detailed ADSL setup seems to be hidden under the covers so not sure about the interleaving or any other settings.

The dns I did consciously set to the older ones 202.27.158.40 202.27.156.72 to avoid the dns cache farm.

All of the LAN clients are wired.

Talkiet

4690 posts

Uber Geek

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#802254 19-Apr-2013 13:20

Foiler: The Telecom speed test site gave more often a good throughput result, but still occasionally a dismal one. I ended up not trusting it.

You're not giving us anywhere near enough information to actually try and help I'm afraid. Please go back and read the robot's response and my questions again.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are the product of my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

Foiler

220 posts

Master Geek

#802259 19-Apr-2013 13:27

Well with respect I think the issue is well defined by perfect looking ATM stats, and dismal throughput stats. Physical delivery network and internal wiring must surely be excluded from consideration. The fault must be in the router or DSLAM or their setups.

I would love to have more diagnostics performed by the Mako router and I am sure they are possible, but not made available to the peons.

I have edited my reply above to answer all your questions.

Customer is based in Greenlane.

Talkiet

4690 posts

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#802265 19-Apr-2013 13:34

Foiler: Well with respect I think the issue is well defined by perfect looking ATM stats, and dismal throughput stats. Physical delivery network and internal wiring must surely be excluded from consideration. The fault must be in the router or DSLAM or their setups.

I would love to have more diagnostics performed by the Mako router and I am sure they are possible, but not made available to the peons.

Sorry, you're wrong in this case. From the information you have shared so far, it would be an ill informed guess to say the issue must be in the router or dslam. (It might be the case, but at this point it would not be reasonable to assume that)

You've only shown us some of the ADSL metrics and you haven't confirmed the router type (I do know about Mako though) as well as a host of other issues.

Does the mako not show you the error stats at all now? How about interleaving - is it on or off? Do you have VPNs setup? Are you perhaps browsing through a tunnel via another site? How many users on the network? Is the rest of the network disconnected for the tests? Wireless/Wired (I know you said you checked a number of clients). Do you have an unmanaged ADSL router you can plug in to check?

What are your DNS settings on the machines you are testing from?

What are the actual results from the Telecom speedtest?

We actually want to help, but your'e not giving me enough to go on.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are the product of my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

RunningMan

7973 posts

Uber Geek

#802269 19-Apr-2013 13:37

Foiler: Well with respect I think the issue is well defined by perfect looking ATM stats,

They don't look anything like perfect to me. 17.0dB noise margin suggests there is a wiring issue that is causing the noise floor to vary significantly with time. It would normally be 12.0dB or very close to on Chorus gear.

The upstream rate also looks quite low in comparison to the attenuation.

Both of these symptoms point to wiring issues, most likely internal to the premises.

I would suggest you go through the troubleshooting steps that PeterReader and Talkiet have talked about, and get back to us with the results.

Talkiet

4690 posts

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Trusted

#802276 19-Apr-2013 13:41

Foiler: [snip]
The dns I did consciously set to the older ones 202.27.158.40 202.27.156.72 to avoid the dns cache farm.
[snip]

If you were assigned something like 122.56.237.1 and 210.55.111.1 by the network, then your actions will have degraded your DNS performance a little bit.

Note to other customers, if you weren't allocated these DNS servers by the network, don't try and use them, you won't be able to see them.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are the product of my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

Foiler

220 posts

Master Geek

#804838 24-Apr-2013 12:11

I think there may have been a dslam port change completed this morning.

Below are the detailed adsl stats logged on 3 separate days - most recent this morning. As Runningman spotted, the noise floor was wrong prior to today. Now it is sitting at 12.0 dB ?? though the report from the Mako is far from clear.

Also note the change in upload speed - only slight but maybe indicates a change.

Also included below is a fresh speedtest.net capture which for the first time shows a smooth download chart - all the previous ones have been saw-tooth and intermittently zero throughput.

Also shown below is a fresh youtube test video speed test, and the throughput on the network monitor is also for the first time showing a non-disjoint (ie non-zeroing) throughput pattern. And a decent rate.

I am puzzled at the large number of packets lost during the youtube test - around 1500 per minute or more. On my own Xtra connection I get up to 1000 per minute so maybe these figures are normal?

Upload throughput is less than perfect, and quite a bit disparate from the connect speed, but results maybe not indicative during business hours.

Talkiet you asked the question about VPNs etc - yes when remote testing I was conscious of burdening the remote gateway with VPN traffic, so I was careful to set the VPN connection to not use the remote gateway. I presume that is what you meant. Yes there are other ipsec VPNs present, but presumably idle for all the out of hours testing I had done.

ADSL status results from Mako router:
19.4.13
ADSL Status
----------------------------------
ADSL Line Connected
Line Rates: Receive 17136 kbps Transmit 879 kbps
ADSL Modulation: ADSL2+ (ADSL2+)
ATM Virtual Channel IDs: no connections open
Physical Layer Stats: Receive Transmit
Noise Margin 17.0 dB/ NA: 0 15.50 dB/ NA: 0
Attenuation 9.5 dB 1.5 dB
Power 12.3 dB
Driver version - 1.75 (1.75:E.25.41.65 A)
INP: 0.00 up, 2.08 down
Remote Device: BRCM
ATURANSIRev: 5632
ATURANSISTD: 0
ATUCANSIRev: 62113
ATUCANSIId: BRCM
ATUCANSISTD: 0

22.4.13
ADSL Status
----------------------------------
ADSL Line Connected
Line Rates: Receive 17136 kbps Transmit 879 kbps
ADSL Modulation: ADSL2+ (ADSL2+)
ATM Virtual Channel IDs: no connections open
Physical Layer Stats: Receive Transmit
Noise Margin 17.0 dB/ NA: 0 15.15 dB/ NA: 0
Attenuation 9.5 dB 1.5 dB
Power 12.3 dB
Driver version - 1.75 (1.75:E.25.41.65 A)
INP: 0.00 up, 2.08 down
Remote Device: BRCM
ATURANSIRev: 5632
ATURANSISTD: 0
ATUCANSIRev: 62113
ATUCANSIId: BRCM
ATUCANSISTD: 0

24.4.13 - After port change?
ADSL Status
----------------------------------
ADSL Line Connected
Line Rates: Receive 18367 kbps Transmit 973 kbps
ADSL Modulation: ADSL2+ (ADSL2+)
ATM Virtual Channel IDs: no connections open
Physical Layer Stats: Receive Transmit
Noise Margin 14.0 dB/ NA: 0 12.00 dB/ NA: 0
Attenuation 9.5 dB 1.5 dB
Power 12.3 dB
Driver version - 1.75 (1.75:E.25.41.65 A)
INP: 0.00 up, 2.03 down
Remote Device: BRCM
ATURANSIRev: 5632
ATURANSISTD: 0
ATUCANSIRev: 62113
ATUCANSIId: BRCM
ATUCANSISTD: 0

Screenshots of tests follow by separate post ..

Foiler

220 posts

Master Geek

#804841 24-Apr-2013 12:16

Today's test to speedtest.net - for the first time showing a flat line for throughput - all previous test were heavily saw-toothed. This is also the first time there has been reasonable correlation between speedtest.net and the Telecom speed test.

Foiler

220 posts

Master Geek

#804842 24-Apr-2013 12:18

Today's Telecom speed test result - this is little different from previous tests - possibly both up and down are lower than out of hours testing prior today ..

Foiler

220 posts

Master Geek

#804845 24-Apr-2013 12:23

The youtube test video, set to 720p HD .. shows 1000-2000 lost packets per minute ..

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