Slow broadband - problems

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KC

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Geek

#25731 30-Aug-2008 12:21

Hi Everyone,

I'm new here and apologies in advance if this is the incorrect forum to post in.
I'm a long time reader - 1st time poster.

I am ont he "explorer" plan by telecom xtra

I have been experiencing really poor rates of download. - I know the old "chest nut" of traffic times etc throttle , get what you pay for etc... but just want to mkae sure i suppose that it's not my "neighbourhood setup" or computer setup.

I have recently moved to Beachlands (some Aucklanders may know where this is)

i have only mentoned this if it's relvant because i often read on sites that its all about where the "exchange" is located or the roadside cabinet etc...I took a drive around my street and couldn't seem to locate the cabinet (Big green steel box) so i'm worried that given the age of the area and house that the phone line may be quite old etc - or that i'm miles form the nearest exchange/cabinet.

What i am trying to establish is why i have incredibly poor broadband download speed? And if i should try perhaps another ISP fior improved results (was looking at IHUG/VF)

I did call xtra this morning and they made me do a line speed test over the phone and they said it seemed to appear fine and that their was nothing wrong... I guess a nice clean line test to the tleceom exchnage though won't determine the download rates you'll ge from overseas etc though...?

Hope this hasn't been too unclear here - and thanks for any advice you can give in advance.

Regards,

Kieran

coffeebaron

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#160886 30-Aug-2008 14:43

First up, please post your ADSL router stats: sync speeds up/dn, line attenuation, noise margin etc. You should find these by logging into your router setup page usually by 10.1.1.1 or 192.168.1.1 addresses.

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KC

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Geek

#160923 30-Aug-2008 18:20

Thanks heaps for the tip coffeebarron

I have a D-link dsl-g604T router modem

My d/u speeds are (from speedtest,net)

2734kb/s down
120 kb/s up

(i'm actulaly not sure if this is good or bad?)

I don't feel i am actually getting this speed though (if that mkaese sense)

Attenuation, and line noise - i went into my router couldn't seem to find these? - sorry i'm not too experinced with this sort of stuff...
Is there something i should look for in the menus?

Regards,

Kieran

manhinli

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#160924 30-Aug-2008 18:25

Log into the router (by entering 10.1.1.1 or 192.168.1.1 into your web browser, and entering "admin" and the admin password at the prompt)
Click Tools on the top
Click ADSL on the left

That should land you at the right page.

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KC

12 posts

Geek

#160929 30-Aug-2008 18:35

Thanks heaps,

here we go....

DSL Status

ADSL status shows the ADSL physical layer status.

ADSL Firmware Version:		6.00.01.00 - 6.00.01.00 - 6.00.04.00 Annex A - 01.07.2b - 0.54
ADSL Software Version:		V3.02B01T01.NZ.20070329
Line State		Connected
Modulation		ADSL_G.dmt
Annex Mode		function uiShowAnnex() { var Datapump_ver = "6.00.04.00 Annex A"; var annex; if (Datapump_ver.indexOf("Annex") == -1){ annex = "N/A"; }else{ annex = Datapump_ver.slice(Datapump_ver.indexOf("Annex")); } //alert(annex); document.write(annex); } uiShowAnnex(); Annex A
Max Tx Power		-38 dBm/Hz

Item	Downstream	Upstream	Unit
SNR Margin	12	24	dB
Line Attenuation	32	20	dB
Data Rate	7616	160	kbps

How does this look?

Regards

Kieran

manhinli

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#160933 30-Aug-2008 18:40

Your connection looks pretty healthy - and should be able to get full speeds on ADSL1.

You'll probably get the max of around 4mbps (as noted by here) but attaining 6.5mbps should be easy on your line if you have maximum upload.

So your speed tests don't look too good.

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#160941 30-Aug-2008 19:24

Yea, those are pretty good connect speeds. Run some speed tests off peak, 9.30-11.30am is good, or get out of bed early and run some 6-7am tests (do either of these on a weekday). Compare these to your tests above. If these speeds are faster, then looks like peak time congestion.

As Manhinli says, you'll top out at about 4Mbps due to the 128k up; tho this will in realty be closer to 3.5Mbps due to overheads.
Armed with your info, log a fault: advise your router syncs at over 7 meg, but you are only achieving about 2.5 meg when running speed tests. Hopefully they may find an issue to resolve the performance - maybe a bad port or something, or at least confirm why you are maxing out at these speeds.

There are also a few roadside cabinets out there that are only feed by a 2 or 4 Mbps feed, so even though you connect to cabinet at full speed, there's not a big enough pipe to achieve full speed.
Also, what was your broadband like before you moved to Beachlands?

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KC

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Geek

#160944 30-Aug-2008 19:48

Thanks heaps for the help on this one...

Interesting point about the upload rate - so if i was to go to aplan with an unlimted upload this could help increase the download speed?

I suspect peak ttraffic would have an influecing factor... could this be eased through a different ISP (not as busy?) ir deos it not really work like that?

With the point of the 4mbps what does this equate to in potential download speed in kb's/s

Oh and in Kohimarama where i was previously it was actually much the same unfortunatley.. that's why im possibly suspecting the type of account/ISP i have or does that not really matter

Thanks heaps!

Kieran

coffeebaron

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#161196 1-Sep-2008 09:59

KC:

Thanks heaps for the help on this one...

Interesting point about the upload rate - so if i was to go to aplan with an unlimted upload this could help increase the download speed?

I suspect peak ttraffic would have an influecing factor... could this be eased through a different ISP (not as busy?) ir deos it not really work like that?

With the point of the 4mbps what does this equate to in potential download speed in kb's/s

Oh and in Kohimarama where i was previously it was actually much the same unfortunatley.. that's why im possibly suspecting the type of account/ISP i have or does that not really matter

Thanks heaps!

Kieran

Yes, if you went to FS/FS, this should increase your d/l rate - unless there is an issue that is causing it to sit around the 2.7Mbps mark. I'd suggest going FS/FS, at least temporary and see how you go.

4Mbps equates to about 3.5Mbps d/l speeds. Do those off peak speed tests and see if you can get close to this speed, if you can then that would indicate nothing wrong with you actual setup; therefore congestion at exchange / peak time congestion.

Once you've done those off-peak tests, then we can go through potential issues with your router or PC setup etc.

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BazNZ

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#162908 7-Sep-2008 19:34

Hi Guys,
Since May this year with Orcon as my ISP I've been having all sorts of latency and lag problems when gaming on International Servers. I've got to the stage I want to rip out all my hair! Orcon has been crap in this department when before May this year were fine. I use the Dynalink 4 port RTA-1335 and just did a diagnostic test. I want to know what these failed tests mean? Is it my ISP causing these or my modem/router?

hachi

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Master Geek

#162909 7-Sep-2008 19:45

I'm on the same plan with Telecom. I used to downloads at speeds of 128kb/s +, and yesterday I was downloading at 64kb/s, and now today, all my files seem to be downloading at 32kb/s. This sounds suspiously like a Telecom thing.

BazNZ

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#162911 7-Sep-2008 19:54

Hey guys this is my line speed test etc.... if this helps you sort my issues...thanks

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eXDee

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#162927 7-Sep-2008 20:36

Hi Baz,
I don't think its your modem or your line causing issues.
Things like this and this lead me to believe it's orcon's fault (you've already found the latter), and has been for several months. The solution for most has been to simply switch ISP's (that's why the gpforums thread hasn't been replied to), because it seems orcon isn't really interested since the problem.

BazNZ

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#162931 7-Sep-2008 20:53

Thanks eXDee...you have just confirmed what all Orcon customers have been suspicious of. You have also helped me decide to move on to another ISP. Now which one? Telstraclear? Slingshot has good reviews for gamers?....maybe Snap ? Thanks again for your reply.

Regards
BazNZ

eXDee

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#162963 8-Sep-2008 00:10

I'm on Telstraclear - Awesome ping times (10 ping to gameplanet

, as low as 140 to LA) but expensive. Doesn't peer at APE or WIX meaning a couple of national sites go international(few), though auckland servers are fine. Has pretty good aussie routing though, since they tend to use their aussie counterpart instead of optus. Crap customer service though (hold times) and the net has dropped twice in the last 2 weeks (hamilton). I can test the ping of a specific server if you want.

Xnet - Had problems like orcon, apparently fixed it but now all speeds drop at midnight due to the torrent plan. Cheap data, no contract, no tolls required.

Slingshot - Apparently quite good, cost is okay, ping is apparently good, has free off peak data after like 2am or something. It should be noted that they have been giving out terrabyte blocks for free for those who refer 5 customers, so its possible for another slowdown, though the free off peak should help contain that, and they have stated they do prioritise gaming traffic and voip etc over other traffic.

Snap - Based in christchurch, good customer service and ping times are reported good, though not all that ideal since to go to an auckland server (most nz ones), it has to go down to christchurch and back up even though you may be in the same city.