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Broadband speed meltdown peak times
nufclad147
Posts: 38 Forum Member
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HIIm here for advice before I commit to agreeing to a BT engineers visit where I will be charged £65 if no fault is found and if this happens an I still have the issue it will be like taking a dagger to the back an paying for it.
My issue is this and I have had it for far too long now as long as i can remember but as devices become reliant on a constant speed the issue is starting to dog me more then ever. Basically my internet speed is approx 3.90mbps all day all night 18 hours of the day but as soon as 6pm come till about 11pm my speed can drops to approx 0.70mbps an long periods as low as 0.40mbps totaly unusable for catch up tv buffering on even standard play never mind HD content with web pages loading in image by image it reminds me of of old 56k modem days an win 98.
Talktalk tell me that my SNR is fluctuating an suspected a router fault they organised a test router to be posted out this in my heart I knew this would not fix the situation having been upgraded with a fiber enable router 12 months ago for if i choose to go fiber although I still only have standard Broadband, the issue did not resolve with newer version router and nor did it improve with the brand new router they dispatched for testing purposes. So in short the issue is happening on 3 routers umteen different filters I have tried just as many adsl cables from router to master box and always testing speed using wired Lan cables which again have used about 5 in testing an still i slow down at this peak time. I may add that I have my router direct into the master socket even removing the front faceia plate and plugging direct into test socket as talktalk desired for testing.
Im informed that lines tests show no fault but my SNR is fluctuating as I say they say router fault but I fail to believe 3 routers can have same fault they have now asked me to agree to terms and conditions to a visit from an engineer to which states that I will be liable to a fee if No fault can be found if the line needs upgrading to deliver adiquet service and if internal wiring of my doing causing the fault. I have no internal wiring as well just adsl cable from master socket to routers ive tested.
Im worried I will be charged a fee for no fault found and to be landed with £65 bill an still suffer this meltdown at peak times will be like a slap to the face with a large trout but think ther has to be some kind of issue somewhere !. I really dont know which way to turn.
I read that talktalk promise never to slow down peak times an yet I read to expect some kinds of lowering of speed peak times but to suffer a drop 3.90mbps to 0.70/0.40mbps is peak time meltdown.
I would just like some kind of advice before i commit to this engineer appointment yet not committing means I paying line rental an for broadband service which is really not delivering unless i surf/ catch up with my programmes thro the night or during the day which is not possible.
I dont know if it worth mention but I just remember 10 yr ago an 8 yr ago every time i transferred services from 1 provider to another their was issue with activating me services I remember an engineer had to visit twice as after switch over I was unable to call out the engineer had to place a tracer box on my master socket an off he went to the exchange and was a while. On returning he said he had difficulty finding my line as in his words the line had been split due to low availability of lines. On the 2nd occasion the engineer didnt visit me but a visit to the exchange was needed before my services resumed after i switched provided it just didnt seem straight forward for me that is why is sticks in my memory banks. Just thought I would mention this in case it helps shine light to resolve this current issue
Please any help would be appreciated
My issue is this and I have had it for far too long now as long as i can remember but as devices become reliant on a constant speed the issue is starting to dog me more then ever. Basically my internet speed is approx 3.90mbps all day all night 18 hours of the day but as soon as 6pm come till about 11pm my speed can drops to approx 0.70mbps an long periods as low as 0.40mbps totaly unusable for catch up tv buffering on even standard play never mind HD content with web pages loading in image by image it reminds me of of old 56k modem days an win 98.
Talktalk tell me that my SNR is fluctuating an suspected a router fault they organised a test router to be posted out this in my heart I knew this would not fix the situation having been upgraded with a fiber enable router 12 months ago for if i choose to go fiber although I still only have standard Broadband, the issue did not resolve with newer version router and nor did it improve with the brand new router they dispatched for testing purposes. So in short the issue is happening on 3 routers umteen different filters I have tried just as many adsl cables from router to master box and always testing speed using wired Lan cables which again have used about 5 in testing an still i slow down at this peak time. I may add that I have my router direct into the master socket even removing the front faceia plate and plugging direct into test socket as talktalk desired for testing.
Im informed that lines tests show no fault but my SNR is fluctuating as I say they say router fault but I fail to believe 3 routers can have same fault they have now asked me to agree to terms and conditions to a visit from an engineer to which states that I will be liable to a fee if No fault can be found if the line needs upgrading to deliver adiquet service and if internal wiring of my doing causing the fault. I have no internal wiring as well just adsl cable from master socket to routers ive tested.
Im worried I will be charged a fee for no fault found and to be landed with £65 bill an still suffer this meltdown at peak times will be like a slap to the face with a large trout but think ther has to be some kind of issue somewhere !. I really dont know which way to turn.
I read that talktalk promise never to slow down peak times an yet I read to expect some kinds of lowering of speed peak times but to suffer a drop 3.90mbps to 0.70/0.40mbps is peak time meltdown.
I would just like some kind of advice before i commit to this engineer appointment yet not committing means I paying line rental an for broadband service which is really not delivering unless i surf/ catch up with my programmes thro the night or during the day which is not possible.
I dont know if it worth mention but I just remember 10 yr ago an 8 yr ago every time i transferred services from 1 provider to another their was issue with activating me services I remember an engineer had to visit twice as after switch over I was unable to call out the engineer had to place a tracer box on my master socket an off he went to the exchange and was a while. On returning he said he had difficulty finding my line as in his words the line had been split due to low availability of lines. On the 2nd occasion the engineer didnt visit me but a visit to the exchange was needed before my services resumed after i switched provided it just didnt seem straight forward for me that is why is sticks in my memory banks. Just thought I would mention this in case it helps shine light to resolve this current issue
Please any help would be appreciated
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Comments
http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/rein.htm
I find that the best way to deal with broadband problems, is to post on your providers forums. You can then post up your modem stats while the internet is working OK, & again when it's not.
One of the things you can try is removing the bell (ring) wire, as this can act as an aerial, picking up electrical noise & transfering them to your signal wires:-
http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/socket.htm
Although if you still get the same drop off when connected to the test socket, then this probably won't help.
6pm is usually a very busy time. If your neighboiurs are all using the internet at the same time, and if the cabling to your homes is in poor condition, then the interference between the different lines could certainly result in slowdowns and a poor SNR.
You say that you've been told in the past that "the line had been split due to low availability of lines" which suggests that you have lots of people all sharing the main cable. If it is old or damaged then crosstalk and reduced SNR is unfortunately all too likely. In that case a callout might show this to be the problem. It won't be chargeable to you, but it may not be easy to fix either.
If you do book a callout, ask if the technician can come at a time when you expect to see the problem. If he's friendly (offer him tea & biscuits) he might be willing to swap your line to another 'pair' if there's one free, it just might help.
Point I am making, its unusual for the engineers to feedback negatively and thus lumber you with a charge.
If as you say there are issues then I think getting an engineer out is the most sensible option,
I'm not so convinced. Years ago when my exchange first got ADSL, I had someone out because my 2Mbps connection would never, ever give me speeds above 1Mbps (I was naive at the time).
The guy must have been a phone technician with only the very basic training on ADSL issues, because he replaced the junction box that connected the external wire from the pole to the internal wire towards the master socket, connected his own laptop/modem, and declared that it was fine because he could play a test video.
BT tried to charge me for that visit (through my ISP) and I had none of it. As always with BT, it started working at 2Mbit on its own some time after I complained again.
At all times my line was synced at 2Mbit with no errors, so that wasn't the problem
It was over 10 years ago what he said is not fresh in my mind and i know that and a later date when i transferred services to another isp it didnt go straight forward an an engineer had visit the exchange.
Thanks for the help everyone I dont think it will be possible to book when i suffer worse of the issue as it starts 6pm by 8pm it maybe peaked slowness, it says i can only book morn or afternoon 8am -12pm 12pm to 6pm slots.
I had already spend weeks talking to engineers on talktalk forum multiple tests, router stats sent another router gave them stats it was from their forum it been organised to book the openreach appoint.
DACS perhaps?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Access_Carrier_System
That could have been used to provide multiple phone lines over a single copper pair. But would have to have been replaced by a continuous pair back to the exchange to provide ADSL.
Dacs on the line,maybe they mean ?
Im just going to migrate to another ISP even tho I know the issue will follow me Im out of contract with Talktalk an looking at the products they are flogging line rental £16.99 net + essential tv £8 im paying £4 month for freeview with a pause button lol dam youview which the will still work no matter what isp im with so im offskies their is no reward for loyalty nowadays so off to shop about for sweeteners deals.
I was not happy at talltalk response when they told me they pay 3/4 of engineer fee I pay £65 if no fault found as if i should be grateful. I only rent the line an it is not delivering and the engineer cant even be their when the issue is at peak.
Maybe (and DACS I recall did have an effect on dial up speed). But it isn't compatible with DSL so there's no way the line could have had DACS and ever worked with broadband.
I will grunt an bear with it when my connection drops from 3.90 to 1.30mbs it just enough to view HD content on the Ondemand players if it couldnt handle that id risk the engineer call out an fee the longer I wait it out the shorted time I have to wait for fibre to become more affordable an the shitteh 1.30mbps speed becomes history. Tho no doubt by then 4k tv will be here an no doubt more demands on spped requairing upto 1million mbps speed.