[Merged] Leicester

bugheadcjd · 18-10-2004, 13:51

Just had an NTL engineer round to check on the problem I have been having.

Basically sometimes the cable modem can take hours or days to connect. This is usually worse in the evenings or weekends. He checked the signal levels and confirmed that these were all ok.

He mentioned that there are problems on the segment of the network I am connected to (and around 2000 other people) in that the DHCP is having problems dishing out IP addresses or something. He also mentioned that another part of the problem is that they need to lay new fibre, had no idea about timescales etc.

He said this is all based around the Leicester - Oswin Road Head End. Anybody know of any network problems in Leicester (LE3), there is no mention of any on the 'Server status' page or the 'Server status telephone line'.

Halcyon · 18-10-2004, 17:16

Well I had problems connecting yesterday but things are back to normal now.
I do think however that Leicester is very unreliable for its broadband.
I'm sure it could be faster sometimes and that there are gremlins in the pipe work accross Leicestershire.

pilchard · 20-10-2004, 18:47

Hey peeps,

Im in LE2 ... not quite the same but close

My connection is really really bad aswell. No problems getting an ip etc, but DNS seems to be dog slow at the moment.
But the worst bit is me ping..... Its tragic. Cant play q3 and I hate it

Peak times (which seems to be 6pm-12pm these days) its pretty much useless.
Weekends are mildly better but still get pings anywhere between 30-500 over any given period.

My fear is that the problem is totally linked to when Uni begins. The students sign up and go online in large numbers, but I dont think NTLs current network is anywhere near good enough to deal with the "extra" traffic.

I hate to say it, but I dont think we'll see a stable peak time connection at realistic cable pings until Xmas. (.... only to go cruddy again in mid/late Jan and stay like that until Easter.)

Im really hoping that Im proved horribly wrong but im doubtful

Bah.... im so pessimisic

Anyhoo...hope it clears up.
If mine continues Im going to start another thread .... More mentions of Leicesters problems the better I recon.

GOod luck

l8r
pilchard

Chrysalis · 20-11-2004, 19:09

for the last week or so download speeds have been sporadic, upload performance has been ok but pings have also been sporadic.

My service is 750kbit

Here is a speedtest performed on adslguide 7pm saturday 20 november

Direction
Actual Speed
True Speed (estimated)

Downstream 510 Kbps (63.8 KB/sec) 550 Kbps (inc. overheads)
Upstream 118 Kbps (14.8 KB/sec) 127 Kbps (inc. overheads

Here is speedtest performed on robin walker site (hosted by ntl)

Sat, 20 Nov 2004 19:04:50 GMT
1st 128K took 1562 ms = 83913 Bytes/sec = approx 698 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 1753 ms = 74770 Bytes/sec = approx 622 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 1522 ms = 86118 Bytes/sec = approx 717 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 1663 ms = 78817 Bytes/sec = approx 656 kbits/sec

here is speedtest file downloaded ever ftp from a germany dedicated 100mbit server.

Transferred 1 file totaling 9,236,380 bytes in 2 minutes 13 seconds (67.9 KB/s)

speedtest from a uk 100mbit ftp server again a dedicated line

Transferred 1 file totaling 5,000,000 bytes in 1 minutes 1 seconds (79.9 KB/s)

Ok what I have noticed when monitoring through task manager or netlimiter is that transfers tend to start fast (so small files will be full speed) and then retransmits are possibly occuring because speeds then slow down on large files, I thought at first myabe ntl have a external bandwidth issue but even the robin walker internal speed test is dissapointing so is it possibly an issue with my ntl line or local ubr?

I would like someone to check this for me please if possible will pm ntl staff my ip address or mac address.

paulyoung666 · 20-11-2004, 22:36

how about this speed test

Chrysalis · 21-11-2004, 00:07

Ran it, although the speed test didnt actually run, it shows poor results for uk and eu pings.

Dan Elwell's Broadband Speed Test (unregistered)
Speed Test Report 04/11/21 00:10 - Quick test

Test conducted at: 21/11/2004 00:10:23
Test sequence: Quick test

Please note that these results are a snapshot of this particular moment. Run the test a few times to ensure maximum accuracy. Although the test has been constructed to be highly accurate, no guarantees can be made to the level of accuracy experienced in everyday use.

Test 1: Ping times to UK servers

Ideally, you should get a result of around 30 ms (lower is better)

linx.co.uk: 50.5 ms
linx.net: 41.3 ms
f2s.com: 31.8 ms

This result is much poorer than expected and should be investigated.

Test 2: Ping times to European servers

Ideally, you should get a result of around 50 ms (lower is better)

uvsq.fr: 43.3 ms
eu.uu.net: 76.8 ms
tux.cprm.net: 82 ms

This result is much poorer than expected and should be investigated.

Test 3: Ping times to east-coast USA servers

Ideally, you should get a result of around 120 ms (lower is better)

dulug.duke.edu: 120.8 ms
mirror.cc.vt.edu: 115.5 ms
the-city.seas.upenn.edu: 115.3 ms

The results of this test indicate no problems.

Test 4: Ping times to west-coast USA servers

Ideally, you should get a result of around 160 ms (lower is better)

mirrors.kernel.org: 180.8 ms
redhat.netnitco.net: 185.8 ms
mirrors.usc.edu: 174.3 ms

The results of this test indicate no problems.

Test 5: Download speeds from UK servers

Ideally, you should get a result of around 600 Kb/s (higher is better)

blueyonder.lkams.kernel.org: This test failed due to a server timeout or other error.

Too many server errors occurred therefore this test is inconclusive.

Test 6: Upload speeds to the Speed Test Server

Ideally, you should get a result of around 128 Kb/s (higher is better)

Not conducted: You must register this software in order to perform this test.

Please click 'What's This?' for information on registering this software to enable this test.

Test 7: Packet loss en route to a UK server

Ideally, you should get a result of around 0 % (lower is better)

clara.net: 2 %
clara.net: 0 %

A small amount of packet loss has been detected. This should be investigated.

End of testing.

This report was collated using Dan Elwell's Broadband Speed Test. For more information or to download, please visit www.broadbandspeedtest.net.

Generated 21/11/2004 00:10:23 using test version 3.0.316 - unregistered COPY

Chrysalis · 21-11-2004, 00:08

Tracing route to jolt.co.uk [195.149.21.11]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 56 ms 62 ms 151 ms 10.146.103.254
2 35 ms 38 ms 28 ms leic-t2cam1-a-ge96.inet.ntl.com [82.3.34.41]
3 9 ms 19 ms 17 ms leic-t2core-a-ge-220-0.inet.ntl.com [82.3.33.10]

4 140 ms 119 ms 44 ms lee-bb-a-so-220-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.188.110]

5 58 ms 42 ms 41 ms nth-bb-b-so-000-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.101]

6 27 ms 63 ms 38 ms pop-bb-a-so-100-0.inet.ntl.com [213.105.172.14]

7 95 ms 53 ms 100 ms tele-ic-2-so-000-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.86]

8 97 ms 37 ms 45 ms lon1-10.nildram.net [213.208.106.169]
9 46 ms 91 ms 38 ms lon1-9.nildram.net [195.149.20.130]
10 44 ms 50 ms 44 ms jolt-gw.nildram.net [195.149.20.126]
11 30 ms 136 ms 25 ms clarity.jolt.co.uk [195.149.21.11]

Chrysalis · 21-11-2004, 00:15

some mor einfo for the techs according to robin walker site this info is true.

Downstream Received Power: the DOCSIS specification requires cable modems to function correctly with downstream power levels in the range -15 dBmV to +15 dBmV: power readings at or close to those extremes are likely to be unacceptable. However, when connected to a real-life CATV network, a cable modem might be functional over a narrower range than this. Accordingly, cable ISPs will specify an even narrower target range when commissioning their network: this target range will differ according to ISP.
Target Commissioning Range Wider Working Range
NTL original areas
-2.5 dBmV to +2.5 dBmV
somewhat wider than that!
NTL ex-C&W areas
-6 dBmV to -3 dBmV
-12 dBmV to -3 dBmV

my reading is
Downstream Receive Power Level : -12.58 dBmv

Chrysalis · 21-11-2004, 17:39

I cant run docsdiag seems ntl have disabled it now, so cant show my ubr user load's.

I think something is defenitly up here, during the summer I didn't have this problem but as of now I am getting stalls on downloading where it briefly stops and lots and lots of ping spikes which are visible on the traceroute and show on the uk and eu test above.

out of interest for comparison can other's post their traceroute to jolt please.

thanks

**Paul M** · 21-11-2004, 18:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

out of interest for comparison can other's post their traceroute to jolt please.

C:\WINDOWS>tracert jolt.co.uk

Tracing route to jolt.co.uk [195.149.21.11]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms W2K-PC [10.27.1.1]
2 21 ms 9 ms 8 ms 10.145.239.254
3 7 ms 7 ms 9 ms nott-t2cam1-a-v122.inet.ntl.com [80.4.46.69]
4 8 ms 9 ms 37 ms nott-t2core-a-ge-wan73.inet.ntl.com [80.1.79.77]
5 9 ms 11 ms 10 ms lee-bb-a-so-200-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.188.33]
6 24 ms 12 ms 16 ms nth-bb-b-so-000-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.101]
7 20 ms 15 ms 33 ms pop-bb-a-so-100-0.inet.ntl.com [213.105.172.14]
8 69 ms * * tele-ic-2-so-000-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.86]
9 15 ms 15 ms 15 ms lon1-10.nildram.net [213.208.106.169]
10 15 ms 14 ms 13 ms lon1-9.nildram.net [195.149.20.130]
11 28 ms 17 ms 14 ms jolt-gw.nildram.net [195.149.20.126]
12 29 ms 15 ms 23 ms clarity.jolt.co.uk [195.149.21.11]

Trace complete.

**Matt D** · 21-11-2004, 19:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

I cant run docsdiag seems ntl have disabled it now, so cant show my ubr user load's.

Yeah, I saw a post the other day where someone said they could no longer use DocsDiag, as ntl appear to have disabled snmp traffic.

I tried yesterday, & I can't use it anymore either.

So no more diags for my poor old Terry

Chrysalis · 21-11-2004, 23:25

my ubr cant be pinged so I ran repeated traceroutes to 82.3.34.41 (2nd hop) and here is the icmp response time from 10.146.103.254 (ubr)

77,71,23,113,35,56,67,30,12,61,24,74,103,9,13,16,2 8,72,98,30,34,138,53,38

and the 2nd hop (ntl router in leicestershire)

29,32,31,30,122,71,28,23,17,132,32,145,81,26,80,17 ,183,73,247,87,73,72,178,63

the only comparison I have is from Paul M, here is his first 2 hops.

2 21 ms 9 ms 8 ms 10.145.239.254
3 7 ms 7 ms 9 ms nott-t2cam1-a-v122.inet.ntl.com [80.4.46.69]

Not a single one of my attempts even came close to that, he is averaging 13ms to hus ubr and 8ms to his 2nd hop whilst I average 53ms to the ubr and 78ms to the 2nd hop.

Am I asking too much to expect a equal quality of service as other ntl customer's? isn't this what the traffic limit is supposed to acheive?

Some answers would be nice if any staff check this post please reply.

thanks

Chris W · 21-11-2004, 23:37

have you contacted technical support? 0845 650 0121

if so, what did they say? and if not, that should be your first port of call

Chrysalis · 22-11-2004, 15:19

tried but there is technical fault on the phone lines and after the message I get a engaged tone. I also didn't fancy explaing this to someone at the call centre.

Chrysalis · 22-11-2004, 15:21

incidently things seem improved now although still no ping consistency.

Tracing route to jolt.co.uk [195.149.21.11]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 90 ms 32 ms 10 ms 10.146.103.254
2 58 ms 17 ms 14 ms leic-t2cam1-a-ge96.inet.ntl.com [82.3.34.41]
3 77 ms 19 ms 150 ms leic-t2core-a-ge-220-0.inet.ntl.com [82.3.33.10]

4 40 ms 19 ms 39 ms lee-bb-a-so-220-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.188.110]

5 15 ms 33 ms 21 ms nth-bb-b-so-000-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.101]

6 29 ms 26 ms 52 ms pop-bb-a-so-100-0.inet.ntl.com [213.105.172.14]

7 46 ms 45 ms 50 ms tele-ic-2-so-000-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.86]

8 67 ms 35 ms 60 ms lon1-10.nildram.net [213.208.106.169]
9 33 ms 16 ms 26 ms lon1-9.nildram.net [195.149.20.130]
10 42 ms 47 ms 14 ms jolt-gw.nildram.net [195.149.20.126]
11 27 ms 57 ms 30 ms clarity.jolt.co.uk [195.149.21.11]

all 3 local leics hops are bouncing all over the place, after that its more stable.