Help with NTL Freedom Slow Downloads

[gregt]

I have the NTL Freedom 512k ADSL Package and after spending about a month actually getting it to work in the first place (there was a noise filter on the line) it was not to good...basically downloads would be arround 5-10kb/sec (no where near the right speed) Games such as HL, CS, HW2 etc etc would be ok but occasionally dissconnect me, and browsing was unbeliveably slow (text pages were taking half a min to load rather than a few sec)

So i rang up and complained just before xmas and it seemed to get better over the christmas period...and now its got worse again and before there was never good downloads just good browsing.

Its now started again specifically playing World of Warcraft (Bandwidth hugging game which just cannot cope with packet loss) now i only found this out today so i will try doing trace route n stuff tonight when i get home but can anybody suggest what else it could be? / suggest a fix?

is it worth trying to get away from NTLs grasp and try a new providor? as i am seriously considering it now seeing as i havn't had a decent month yet.

I am using the Speedtouch modem supplied free with NTL Freedom

I also have

AMD XP Athlon 1.8 GHZ
1GB RAM
80GB HD
XP

etc etc

I have already tried format and a complete reinstall of XP, Changing Splitters, uninstalling firewalls, changing mtu etc etc.

One thing i have had asked off me is how far i am from the main telephone point well its downstairs in my lounger and i currently use a normal extension cable on it i have been told to try my pc directly downstairs but this is difficult could this be a cause of the problem?

My exchange is Broomhill in Sheffield and i have already asked about that and NTL say its dandy.

Thanks in advance for anything u can suggest/advice

[Neil]

:welcome: to the site. :)

We need to see trace routes to the game servers you say you are having issues on, but I think the main problem is that you are connecting via a telephone extension cable.

What you need to think about is a router (wired or wireless) to get the DSL signal from the telephone point to your PC.

[gregt]

so should i invest in a new cable or get a router? and if i need to get a router can u recommend one thats cheap but good? as i don't think i will need it past this year and i don't fancy forking out £70 for one.

[Neil]

so should i invest in a new cable or get a router? and if i need to get a router can u recommend one thats cheap but good? as i don't think i will need it past this year and i don't fancy forking out £70 for one.

When I say 'cable', I mean get a ADSL combined modem/router.

The router will connect to your phone socket downstairs, & accept the incoming DSL connection, you then run an ethernet cable to your PC, or get a wireless modem/router, put a wireless card in your PC & connect to the wireless router (still downstairs) & send your internet wirelessly to your PC.

There's a wealth of info regarding wireless modem/routers in our Computers & I.T forum: http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/forumdisplay.php?f=19

HTH.

[Edit]-I would suggest you get a wireless router, it will be much easier than getting a wired one & running an ethernet cable up the stairs to your PC!

[gregt]

i don't spose any of them are very small are they? see its in the middle of a student lounge and having a big router there...well it would not be good

[ian@huth]

I would take the PC downstairs and see how the connection works with it connected directly to the microfilter on the master socket. You say that this would be difficult but the slight temporary inconvenience may be better than buying an extra piece of kit and finding that you still have the problem.

[gregt]

yeah i know that but the thing is it varies so much it would be really hard to see if it was working ok or not i have no idea how to test to see if it works as fast as it should because very occasionally it works fast then slows down at the start and i can't keep it down there for more than say 15min

[Neil]

yeah i know that but the thing is it varies so much it would be really hard to see if it was working ok or not i have no idea how to test to see if it works as fast as it should because very occasionally it works fast then slows down at the start and i can't keep it down there for more than say 15min

You have to rule things out here, it's a process of elimination.

[ian@huth]

yeah i know that but the thing is it varies so much it would be really hard to see if it was working ok or not i have no idea how to test to see if it works as fast as it should because very occasionally it works fast then slows down at the start and i can't keep it down there for more than say 15minThere are many speed tests available. Have a look at http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/article.php?a=22 which tells you about speed tests and also applies to ADSL. Dan Elwels test is one of the best.

You can only keep it in the lounge for 15 mins? :Yikes: :Yikes: :Yikes: Are they capping lounge use now? :D

[gregt]

its not that its just that 2 of my house mates sort of over use the lounge ( i didn't choose to live with them was a last min thing) and are complete bitches so i wouldn't put it past them to accidently do something to it. Could probably stretch to half a hour or so or something anyway i will try it.

That aside adsl speed checkers always give back the right info ie connected at 512k or whatever it is 576k i think..anyway it connects at right speeds but seems to be slow browsing etc..getting the consensus here that the phone line could very well be the problem and not NTL as i first thought?

[ian@huth]

its not that its just that 2 of my house mates sort of over use the lounge ( i didn't choose to live with them was a last min thing) and are complete bitches so i wouldn't put it past them to accidently do something to it. Could probably stretch to half a hour or so or something anyway i will try it.

That aside adsl speed checkers always give back the right info ie connected at 512k or whatever it is 576k i think..anyway it connects at right speeds but seems to be slow browsing etc..getting the consensus here that the phone line could very well be the problem and not NTL as i first thought?If speed tests show that the connection speed is always correct then I would suspect that the answer lies more with your PC.

[gregt]

well i don't think it does seeing as i have done a complete format and the browser speeds are still slow i mean what else could be affecting it? i only have the bare minimul on the system, Drivers, 1 Game (not yet used), Windows XP

Thats it. I certainly had no problem last year when i was on cable in another house with same pc, if is the pc then the laptop would determine this also.. correct?

[Neil]

well i don't think it does seeing as i have done a complete format and the browser speeds are still slow i mean what else could be affecting it? i only have the bare minimul on the system, Drivers, 1 Game (not yet used), Windows XP

Thats it. I certainly had no problem last year when i was on cable in another house with same pc, if is the pc then the laptop would determine this also.. correct?

I'd put money on it being the fact that you are now connecting via an extension lead up the stairs.

I know it's prorbaly not what you want to hear, but it would appear that the problem lies with you & your setup, rather than ntl/BT.

If you connect your PC downstairs direct to the ADSL socket, & the problem is still present, you can feel fairly comfortable ringing ntl & reporting a problem.

Until that point you are just wasting time talking about it. ;)

[gregt]

ok so say it is the extension lead on stairs is a new router the only choice i have? what about one of these adsl extension cords?

[ian@huth]

ok so say it is the extension lead on stairs is a new router the only choice i have? what about one of these adsl extension cords?You could try a different extension cable to see if that solves the problem. Apart from this, other solutions all include equipment in the lounge. You could add a router, either wireless or wired with an ethernet cable running up the stairs or use an ethernet ADSL modem downstairs, again with either wireless or wired connections. Try the cheapest first which is using a laptop to verify where the problem lies.

[gregt]

ok laptop tonight it is. i will let u know from home how it goes. hopefully it will show a problem or not as the case may be

[gregt]

just a thought how do i connect router to the phone socket? i only ever used cable with routers u see :o

[ian@huth]

just a thought how do i connect router to the phone socket? i only ever used cable with routers u see :o
You connect the router to the modem, not the phone socket.

[gregt]

oic right ok :)

heres tracert and ping to google any other destinations i should do it to?

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
ping google.com
Pinging google.com [216.239.57.99] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 216.239.57.99: bytes=32 time=267ms TTL=242
Reply from 216.239.57.99: bytes=32 time=281ms TTL=242
Reply from 216.239.57.99: bytes=32 time=234ms TTL=242
Reply from 216.239.57.99: bytes=32 time=328ms TTL=242
Ping statistics for 216.239.57.99:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 234ms, Maximum = 328ms, Average = 277ms
tracert google.com
Tracing route to google.com [216.239.39.99]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 * 124 ms 77 ms brhm-bam-1.inet.ntl.com [194.145.148.5]
2 93 ms * * brhm-t2core-a-ge-wan71.inet.ntl.com [213.106.231
.57]
3 61 ms 46 ms 31 ms bir-bb-a-so-200-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.145]
4 108 ms 62 ms 77 ms man-bb-b-so-700-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.134]
5 46 ms 30 ms 30 ms p6-0.mctbb1.manchester.opentransit.net [193.251.
250.105]
6 31 ms 30 ms 46 ms p10-0.brsbb1.bristol.opentransit.net [193.251.24
2.133]
7 46 ms 62 ms 62 ms so5-0-0.loncr1.london.opentransit.net [193.251.2
43.242]
8 * 206 ms 339 ms p3-0.nykcr3.new-york.opentransit.net [193.251.24
3.21]
9 218 ms 124 ms 109 ms p7-0.nykbb3.new-york.opentransit.net [193.251.24
1.242]
10 124 ms 140 ms 124 ms google-eu-customers-3.gw.opentransit.net [193.25
1.250.22]
11 139 ms 146 ms 174 ms 64.233.175.106
12 181 ms 122 ms 126 ms 216.239.46.137
13 * 140 ms 171 ms 64.233.174.126
14 187 ms 202 ms 187 ms 216.239.47.70
15 124 ms 124 ms 124 ms 216.239.47.50
16 137 ms 124 ms 187 ms 216.239.39.99
Trace complete.
__________________

oh i did that because of the browsing problems i'm not sure how to find out how to ping the games i'm playing..
__________________

p.s just found out the ip and did tracert

World of Warcraft

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
C:\...>tracert 12.129.133.92
Tracing route to 12.129.133.92 over a maximum of 30 hops
1 45 ms 46 ms 46 ms brhm-bam-1.inet.ntl.com [194.145.148.5]
2 31 ms 30 ms 30 ms brhm-t2core-a-ge-wan72.inet.ntl.com [213.106.231
.69]
3 46 ms 62 ms 31 ms bir-bb-a-so-200-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.145]
4 31 ms 31 ms 109 ms man-bb-b-so-700-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.134]
5 46 ms 31 ms 31 ms p6-0.mctbb1.manchester.opentransit.net [193.251.
250.105]
6 46 ms 46 ms 62 ms p10-0.brsbb1.bristol.opentransit.net [193.251.24
2.133]
7 77 ms 93 ms 93 ms so5-0-0.loncr1.london.opentransit.net [193.251.2
43.242]
8 140 ms 140 ms 140 ms p3-0.nykcr3.new-york.opentransit.net [193.251.24
3.21]
9 187 ms 202 ms 202 ms ft-gw.n54ny.ip.att.net [192.205.32.137]
10 202 ms 187 ms 202 ms 12.123.3.106
11 gar1-p341.nwrnj.ip.att.net [12.123.0.37] reports: Destination host unreach
able.
Trace complete.

[gregt]

just a update i tried both pc and laptop into mains socket with same effect tried to download smart ftp from download.com (laptop just failed misrebly and pc started fastish (25kb/sec) and dropped to 4.

so any other ideas guys?
__________________

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

ping google.com

Pinging google.com [216.239.39.99] with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 216.239.39.99:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),



it started to go slow lost connection to game and then it went very slow browsing had to reconnect. What on earth could be causing this?
__________________

and now, after reconnect loading fast high demanding pages easy...however download is still very slow

[gregt]

I also took some images of my con last night

Download Failed (1)

as you can see lots of errors when connected for longer this just keeps on going

Download Failed (1)
Download Failed (1)
Download Failed (1)

is this right ? should they be showing as isdn devices...and 64k line ?

[gregt]

just been on to ntl

basically gave me these instructions..

run sumthing called netsh dump in run ? dunno what that is..

use a manual connection..

and if that doesn't work get a new modem from ntl...

brilliant advice :(

[ian@huth]

It looks like there is something wrong with your setup or modem but I am no expert on ADSL. I have used ADSL but never looked at setting a system up to run on it. You could try uninstalling all the NTL software and USB drivers and then reinstalling them making sure that the USB modem is not connected until the install asks for it to be connected.

Alternatively you could run netsh as suggested by NTL. Netsh is the network shell and if you enter the following into the run section of the start menu it will create a text file of your network settings.

netsh -c interface dump > networksetting.txt

Phone NTL back and go over the problem with them again giving them the details from that textfile and telling them about the ISDN references you have shown in the screenshots you posted.

Hopefully one of our experienced ADSL users will be along shortly and more than likely sort you out quite quickly.

On the extension cable subject, the maximum cable length according to the ADSL specification is 30 metres so if you are within that with good quality cable and joints then that shouldn't be a problem.

[gregt]

its only about 10m so it should be fine..oh i forgot to mention apparantly having isdn there is normal although i'm still not quite sure...(another quote from ntl)

[carlingman]

I also took some images of my con last night

http://domain733142.sites.fasthosts.com/test/adsl1.jpg

as you can see lots of errors when connected for longer this just keeps on going

http://domain733142.sites.fasthosts.com/test/adsl2.jpg
http://domain733142.sites.fasthosts.com/test/adsl3.jpg
http://domain733142.sites.fasthosts.com/test/adsl4.jpg

is this right ? should they be showing as isdn devices...and 64k line ?

Hi gregt,

With regards to the screen shots you have posted I can offer a little bit of advice here.

I myself am on a Pipex ADSL connection and your screen shots pretty much mirror my set up details in reference to ISDN etc so no worries there.

The obvious difference I have noticed is with your first general screen shot where it shows your connection time as 1hour 36mins with 780 errors :shocked:

In comparison to what I am looking at now of a connection time of 6hours 21mins with 5 errors.

Not too sure what is causing the errors but guessing something is obviously a miss.

:D

[gregt]

bit of a update if anybody is still looking at this...

was on phone to ntl last night with a good bloke rather than one of the **** ones and hes basically determined i am getting massive packet loss, not quite sure where reckons something is interfering with the line because i spent the entire time with the modem plugged right into the phone socket via filter so can't be cable.

anyway there ya go ntl arn't all crap

[BlueDude]

I have the 512 (now upgraded to 768) service myself. My service runs through the NTL set top box which acts as the modem. From there I have an ethernet cable running approx 10m to my US Robotics router, then an ethernet cable from there to my pc. I certainly don't have any of the problems you are experiencing, and get dowload speeds around the 90kb/s mark!!

Do you have some kind of firewall on your pc that may be causing problems?
What speed is your NIC card set to?

Just a couple more things to check as you definately have a problem that is almost certain to be with your set up.

[gregt]

no bluedude i purposefully used a laptop with hardly anything installed pinging google.com gave back awful results, no firewall on it as i was asked to uninstall it.

i'm not sure what you mean by the second question about NIC..

also i'm pretty sure its something to do with the phone line coming into my house as thats where the initial problem of me not being able to connect lay...

[BlueDude]

The NIC is your Network Interface Card, it's where the ethernet cable plugs into your pc/laptop.

To check the speed, go to your network connections and right click on the Freedon Broadband icon and select Properties. Then click on the Configure button, and then on the Advanced tab across the top. You should see a list on the left of the window, in this list should be something like Link Speed & Duplex. Click on this and on the right should show a value. Try setting this to Auto if it's not already. If it's already on Auto, try setting it to 100Mbps/Full Duplex.

Let me know how you get on.

[ian@huth]

Bluedude, :welcome: to cableforum.

Gregt is using the NTL Freedom service which is an ADSL service provided via his BT telephone line and using a USB only ADSL modem.

[BlueDude]

Sorry my mistake

[BlueDude]

Does your Speedtouch modem have the capability to be installed by either USB OR Ethernet, or is it purely a USB modem? If it has both ports on the back, try uninstalling it all and re-installing using Ethernet. In my experience as an IT Technical Analyst, Ethernet is far more stable and reliable than USB.

It's just an idea, but you never know, we may just hit an idea that resolves your problem. :)

[j52c]

Hi.

I am on NTL Freedom and the modem they supply is only usb, it gets it's power from the USB port on the MB, so no external power supply with it.
I also have a 15m extention phone cable to the main socket downstairs. I had problems when I first started using dialup several years ago when I bought a standard extention cable. At that time a had the BT engineer come to check the line and he said the extension was causing the problem. He then used the cable bt used, connected one end into the main socket and the other end to another box. Magic, connection was fine, sad thing was he said he was not allowed to leave my new extension in, but, after he had disconnected it, he drew me a diagram for both boxes, even left me the cable, (and he forgot to take his little crimping tool with him) nice chap. When he had gone I set to work.
Sorry about the rambling on, but it does show problems what a cheapish extention can cause.
Now, I have ditched the usb modem and bought a router just so I could use ethernet

[dragon]

never get why adsl would have problems with an extension lead i have mates who use them on their adsl and theirs work fine.

anyway the adsl goes over a copper pair from the exchange to your house which can be a couple of KM away, so not sure what difference using an extension lead in the house is as long as its of a reasonsable quality. :confused:

[lordmazza]

Hi there!

I've also got the same slow downloading problem as gregt at the moment (uploading is fine). I've tried everything apart from getting a new modem (trying it on my laptop without extension cable - made no difference, checking settings, etc.) and I'm also getting the problem where the errors build up. So, gregt, hav you managed to solve the problem? Is it worth getting a new ADSL modem which has an ethernet socket on it as well as USB, because this is the only thing I haven't tried, but I'm concerned about spending the money on it and it not making any difference. Was there any other solution you or anyone else has managed to find? Any help would be appreciated! :D cheers!

[j52c]

Hi.

My download speeds have been all over the place for the last week. Today it has been more stable for a change with a steady 97% efficiency using DSL_ZONEUK speed test. It was dropping to below 18kbs at one point and was not able to get some webpages.

Have reported it to tech support but had no response as of yet. Pointless ringing them to be told it is software on my pc that is causing it, when I know it is not.

I might ring them if they gave a refund on the phone call if it was shown that the fault was at their end.

[gregt]

i completely forgot about this post until i got a email today saying sum1 had posted...looking back over posts theres nothing there i havn't already tried..since posting NTL have sai it was a exchange problem and said they have upgraded it....no change...and i have done EXTENSIVE testing with a bloke who was rather nice and rang me back. No joy with any of this tried it with formatted pc, laptop etc etc directly into main socket...no change still high pings/latency and stupidly low download speeds.

Am now dealing directly with a supervisor who seems to know what hes on about, he thinks it might be something to do with interference as the log i sent him shows big packet loss drops that are being constantly resent (ie the errors) Hes got onto BT to do a extensive testing of the system and if that doesn't work a engineer will have to come look at internal wiring etc..

Will keep you up to date :)

[Ignition]

Send me your postcode and will check on the ATM link between your BT DSLAM / exchange and the ntl network.

Also username would be very handy, just username though, no password required :)

Although might find myself dealing with this in co-operation with BT anyway if they are happy their kit is fine, but nonetheless send me the details and will check on status of the backhaul link.

Yes I also do ADSL :)

[gregt]

PM it i take it? have sent u a pm anyway..

[Ignition]

PM it i take it? have sent u a pm anyway..

:tu:

[lordmazza]

Hey Ignition

I've sent u a PM too if you hadn't already checked it, cheers for helping :D