3mbps in the morning 1.5mbps in the evening

[jaffas21]

Hi

Ive been connected with virgin 8mb adsl after a small bit of hassle for 3 days now

Now I know the line is supposed to go wild for the first 10 days as the exchange tests your connection.

However mine isn't going wild .. its constant just over 3mbps in the morning at about 7am and ranging from under 1mbps to max 1.5mbps in the evening

Now im 3/4 mile from an exchange so i'd expect to get some higher speeds in this testing period shouldn't I ?

I'd prefer not to be one of these complaining about an ISP customers .. but If arrange for 8mbps id expect at least 4mbps

do you think there are speed changes taking placem with my line while im at work that im missing here .. in anyones experience .. has it slugged along at these slow speeds and then massively accelerated in after the first few days ?

and lastly I read that virgin has a 7 working day cooling off period how does that work if your supposed to take 10 working days for your line to settle down if your not getting the speeds you want and you want to cancel ?

ive been testing with bt speedtest and the one from this site

I initially used the speedtouch modem which report it was connected at say 3.48mbps or 7.2mbps, but the speed tests didn't corroborate these . so i switched to a D-Link DSL 504-T router which is rated up to 8mbps

location: west cumbria

thanks

[Carl J]

Sounds a lot like congestion, which is far from unknown with Virgin off-net broadband due to its' system of delivery.

VM have a lot of Option 3 Datastream circuits going from BT's exchanges, this is where VM rent a Virtual Pipe (VP) from BT which all their customers on that exchange are collected on, which can save costs and offer more control to the provider.

The downside is that these VPs could be very small, you could well have a share of an 8Mbit pipe, which doesn't go too far spread between some 8Mbit customers so congestion takes less people downloading at full speed before you see it.

Do a google of "statistical contention" for more information, but that's the most likely basic cause.

The non-Datastream brings a lot more customers together but on much larger pipes so it's more difficult to hit congestion point.

You can confirm if you are on Datastream or not by trying the BT test login - bt_test@startup_domain as your username and anything or nothing as password. If you cannot connect on this you are on Datastream.

If you can connect browse to http://www.bt.net/digitaldemo and you can do some tests which don't involve Virgin's equipment at any point.

I hope this helps.

[Sherlock]

It will prob be as Carl says, congestion. As you are on ADSL try doing some speed tests on a direct bt connection.

Check out Zen's knowledge base about what to do (the same applies for VM):
http://www.zensupport.co.uk/knowledgebase/article.aspx?id=10383

After you've done a weeks worth of testing call the 25p a min VM ADSL tech support number :( and ask them to get bt to look into it.
If you notice that your speeds are fine at any time of the day on the BT tester, it will most probably be VM ADSL servers being overloaded. (A bit of a problem when they offer an unlimited download service). Maybe look into other ISP's.

I was having the same probs when I was on Virgin.net. I found that going down to the 2mb kept my speeds constant (prob cos interleaving has been turned off).

[jaffas21]

thanks for that information well im 3 days into a 7 day cooling off period .. however im not interested in settling for 1.5mb at night ... when I want at least 4mb

What would you say is a reasonable timeframe to bring this up with virgin, I believe theres something like a £50 cancellation fee after the 7day period and as ive just moved to virgin .. 3 days ago .. moving to another isp already would be a bit of a pain

thanks

[Carl J]

Just bear in mind though that if on Datastream that speedtest login doesn't work, and any congestion is completely out of BT's hands...

See if you're on Datastream or not. If you are then moving to another ISP will probably improve performance so long as it's not Tiscrapi or someone really dodgy like that.

Also check on http://www.samknows.com and see what's available.

[jaffas21]

Well as I've said common to most ISP's they say

"now the exchange is going to be banging your connection very hard over the next 10 days while it determines your maximum speed"

However cleverly .. there cooling off period is 7 days .. therefore by the time you've realised you've got a crap connection .. you automatically owe them £50 to disconnect ....

would it be reasonable in say 2 days . if its still doing the same thing to bring this up with their technical support do you think ?

[Sherlock]

You could certainly have a word. Problem is your connection speed is going to be varying over the next 5 days anyway. It's therefore impossible to tell whether you're going to have connection problems or not. Your safest bet would be to check out some adsl guide comparison sites and see which one would be best for you. Other than that, try it out for a few months, and if it's crap, take the £50 cancellation fee.

[bigpmc]

If you look at the VM adsl T & Cs im not sure you are in the cooling off period:

By law, you have the right to cancel this Agreement within seven working days of entering into it (the "cooling off period"). In the event of cancellation during the cooling off period, this Agreement is treated as if it had not been made. However, please be aware that you will lose your right to cancel under this clause during the cooling off period once we have commenced activation of the Service or you use the Service, whichever is the earlier.

Since your BB has been activated and used by that clause in the terms and conditions doesnt that mean that the cooling off period is over?

[jaffas21]

Well I can access: http://www.bt.net/digitaldemo putting in the username: bt_test@startup_domain

however when i access it .. i just get a graphic with the following text on it .. "Thank you for visiting BT's broadband test & demo site for further help & advice please contact your broadband provider"

but theres no clickable portions on the website or any tests to actually do

does this mean ive been sabotaged ?

reports for today:

Friday 2nd March Morning

Fri, 2 Mar 2007 06:39:45 UTC
1st 512K took 1265 ms = 404.7 KB/sec, approx 3335 Kbps, 3.26 Mbps 2nd 512K took 1266 ms = 404.4 KB/sec, approx 3332 Kbps, 3.25 Mbps 3rd 512K took 1265 ms = 404.7 KB/sec, approx 3335 Kbps, 3.26 Mbps 4th 512K took 1266 ms = 404.4 KB/sec, approx 3332 Kbps, 3.25 Mbps Overall Average Speed = approx 3334 Kbps, 3.26 Mbps

http://speedtester.bt.com/

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
IP profile for your line is - 3500 kbps

DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 7648 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 3227 kbps

Friday 2nd March Evening

Fri, 2 Mar 2007 18:09:42 UTC

1st 512K took 17375 ms = 29.5 KB/sec, approx 243 Kbps, 0.24 Mbps
2nd 512K took 11640 ms = 44 KB/sec, approx 363 Kbps, 0.35 Mbps
3rd 512K took 6407 ms = 79.9 KB/sec, approx 658 Kbps, 0.64 Mbps
4th 512K took 11609 ms = 44.1 KB/sec, approx 363 Kbps, 0.35 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 407 Kbps, 0.4 Mbps

http://speedtester.bt.com/

The Performance Tester is now testing Broadband connection. Your configured download throughput speed for this service is 6500 k
Please do not move away from this page and do not start any other download activity on your computer.
Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.

IP profile for your line is - 6500 kbps
DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 2816 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 953 kbps

[Carl J]

Ok.

Your sync rate is all over the place, something is throwing buckets of interference onto your line and is only active at night, so could be heating, street lighting or several other things. :(

Is your line properly filtered, microfilters or a face plate?

BTW your line should get something like stable in hours, it's not even close :(

[jaffas21]

im using a microfilter in the kitchen .. the floor below me .. where the phone is connected

Just spoke to virgin technical support he made a few comments .. which i'll post here

when asked about slow speeds

"That is fairly normal at the moment. There is a congestion issue with ADSL broadband throughout the UK. This means that connection speeds are dropping in peak times (evenings). BT are currently upgrading their networks to compensate for this"

"Well it does not effect all areas, but would appear to be the problem that you are getting if your speeds are better in off peak times. The connection speed should still improve after the initial 10 days, but peak times will still be slower that other times until this issue is resolved.
...sorry, I did not mean to imply this is just a BT issue. All ISPs in the country are currently upgrading because of this issue"

when asked about the datastream issue

"no, sorry. But that does not apply to you as you are not in datastream, you are on IP stream
mmmmm well thats good .....
(different system)
I was worried about the data stream thing .. i used to work for ntl btw
mmmm so ip stream is the faster option then ?
Ah, someone who speaks the language! Yes you are on the ADSL max system for your 8mbps connection. ADSL max is strictly IP stream so that BT can monitor the congestion directly"

when asked about timescales:

esentially it is caused by the oversubscription of the existing networks in the country. You should see some serious improvements in the next 2 months, although it is impossible to tell when your specific area will be upgraded

when asked about possible improvements in the period where the exchange is negotiating with my modem:

"Well your speeds may well improve after the first ten days. According to my system your line can handle the full 8mbps so your speed should at least get better in offpeak times. Otherwise I would advise you to give the upgrades about a month and see how much they improve"

seems reasonable to me anyone else any thoughts

:angel:

[Carl J]

Yes I have something to say, they're wrong.

Your early test:

IP profile for your line is - 3500 kbps

DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 7648 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 3227 kbps

ADSL connected at 7648kbps, BT system assigned speed 3500kbps. Given time the 3500 should end up at 6500kbps if your ADSL stays connected at that. The problem is it doesn't...

IP profile for your line is - 6500 kbps
DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 2816 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 953 kbps

6500kbps as expected for your earlier ADSL connection rate, but now you're only connected at 2816kbps. The BT BRAS IP profile system is working ok however your line has gone down and reconnected at a much slower rate for some reason, generally increased noise on the line.

This is not congestion, there is something making your line much noisier in the evenings causing errors, instability, and your slow speeds.

This needs to be checked out.

Also the comment about speeds improving after 10 days is wrong. By 10 days the period should be very much over. Speeds should be stable before that 10 day period is over and line profile, etc, negotiated and stable.

There are no upgrades that'll fix this, you've a line issue which should be looked at and resolved.

It's also inaccurate to say that all ISPs are upgrading, that suggests all ISPs have contention issues which they do not. It's further inaccurate to say that all BT exchanges have contention problems.

The amount of bandwidth that BT can supply to an individual exchange is controlled by the Margin Squeeze Test - essentially BT cannot supply too much bandwidth and are required to provide a certain contention ratio which they can't go too far under regardless of congestion :(

[preetkk]

Hi,
I was with virgin about 6-8 months ago and was a member of theres for about 1-2 years (started with 512kb then 1mb then 2mb then later 8mb) the internet had always been good got the speeds stated, untill they upgraded there systems to cope with BT's ADSL MAX after that i never even got 512kb speeds. When we joined with virgin back then it was 30 day contract but that didnt matter as we was with them for longer than a year anyway, so when the speed dropped like that they gave us the same excuse (wait 10 days for the line to cope with the new speeds etc) so we said ok, and guess what that didnt make any difference so we quit and went to a different provider.


But now we are back with virgin for certain resons (long story i'll keep that for another day) and guess what the speed were good for the first 3 days but now are less than 512kb should be getting 8mb as our line can handle it, i know that because we were actually maxing out at 8mb in the first 3 days, and you can guess what excuse they are giving us - wait 10 days - but it will be 7 days since we got activated on tuesaday


Oh and here are my results off BT's speedtester:

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
IP profile for your line is - 500 kbps
DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 8096 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 405 kbps

If you wish to discuss these results please contact your ISP.

If you are experiencing problems with specific applications, servers or websites please contact your ISP for assistance.

Your test has completed please close this window to exit the performance tester.

[preetkk]

my latest speed test today from BT:

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
IP profile for your line is - 6500 kbps
DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 8096 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 747 kbps

If you wish to discuss these results please contact your ISP.

If you are experiencing problems with specific applications, servers or websites please contact your ISP for assistance.

Your test has completed please close this window to exit the performance tester.


And heres the result from this sites speed tester:

Sun, 4 Mar 2007 18:02:33 UTC

1st 512K took 21032 ms = 24.3 KB/sec, approx 200 Kbps, 0.2 Mbps
2nd 512K took 16593 ms = 30.9 KB/sec, approx 255 Kbps, 0.25 Mbps
3rd 512K took 20782 ms = 24.6 KB/sec, approx 203 Kbps, 0.2 Mbps
4th 512K took 18203 ms = 28.1 KB/sec, approx 232 Kbps, 0.23 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 223 Kbps, 0.22 Mbps

[jaffas21]

So as someones whos got a fair bit of history with virgin ... what have you done ... and what have you got them to do to investigate your issue ?

thanks


current: The Performance Tester is now testing Broadband connection. Your configured download throughput speed for this service is 2000 k

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
IP profile for your line is - 2000 kbps
DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 2976 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 1595 kbps

If you wish to discuss these results please contact your ISP.

im not sure if its being slightly faster than normal at night because its the weekend .. but the cableforum speed test is giving slower results anyway

I will probably get them to test the line .. but of course theres no guarantee they will actually do it .. and you seem to indicate this is a long term problem

surely my IP profile should be stable shouldn't it ? ideally

[preetkk]

will the thing with me is i have moved house and previously was in a 12 month contract with telewest and at the new house cable isnt available, so we ow telewest about 8-9 months of money or just go with there adsl virgin broadband and stay untill we dont ow them anything.

So really we have gotta stay with virgin, unless otherwise

So we will probly give them 10 days which will be friday then if the speed stays sh*t we will complain like hell untill something happens.

Oh and theres nothing wrong with my line or wiring becuase its a brand new house or even a brand new estate at that

[jaffas21]

ip profile is 2000k again this morning does that mean my connection has levelled out at 2000k


Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
IP profile for your line is - 2000 kbps
DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 2976 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 1834 kbps

Mind you i've yet to see an adsl provider who dosen't have problems, pipex adsl max gets slated as does talk talk, bt are apparently the most complained about in the country (probably due to their large customer base) ... so what is one to do .. apart from go business with a set out service agreement .... but i am concerned about this IP Profile of 2000k ...

i'll need to check it out when i get in from work, and contact virgin probably tonight

[preetkk]

look at this a test i did a min ago:

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
IP profile for your line is - 6500 kbps
DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 8096 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 5693 kbps

If you wish to discuss these results please contact your ISP.

If you are experiencing problems with specific applications, servers or websites please contact your ISP for assistance.

Your test has completed please close this window to exit the performance tester.

oh and about that all adsl companies are crap - will i was with a adsl2+ company named BE they were great, just i had to leave for certain reasons thats when i went to telewest

[jaffas21]

Good results but the BT test is down for me at the minute


'The system is currently busy. Please try again shortly, however if this problem persists, raise the issue with your service provider'


strangely enough one of the pupils where i work is getting 6.43mbps

but i've found out hes capped at 6gb a month .. which makes me even more suspicious its only unlimited people getting the shaft .. this websites speedtest is still only giving me about 1.5mbps atm ....

ive moved on to attempting to tweak it now with DR TCP , as detailing on this website another popular forum http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=virginnet

not that its working at all

[preetkk]

what you should do is turn your router (or whatever you are using to get your net from virgin) off every night then turn it back on the next day just before you are gonna use it

EDIT - off virgin's usenet servers I am getting 5mb :) also if you have MSN or something PM me your e-mail address if you want

[jaffas21]

pm'd you

[preetkk]

just a update at this time of posting i am downloaging off a usenet server (not virgin's) at 6.5 to 7mb and it is nearly 6pm so now should be about the time when the internet should go slower but it is not :) i will post back later and state wheather the speed eaither go slower, stay the same or go faster

[shadyrome]

i am on telewest cable, does this mean i am on cable or adsl?

[preetkk]

lol you just said what you was on 'telewest cable' so yes 'cable' as telewest(now virgin media) is only cable not adsl

[shadyrome]

yea why are some people on adsl if vigin media only makes cable.

[preetkk]

yea why are some people on adsl if vigin media only makes cable.

lol haha - maybe cable is not available in all areas did you not think that!!!!

and also virgin.net, telewest, ntl all are one (virgin media) now but they still offer what they offered before i.e virgin.net - adsl ntl and telewest - cable

[usher]

The distance from the exchange can be a lot longer than you think,
you may be 3/4 mile as the crow flies but twice that in terms of line length.

I am 2.4 k from our exchange according to BT linecheck & can only get 1.5meg on maxdsl. 8meg
I tried Be.unlimited LLU service & they scanned my line to give an accurate length to within a few metres & it shows my line as 4.2 k & they said 1 meg was the max I could get with them & were kind enough to not recommend their service to me

Needless to say I am now with Virgin cable 4 meg & altho its not good value for money I get decent/constant speed :p: