View Full Version : NTL 250 Modem good for 20mbit?
Managed to swing an upgrade from 10mbit to 20mbit out of CS last night partly out of my loyalty (been NTL/VW 8+ years now) and partly due to the outages we've had in the Leeds area recently.
Anyway, they said it would take 4hrs to take effect but after an hour or so I reboot the modem and could see it was now set at 20mbit down and 768kbit up.
The problem is I'm not getting anywhere near the 20mbit down on various speedtests I performed last night and just now.....seem to be getting anywhere between 3-6mbit down with a very occasional 9mbit down which doesn't compare well with when I've run speedtests in the past as I almost always got (90% of the time) pretty much the 10mbit I was paying for and usually around 9.8mbit down & 500kbit up.
Could it be that the upgrade to 20mbit has pushed the 250 modem beyond its ability to cope?
Here's my modem stats
Downstream Lock : Locked
Downstream Channel Id : 7
Downstream Frequency : 586750000 Hz
Downstream Modulation : QAM64
Downstream Symbol Rate : 6952 Ksym/sec
Downstream Interleave Depth : taps12Increment17
Downstream Receive Power Level : 1.3 dBmV
Downstream SNR : 34.0 dB
Upstream Lock : Locked
Upstream Channel ID : 3
Upstream Frequency : 34000000 Hz
Upstream Modulation : QPSK
Upstream Symbol Rate : 2560 Ksym/sec
Upstream transmit Power Level : 49.5 dBmV
Upstream Mini-Slot Size : 2
Nope, the 250 is capable of about 40Mb in theory and handles 20Mb with no problem
pip08456
24-03-2010, 09:59
Those stats are OK although I'd prefer the SNR to be a little higher. The 250 should be able to handle 20Mb without a problem it could just be a matter of it's past it's prime.
You could try for a new modem to see if that solves the problem.
All your power levels are well within operational parameters even the SNR which on an NTL connection can drop below 29 unlike a Telewest connection.
Give a few days and if you are not happy call 151 and ask about the possibility of getting your modem replaced due to its age.
Hi Moi
I assume the connection is via RJ45 cable. You can try this speed test site www.fuller.zen.co.uk/test there are a couple of 100 meg files on it. Download either of them and see what your transfer rate is. I get between 2.2 Mbps and 2.4Mbps works out about 18 Meg. My son's laptop was on wireless and he was getting approx 1.2Mbps to 1.6Mbps for the same download.
We're both using Linux Mint btw and it's going through a Netgear WGR614 v9 router supplied by Virgin. The 100 meg file on that site with my 20 meg takes under a minute.
Thanks bayonet. Tried the fuller.zen.co.uk\test but only managed about 400KB/s.
I'll give it a few more days and if it doesn't improve give CS a call for a new modem. Have been wondering if given that all VM services were down in the Leeds area yesterday and last weekend (due to stupid thieving **** thinking VM's cables contained copper :rolleyes: ) maybe the full bandwidth hasn't yet been restored and they could be using throttling to limit demand?
Moi
Did you confirm you connect via RJ45 or wireless via a router? If it's wireless try changing channels to channel 11 say from channel 6
Sorry about that, no I don't use wireless (not on my main pc anyway) and connect through my Linksys router (with Tomato firmware on it) which gives me 100mbit connection.
Just tested again and speedtest.net still maxing out at 6-7mbit down although the upload is fine at 0.69mbit
Can you bypass your router and connect straight to the modem, just to rule the router out. You will need to power cycle the modem inbetween swaps.
But why would it be my router when just a few days ago and everytime I checked over the last year or so (maybe once/twice a month) when i was on 10mbit I almost always got within 5% of the 10mbit. If todays tests peaked at 10mbit or thereabout I could understand ruling it out but they're now below what I know the router can easily cope with.
saabmania2
24-03-2010, 18:26
some routers have trouble getting to 20mb esp if they are just the standard 'G' type the super G one's seems to be ok, i had this problem when i first upgraded to 20meg and my original G router wouldn't cope with it, but seeing has you've upgraded maybe they will give you a free router too ;-)
If you log in to the router what readings have you got in the Cable Modem Operation Configuration section?
Sorry numpty at work just seen it in your first post
You're supposed to get a new wireless N router for free when you upgrade your internet connection. If one hasn't been mentioned then ring them and tell them as this is what I had to do
But why would it be my router when just a few days ago and everytime I checked over the last year or so (maybe once/twice a month) when i was on 10mbit I almost always got within 5% of the 10mbit. If todays tests peaked at 10mbit or thereabout I could understand ruling it out but they're now below what I know the router can easily cope with.
Why wouldn't it be? Your router has finite resources, 20Mb/s may just be pussing it too far. However unlikely it may be.
If it is your router(and i'm not saying it is) you could be going round in circles looking in the wrong places, it's a simple test to do, and if nothing else, it rules out the router.
Are you running Windows XP? This may help if so http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/94/33655002-speeds-slower-than-you-expect-xp.html#post34866985
Sephiroth
24-03-2010, 19:10
This is what I think has happened. Real brainios might comment.
You'd likely have been moved to another UBR which might (or might not) have capacity issues of its own.
If you're on the same UBR, then whatever was wrong on 10 Mbps might still be wrong on 20 Mbps. i.e if you never exceeded 10 you won't now unless the congestion or whatever is fixed.
Speculation but quite likely. I've got a 250 have had it for years and a very good 20 Mbps service.
sstainer
24-03-2010, 19:31
suggest go get the tcp optimizer http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php
slide the slider to max 20000kbps then select optimal settings & ok everything
restart pc then do speedtest again
suggest go get the tcp optimizer http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php
slide the slider to max 20000kbps then select optimal settings & ok everything
restart pc then do speedtest again
I already suggested and only works if they are on XP
sstainer
24-03-2010, 19:37
I already suggested and only works if they are on XP
did'nt see your post until after i pressed submit
some routers have trouble getting to 20mb esp if they are just the standard 'G' type the super G one's seems to be ok, i had this problem when i first upgraded to 20meg and my original G router wouldn't cope with it, but seeing has you've upgraded maybe they will give you a free router too ;-)
I should have listened to you rather than using logic as I assumed if my router could cope with 10mbit and deliver every bit of it, then it would at least give me 10mbit on a 20mbit connection, but seems you are right
Just plugged directly into in modem (rebooted it) and once the connection went live got this
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/03/15.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
Thing is I don't want to get rid of my router as its one of those linksys routers that can take 3rd party linux firmware to offer extras such as keeping tabs (and saving them in its nvram) of my monthy upload & downloads for the last 2 years as well as offering a handy WOL for my pc.
Might have a play with its settings as I think its got an overclock function too
---------- Post added at 20:05 ---------- Previous post was at 19:52 ----------
Bugger, have just been googling "linksys WRT54G wan port speed" and it seems linksys only made the wan port 10mbit :mad:
Seems daft to me that they did that given the lan ports are all 100mbit but I guess it helps encourage new hardware purchases :mad:
Just plugged directly into in modem (rebooted it) and once the connection went live got this
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/03/15.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
Oh well at least you never rang up to complain about your speeds as all we would have done once it was ascertained that you were behind a router was to connect direct and there you go full speed.;)
Think the N routers are free for 50 meg only that's what the £50 install fee is for. Try looking on ebay for the one I mentioned earlier. The other option I've got is a Buffalo WHR 54GS or the equivalent, don't think they make that model any more
No they're not, I got one and it says you get an N router here (http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/broadband/wireless.html) on all tiers now (you used to get a G router on 10mb)
Actually, Im not sure now. I've been to Linksys's site and a few other resources and they seem to say my WRT54G v2 does have a 10/100mbit WAN port.
Then spent ages trying to find out how to maybe change the wan port speed via telnet which was wasted cos I then found a place in the menu's to change the wan port speed with the usual auto, 10 or 100 in full or half duplex modes being selectable.
I set it to 100 full duplex at first, rebooted and while my router picked up a VM ip ok from the modem, I couldn't get on the internet so then tried 100mbit half duplex as shown here
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr345/KermitX/WANPort.png (http://s498.photobucket.com/albums/rr345/KermitX/?action=view¤t=WANPort.png)
But just tested speedtest again and still below par in the 6-7mbit range :confused:
Sounds like you need a new router Moi
I have been away from this thread about an hour or so because I've been busy :D
I've switched my Tomato v1.27 firmware back to DD-WRT firmware that I last used a couple of years ago. Back then I was swayed by Tomato's bandwidth monitoring ability to keep weekly/month upload/download records but it looks like DD-WRT has caught up in that respect and best off all it seems to have done the trick wether that be setting the WAN port to the correct speed as default or maybe the coding is better in respect of handling close to 20mbit of data through the WAN port
[result using the router]
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/03/13.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
This my routers new firmware main status page :cool:
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr345/KermitX/th_DD-WRT.png (http://s498.photobucket.com/albums/rr345/KermitX/?action=view¤t=DD-WRT.png)
Thanks everyone for your help & I'll be glad to answer any questions on these routers (incl i think lots of newer routers) that can now handle opensource firmware which has probably made my router good for another 4 or 5 years
saabmania2
25-03-2010, 07:40
Good to hear you got it sorted, i had a funny feeling it might be something to do with the router ;)
anyway at least you haven't had to go out a buy a new one :)
I have my Linksys WRT54GL running tomato 1.27. It works perfectly with my 20mb Cable. Do you have QOS on ? If the rules are complex, that might slow you down.
My wan port speed is set to auto but the wait time is 5 seconds. I don't know if that makes a difference.
Dave
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