Erratic broadband speed question

I have Sky broadband and use the provided Netgear wireless modem/
router. The speed of downloads seem to vary enormously. Yesterday,
using a web program 'My Broadband speed' I measured 750kb but then
today it was up to 4Mb. I have no reason to disbelieve these figures
as the difference is of course very noticeable. This afternoon the
Internet ground to a halt on me and basically was zero for five
minutes. I turned off the router and re-connected and everything went
fast again. My question - is this a problem with the router or the
line? I had a BT man out yesterday and his meter showed all was well
but the signal was a little on the weak side. Is it worth me getting a
new router or are they all much about the same? Is this a thing to
complain to Sky about? Any other suggestions as what to do to solve
this irritating problem

Pete L wrote:
> I have Sky broadband and use the provided Netgear wireless modem/
> router. The speed of downloads seem to vary enormously. Yesterday,
> using a web program 'My Broadband speed' I measured 750kb but then
> today it was up to 4Mb. I have no reason to disbelieve these figures
> as the difference is of course very noticeable. This afternoon the
> Internet ground to a halt on me and basically was zero for five
> minutes. I turned off the router and re-connected and everything
> went fast again. My question - is this a problem with the router or
> the line? I had a BT man out yesterday and his meter showed all was
> well but the signal was a little on the weak side. Is it worth me
> getting a new router or are they all much about the same? Is this a
> thing to complain to Sky about? Any other suggestions as what to do
> to solve this irritating problem

If you're suffering from what I suffered from when I was with SKY is
that they have no conception of what a stable rate is. I could synch
up in the morning & get over 6Mbps but as the day progressed (& more
importantly the ambient RF field changed) I would grind to a halt at
around 17:00. A forced reboot would get me up & going again at a
slower speed until 90 minutes had gone by then another reboot etc etc
until I got what was a fairly stable 4Mbps.

Now if my service didn't drop out (for what ever reason SKY had) I
could keep that speed day in & day out.

So don't go looking for any unrealistic sync rates, you may get them
but they will not be sustainable.

Another tip is to turn of UPNP on the router as there have been cases
where it has proved to be troublesome.

HTH

Pete L wrote:

> I have Sky broadband and use the provided Netgear wireless modem/
> router. The speed of downloads seem to vary enormously. Yesterday,
> using a web program 'My Broadband speed' I measured 750kb but then
> today it was up to 4Mb. I have no reason to disbelieve these figures
> as the difference is of course very noticeable. This afternoon the
> Internet ground to a halt on me and basically was zero for five
> minutes. I turned off the router and re-connected and everything went
> fast again. My question - is this a problem with the router or the
> line? I had a BT man out yesterday and his meter showed all was well
> but the signal was a little on the weak side. Is it worth me getting a
> new router or are they all much about the same? Is this a thing to
> complain to Sky about? Any other suggestions as what to do to solve
> this irritating problem

Use this site. I have found it very reliable. Most speedtesters give erratic
results. This one doesn't seem to be much affected by the usual time of day
issues for example.

http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/

Graham

Eeyore wrote:
> Pete L wrote:
>
>> I have Sky broadband and use the provided Netgear wireless modem/
>> router. The speed of downloads seem to vary enormously. Yesterday,
>> using a web program 'My Broadband speed' I measured 750kb but then
>> today it was up to 4Mb. I have no reason to disbelieve these
>> figures as the difference is of course very noticeable. This
>> afternoon the Internet ground to a halt on me and basically was
>> zero for five minutes. I turned off the router and re-connected
>> and everything went fast again. My question - is this a problem
>> with the router or the line? I had a BT man out yesterday and his
>> meter showed all was well but the signal was a little on the weak
>> side. Is it worth me getting a new router or are they all much
>> about the same? Is this a thing to complain to Sky about? Any
>> other suggestions as what to do to solve this irritating problem
>
> Use this site. I have found it very reliable. Most speedtesters
> give erratic results. This one doesn't seem to be much affected by
> the usual time of day issues for example.
>
> http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/
>

Not very accurate though, I've got a 50KBps second download going on &
it says my speed is 3 Mbps per second, which would make my my actual
speed around 6-7Mbps,.....I'm only syncing at 4.6Mbps

Kraftee wrote:
> Eeyore wrote:
>> Pete L wrote:
>>
>>> I have Sky broadband and use the provided Netgear wireless modem/
>>> router. The speed of downloads seem to vary enormously. Yesterday,
>>> using a web program 'My Broadband speed' I measured 750kb but then
>>> today it was up to 4Mb. I have no reason to disbelieve these
>>> figures as the difference is of course very noticeable. This
>>> afternoon the Internet ground to a halt on me and basically was
>>> zero for five minutes. I turned off the router and re-connected
>>> and everything went fast again. My question - is this a problem
>>> with the router or the line? I had a BT man out yesterday and his
>>> meter showed all was well but the signal was a little on the weak
>>> side. Is it worth me getting a new router or are they all much
>>> about the same? Is this a thing to complain to Sky about? Any
>>> other suggestions as what to do to solve this irritating problem
>> Use this site. I have found it very reliable. Most speedtesters
>> give erratic results. This one doesn't seem to be much affected by
>> the usual time of day issues for example.
>>
>> http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/
>>
>
> Not very accurate though, I've got a 50KBps second download going on &
> it says my speed is 3 Mbps per second, which would make my my actual
> speed around 6-7Mbps,.....I'm only syncing at 4.6Mbps
>
>
Shows how extremely little you know.


I'm syncing at 3.6Mbs, My BRAS profie is 3Mbps and I get a reliable
2.8Mbps download.

Pete L wrote:
> I have Sky broadband and use the provided Netgear wireless modem/
> router. The speed of downloads seem to vary enormously. Yesterday,
> using a web program 'My Broadband speed' I measured 750kb but then
> today it was up to 4Mb. I have no reason to disbelieve these figures
> as the difference is of course very noticeable. This afternoon the
> Internet ground to a halt on me and basically was zero for five
> minutes. I turned off the router and re-connected and everything went
> fast again. My question - is this a problem with the router or the
> line?

Quite possibly neither.

Could be congestion in the backhaul or bits of the Internet in general.

If you are *reliably* synching at >3Mbps its not the line at least, and
most of the router would be OK.

I had a BT man out yesterday and his meter showed all was well
> but the signal was a little on the weak side. Is it worth me getting a
> new router or are they all much about the same? Is this a thing to
> complain to Sky about? Any other suggestions as what to do to solve
> this irritating problem

Try and get to your router line stats and take a peek.

The traceroutes and ping tests often show where things are going awry.

Heck, if you have a wireless router t could be your neihgbour piggy
backing and pulling down the latest cracked software..who knows? ;-)

If you want to get to the bottom of this you have to go a step at a time
eliminating one thing by one.


First step is to get router stats - how often its reconnected, error
rates, noise levels and synch rates.

If those show up OK, next is to try and test the backhaul. If you have
ATM tests on the router try them. Or use TRACERT to identify the closest
IP target to you, and ping that repeatedly. Wildly variable delays or
lost packets are a sign that the backhaul or terminating kit is FCUKed.
This may be due to no more than traffic.

Beyond that its 100% your ISP's problem.

Kraftee wrote:

> Eeyore wrote:
> > Pete L wrote:
> >
> >> I have Sky broadband and use the provided Netgear wireless modem/
> >> router. The speed of downloads seem to vary enormously. Yesterday,
> >> using a web program 'My Broadband speed' I measured 750kb but then
> >> today it was up to 4Mb. I have no reason to disbelieve these
> >> figures as the difference is of course very noticeable. This
> >> afternoon the Internet ground to a halt on me and basically was
> >> zero for five minutes. I turned off the router and re-connected
> >> and everything went fast again. My question - is this a problem
> >> with the router or the line? I had a BT man out yesterday and his
> >> meter showed all was well but the signal was a little on the weak
> >> side. Is it worth me getting a new router or are they all much
> >> about the same? Is this a thing to complain to Sky about? Any
> >> other suggestions as what to do to solve this irritating problem
> >
> > Use this site. I have found it very reliable. Most speedtesters
> > give erratic results. This one doesn't seem to be much affected by
> > the usual time of day issues for example.
> >
> > http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/
> >
>
> Not very accurate though, I've got a 50KBps second download going on &
> it says my speed is 3 Mbps per second, which would make my my actual
> speed around 6-7Mbps,.....I'm only syncing at 4.6Mbps

How would a result of 3Mbps make your actual speed 6-7 Mbps ?

I sync at 8128 kbps, my IP profile is 7150 kbps and the bbmax speedtest reports
6996 kbps !

http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/res...5389&v=2835501

That's as close a result as you'll get.

Graham

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> The traceroutes and ping tests often show where things are going awry.

Very true. He could try this .....
http://visualroute.visualware.co.uk/

Graham

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> Kraftee wrote:
>> Eeyore wrote:
>>> Pete L wrote:
>>>
>>>> I have Sky broadband and use the provided Netgear wireless modem/
>>>> router. The speed of downloads seem to vary enormously.
>>>> Yesterday, using a web program 'My Broadband speed' I measured
>>>> 750kb but then today it was up to 4Mb. I have no reason to
>>>> disbelieve these figures as the difference is of course very
>>>> noticeable. This afternoon the Internet ground to a halt on me
>>>> and basically was zero for five minutes. I turned off the router
>>>> and re-connected and everything went fast again. My question -
>>>> is this a problem with the router or the line? I had a BT man
>>>> out yesterday and his meter showed all was well but the signal
>>>> was a little on the weak side. Is it worth me getting a new
>>>> router or are they all much about the same? Is this a thing to
>>>> complain to Sky about? Any other suggestions as what to do to
>>>> solve this irritating problem
>>> Use this site. I have found it very reliable. Most speedtesters
>>> give erratic results. This one doesn't seem to be much affected by
>>> the usual time of day issues for example.
>>>
>>> http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/
>>>
>>
>> Not very accurate though, I've got a 50KBps second download going
>> on & it says my speed is 3 Mbps per second, which would make my my
>> actual speed around 6-7Mbps,.....I'm only syncing at 4.6Mbps
>>
>>
> Shows how extremely little you know.
>
>
> I'm syncing at 3.6Mbs, My BRAS profie is 3Mbps and I get a reliable
> 2.8Mbps download.

So you are using the 'new' maths then are you???

If I have a 50KB (not b) download at the same time that site gives me
a 3Mbps speed please tell me where my maths are wrong, if you can't
just pull your head in & shut the f*** up..

Eeyore wrote:
> Kraftee wrote:
>
>> Eeyore wrote:
>>> Pete L wrote:
>>>
>>>> I have Sky broadband and use the provided Netgear wireless modem/
>>>> router. The speed of downloads seem to vary enormously.
>>>> Yesterday, using a web program 'My Broadband speed' I measured
>>>> 750kb but then today it was up to 4Mb. I have no reason to
>>>> disbelieve these figures as the difference is of course very
>>>> noticeable. This afternoon the Internet ground to a halt on me
>>>> and basically was zero for five minutes. I turned off the router
>>>> and re-connected and everything went fast again. My question -
>>>> is this a problem with the router or the line? I had a BT man
>>>> out yesterday and his meter showed all was well but the signal
>>>> was a little on the weak side. Is it worth me getting a new
>>>> router or are they all much about the same? Is this a thing to
>>>> complain to Sky about? Any other suggestions as what to do to
>>>> solve this irritating problem
>>>
>>> Use this site. I have found it very reliable. Most speedtesters
>>> give erratic results. This one doesn't seem to be much affected by
>>> the usual time of day issues for example.
>>>
>>> http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/
>>>
>>
>> Not very accurate though, I've got a 50KBps second download going
>> on & it says my speed is 3 Mbps per second, which would make my my
>> actual speed around 6-7Mbps,.....I'm only syncing at 4.6Mbps
>
> How would a result of 3Mbps make your actual speed 6-7 Mbps ?
>
> I sync at 8128 kbps, my IP profile is 7150 kbps and the bbmax
> speedtest reports 6996 kbps !
>
> http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/res...5389&v=2835501
>
> That's as close a result as you'll get.
>
> Graham

Another one who doesn't read, 50KB download at the same time I get a
3Mbps results, now work out the figures.....

50KBps is roughly 4Mbps add the 3Mbps obtained from the test site (as
test was run at the same time the download was taking place) I' leave
you the easy part..