Slow access through new ADSL - setup issue?

Hey,

I've just got Bulldog ADSL installed, with their PrimeTime 2000 service,
and I'm not very satisfied with the results.

On my main computer I'm unable to smoothly stream a 128k Shoutcast
stream, downloads are bursty and unreliable, web access can stall for
seconds before zooming off, and I'm getting ~20% packet loss. A
broadband speed tester gives me about 140kbps average download speeds.

However, using my laptop to do the tests straight afterwards, I get
670kbps average download speeds, although still 20% packet loss.

The fact that the two systems get different results suggests my desktop
is, at least partially, at fault. I believe I've run a dial-up
'tweaker' at some point which may well have screwed up my Windows
settings. What's the best way to get back to the defaults?

However, the fact my laptop still gets 20% loss and only a third of the
speed I'm paying for suggests there are other issues as well. My
modem/router is a Zoom X4, which gives me the following for SNR and Line
Attenuation:

SNR Margin: 23.8 down, 31.0 up
Attentuation: 34.1 down, 22.0 up

Do those sound OK? I've got filters on all the lines in the house.

Any help would be appreciated!

A.

On Fri, 12 Sep 2003 20:50:30 GMT and in article <qkq8b.77447$Os1.613986
@news.easynews.com>, Alexis Birkill said...
: SNR Margin: 23.8 down, 31.0 up
: Attentuation: 34.1 down, 22.0 up
:
: Do those sound OK?

yes, absolutely fine. SNR margin could be a *tad* higher, but it's
perfectly usable as it is.

--
chris

Alexis Birkill <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Hey,
>
> I've just got Bulldog ADSL installed, with their PrimeTime 2000 service,
> and I'm not very satisfied with the results.
>
> On my main computer I'm unable to smoothly stream a 128k Shoutcast
> stream, downloads are bursty and unreliable, web access can stall for
> seconds before zooming off, and I'm getting ~20% packet loss. A
> broadband speed tester gives me about 140kbps average download speeds.
>
> However, using my laptop to do the tests straight afterwards, I get
> 670kbps average download speeds, although still 20% packet loss.
>
> The fact that the two systems get different results suggests my desktop
> is, at least partially, at fault. I believe I've run a dial-up
> 'tweaker' at some point which may well have screwed up my Windows
> settings. What's the best way to get back to the defaults?
>
> However, the fact my laptop still gets 20% loss and only a third of the
> speed I'm paying for suggests there are other issues as well. My
> modem/router is a Zoom X4, which gives me the following for SNR and Line
> Attenuation:
>
> SNR Margin: 23.8 down, 31.0 up
> Attentuation: 34.1 down, 22.0 up
>
> Do those sound OK? I've got filters on all the lines in the house.
>
> Any help would be appreciated!
>
> A.
>

Hi,
to tweak your settings for broadband, download and run DR TCP from
http://www.dslreports.com/front/drtcp.html. Your SNR and Attenuation are
fine, so that's not the problem. At the moment, a number of ISP's are being
bombarded by the various worms circulating the net, so this may be part of
the packet loss problem (I am getting 4 ping scans/second ATM on my link, so
the impact on the ISP fat pipe must be quite significant). I would see if
the packet loss is still there tomorrow before assuming an ISP problem.
Note that after running DR TCP, you may have to reboot the machine for the
settings to take affect.

--

Martin

Martin Cooper wrote:

> Hi,
> to tweak your settings for broadband, download and run DR TCP from
> http://www.dslreports.com/front/drtcp.html. Your SNR and Attenuation are
> fine, so that's not the problem. At the moment, a number of ISP's are being
> bombarded by the various worms circulating the net, so this may be part of
> the packet loss problem (I am getting 4 ping scans/second ATM on my link, so
> the impact on the ISP fat pipe must be quite significant). I would see if
> the packet loss is still there tomorrow before assuming an ISP problem.
> Note that after running DR TCP, you may have to reboot the machine for the
> settings to take affect.
>

Oooh, that's speeding along now! At least, compared to how it was...

Still getting the bursting when downloading - couple of seconds of full
speed, couple of seconds of nearly stationary - but I'm averaging over
1mbit, which is at least getting acceptable. The bursting could be
related to the packet loss, too.

Thanks for your help (both of you) - with any luck, it should settle
down more in the next week or so.

Cheers,

A.

On 12/9/03 9:50 pm, in article qkq8b.77447$(E-Mail Removed),
"Alexis Birkill" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Hey,
>
> I've just got Bulldog ADSL installed, with their PrimeTime 2000 service,
> and I'm not very satisfied with the results.
>
> On my main computer I'm unable to smoothly stream a 128k Shoutcast
> stream, downloads are bursty and unreliable, web access can stall for
> seconds before zooming off, and I'm getting ~20% packet loss. A
> broadband speed tester gives me about 140kbps average download speeds.
>
> However, using my laptop to do the tests straight afterwards, I get
> 670kbps average download speeds, although still 20% packet loss.
>
> The fact that the two systems get different results suggests my desktop
> is, at least partially, at fault. I believe I've run a dial-up
> 'tweaker' at some point which may well have screwed up my Windows
> settings. What's the best way to get back to the defaults?
>
> However, the fact my laptop still gets 20% loss and only a third of the
> speed I'm paying for suggests there are other issues as well. My
> modem/router is a Zoom X4, which gives me the following for SNR and Line
> Attenuation:
>
> SNR Margin: 23.8 down, 31.0 up
> Attentuation: 34.1 down, 22.0 up
>
> Do those sound OK? I've got filters on all the lines in the house.
>
> Any help would be appreciated!
>
> A.
>
What makes you think that the "internet" can cope with that bandwidth with
that reliability - contention could play a big part ?

Hello,

Have you checked that the MTU ( max transfer unit ) is set the same for both
computers,

This could cause some problems,
Sorry but you will have to do a search in google to find how to change it
for your operating system.

regards Kevin



"Graham in Melton" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:BB880174.14353%(E-Mail Removed)...
> On 12/9/03 9:50 pm, in article qkq8b.77447$(E-Mail Removed),
> "Alexis Birkill" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> > Hey,
> >
> > I've just got Bulldog ADSL installed, with their PrimeTime 2000 service,
> > and I'm not very satisfied with the results.
> >
> > On my main computer I'm unable to smoothly stream a 128k Shoutcast
> > stream, downloads are bursty and unreliable, web access can stall for
> > seconds before zooming off, and I'm getting ~20% packet loss. A
> > broadband speed tester gives me about 140kbps average download speeds.
> >
> > However, using my laptop to do the tests straight afterwards, I get
> > 670kbps average download speeds, although still 20% packet loss.
> >
> > The fact that the two systems get different results suggests my desktop
> > is, at least partially, at fault. I believe I've run a dial-up
> > 'tweaker' at some point which may well have screwed up my Windows
> > settings. What's the best way to get back to the defaults?
> >
> > However, the fact my laptop still gets 20% loss and only a third of the
> > speed I'm paying for suggests there are other issues as well. My
> > modem/router is a Zoom X4, which gives me the following for SNR and Line
> > Attenuation:
> >
> > SNR Margin: 23.8 down, 31.0 up
> > Attentuation: 34.1 down, 22.0 up
> >
> > Do those sound OK? I've got filters on all the lines in the house.
> >
> > Any help would be appreciated!
> >
> > A.
> >
> What makes you think that the "internet" can cope with that bandwidth with
> that reliability - contention could play a big part ?
>