Are BT throttling exchange speeds?

Hi, I'd really appreciate some thoughts on my speed problem.

We have 2 phone lines. The first one has internal wiring that was done by
the builder (which is probably a bit grotty) and the second one was
installed by BT a couple of years ago, taking a direct connection from the
property junction box (?) and running the cable around the extrior of the
house.

The first line was always slow (presumably due to bad connections, etc, in
the inernal wiring. The BT wholesale speed estimate for tthat line used to
be 1 meg.

The second line was much faster - BT wholesale used to estimate 5 megs and,
in practice, the line used to deliver about 4.5 megs with Eclipse.

Lately, speeds from Eclipse have been dropping to about 0.75 meg at all
times day and night. I assumed that this was due to throttling (aka 'traffic
management) being implemented by Eclipse, despite our useage indicator
always being 'green'

Now I'm not so sure - the BT wholesale speed checker now shows only 2 meg
for the faster line (down from 5 meg estimate) while the slower line shows
an estimmated increase of





going slowly mad

going slowly mad wrote:

> The first line was always slow (presumably due to bad connections, etc, in
> the inernal wiring. The BT wholesale speed estimate for tthat line used
> to be 1 meg.

Bypass the internal wiring by taking the face plate off the socket and
testing from there.

> The second line was much faster - BT wholesale used to estimate 5 megs
> and, in practice, the line used to deliver about 4.5 megs with Eclipse.

What do you mean by BT Wholesale? The speed tester at speedtester.bt.net, or
some availability checker that predicts what your line speed should be?

> Lately, speeds from Eclipse have been dropping to about 0.75 meg at all
> times day and night. I assumed that this was due to throttling (aka
> 'traffic management) being implemented by Eclipse, despite our useage
> indicator always being 'green'
>
> Now I'm not so sure - the BT wholesale speed checker now shows only 2 meg
> for the faster line (down from 5 meg estimate) while the slower line shows
> an estimmated increase of

Has the sync speed on your line changed? Presumably you're experiencing an
intermittent connection also.

--
<http://ale.cx/> (AIM:troffasky) ((E-Mail Removed))
22:20:34 up 30 min, 1 user, load average: 0.13, 0.13, 0.21
50,000 watts of funking power

"alexd" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> going slowly mad wrote:
>
>> The first line was always slow (presumably due to bad connections, etc,
>> in
>> the inernal wiring. The BT wholesale speed estimate for tthat line used
>> to be 1 meg.
>
> Bypass the internal wiring by taking the face plate off the socket and
> testing from there.<

Hi, thanks for your input.

When I first had BB I had only one phone line (the one that the builders
installed, and which almost certainly has poor hidden internal wiring). The
wholesale checker at that time estimated 1Mb for that line and I used to get
about . 0.6 Mb. I did the master socket test - and was surprised that the
speed did not improve, even after eliminating the builders wiring.

Then I had the second line installed for business purposes. As stated, this
was installed by BT completely separately to any original wiring - and the
wholesale checker then estimated a line speed of 5 Mb for that line
(presumably because the wiring was better quality, having just been
installed)

So I swapped my BB connection to the new line and saw a huge improvement -
it started at up to 7 Mb, settled to an average of 4 - 4.5 M (sometimes a
bit slower at peak times, but not much)

For some reason, that speed has now dropped dramatically (although the
router still reports a 4 Mb sync speed). What puzzles me is that the BT
wholesale availability checker now reports that line (the one in current
use) as only a possible 2 Mb connection - whereas, previously, it was
reported as a posible 5 Mb (and delivered about the same)

BT just refer me to Eclipse, Eclipse just keep fobbing me off - but there
must be *some* reason that the estimated line speed is now being reported as
3 Mb lower than previously, and presumably, that reason is part of the speed
problems I have at the moment?

The router line sync speed remains the same at about 4 Mb - it's the actual
speeds that have decreased a lot - and the aforementioned peculiarity of the
drop in estimated speed

Incidentally, a close neighbour's telephone number (that is not yet BB
enabled) reports an estimated speed of 6 Mb - which is very close to the
original estimate for my line.

Sorry it's a bit complicated - I do know that other people's problems can
be excruciatingly boring, but it really is driving me nuts!, mainly because
of being shunted around with no-one wishing to actually do the necessary
work to sort the matter out.

"going slowly mad" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "alexd" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> going slowly mad wrote:
>>
>>> The first line was always slow (presumably due to bad connections, etc,
>>> in
>>> the inernal wiring. The BT wholesale speed estimate for tthat line used
>>> to be 1 meg.
>>
>> Bypass the internal wiring by taking the face plate off the socket and
>> testing from there.<
>
> Hi, thanks for your input.
>
> When I first had BB I had only one phone line (the one that the builders
> installed, and which almost certainly has poor hidden internal wiring).
> The wholesale checker at that time estimated 1Mb for that line and I used
> to get about . 0.6 Mb. I did the master socket test - and was surprised
> that the speed did not improve, even after eliminating the builders
> wiring.
>
> Then I had the second line installed for business purposes. As stated,
> this was installed by BT completely separately to any original wiring -
> and the wholesale checker then estimated a line speed of 5 Mb for that
> line (presumably because the wiring was better quality, having just been
> installed)
>
> So I swapped my BB connection to the new line and saw a huge improvement -
> it started at up to 7 Mb, settled to an average of 4 - 4.5 M (sometimes a
> bit slower at peak times, but not much)
>
> For some reason, that speed has now dropped dramatically (although the
> router still reports a 4 Mb sync speed). What puzzles me is that the BT
> wholesale availability checker now reports that line (the one in current
> use) as only a possible 2 Mb connection - whereas, previously, it was
> reported as a posible 5 Mb (and delivered about the same)
>
> BT just refer me to Eclipse, Eclipse just keep fobbing me off - but there
> must be *some* reason that the estimated line speed is now being reported
> as 3 Mb lower than previously, and presumably, that reason is part of the
> speed problems I have at the moment?
>
> The router line sync speed remains the same at about 4 Mb - it's the
> actual speeds that have decreased a lot - and the aforementioned
> peculiarity of the drop in estimated speed

[snip]

First change to a competent ISP (AA, Zen, or the like). If the problem
remains, they will help you resolve it.

--
Graham J

On Wed, 31 Oct 2007 01:51:31 -0000, "going slowly mad"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

[snip]
>
>BT just refer me to Eclipse, Eclipse just keep fobbing me off - but there
>must be *some* reason that the estimated line speed is now being reported as
>3 Mb lower than previously, and presumably, that reason is part of the speed
>problems I have at the moment?
>
>The router line sync speed remains the same at about 4 Mb - it's the actual
>speeds that have decreased a lot - and the aforementioned peculiarity of the
>drop in estimated speed
>
[snip]

What Eclipse account are you signed up to?

--
brightside S9

"brightside S9" <address@replyto_is_not.invalid> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Wed, 31 Oct 2007 01:51:31 -0000, "going slowly mad"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> [snip]
>>
>>BT just refer me to Eclipse, Eclipse just keep fobbing me off - but there
>>must be *some* reason that the estimated line speed is now being reported
>>as
>>3 Mb lower than previously, and presumably, that reason is part of the
>>speed
>>problems I have at the moment?
>>
>>The router line sync speed remains the same at about 4 Mb - it's the
>>actual
>>speeds that have decreased a lot - and the aforementioned peculiarity of
>>the
>>drop in estimated speed
>>
> [snip]
>
> What Eclipse account are you signed up to?


The basic £14.99 package - which they *say* they don't throttle unless you
apply unfair usage, but which I'm 99% certain they do (even though our
'meter' has never been anything other than 'green')

(and, for Graham) I've got my MAC code from Eclipse (took about 9 hours -
is this a record?!) so I'm searching for a decent provider - will look at
the ones you mentioned.

Shame, I've been with Eclipse for a few years now - their service started
off well, then descended to 'fairly poor, but still bearable', but now seems
to have hit bottom.

"going slowly mad" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "brightside S9" <address@replyto_is_not.invalid> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> On Wed, 31 Oct 2007 01:51:31 -0000, "going slowly mad"
>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>> [snip]
>>>
>>>BT just refer me to Eclipse, Eclipse just keep fobbing me off - but there
>>>must be *some* reason that the estimated line speed is now being reported
>>>as
>>>3 Mb lower than previously, and presumably, that reason is part of the
>>>speed
>>>problems I have at the moment?
>>>
>>>The router line sync speed remains the same at about 4 Mb - it's the
>>>actual
>>>speeds that have decreased a lot - and the aforementioned peculiarity of
>>>the
>>>drop in estimated speed
>>>
>> [snip]
>>
>> What Eclipse account are you signed up to?
>
>
> The basic £14.99 package - which they *say* they don't throttle unless you
> apply unfair usage, but which I'm 99% certain they do (even though our
> 'meter' has never been anything other than 'green')
>
> (and, for Graham) I've got my MAC code from Eclipse (took about 9 hours -
> is this a record?!) so I'm searching for a decent provider - will look at
> the ones you mentioned.
>
> Shame, I've been with Eclipse for a few years now - their service started
> off well, then descended to 'fairly poor, but still bearable', but now
> seems to have hit bottom.
Hi

Even though I was on an Evolution 3 (£25 p.c.m.) contract with Eclipse their
line regularly went down to 256K (ish) from its normal 2Mbs speed it often
stayed slow for weeks at a time. They assured me they were not throttling
lines but as soon as I migrated to Zen the line went back to 2 Mbs and
except for transitory blips has stayed there ever since!

My experience is the same as that reported in you last paragraph.

Roger

going slowly mad wrote:

> "brightside S9" <address@replyto_is_not.invalid> wrote
> >
> > What Eclipse account are you signed up to?
>
> The basic £14.99 package - which they *say* they don't throttle unless you
> apply unfair usage, but which I'm 99% certain they do (even though our
> 'meter' has never been anything other than 'green')
>
> (and, for Graham) I've got my MAC code from Eclipse (took about 9 hours -
> is this a record?!) so I'm searching for a decent provider - will look at
> the ones you mentioned.

The ones the other Graham mentioned (Zen and AAisp) are quite pricey.

I will unresevedly recommend IDnet. They're a first class ISP a bit like Zen but
a little more competitively priced. If you like their offering, email me on the
address I post here and we can both benefit to the tune of £10 each if I
'introduce' you.


> Shame, I've been with Eclipse for a few years now - their service started
> off well, then descended to 'fairly poor, but still bearable', but now seems
> to have hit bottom.

Such things sadly sometimes happen.

Graham

On Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:46:45 -0000, "going slowly mad"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
>"brightside S9" <address@replyto_is_not.invalid> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed).. .
>> On Wed, 31 Oct 2007 01:51:31 -0000, "going slowly mad"
>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>> [snip]
>>>
>>>BT just refer me to Eclipse, Eclipse just keep fobbing me off - but there
>>>must be *some* reason that the estimated line speed is now being reported
>>>as
>>>3 Mb lower than previously, and presumably, that reason is part of the
>>>speed
>>>problems I have at the moment?
>>>
>>>The router line sync speed remains the same at about 4 Mb - it's the
>>>actual
>>>speeds that have decreased a lot - and the aforementioned peculiarity of
>>>the
>>>drop in estimated speed
>>>
>> [snip]
>>
>> What Eclipse account are you signed up to?
>
>
>The basic £14.99 package - which they *say* they don't throttle unless you
>apply unfair usage, but which I'm 99% certain they do (even though our
>'meter' has never been anything other than 'green')

Basic £14.99 package is confusing.

The £14.99 Home Broadband Option 1 has no throttling, 5 star
performance, and 2GB / month inclusive, then payg for excess over 2GB
and since you payg fair use doesn't apply.

The £14.99 Evolution Broadband Option 1 has throttling, 2 star
performance *and* fair use policy of 20GB / month in peak hours.

You did say that your traffic light was always green, so that leads me
to believe you are on the £14.99 Evolution Broadband Option 1, and
that has poorest performance, clearly advertised as 2 star.

See http://www.eclipse.net.uk/index.cfm?id=fixedfup_res
where you are reminded that "Our Fair Usage Policy operates in
addition to our broadband performance system".

Your traffic light is green so you are just getting the 2 star
performance without the implementation of the fair use policy.

Anyway it is all academic now as I read you have got your MAC.

--
brightside s9