ADSL speed dropping

[Pontius Navigator]

Difficult to analyse at this distance. It is not worth messing about with wifi for this.

Or at least start with the router.
You can still use a WiFi connected device to connect to the router via your Internet browser. Typically enter 192.168.1.1 and then user name typically admin (lower case) and router password (probably on the back of the router or on a card)

[Rwy in Sight]

Boac thanks for the distinction and PN thanks for pointing that facility of the router

[llondel]

Thanks for the ideas. The line is a PSTN so I can switch off the router and still have voice calls, so I switch off the router every time I leave the house. The house is near a complex of radio antennas and I can hear the radio station over the phone for some years now which is a mystery. A former friend who is an experience radio amateur couldn't figure out why I can hear the radio over the phone.

He damn well ought to know the basic mechanism. There's enough signal coupling in off the wires that's hitting a diode junction somewhere in the audio circuit and acting like an AM radio detector stage. Or there's a dodgy joint somewhere along the wire that is acting non-linear and imposing the audio onto the wires that way.

Stick a ferrite clamp around the incoming cable to the phone, see if that improves things. It might help with the ADSL too.

I once had to help troubleshooot one of our PABX systems a couple of miles from Droitwich that was picking up the local radio transmitter. Modified a board (using better and more expensive components), plugged it in and got complimented by people in the office there that it was the best they'd ever heard. There was still a faint background but that appeared to be the phone, not the PABX. My employer had a batch of boards modified and kept them in stock after that in case they had similar problems on other installations. I learned that standard optocouplers can be affected by strong RF fields.

[ian16th]

I once had to help troubleshooot one of our PABX systems a couple of miles from Droitwich that was picking up the local radio transmitter.

When I worked in B'ham, I lived in Droitwich. Every morning I drove north and joined the M5 just by the Tx.

It didn't matter what my car radio was tuned to, I only ever Rx'd the one program!

Then there was the case of the farmer, when he switched his fluorescent lights off, they stayed on!

[Rwy in Sight]

Keep coming the stories. It would be a week before I can check the router but thanks for the idea since I did so with the RiS tower one

[Boac]

RiS - we will follow with interest!

[Rwy in Sight]

Thanks I will keep you posted

[jimtherev]

If the broadband system is similar to the UK, leave the router on. On and off causes resets of supply speed each time.

This contrasts with Jim the Rev suggestion which is also supported by others. I think the point of the reboot is to reset the throttle that has been imposed. I believe that you then get the highest speed albeit with losses due to noise. Over 2-3 days the speed is progressively reduced to minimise losses. Is that wrong?

Yes, I find that the router progressively throttles down, prompted, I think, by Openreach (who provide nearly all of the lines in the UK). When switched back on, it then starts at the optimum speed it can run at. This usually then drops, but occasionally speeds up to a max of about 75-80 which is allegedly impossible with the kit provided.

[Pontius Navigator]

That conjures up an image of a telephone dial in the terminal.

Ah, Jim's just rebooted, leave him on 9 for a day then move him down to 8.
BOAC hasn't complained recently, he must be happy at 4.
OFSO is complaining again, move him to 5 see if that sorts him out.
RiS put him on 6, better not give him 7 and raise his expectations.

[jimtherev]

That conjures up an image of a telephone dial in the terminal.

Ah, Jim's just rebooted, leave him on 9 for a day then move him down to 8.
BOAC hasn't complained recently, he must be happy at 4.
OFSO is complaining again, move him to 5 see if that sorts him out.
RiS put him on 6, better not give him 7 and raise his expectations.

Maybe that's close. My own picture is of an evil electronic gnome with an advanced sense of humour.
Seriously, I think there's some sort of algorithm which adjusts 'line speed' according to the amount of interference on the line. More error packets needing repeating, the slower the adjusted speed.

Or something.

[Rwy in Sight]

Thanks for the image Jim. Apparently it makes the situation a bit more clear.

[OFSO]

We have a magic box sitting on a bracket in the window which connects phone, tv and internet through the ether to the world's most useless communications company. Since Covid restrictions reduce, if not prevent, the influx of mobile-phone carrying Froggies to our Urbanization, quality of service has been greatly improved.

[jimtherev]

Down to under 20 Megathingies again this evening. Reset, et voila up to 72!

[jimtherev]

Down to under 20 Megathingies again this evening. Reset, et voila up to 72! An hour later, it's now down to 68 - which is 2 more than I'm guaranteed. Watch this space...

[Rwy in Sight]

The company contacted me the other day and they did admitted I was up to four point something few years back. They need me to keep the router connected and powered for a few days to further check the issue but I didn't manage to go today. So it will be a few more days before we have some further developments.

[Boac]

Jim - it sounds as if you have a bad connection somewhere with a high SNR (measured in 'db'). Resetting will result in a speed increase as the system 'assumes' you have a reasonable line with a low db (Most start at around 6-9db). Although you probably will not 'notice', you will be getting a lot of 'packet' drops and errors at that setting. Then over time the db value of your connection is adjusted automatically to produce a more stable connection, and the speed will drop. https://www.increasebroadbandspeed.co.uk/SNR-tweak

You can adjust the 'set' SNR on most routers but with ADSL normally the ISP system will change it back over time! This is the page from my Router, a Billion 8800 (NB I am on a VDSL connection, not ADSL so for info only)

"Parameters
This field can be adjusted to affect the SNR value so as to achieve the highest possible sync speed.
Note that a value set too low may affect stability, a balance needs to be achieved between speed and stability.
There are no set values recommended as each ADSL line will be different.
A value of 6 is a good starting point, this is the target SNR, from here you can gradually reduce values to achieve the highest possible sync speed whilst still maintaining stability. e.g 5,4...
1 is the lowest possible value."

SNR dB [ Auto : -1 ] (-1 says "ISP will adjust")

The company contacted me the other day and they did admitted I was up to four point something

"four point something" whats? Do you know? Is that Mbps?

[Rwy in Sight]

Boac

You have a point: 4.x Mbps...

[jimtherev]

Jim - it sounds as if you have a bad connection somewhere with a high SNR (measured in 'db'). Resetting will result in a speed increase as the system 'assumes' you have a reasonable line with a low db (Most start at around 6-9db). Although you probably will not 'notice', you will be getting a lot of 'packet' drops and errors at that setting. Then over time the db value of your connection is adjusted automatically to produce a more stable connection, and the speed will drop. https://www.increasebroadbandspeed.co.uk/SNR-tweak

I'm sure you're right, Boac.
1. The last 50 metres or so are overhead copper... in fact all the properties in the close are fed from "telegraph poles".
2. When we moved in (blimey was it ten years ago now?) the taxi company operating in the next close up occasionally 'broke through' on Test Match Special (AM radio) and we got the wireless gestapo out to speak to him. No prob with RFI since then, but would not be astonished to hear that there's still a little interference with broadband.

But I'm not too fussed. Seldom need high speed; it's only when I'm downloading (or even more occasionally uploading) hd stuff that I even get stutters at all these days... and if I need highspeed, a reset five minutes beforehand has always done the trick up to now.

[OFSO]

I found a website listing real internet speeds in Spain. The town of Roses has one of the poorest of anywhere. Not surprised. They are coming up the mountain, stringing fiber optic 'cable', at the moment, dropping scraps of cable, bits of plastic, and packaging on the verges of the roads behind them so we know how far they've got.

In the past twenty years we've gone from dial-up landline, to WiMax (which was excellent) and to currently the 4G box. I presume copper wire to the nearest fibre optic dis box will be next.

[G-CPTN]

Do you have any choice of what distribution method you use? - or does the supplier shift from one to another?