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DSL Speed Issues

My DSL service is acting up again. Here are some speed and ping test results. I will PM Windstream with phone number so matter can be looked into.

SNR = 11.5
Atten = 51.0

Your ATTN is pretty high and looks to be just within the general guidelines for being able to consistently support DSL service. When I see results like yours I typically ask a few basic questions (with apologies if you've already gone through this exercise!)

Can you detect any sort of noise or static on your telephone line? If so, such noise would typically need to be corrected before trying to resolve any DSL issues--if you have a line noise problem, call WS phone repair at 800-501-1888 and report the problem. Since voice lines come under the control of your Public Utility Commission regulations, your provider (WS) will need to resolve voice line issues in a timely manner.

Don't know if you're in a somewhat remote/rural area, older development with potential old copper wire issues, or if there is the possibility of a bridge tap that could be removed to improve your ATTN.

Is there one central 'whole house' filter at the NID or are you using individual phone-jack filters? If phone-jack filters are in play, have you determined that all filters are connected and functioning correctly? Just out of curiosity, what type of modem are you using and is there a separate router in the configuration?

Hopefully, the Windstream tech who regularly patrols this forum can find some way to help. Best of luck, and I hope that you can get all of the speed possible from your location!

»Windstream DSL FAQ »Modem DSL Statistics? What do the SNR and ATTN numbers show me about my line?
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Just because you are a character doesn't mean that you have character....

Hey Bobec, I do not have any line noise. I did check last night when I was having the issue. The issue seems to have gotten better. The problem usually starts at about 8pm and last till early morning hours. I am in a very rural area and have one filter at the NID and the line going into the house is new. Now from the NID on WS's side, I have no idea. This house is close to 60 years old.

I have the 4200 modem and a Netgear WGR614 v9 router that is used for my daughters PC when she is home from college and it is also used with an Xbox360 and PS3. Right now my connection seems normal, so I will just keep a watch and see what happens. Thank you very much for your assistance.

Still seeing periodic high ping and speeds fluctuating all over the place. Seems to be happening in the late afternoon till midnight. When a tech comes out during the day, the connection is usually normal, but something needs to be done to fix this. Thanks.

Forgot to add a ping test result.

Speeds are a bit better. Here are some recent test results as requested.

Here is what speeds look like during the day. Will try and update again tonight.

Have you heard back from Windstream yet, from the PM you sent previously? If not, send another PM..they're usually pretty good at follow up. With a 60 year old property, maybe you'll be lucky and they'll discover an ancient bridge tap that can be removed and improve your ATTN.

With the decrease in speed during the more heavily utilized late afternoon/evening times, you may just be hooked into an oversubscribed situation that will call for equipment enhancements/additions by Windstream. Hope that WS gets back to you on this a solves the riddle.
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Just because you are a character doesn't mean that you have character....

Hi Bobec, Yes I have been in communication with Windstream via IM's. They made some changes on their end that seemed to have helped. I was not home yesterday afternoon to check to see if I experienced any peak time slow downs, but I should be able to this afternoon. Thanks again for your assistance.

And here are the results during peak time.

Some current tests.

Your DSL line stats look decent enough for the speed, it doesn't look like a Line issue, probably gonna be a capacity issue especially if its between about 8pm and 12am.

From what we've tested on our side, we see no issues on our network that would be causing any adverse affects. The number you gave us is to a business account. Do you have users constantly utilizing the connection through all hours? Do you know approximately how many users are connecting throughout the day?
-JV
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We're here to help! wci.broadbandhelp@windstream.com

And now it is 6:15pm and DSL is virtually not usable for anything but casual browsing. This really needs to be fixed.

Here is some speed tests from my mothers house @ 9:45 this morning.

Still seeing large drops in speed and high pings during peak times. I have had DSL for over 4 years relatively trouble free until lately and I am told "we see no issues on our network that would be causing any adverse affects". Well, there are 3 neighbors all within a half mile that are having the same issue with slowdowns during peak time. From reading this forum, this seems to be a pretty common issue all over your service areas.

Is this the best service I can get? Other than offering to cut my speed in half for a second time, is there nothing that can be done to improve upon this? How about upgrading / adding some equipment? Hell, I will allow you to put one of your fenced in boxes on a piece of my property that is about 16-17k feet from the one that is dispensing this part-time DSL. I am only asking for what I am paying for. This service that is only working at half or less of what it should is not acceptable.

Please fix this. Thanks.

Your signal has dropped even further in the last day it seems; your downstream SNR is only at 8db at the moment. We've scheduled a field dispatch in order to take a look at the connection to see if the signal can be improved as it can cause problems.

However, as far as latency is concerned, there are still no present issues that we have found on our network. As we've mentioned before, we cannot test the actual path to your connection since there is a router with a firewall blocking ICMP traffic. Removing that would help our testing.

We'll see what the field tech finds in regards to the signal and go from there.
-JV 58519
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We're here to help! wci.broadbandhelp@windstream.com

I have removed the router so you can perform whatever tests you need.

Once again, here is some speed / ping results from right now. My connection used to look like this 24/7. Get it back to this in the evenings and you will not be bothered by me anymore. Thanks.

Night time results.

This morning everything is working like it should.

We've got the signal up to acceptable levels again; margins are 12db down and 25db up and appear to be stable.

Also, is the router still removed? ICMP traffic is still being blocked so if it is, your modem's firewall may be turned on and should be turned off.
-JV
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We're here to help! wci.broadbandhelp@windstream.com

Weekend night time speeds

Another weekend with unusable service. I will have my router disconnected all day tomorrow so Windstream can test whatever you are wanting to test.

2 AM and my connection is back to normal. How can it be anything other than a oversubscribed/capacity issue when the ONLY time I have the problems is when it is during peak hours for internet use? This happens day after day. This cannot be a coincidence.