Equipment Support > Hardware By Brand > Westell > Drop in speed

Drop in speed

It is unlikely to be a modem problem. The kind of symptoms you are seeing usually are due to line errors.
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AT&T Uverse; Zyxel NBG334W router (behind the 2wire gateway); openSuSE 11.3; firefox 3.6.13

Thanks for the reply. Thats what I thought, since I had the problem with 2 modems. Contacted Verizon tonight and they said I should receive a reply within 24 hours on whether or not they will send out a tech. I've had this service since '06 and this is the first time I'm having this much trouble, not that I haven't had trouble before. Thanks again.

Ok, Verizon tech just left, heres the scoop. Seems like Verizon has this tool called an "Optimizer" that detects if all your noise and signal numbers are good. If not the the "Optimizer" kicks in and knocks your speed down so that your running optimized for those numbers. This thing kicks in automatically, so even if the tech requests the "Optimizer" to be taken off, theres no guarantee you'll stay at your max speed, which is 768 for me. They're going to see if the can shorten my run to the switching station which would in theory give me better numbers so that the "Optimizer" won't kick in. I've been good for 2 days after the tech comes, so we'll see what happens on Wednesday. Wish me luck.

Well its been a little over a week now and things seem to be OK. The "Optimizer" hasn't kicked in, although I have had slight drops in speed overnight, which could be weather related, lots of snow and rain. When I do get these drops I reboot the modem and I'm good to go, 768. If things get weird I'll let ya's know, but for now alls well.

Well, the "Optimizer" has kicked in as of the fourth, I'm down to the tell-tale 512. Don't have the time to deal with Verizon right now, but as soon as I can they will be hearing from me again.......my 6th week with the same problem. I'll keep ya's posted.

I have CenturyLink DSL and have similar issues. They provisioned me for 3 Mbit and every couple days it would drop below 1. The tech came out twice and finally found "a bad pair" somewhere. He "clipped it" and that fixed my issue.

Hope that helps.

I have also had this happen to me this month!
WTF is going on with verizon, ironically I have also had this 768k dsl service since 2006. I never had speed issues like this though in the past four years, all of a sudden this month I noticed a signifcant drop in speed. Let me explain, okay so I accessed my modem in the past using 192.168.1.1 into my webbrowser and I know in the past on the speed up/down it used to be 768k but now im only recieving 512. my actual download speeds have never been above 89/90kbs but now thanks to the less bandwidth there allocating me i only download at 55kb! im severly pissed, I think verizon is trying to force everyone on there network to upgrade to fios....
I can't afford fios at the momment, I called verizon about this problem to and each time I called I got some lame excuses, one time they said the weather was causing it. then they tried to tell me this speed drop was "natural" ARGH SOMEBODY HELP ME!

reply to Stumped
Again, I have CenturyLink so I'm not sure if this will help...BUT...

I had the tech out the other day. He told me there are two types of technology that their system uses for DSL subscribers. One is called "Interleave" and I don't remember the name of the other.

Basically, he described interleave as a way for their equipment to determine the best speed for you. It will start out high, but if it sees problems, then it will drop down.

My real-world example is that I asked them to provision my line for 10 Mbit (knowing that I couldn't really get 10). They did and (after a few hiccups) I am connected at 8.2 Mbit. So mine probably tried connecting at 10, and when it had problems, interleave automatically bumped it down until it found an acceptable ratio between speed & no errors.

This sounds like what could be happening to you guys.

Heres what I've gleaned after 8 weeks of this nonsense. Verizon has this "Optimization Tool", its some sort of software, that can detect a discrepancy in line values. If it detects these discrepancies it drops you down in speed to maintain your connection. Your 512Kbits reading is a dead giveaway, thats what the tech who came out told me. Unfortunately, the "Optimizer" will not bump you back up to your normal speed if these line values improve. I'm waiting for my 4th tech to come out, call who he calls, and gets this thing up and running again right. Apparently theres some kind of problem on my line thats causing this and until they find and fix it I'll be calling again when my speed drops, and it will in about 48 hours after they fix it. When I'm running correctly I get 864/160, right now I'm at the telltale 512/160.

Your "Optimizer" sounds just like my "Interleave."

reply to jester805

reply to Stumped
well I'm gonna give verizon a call today, after learning about your problem it gives me a little bit clearer perspective about this.
It also dawned on me that, we had a really BAD winter this year and I do recall hearing a lot of static on the phone line. I have had to get my line replaced previously about 2 years ago. sounds like it's time to do it again, so this optimizer is the big problem though....
GOOD LUCK to you "Stumped"
I will also post my results on here after tech comes out.

Tech showed up this morning, luckily it was the same tech who first diagnosed my "Optimizer" problem. Again he calls who he calls and the "Optimizer" is reset. I'm getting 864/160. Now if only this "Optimizer" could be disabled on my line I'd be good to go, and so would Verizon, since it will be saving everyone time, and you know time is money.
We'll see how long it lasts.

lol well I had to call verizon four times! Just to find some operator who actually could diagnose there was a real problem with my dsl...
man they finally agreed to send someone, the tech will be arriving Tuesday...
ill keep yall informed of the results
later

I know the feeling. Every time I call Verizon I allocate at least one hour to get someone to acknowledge that there is a problem, and a continuing one at that. Keep at it, some times the squeaky wheel gets some grease. Good luck!

well the tech just left, and I have a mixed feeling.
I have to kinda laugh though because he actually admitted that this new optimization software is a bad idea, it's causing a lot of problems. I'm a little confused though because he said they couldn't turn it off today, he said that they will reset the dsl/optimizer within next 72 hours and the speeds should go back. Well now we play the waiting game again...

I've had the same response from techs saying the software is a bad idea and causing a lot of problems. I've also been told that when the tech calls who he calls to turn off the "Optimizer" it's always reset, but not always turned off. It all depends on who the tech talks to, some of them will will turn it off, others wont, for whatever reason. All I can say is, if you continue to have problems, keep calling. You just may get someone out and they call the right person to get this thing turned off permanently.

Now its been just about a week since the tech was here and all seems to be well. I'm holding steady at 864/160. What I have been doing though is re setting my modem every night. Not really sure if this is helping me keep a good connection, but this is the longest that I've had a good connection since this problem started back in January. So if that is what it takes to keep a steady connection, so be it. If my symptoms return I'll be back on the phone hoping to get a tech out who can get in touch with a tech who can turn this "Optimizer" off once and for all.....keep your fingers crossed.

speed is back to 864/160!
i'll never take this speed for granted again, lol
now let's just hope it stays that way...

reply to Stumped
Have you ever received a good fix to this problem? I have similar issues and it is so time consuming to call Verizon in India or the Philipppines and to get no where. They make a ticket then cancel it because their "tests" show the issue has been resolved when it has not been. It's been over three years and still no permant solution. As soon as it gets hot outside, my internet goes off and when it comes back on, no speed. Does anyone have a way to get around this nonsense with Verizon? If we had another internet provider in my area, I would jump on it.