masonfoley
join:2004-06-01
Kennesaw, GA
1 edit |  [Speed Problem] [UPDATE] Xtreme only 33% of advertised rate
I ordered an upgrade from 3.0 to 6.0 about 2 months ago. Their ordering/invoice information was very confusing however after an hour on the phone with Bellsouth, it was determined that the order would be fulfilled by February of 2007.
Cut to about two weeks ago and I noticed that my internet connection went down and I noticed behavior that made me think my modem had reset. On a whim, after everything seemed to be back up and running, I ran a speed test. Sure enough, I was seeing 4.0 Mbps after running a solid 3.0 Mbps for several years. And I will say that Bellsouth DSL has been rock solid for me and I've had the service for over 6 years in two different places.
So it would appear they were able to throw the switch well ahead of the scheduled ETA of 02/07 however, as you can see, I'm only getting about 33% of the advertised speed. I also verified this month that we are being billed for the DSL Xtreme package. Now, onto the research. I am currently connected directly via a Westell modem and I have gathered the information as recommended by the FAQs. Here are the results:
CURRENT MODEM STATUS
DSL Modem Status....... Up
PPP Session Status...... Up
Connection Type......... PPPoE
Time set from............. Network
Time since last boot.... 0 days, 0 hrs: 4 mins: 54 secs
Time last modem selftest.. SUN DEC 31 10:58:46 2006
Time last modem result.... PASS
EVENTS
**********************************************************************
Events are listed starting from the most recent. **********************************************************************
SUN DEC 31 16:02:56 2006 DIAGNOSTIC TEST RESULTS DSL: Up PPPoE: Session up PPP: Connection up
SUN DEC 31 16:02:54 2006 DIAGNOSTIC TEST RESULTS DSL: Up PPPoE: Session up PPP: Connection up
SUN DEC 31 16:02:54 2006 Setting System clock to Network time SUN DEC 31 16:02:54 2006
SUN DEC 31 16:02:48 2006 PPP CONNECTED on VPI 8 VCI 35
SUN DEC 31 16:02:48 2006 Connecting session(0): Auto Registration due to dsl Restart
SUN DEC 31 16:02:44 2006 ModemSelfTest: Passed
SUN DEC 31 16:02:44 2006 Disconnecting session(0): Auto Registration due to PADT received
SUN DEC 31 16:02:44 2006 PPP DISCONNECTED on VPI 8 VCI 35 : PPP commanded down
SUN DEC 31 16:02:44 2006 Disconnecting session(0): Auto Registration due to Restart Command
SUN DEC 31 16:02:24 2006 DNS: Unknown host: 'base.launchmodem.com'
SUN DEC 31 16:02:21 2006 DNS: Unknown host: 'base.launchmodem.com'
SUN DEC 31 16:01:11 2006 DNS: Unknown host: 'base.launchmodem.com'
SUN DEC 31 16:01:08 2006 DNS: Unknown host: 'base.launchmodem.com'
SUN DEC 31 16:00:20 2006 DNS: Unknown host: 'base.launchmodem.com'
SUN DEC 31 16:00:19 2006 DNS: Unknown host: 'base.launchmodem.com'
SUN DEC 31 16:00:19 2006 DNS: Unknown host: 'base.launchmodem.com'
SUN DEC 31 16:00:17 2006 DNS: Unknown host: 'base.launchmodem.com'
SUN DEC 31 16:00:17 2006 Setting System clock to Network time SUN DEC 31 16:00:17 2006
SUN DEC 31 16:00:12 2006 PPP CONNECTED on VPI 8 VCI 35
SUN DEC 31 16:00:12 2006 Connecting session(0): Auto Registration due to dsl Restart
SUN DEC 31 15:59:56 2006 US Atten: not defined DS Atten: 31.5
SUN DEC 31 15:59:56 2006 US Margin: not defined DS Margin: 13.0
SUN DEC 31 15:59:56 2006 US Tx Power: not defined DS Tx Power: not defined
SUN DEC 31 15:59:56 2006 US DSL Rate: 384 kbits/sec DS DSL Rate: 5024 kbits/sec
SUN DEC 31 15:59:56 2006 WanMgr reports DSL is UP
SUN DEC 31 15:59:44 2006 Model Number: B90-220030-04
SUN DEC 31 15:59:44 2006 Software Version: VER:01.06.57
SUN DEC 31 15:59:44 2006 Product: WireSpeed Dual Connect Model: NAT Combo
SUN DEC 31 15:59:44 2006 Ethernet A is up : 100 MBps and FULL duplex. I've also run through the tweak FAQs and determined that the MTU that doesn't defragment was 1465 (instead of the recommended 1492) I've tried two different RWIN settings and I have reset it back to 63888.
I am located in a 6 year old subdivision in Kennesaw, GA (suburb of Atlanta) off of Jiles Road.
After performing these initial troubleshooting steps, what would the expertise here recommend that I do next? |
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masonfoley
join:2004-06-01
Kennesaw, GA
| Re: [Speed Problem] Xtreme speeds only 33% of advertised rate
One thing that I noticed is that the Westell modem I have seems to be "unsupported". Another interesting thing to note is that the firmware version that I have is 01.06.57. The version number available via the "Update from Server" page on the modem is 01.06.33. When navigating to »www.fastaccess.drivers.bellsouth.net/, the modem I have isn't even listed.
Based on this info, does anyone here recommend that I request and upgrade of the modem (say to a 6100) from Bellsouth? Is that a nagging process or is that pretty smooth? Would it even help?
I also thought that I would post the URL to the Tweak results page here at DSLReports.
»/tweakr/block:···terpppoe |
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masonfoley
join:2004-06-01
Kennesaw, GA | Regarding the modem question, I found the answer in the FAQs. |
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masonfoley
join:2004-06-01
Kennesaw, GA
| reply to masonfoley
Update
I was on the phone with a Bellsouth Tech for an hour and a half and here are the results...interesting in that I'm not terribly certain what has actually been done with my line.
Initially, she reviewed my account and verified differently than my understanding was. I was still being billed for 3.0, not 6.0. RJ44 PM'ed me earlier and he suggested this was the case and he would be right. I also found out that I've been getting overbilled to the tune of $17.00 more than I should be. As she understands the plan/package, I should be getting charged $37.95...not $54.95. What are other 3.0 folks seeing on their bills? Neither one of us has an itemized listing of how these charges break down. She suspected that I was getting billed for an extra mailbox (there are a total of 3 on this account - supposed to have up to 8 w/o being billed extra) and possibly a static IP charge. It was my understanding that static IP comes with the 3.0 and 6.0 Xtreme packages. Again, I won't know the details until I can get a hold of billing on Jan 2nd.
In any event, I asked her if she could explain the slight bump in speed (and yes, RJ44, you are correct 4.0 of 6.0 is closer to 66%, not 33%. The 33% I was suggesting was the amount between 3.0 and 6.0 that I was getting which was ~4.0 mbps.) The tech explained that the minimum threshhold for 6.0 service is 4.8 mpbs with a maximum of 5.5. She stated that the provisioning would not be completed until February of 2007 but she was nice enough to get a line engineer to check into the line and after a long bit of hold time, she asked me to resync and my speed averaged right at the 4.8 minimum acceptable. She continued with the line engineer to see if it wasn't possible to boost it further and sure enough, there were several results that averaged between 5.1 and 5.3.
I feel however, I may have messed up a good thing as now the speeds vary wildly between 700kbps to 4.8 mbps. It seems, my ignorance of the technical aspects of the hardware and the service prevents me from knowing for sure, but it seems as though the speed degrades over time after a reset of the modem. Based on what I've been reading, I think this is the modem "adjusting" over time for it's maximum speed that it thinks is stable. The fact that my DS Margin dropped from 13.0 to 6.0 tells me that this line is being pushed to the edge which results in erratic performance.
So it seems as though my service is in the in-between state where they went ahead and "upgraded" the service/provisioning however she explained to me that we shouldn't expect 6.0 speeds until the area is fully upgraded in Feb of 2007.
I also requested I be sent the 6100 modem since the 2200 Westell is no longer under warranty even though it supports the 6.0 Xtreme package. I don't suspect this erratic performance I am seeing will improve with the new modem.
My question is, should I call them back and ask them to "back out" the changes that they made? I'd rather have the stable 4.0 mbps speeds than this all over the map stuff I'm seeing now. (I'm entering in values in a spreadsheet of various speed tests every several minutes to see if any trends can be gleaned from it and I may post them later if anyone thinks that would help troubleshoot).
Based on what I've explained here, is there any sense from the experts as to what exactly the line engineer did?
What would you all recommend? |
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Pashune
Inhaling at 675 KB per sec.
Premium
join:2006-04-14
Gautier, MS | Trying out the 6100 is definitely something that might help you in your situation, since it's ADSL 2+ capable, it'll extend the outreach of Extreme 6.0 a bit more, thus improving your SNR. Worth a try. |
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dougharding
Premium
join:2006-12-25
Miami, FL
1 edit | reply to masonfoley
6100 modem made a big difference for me
I just upgraded to 6.0 from 3.0 last week. The old 2200 modem only gave me 4.9mb speed. When the new 6100 modem arrived 2 days later it locked in at 6.4mb. The new 6100 made a huge difference for me. I have had no drops or change in speed with the 6100. After the upgrade the 2200 was dropping all the time. |
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karthwyne
join:2003-04-27
Atlanta, GA
 ·AT&T Southeast
| reply to masonfoley
Re: [Speed Problem] Xtreme speeds only 33% of advertised rate
the big thing to notice is that your upload is still 384 (as of your first post), so the upgrade has not taken place.
i don't know what it is now, or what they did, but i would suspect that you were on a profile that was doing something along the lines of max sync, and they have changed it to a 6M or other profile. i would be curious as to what the crc errors look like.
why you were getting speed tests of greater than 3M show that the traffic shaping wasn't working quite right. |
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