hello

FYI I have just used the BT test service from 10 homes connected to the Kirkby Lonsdale exchange. These homes have had engineer visits, paid for broadband, and not been able to get any service at all. The BT checker says they can get minimum 1Megabit service. They are between 9 and 11.5km from the exchange. They can’t get a signal and the BT checker is severely flawed. I hope you don’t use this data on your maps. They have tried new iPlates and all sorts of kit, the engineers have tried every trick in the book, but zilch. The BT checker is flawed.

I would expect BT’s checker to be optimistic also. I guess the problem with ISP’s own speed checks is that it is also based on theoretical speeds (distance to the exchange/cabinet). The maps I have created are probably similar in concept to their method and so may produce unrealistic results.

The only way to get *real* data is to report the true speeds, which is why I am so keen to get people creating their own maps and sharing links to them for all to see.

http://broadbandcumbria.com/groups/mapping/forum/topic/google-map-sharing/

As for people with slow speeds, could you try this website http://us.mcafee.com/root/speedometer/test_3000.asp? I think it performs the test before the page itself loads. The result is shown at the bottom of the speed dial, in an unclear font which is a bit annoying.

The data I’d like to see recorded should be the router’s sync speed, line attenuation and Signal to Noise Ratio margin. These figures will give the most accurate indication of current speeds for each area.

It would be unscientific to blame poor speeds on ADSL and copper technology if the fault lies with an ISP trying to save money by oversubscribing their links. Fibre would not solve such problems, and such problems are likely to be exacerbated by fibre.

Nine things can cause slow downloads that should be considered before posting results:

1. Faulty wiring in the home
2. Other load on the link (from the test PC or other PCs on the local network)
3. Poor or incompatible router
4. Incorrect BRAS profile
5. BT’s VP congestion
6. ISP congestion on their BT Centrals
7. ISP Internet Transit congestion
8. Test Web Server congestion and general Internet congestion en-route.

Given enough samples for an area, 1, 2 and 3 should be obvious, as the houses with these faults will show lower than neighbours.

3, 4 and 5 will change with FTTC and 21CN.

6 and 7 is down to ISPs oversubscribing their links (common to any technology, not just copper).

8. Is common to the Internet today, and not related to end user access.

If you are using the BT Speed Tester, note that its primary purpose is to calculate if you are achieving above the minimum speed that is classified as a fault. Therefore, the test is not optimised to give an actual speed, only an above-minimum speed. The server is often overloaded and the speed it reports will be much lower than the speed you will achieve from other sites.

Loading coils can be removed, and the RF2 filter ought to be replaced with an RF3. Does require the engineer to know they’re in place though.

I wouldn’t agree with Thane that the BT speedtester will report “much lower” speeds than other sites, it seems pretty consistent in my experience and compares well with large file downloads.

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