Internet Shennanigans

[306Puggy]

Okay I don't normally do these kinds of topics but everyone else does so sod it. Can someone explain why the internet loads pages but really slowly and sometimes they come out as text and boxes with red crosses in them where images would be instead of behaving itself and loading pages normally. This happens from time to time (started on Friday) but then it goes back to normal so I never really get round to sorting it. I'm with Talk Talk btw, they really have no clue.

[Dum-Dum]

Internet speed slow at peak times? Is it evenings and weekends its bad?

[306Puggy]

Not letting me upload attachments at the moment, which is annoying. Says the page cannot be displayed when I try to add them. Generally slow and shit. Saying a lot of websites cannot be displayed and takes several goes to make them work. Edit: Getting this when I try to upload an attachment:

Can not upload file - Too large for php post_max_size directive. Please press the back button.

[Dum-Dum]

Mine does that when its being really slow, It is just crap internet dude.

[Scott]

You get the error you described initially when your pages do not load fully (most likely due to timeouts) and your browser doesn't fully load a style sheet (which changes colours and organises the layout of tables/text on the page) and also won't load images (the red boxes).

[306Puggy]

Thanks Scott but I've found out what it is now. I have ran a line test (I know, not supposed to) and there is a loud humming on the line. Not sure what it could be. Maybe someone has bugged the phone line? Edit: Upload and download speed are low as well, not from a speed test but in the router setup page it says my downstream speed is 600kbps and the upstream speed is 117 kbps. This isn't the first time, just the first time I have posted it on here It happens occasionally on a weekend, the internet goes really, really poor like 1500 ping and failing to load some websites but not others etc. Really strange. I am on the Talk Talk forum but they can't seem to pinpoint an issue.

[cwspellowe]

You did a line test and heard a loud humming?

What *exactly* did you do?!

Also.. open the command prompt

type

tracert www.yahoo.com

screenshot everything that comes up after that.

[Scott]

Put the cable in his ear apparently

[cwspellowe]

Put the cable in his ear apparently

No really, i have to know what he did

On that basis it's no wonder Talk Talk are being no use if he's phoning them with a cat5 in his ear and an ADSL filter up his arse.

"Hello TalkTalk? Gimme fast intornetz. I haz humming"

[Scott]

His signal to noise ratio must be shit.




I'll get my coat

[cwspellowe]

Lolgasms. Nerdjokes, awaits Fooby to walk into the thread on his chin.

C'mon Puggy. Tell me what you did to test the line that you aren't supposed to do? If it didn't involve a cup, some string and a vibration unit from a Nokia 3210 i'll be disappointed

[Scott]

Nerdjokes, awaits Fooby to walk into the thread on his chin.

Bahaha. Come back tomorrow afternoon for that one.

Really though with those issues he's describing and the terrible ping, there's gotta be noise on the line. Either that, or are you using wifi? Could be getting some chronic packet loss if you're sat too far from the router/modem...

[cwspellowe]

It'll be distance from the exchange/copper quality/MUX hardware like the majority of ADSL issues. If the router diags is showing a low DS/US it's WAN related, not LAN.

Good old "fastest speed we can possibly give you totally unlimited on this rotten 40 year old bit of copper cable" broadband promise.

[306Puggy]

Hi guys. Glad to see I am not the only wannabe BT technician on these forums Just to reiterate, I said I am not supposed to do a line test because I remember last time when I used one of the "facilities" it said it was for authorised users only, but it was the distance from the exchange test that has that message, not the line test.

I carried out the line test with an old BT touch tone phone (well not old, maybe from 2000-ish, digital display) so there was no wireless interference.

I am roughly 2 miles from the exchange.

The internet should be 2meg down, .6 meg up.

It has been fine all week long, just on the weekend when I have time to do some gaming it plays up.

I am connected to the router via Ethernet via Devolo 200meg powerline adapters which have been faultless since I got them, unlike the TP-link shit that I had before that was cutting out every five minutes and I have also tested the connection plugged directly into the router.

This has happened on previous occasions as well, if there is noise on the phone line I am guessing I should complain to BT? I am the "network technician" of the house so I need to sort it as no one else would know where to start.

Edit: This is not urgent and will probably fix itself, I just posted it this time as it has happened several times before and I was bored and wanted something to talk about Just done a speed test, still .6 meg down and .1 meg up but done a ping test on pingtest.net and getting about 50m/s ping? Whereas last night it was about 1500? Two separate issues maybe? Brothers downloading?

Here's the ping test:



Edit 2: most times I get a D or an F, last night it wasn't even completing, yet today (and on other occasions) I get an A, why is the service so blimmin' erratic? Surely the line can't be changing that much!? It is a piece of cable, in the same place, why would it be so inconsistent?

Edit 3: Ran another quiet line test and there is still a buzzing.

This is most confusing!

Edit 4: Ran a speed test for the benefit of the readers and as you can see, still very low speed:

[Scott]

It could well be that the wiring in your house is at fault if you're using powerline adapters.

[cwspellowe]

Inconsistency can be down to quality of the line, internal wiring, adsl filter, a lot of things. A lot of phone lines are exposed to water at some point between you and the exchange, massive cables daisy chain the full two miles and it only takes one dodgy connection or broken bit of insulation to experience noise on the line.

When you did the line test did you use the test port on the master socket? If not, remove the front panel of the master socket and you'll find another socket behind it.

If it still fails the quiet line test, phone BT. If the line is clear at the test port of the master socket you've a fault with internal wiring.

[306Puggy]

Right, just performed a quiet line test with a standard touch tone phone plugged into the master socket, same result. You can even hear it over the dial tone as well, so it's pretty loud.

Tested speed and ping plugged directly into the router with Ethernet cable:





I think it's safe to say the internal home LAN is not the problem. By the way, if anyone needs a reliable connection (rather than WiFi that drops every 5 minutes) I can highly recommend the Devolo 200mbps powerline adapters

[306Puggy]

Right, just had the most useless "conversation" with the BT robotic helper/operator thingy, it's supposed to "run checks" but says it won't be able to if the line is busy. Surely by busy they don't mean that I'm on the phone? They would already know that you would be on the phone from using the service. So by the line being busy I can only assume they are interpreting the humming noise as the line being busy?

Edit: Got through to an agent, line test done, no faults reported. Weirdly, when they phoned me back, the noise quietened down a lot but was still there in the background. Now it's gone back to the normal level of noise. They said the only other thing they could do was send out an engineer but I am not the bill payer so I was unable to agree, even though I am of the firm belief that the fault is with their network.

Well, remember those tests I ran this morning? How's this for comparison, on the same friggin' day of all things!

[Grant]

Feck me I had a faster internet connection on my typewriter!

The original issue you described about boxes and text can indicate somebody else 'piggybacking' your connection. For example, if you have been viewing illegal content or similar, or if your google searches are of interest to the authorities, they will 'look down' your line, and real time view and record what you are doing.