Degraded, inconsistent download speed – again

Posted on April 17, 2010 by Worth Matravers

The problem of degraded, inconsistent download speed has returned. My download speed is currently fluctuating minute-by-minute, second-by-second – there’s no consistency whatsoever (for the last couple of hours throughput has rarely been higher than 2.5 Mbps on my 7 Mbps line, and ping times are inconsistent again). I’ve had enough. I’m probably going to switch to an ISP that has a better record of dealing with BT’s BS. It will cost more per month but I’m willing to accept that if it means a more consistent broadband connection.

If you’re having similar problems please complain to your ISP.

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Loss of Service in Weymouth

Posted on April 5, 2010 by David

There is currently an Major Service Outage (MSO) in Weymouth, which is affecting 01305 area codes. This doesn’t appear to be causing any problems within the Purbeck Area, but we are still seeing fluctuating speed-results when running tests via our ISP’s.

WEYMOUTH MSAN 302 : LOSS OF SERVICE
Update Number 1
Detected 05/04/2010 13:05
Started 05/04/2010 13:00
Anticipated Clear Time: 05/04/2010 15:00
Area Codes: 01305

If you are experiencing any problems and decide to contact your own ISP, then it may be worth mentioning the problem(s) in Weymouth.

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Degraded service/packet loss/websites not loading

Posted on April 4, 2010 by Worth Matravers

I’m currently seeing almost 100% packet loss to some websites while others seem to load perfectly (like Purbeck Broadband). Sites that aren’t loading include Twitter (pinged: 85% packet loss, site not loading), Facebook and the New York Times (pinged: 100% packet loss, site not loading). Anyone else having problems accessing certain websites? There was a similar issue a couple of days ago – it affected both Worth and Corfe but fixed itself after 30 minutes or so.

I’ve also been having the usual problems with wildly fluctuating download speeds most of the Easter weekend.

Update 9:25 p.m.: Still no improvement – I cannot access a number of websites because of severe packet loss. My download speed has also nosedived in the last 20 minutes. I suspect this issue is affecting other households but it’s difficult to get any confirmation at this time on a Bank Holiday.

Update 10:38 p.m.: I hope I’m not tempting fate, but things seem to have returned to “normal”. It’s doubtful we’ll get to know what caused this latest issue – it wouldn’t surprise me if it was related to the problems we’ve been having in this area for the last several months. Download speed remains inconsistent.

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No Service in Corfe Castle and Worth Matravers

Posted on April 1, 2010 by David

As of 11.30 am (1st April 2010) there appears to be a problem with broadband in the Corfe Castle and Worth Matravers area.

We are awaiting a response from our ISP and will update this post with any news/info.

Unfortunately, this is not an April Fools, and we would be interested to know if anybody else is having similar problems (please leave comment below).

Note: if you are having problems, please report it to your own ISP so that the problem will ‘hopefully’ be fixed ASAP.

Update – 12.33 pm Service has returned to normal (whatever that means). There is no explanation yet, hopefully our ISP will be able to inform us of the reason.

Update – 13.05 pm BT acknowledged a fault in the Corfe Castle area, but were unclear as what was causing the problem!

Update – 13.31 pm BT have said there is an Internet problem in the Dorset Area affecting 01929 and 01305 dialling codes:

Dialling codes affected: 01929, 01305
Estimated time to resolve: 2hrs
We are aware of a temporary problem in the Dorset area that may be causing some users difficulties accessing the Internet. Our engineers are working to resolve this problem and we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Update – 14.37 pm – Looks like the fault has been fixed, but latest update suggests it affected most of south Dorset – area codes affected: 0130, 01300, 01305, 01308, 01929!

Update – 16.30 pm – BT have said this mornings outage was due to a “power issue” in the Salisbury area (see comments below for details).

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Degraded, inconsistent download speed becoming the norm

Posted on March 30, 2010 by Worth Matravers

It seems that degraded, inconsistent download speed is becoming the norm again. Before this week things seemed to have improved with longer periods of consistently fast service, but since Saturday there’s been a decline in the quality of my connection. Download speed is fluctuating wildly minute-by-minute, second-by-second – there’s no consistency whatsoever (for the last couple of hours throughput has been yo-yoing between 1 and 5.5 Mbps, sometimes in the space of 15 seconds). It’s completely unacceptable.

If you’re having similar problems please complain to your ISP – and please let us know by leaving a comment. We need to draw as much attention as possible to this issue so that BT make an effort to find and fix whatever’s causing it.

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Low download speed – again

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Worth Matravers

Download speed in Worth Matravers is low and inconsistent again today, Monday. As I type it is less than a third its normal level. It has been fluctuating wildly all morning (throughput is yo-yoing). Ping times are also very inconsistent (pings to bbc.co.uk are between 17-160ms). I had similar problems on Saturday.

Five months have passed since this issue first appeared. There have been several Major Service Outages (MSOs) in that time but no overall improvement in the reliability of broadband in Purbeck. It’s incredibly frustrating.

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Degraded service reported in Swanage/Inconsistent speed in Worth Matravers

Posted on March 24, 2010 by Worth Matravers

BT have issued a Major Service Outage (MSO) for the Swanage exchange (degraded service) – anticipated clear time is 16:36.

Download speed in Worth Matravers is inconsistent at this time. I’m also seeing inconsistent ping times and occasional packet loss. Hopefully it is related to the Swanage MSO. Monday and Tuesday were much better.

Update 17:15: Download speed (6.7 Mbps) and ping times seem to have returned to normal (in Worth), though past experience suggests they could deteriorate again at any time.

The Swanage MSO anticipated clear time is now 19:30.

Thanks for the update, Andy.

Update 22:50: As expected, download speed has become inconsistent again – currently about half usual. Occasional longer ping times too. Still hoping it’s related to the Swanage MSO, which is still ongoing (next anticipated clear time is 23:30).

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Low, inconsistent download speed in Worth Matravers Sunday

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Worth Matravers

Download speed had been more consistent this week but today it is all over the place again. Tests are returning anything from 1 to 4.5 Mbps – averaging about 2. Throughput is yo-yoing. I’m also still experiencing the CHAP authentication errors – I have to click ‘Connect’ in my router’s interface numerous times before I get an IP address.

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Slowness reported in Swanage?

Posted on March 19, 2010 by David

There are a few reports today of broadband slowness in the Swanage area. There are not enough reports to say there is definitely a problem, but if you are experiencing problems, please let us know.

Update: 14:32 – sounds like Upload Speeds are affected in Swanage – can anybody else confirm this?

Posted in Broadband | Tagged | 5 Comments

Fluctuating Broadband Speeds in Corfe (again)

Posted on March 16, 2010 by David

My broadband speed here in Corfe Castle has been relatively good since last week’s problems (on the 12th March), but this afternoon it has been going up and down like a yo-yo!

I’m fortunate enough to live about half a mile from the exchange and usually have a good connection of 6+ Mbps, but this afternoon speed is fluctuating from 1 Mbps to 4.5 Mbps.

I have also noticed that when I reboot (restart) my router there are a number of “CHAP authentication failed” errors. I’m not sure if this is related, but it would be interesting to know if other users in the Purbeck area are experiencing similar problems.

If anybody else is having similar problems, please leave a comment or contact us via our contact page.

Posted in Broadband | Tagged | 2 Comments