Speed dropped from 10.6 Mbps to 8 Mbps

[kratos316]

We upgraded our high speed internet and we're getting around 10.6 Mbps last September and been great until a couple of weeks ago it declined to 8 Mbps and it's still at that speed.

[smith6612]

Your line may have been "optimized" or has lost sync. Would you be able to provide some Transceiver Statistics for us? If you are not sure how to do this, please let us know the make and model of your modem.

[kratos316]

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@Smith6612 wrote:

Your line may have been "optimized" or has lost sync. Would you be able to provide some Transceiver Statistics for us? If you are not sure how to do this, please let us know the make and model of your modem.

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Thanks for reply, it's a Westell modem and model 327W.

[smith6612]

Please visit this page: http://192.168.1.1/htmlV/transtat.asp . If you need a username and password to use, try the following:

admin/password

admin/paasword1

admin/admin

admin/admin1

admin/verizon

admin/verizon1

[kratos316]

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@Smith6612 wrote:

Please visit this page: http://192.168.1.1/htmlV/transtat.asp . If you need a username and password to use, try the following:

admin/password

admin/paasword1

admin/admin

admin/admin1

admin/verizon

admin/verizon1

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I get a 404 not found error with the word dianostic when I click the link.

Edit: I googled how to get transtats, here they are:

Transceiver Statistics

Transceiver Revision:	7.2.3.0
Vendor ID Code:	4
Line Mode:	ADSL2+ Mode
Data Path:	Interleaved
Transceiver Information	Downstream Path	Upstream Path
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec)	10076	1006
Margin (dB)	11.5	9.0
Line Attenuation (dB)	35.0	18.5
Transmit Power (dBm)	19.4	11.9

[smith6612]

Thanks. I just realized I gave you the URL for the newer Gateways such as the Westell 7500. 

It looks like your speed has dropped due to the line statistics. Your noise margins are okay, but not the best. If you're able to improve your noise margin, the speeds should increase.

To start, make sure you have a Homerun installed. This is a dedicated connection between the demarc for your home, and your modem. The homerun features a DSL splitter, usually installed by Verizon (although you can fashion up your own too) which will filter the telephones in your home for DSL service but leave one remaining wire pair unfiltered for DSL. This helps to eliminate any degredation that occurs with the DSL signal in your home's wiring, and from potentially troublesome or poor grade phone devices connected to the line that will weaken DSL. Verizon can install one if you ask them.

Next, if you feel adventerous and risky, you can ask Verizon to stop by to make sure your line is conditioned properly. Sometimes, lines have extra wiring on them (such as Bridge Taps) out at the poles that can degrade DSL service. Lines are supposed to be conditioned when DSL service is connected by removing extra wiring. In some cases, this doesn't happen as the amount of wire is often small enough to where it shouldn't be a problem. Normally Verizon won't roll a tech for these and would rather just turn your speed down to 7.1Mbps or 3Mbps, but if you get the right person they can get the ball rolling.

Finally, since the Westell 327w is a bit on the older side, you *might* have better experience with another modem, although I've found that the older modems tend to tolerate marginal DSL signals a bit better. You could do a mix 'n match to see which modem gives you better performance.

[pjsutton]

Also, the best speed you'll usually see with a sync is ~85% of the sync speed. 85% of 10076 = 8564 kbps / 1024 = about 8.36 Mbps. So, a speed test of around 8 Mbps is about right for what you're syncing at.

You probably were at a higher sync speed, like Smith said, but decreased due to line conditions.

Also, be glad you get such a high speed! Verizon caps many people at 3 Mbps for no *legitimate* reason.

[kratos316]

Do you think a thunderstorm could have something to do with it? I kinda remember it decreasing after getting through a big storm. The internet light on the modem kept turning off and coming back on, that's when I noticed it decreased big time to 8 Mbps and stayed there ever since.

[pjsutton]

Possibly, the storm could have flooded a cable and made it damp (if it was already damaged), or perhaps caused a tree/branch to fall on a line somewhere, damage it, and allow water to get in. Or perhaps a lightning strike.

If it's the classic case of the "optimizer" it may have been caused by the storm. The optimizer keeps track of the line states and tries to keep a good balance of stability vs. speed. When your SNR value drops into the single digits and below 6, stability of the line becomes an issue. The optimizer can sense this, and drops the speed to raise the SNR (they are inversely related).

So, perhaps the storm somehow caused some interference on the line, totally knocked the signal out of whack, and as a result it bumped your speed down to correct it.

I sense this is probably what happened, especially since your SNR (what they call "margin") is only 11.5.

So, anyway, I would suggest waiting a bit. If the optimizer realizes the speed can go higher and the line has been stable, it should eventually bump you back up.

Do you know what your sync speed used to be to get speed tests of 10.6?

[kratos316]

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@pjsutton wrote:
Possibly, the storm could have flooded a cable and made it damp (if it was already damaged), or perhaps caused a tree/branch to fall on a line somewhere, damage it, and allow water to get in. Or perhaps a lightning strike.

If it's the classic case of the "optimizer" it may have been caused by the storm. The optimizer keeps track of the line states and tries to keep a good balance of stability vs. speed. When your SNR value drops into the single digits and below 6, stability of the line becomes an issue. The optimizer can sense this, and drops the speed to raise the SNR (they are inversely related).

So, perhaps the storm somehow caused some interference on the line, totally knocked the signal out of whack, and as a result it bumped your speed down to correct it.

I sense this is probably what happened, especially since your SNR (what they call "margin") is only 11.5.

So, anyway, I would suggest waiting a bit. If the optimizer realizes the speed can go higher and the line has been stable, it should eventually bump you back up.

Do you know what your sync speed used to be to get speed tests of 10.6?

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No, can't recall. Guess I'll wait and see, I think you may be right because when I do speed tests, sometimes it's like 8.7 or 8.8 and sometimes it's lower at 8.3.