Couple of Major Issues

[new02user]

Hello people,

I have a couple of problems with my o2 broadband at the momeent and i wonder whether you guys can help.

1. Disconnection problems- My router keeps cutting off every few hours(sometimes more regularly) even though there are no apparent problems on the line. I have had length discussions with o2 about this and the level 2 team have decided to send me out a new router(replacement for my current version iv router).

Without going into too much detail what happens with the router is that all the lights go off apart from the one on the far left which is the power light. The issue is that i will not receive a new router until sometime next week so would it help if i use one of my old routers or should i just wait? The connections keeps dropping and is really annoying me now. Also i did not have any problems for weeks before this.

2. P2P throttling- Very recently, in the last week or so, o2 have started to throttle my p2p downloading to the point it has become ridiculous i cannot download at more than 30 kb/s. Even at non peak times it is the same! Is there a solution, if any to this?

I am on the 100gb pro download package.

Thanks for any assistance...

NB: I am plugged into the test socket, have no extensions and everything is filtered. I have also done a BT quiet line test and there is no noise on the line.

[new02user]

Sorry for the double post but can anyone help?

[Saturday]

If you connection is unstable then there is a line problem. In order of likelihood that's going to be your home wiring, the BT line, your router or the exchange equipment.

It can't hurt to continue to use your old router. I doubt it's the problem but you never know. We'll see if the new one magically resolves things. Let's hope so.

Although O2 like every other ISP has to manage its network/traffic I've never heard of throttling as you describe. I suspect there is some other issue and it's not down to O2.

On the surface, a test socket connection should remove all influence of your home wiring. However, it is not all that unusual for sockets to be incorrectly wired, usually someone messing around with it before you took ownership. Double check by following the BT wiring from outside into the house. Is the master socket really the first connection? Now check the back of the socket. Are there any other wires connected other than the BT drop wires coming in from outside? Is the socket itself damaged?

Next up, is the router well away from any electrical interference, like sitting on top of the TV or next to lighting? Is the router cable running alongside a power cable?

One other thing: at this time of year I've often seen new and sudden problems arising. I can think of at least a dozen instances where the problem has turned out to be newly fitted Christmas lights. They throw out a huge amount of electrical interference. In one case I recall it turned out to be a neighbour who had outside lights strung up next to the BT line and the whole street was affected.

I know you must be feeling frustrated but in my experience over several years, the home environment is usually where the fault originates.

[new02user]

Originally Posted by Saturday

If you connection is unstable then there is a line problem. In order of likelihood that's going to be your home wiring, the BT line, your router or the exchange equipment.

It can't hurt to continue to use your old router. I doubt it's the problem but you never know. We'll see if the new one magically resolves things. Let's hope so.

Although O2 like every other ISP has to manage its network/traffic I've never heard of throttling as you describe. I suspect there is some other issue and it's not down to O2.

On the surface, a test socket connection should remove all influence of your home wiring. However, it is not all that unusual for sockets to be incorrectly wired, usually someone messing around with it before you took ownership. Double check by following the BT wiring from outside into the house. Is the master socket really the first connection? Now check the back of the socket. Are there any other wires connected other than the BT drop wires coming in from outside? Is the socket itself damaged?

Next up, is the router well away from any electrical interference, like sitting on top of the TV or next to lighting? Is the router cable running alongside a power cable?

One other thing: at this time of year I've often seen new and sudden problems arising. I can think of at least a dozen instances where the problem has turned out to be newly fitted Christmas lights. They throw out a huge amount of electrical interference. In one case I recall it turned out to be a neighbour who had outside lights strung up next to the BT line and the whole street was affected.

I know you must be feeling frustrated but in my experience over several years, the home environment is usually where the fault originates.

The home wiring isn't really a problem in my opinion as i am using the test socket.

The BT Line or exchange equipment is all i can think of at the moment but i haven't disconnected for the last 19 hours or so so its fingers crossed although i think the level 2 o2 team have put me on the highest dB profile i think.

Theres no problem with the wiring of the sockets i believe as this is a very recent problem and i've never had the problem and am plugged into the test socket all the time.

What exactly do you mean by 'Is the router cable running alongside a power cable?' im not being funny im just not quite sure what you mean.

As far as the throttling i spoke to O2 about this and they CONFIRMED it. I was told to try p2p downloading after 12am but that doesn't seem to have resolved much. I have check the settings on the clients used for p2p download and tried different clients too and theres no problem as far as any blockage of ports etc and i've never had this problem before.

To confirm i downloaded a torrent with over 40 seeds and only 1 leech and was still only getting a slow download speed of 150-250kbps whereas normally i would get upto 800-900 kbps download atleast. Also downloading from anywhere except peer to peer still gives full speed with no problems whatsoever.

Funnily enough there are quite a few Christmas lights out on my street i wonder whether thats the problem?

[Saturday]

As I said, master sockets sometimes turn out to be messed with - there was a case just a week or so ago here on this forum which took some while to diagnose. I recall one instance where a master socket had been mounted immediately alongside the main fusebox - that took a while to surface too.

All I can say is that over the years I've helped hundreds of people diagnose their problems on this and other forums. Almost always it turns out to be a local wiring problem or local interference. ADSL is very susceptible to em and rf interference. I'm just trying to help you with where to look.

By power cable I mean any cable that is carrying electricity. i.e. don't have your router cable side by side with a power cable and don't have your router sitting on or near a source of em or rf.

As I said before, O2 manage traffic on their network. At worse you should only see a slight degradation. You're describing something much worse than that. The number of seeds and leaches means nothing. I can think of many occasions where I've maxed out my connection with 4 or 5 good seeds and other times where a huge number of seeds only delivers a dribble. That's just how it is and it is not solely down to O2 "throttling" (which they don't do in any event).

[Tony1044]

And of course, if you've swapped routers at some point it might be worthwhile ensuring you're forwarding the torrent ports.

[Undecided adrian]

the new packages that got introduced in September now have taffic shaping where the old legacy products didn't so any p2p traffic on a new package will be shaped and I reckon quite heavily during peak hours.

[new02user]

Got the new router today from o2 its a replacement wireless box iv.

I will let you guys know how it goes. By the way Tony all the ports etcetera are forwarded correctly thats not the problem.

[Tony1044]

Good luck with the new router - let us know how you get on with it.

Am I alone in thinking that O2 seem to be reducing their levels of service lately, or am I just jaded by earlier problems?

[Undecided adrian]

nah I noticed that too, moving back to BT has been like a breath of fresh air.

Pings have dropped again, 12ms to BBC.co.uk and all the stutter I was getting on Lord Of The Rings Online has gone and I am no longer waiting an age to get a webpage loaded.

It was getting so bad that most of November I was unable to eBay as I was having a 30 sec wait on pages.

I suppose you do indeed get what you pay for.