...well, after 11 days Nildram finally take action and have reset my IP profile.  

Thanks for all your help.  8-)  8-)  8-)
 

Glad to hear so now u just have to ask for a refund of fee for 11 useless days.

Quote from: bearGlad to hear so now u just have to ask for a refund of fee for 11 useless days.

I wish... lol

I think Ive spoken too soon.  Speeds have died back down to 400kb/s...

400kbytes per second is absolutely fine on a 4736kbps line. Ive noted the fact that your WAN connection connected 10 minutes after the router was switched on - this might have been the time taken for your configuration (i.e. you inputting username + password, etc.), or a dropped connection. However, your browsing speeds are intriguing...

15kbps on speedtester.bt.com - this would be low enough for even BT to class it as a speed / line fault.
280kbps on speedtester.net - this suggest that youre being throttled.

When Tiscali reset your BRAS profile, did they put it up to 8128? Interleaving on/off? I wouldnt be surprised that it went up high then went back down - this is the system stabilising.

If i was investigating this for the ISP i work for, Id be checking RADIUS logs to see if youre disconnecting and reconnecting (even if you + your router arent aware of it), and turning interleaving on / increasing the size of the interleaving bank.

Your noise margin on your downstream is too low - the noise margin is the difference between the actual SNR and the SNR required to run at a given speed. For example, if you need 20dB of SNR to run at 512Kbps, and the actual line SNR is 45dB, then the SNR Margin is 25dB. [thankyou kitz.co.uk] Hence 1dB on your downstream means that there is virtually no headroom between the noise and the signal. This would likely mean that at times when the noise is bad, it is almost completely blocking out the signal and hence causing silly results like your 15kbps on speedtester.

To correct this, you need to get Tiscali to lower your line profile - consider it as taking one step back to go two steps forward. Id recommend around 4MBps with an interleaving size of 8 to start with. Maybe 16 if 8 doesnt help.

For now, grab some screenies of your noise ratios, and do a speedtester.net run straight away, a few times during the day. Just get both at the same time, then see if the numbers fluctuate together - pointing to the source of the variation in download speeds.




The Bottom Line:
(1) As you have so keenly observed, Tiscali are sh*te. Move elsewhere.
(2) Drop your speed to provide a more stable line and hence allow the line to go at the speed at which it is set at. If this is 3.5MBps, so be it. At least youll get that 24/7, rather than deal with the crap you are doing now.
[Edit: if all the SNR and attenuation gibberish is confusing, take a look at my SNR / attenuation and look at my sync speeds. Then look at yours ]

Mine:

My 5dB noise margin gives my line enough headroom so that small spikes of noise do not affect the connection. Low attenuation = low loss. They are different for up and down because upstream uses the lower frequency part of the spectrum, whereas the downstream uses the higher part. I.E. the noise on my line is mostly in the higher frequencies.

Yours:

The noise margin on your upstream is fine, but 1dB on the downstream is an average - as its slow low, its likely that the noise is spiking into your signal. High attenuation figures = high(ish) loss.

Quote from: MaldonadoThe Bottom Line:
(1) As you have so keenly observed, Tiscali are sh*te. Move elsewhere.

If I was to cancel today, would/could they just leave me hanging until the changeover?

Quote(2) Drop your speed to provide a more stable line and hence allow the line to go at the speed at which it is set at. If this is 3.5MBps, so be it. At least youll get that 24/7, rather than deal with the crap you are doing now.

Can I do that myself?  (My line can do 3.5Mb/s at best).

Quote from: Eagle

Quote from: MaldonadoThe Bottom Line:
(1) As you have so keenly observed, Tiscali are sh*te. Move elsewhere.

If I was to cancel today, would/could they just leave me hanging until the changeover?

Quote(2) Drop your speed to provide a more stable line and hence allow the line to go at the speed at which it is set at. If this is 3.5MBps, so be it. At least youll get that 24/7, rather than deal with the crap you are doing now.

Can I do that myself?

(1) Yes.

(2) No - youd have to call them up

10 days, right?....

Quote from: Maldonado(1) Yes.

I will expand on this little bit.  Tiscali have a history of cutting you off instantly as soon as you request your MAC code.  They can activate you instantly again, but they then tie you back into a 12 month contract.  They get away with it because when they reactivate the line for free you have to agree the contract or not be with them at all.  Ive had multiple customers ring me up who have got their MAC codes from Tiscali who then find their internet no longer works.  Also, remember to cancel your Direct Debit the instant you are no longer live with them.  This has been another complaint ive heard from people.  

I can survive on dial-up for a week.  Im comfortable enough to afford that.

actually @ Maldonado.

Do PlusNet still resell Tiscalis LLU package?   Im moving soonish and might not be able to get BeThere, so im looking for a possible alternative.

Latest from Nildram: "were looking into it but theres not a lot we can do"....

 

Quote from: EagleLatest from Nildram: "were looking into it but theres not a lot we can do"....

 

"Please Sir, Can I have My MAC code?"

Quote from: Beakeractually @ Maldonado.

Do PlusNet still resell Tiscalis LLU package?   Im moving soonish and might not be able to get BeThere, so im looking for a possible alternative.

No. PlusNet are not putting any more customers onto anything other than BTs network right now.

And FYI, theyre not doing Phorm.

Eagle - sign up with PN and you get 0845 access for free

Vote with your wallet as they say.  Will I have access straight away until the changeover??

Quote from: EagleVote with your wallet as they say.  Will I have access straight away until the changeover??

To the 0845? Yes, if you ask for it specifically.

Dont forget that PN do free dial-up accounts anyway...