Question Router halves the download speed

[Pau91]

Greetings everyone, I humbly ask for help about my internet speed.

My router (TP-Link TD-W8960N ) halves the download speed after max 1 day from its reset.
By "reset" I mean that once in a couple months my connection goes completely away (router lights flashing at all), so I sistematically call my Internet Provider to lay their magical hands on it and solve the problem. It takes them about 24 hours to reset it. Be cabled or wireless, from PC's or smartphones, my download speed is a nice and constant 4.5 Mbps in the following few hours (up to a day) after the fix, but the following day it always recedes to 1.8-2.2 Mbps.

So, I know my internet speed could be better, I just can't find why the router is doing that. Considering that I'm living with other people, 200kBps is not nearly enough for more than 1 person to use it at any given time.

What I've being told:
After a large-enough number of phone calls to my IP, I've been given the following answers.
60% of the answers -- It's because of the bad hardware (telephone cables) that bring the connection from the central to my home, as I live in the countryside (it really doesn't make sense with my observations)
35% of the answers -- It's because of my third-party router which doesn't interface at best with their hardware or software (they are trying to sell me their own router)
one-time answer -- My router is not properly configured
one-time answer -- The IP admitted that they "overbook" their contracts above the central's capacity, and that they cut down our speeds to guarantee internet to everyone

What I've tried:

• Reconfiguring the router countless times. It doesn't make any difference.
• Upgrading its drivers, they are the same for many years now.
• Changing the telephone wallplug from which the router is attached to. It made a difference once, bringing the holy 4.5 Mbps, but a day later it receded to 2.2 Mbps. Changing the wallplug back to the usual one didn't make any difference.
• Using different configurations of the position of the ADSL filter. At the moment, the only one I found working is with the filter between the cabled telephone and the wallplug. The other wallplug on which the router is connected also has a fax plugged on top (in a tower-like junction).

Also, the upload is abysmal, 0.30Mbps (37 kiLoByTePeRsEcOnD!) , I had troubles with deadlines because of that.

Given ther increasing trend of the data needed to do anything on the internet, I find this situation not sustainable for any future. I ask you for help.

Thank you in advance.

 

[nigelivey]

Sadly the answer that is probably correct is the line is contended and during certain periods you will have reduced speeds (Its pretty poor to start with) Unfortunately without substantial investment from your ISP its unlikely to improve.

 

[Ralston18]

Do you have the User Manual for your router?

If not, I found the following website:

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/621817/Tp-Link-Td-W8960n.html?page=8#manual

Per the Table of Contents, the router has a System log ( Reference: Page 80.)

Verify that your router does have logs and that the logs are enabled.

There may be some useful troubleshooting information within the logs.

 

[Pau91]

I've enabled the log, and it only displays a single event from the 1st of January. I'm also pasting the same table since I suppose the images will be deleted from the website that allowed me to upload them.






�

Date/Time	Facility	Severity	Message
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	crit	kernel: eth1 Link UP 100 mbps full duplex
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	crit	kernel: Line 0: xDSL G.994 training
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	crit	kernel: Line 0: ADSL G.992 started
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	crit	kernel: Line 0: ADSL G.992 channel analysis
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	crit	kernel: Line 0: ADSL link down
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	crit	kernel: Line 0: xDSL G.994 training
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	crit	kernel: Line 0: ADSL G.992 started
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	crit	kernel: Line 0: ADSL G.992 channel analysis
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	crit	kernel: Line 0: ADSL G.992 message exchange
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	crit	kernel: Line 0: ADSL link up, Bearer 0, us=478, ds=2480
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	alert	kernel: Intrusion -> IN=pppoa0 OUT= MAC= SRC=92.118.160.9 DST=79.41.215.187 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=242 ID=54321 PROTO=TCP SPT=55068 DPT=21 WINDOW=65535 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 MARK=0x8000000
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	alert	kernel: Intrusion -> IN=pppoa0 OUT= MAC= SRC=178.73.215.171 DST=79.41.215.187 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=241 ID=54321 PROTO=TCP SPT=41743 DPT=443 WINDOW=65535 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 MARK=0x8000000
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	alert	kernel: Intrusion -> IN=pppoa0 OUT= MAC= SRC=94.90.208.61 DST=79.41.215.187 LEN=40 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=56 ID=13401 PROTO=TCP SPT=52438 DPT=23 WINDOW=56516 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 MARK=0x8000000
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	alert	kernel: Intrusion -> IN=pppoa0 OUT= MAC= SRC=79.41.81.38 DST=79.41.215.187 LEN=40 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=252 ID=30148 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=47383 DPT=8291 WINDOW=14600 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 MARK=0x8000000
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	alert	kernel: Intrusion -> IN=pppoa0 OUT= MAC= SRC=79.41.105.25 DST=79.41.215.187 LEN=40 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=246 ID=184 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=55261 DPT=7547 WINDOW=14600 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 MARK=0x8000000
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	alert	kernel: Intrusion -> IN=pppoa0 OUT= MAC= SRC=46.161.27.81 DST=79.41.215.187 LEN=40 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=247 ID=41204 PROTO=TCP SPT=49794 DPT=7759 WINDOW=1024 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 MARK=0x8000000
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	alert	kernel: Intrusion -> IN=pppoa0 OUT= MAC= SRC=79.41.108.27 DST=79.41.215.187 LEN=40 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=246 ID=14035 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=7081 DPT=7547 WINDOW=14600 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 MARK=0x8000000
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	alert	kernel: Intrusion -> IN=pppoa0 OUT= MAC= SRC=46.161.27.81 DST=79.41.215.187 LEN=40 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=247 ID=16609 PROTO=TCP SPT=49794 DPT=39421 WINDOW=1024 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 MARK=0x8000000
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	alert	kernel: Intrusion -> IN=pppoa0 OUT= MAC= SRC=46.161.27.81 DST=79.41.215.187 LEN=40 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=247 ID=48683 PROTO=TCP SPT=49794 DPT=52596 WINDOW=1024 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 MARK=0x8000000
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	alert	kernel: Intrusion -> IN=pppoa0 OUT= MAC= SRC=103.206.170.33 DST=79.41.215.187 LEN=40 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=239 ID=16925 PROTO=TCP SPT=48979 DPT=445 WINDOW=1024 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 MARK=0x8000000
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	alert	kernel: Intrusion -> IN=pppoa0 OUT= MAC= SRC=79.41.81.38 DST=79.41.215.187 LEN=40 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=252 ID=16153 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=19714 DPT=8291 WINDOW=14600 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 MARK=0x8000000
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	alert	kernel: Intrusion -> IN=pppoa0 OUT= MAC= SRC=117.222.158.64 DST=79.41.215.187 LEN=48 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=108 ID=2745 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=49267 DPT=5900 WINDOW=8192 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 MARK=0x8000000
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	alert	kernel: Intrusion -> IN=pppoa0 OUT= MAC= SRC=185.211.245.168 DST=79.41.215.187 LEN=40 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=244 ID=20507 PROTO=TCP SPT=59651 DPT=6108 WINDOW=1024 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 MARK=0x8000000
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	alert	kernel: Intrusion -> IN=pppoa0 OUT= MAC= SRC=84.95.209.172 DST=79.41.215.187 LEN=44 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=51 ID=41232 PROTO=TCP SPT=36960 DPT=5555 WINDOW=45355 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 MARK=0x8000000
Jan 1 01:51:00	daemon	alert	kernel: Intrusion -> IN=pppoa0 OUT= MAC= SRC=46.161.27.81 DST=79.41.215.187 LEN=40 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=247 ID=60005 PROTO=TCP SPT=49794 DPT=40228 WINDOW=1024 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 MARK=0x8000000

​

 

[Pau91]

I'm now thinking that the date might not be accurate, and practically mean "1h 51min after the reset", which would be consistent with the band choking I experience some hours after the resets.
The last time it happened though (yesterday), the 4.5 Mbps lasted for surely more than two hours.

 

[Pau91]

Anyone? Please.

 

[Pau91]

kernel: Line 0: ADSL link up, Bearer 0, us=478, ds=2480

"ds" stands for download speed right? Is it a diagnostic or a set limitation?
If the latter is true, who set it that way and how can I remove this limitation?

 

[nigelivey]

kernel: Line 0: ADSL link up, Bearer 0, us=478, ds=2480

"ds" stands for download speed right? Is it a diagnostic or a set limitation?
If the latter is true, who set it that way and how can I remove this limitation?

This is the detected line speed, it might be running at full line speed or a limiter is set by your ISP, this will not be set on your modem.

 

[Pau91]

Can anyone spot any anomaly in the system log i pasted in a post above?

 

[Pau91]

bump

 

[bill001g]

I have no idea what the alerts are but your are correct in how you read the speeds. A DSL system will negotiate the speed with the equipment on the far end. Most times you get slightly lower than these number I think due to overhead. It has been a while since I read this stuff in detail.

A DSL modem can change the line speed if it gets too many errors. Generally you see a small outage and then it will be stable but at lower speed.

In most cases this is due to the wire quality between your house and the ISP. It can actually change a bit because of weather conditions. Temperature will cause the wires to expand and contract and small changes in moisture levels can change how all the splices in the cable connect.

It sounds like your connection is marginal on the higher speed. It seem the connection is able to obtain a higher speed sometimes but then at a later time it gets so many errors that it renegotiates the speed and can only get the lower number.

I would take your modem and plug it directly into the box where the phone line comes into your house. You should be able to see the number it negotiates. This is to eliminate the only part of this you have control over and that is your in house wires. This test may not be read useful in your case if you can not leave the modem at that location for a period of time to ensure the rate drop does not happen. I suppose you could just buy a long telephone cable and sting it over the floor between the demark and your current modem location so you could test for longer periods of time.

Other than this the ISP would have to try to find this. It is likely some issue with a splice in one of the many boxes between your house and the ISP. It can be a huge number of boxes they would need to check. I know when I had hum on a phone line the guy told me he had to check almost 20 connection points to find it. The ISP may not be willing to do this for a data connection....unless they guarantee some minimum rate to you.

 

[Pau91]

Thank you Bill for the answer. How do I recognize this box you mention?

 

[bill001g]

There is no way to tell for sure what it looks like. It could be on the outside of the house or inside. They pretty much put them at the first spot they can where the wires from the street hit the house. If your wires are buried it will be harder to find the ones strung from a telephone pole are kinda obvious. It is nothing really special. Most have the wires going in a phone jack that a second wire going to the rest of the house plugs into. This allows the tech to plug his test set into a normal phone jack. Everything up to that point is considered the phone companies responsibility.