3Bb Connection Dropout And Poor Ping Test Result.

[TheScribe]

I live in an older Moo Baan in Chiang Mai, and I have a 3BB Premier deal, giving 3.5Mbs/1Mbs. This is supplied on 3BB's own wire, no phones on it. I am unable to use the service for VoIP due to the voice connection being dropped immediately, or within a few short minutes. As far as I can tell, there are 3 problems:

1) Line attenuation is very bad - here's what the Belkin modem-router reports:

Downstream Upstream

Data rate(Kbps)

3584 1279

Noise Margin

20 18

Output power(dBm)

9 5

Attenuation(dB)

126 167

The attenuation at 126 and 167 seems to be causing many "ADSL media down" events as shown in the Belkin log. I've checked the wiring at my house, all looks OK.

2) Ping test (the one that links from the speedtest site) reports a quality of "D" for servers in the UK and Europe - Pingtest site states that this level of quality cannot reliably support real-time applications.

3) Contention seems much too high for a Premier service - access goes glacial or stops completely on occasions. Often at 5:00pm, just when I need VoIP to call the UK.

Three questions:

1) How can I get 3BB to clean up the line - at the moment they are in problem denial mode.

2) How can I find out if 3BB are giving the correct contention level for a Premier deal?

3) Are the pingtest results usual? Can someone with a 3BB Premier service please try pingtest to e.g. Maidenhead, UK and Berne, Switzerland and post the results here.

Thanks.

[trogers]

VOIP means using a phone set. Make sure the modem and the phone set are kept a few feet apart, and not placed near to each other.

[Pib]

You sure you read the attenuation values correctly? With your attenuation of way over 100 I can't see how you would have any ADSL connection at all; at around 75 db attenuation your chances are getting any ADSL connection is close to zero. Below general guide on attenuation and SNR values may be helpful. And when it comes to a poor ping grade I wouldn't worry too much about it once you can get a stable ADSL connection.

I have a TOT 4Mb package with very good to excellent SNR and attenuation, get a ping grade of D (got the same ping grade when I was with JI-Net). Poor ping grade basically due to the long distance to the calling destination...calling a distance location like on the other side of the world via the internet/VOIP usually results in a poor ping grade/score when testing due to being routed through a lot of WWW servers/relays to reach the other side. But my VOIP connection/calls from Thailand to the U.S. (and vice versa) are clear with very few disconnects (both on current TOT 4Mb package and when on JI-Net 2Mb package). Heck, when still living in the States I would still get an occasional VOIP call disconnects when calling to another states-side phone.

General Guide for ADSL SNR and Attenuation

For S/N Margin Readings:

6bB. or below = Bad and will experience no line synchronisation or intermittent synchronisation problems.

7dB-10dB. = Fair but does not leave much room for variances in conditions.

11dB-20dB. = Good with little or no synchronisation problems

20dB-28dB. = Excellent

29dB. or above = Outstanding

Attenuation Rates:

20bB. and below = Outstanding

20dB-30dB. = Excellent

30dB-40dB. = Very Good

40dB-50dB. = Good

50dB-60dB. = Poor and may experience connectivity issues

60dB. and above = Bad and will experience connectivity issues

[nikster]

There you go, 3BB "pro" 10Mbit... pingtest to UK looks ugly as can be with a straight F.

I am usually able to call Europe on skype though, never had issues with quality. Anyway if pingtest is to be believed then this isn't a problem with your line - rather a problem with 3BB.

CAT CDMA, not quite as bad

Edited August 22, 2010 by nikster

[spacemunk]

There you go, 3BB "pro" 10Mbit... pingtest to UK looks ugly as can be with a straight F.

there is no more 10MB "pro" , those with the so-called pro has been downgraded to 3BB Indy

[TheScribe]

There you go, 3BB "pro" 10Mbit... pingtest to UK looks ugly as can be with a straight F.

there is no more 10MB "pro" , those with the so-called pro has been downgraded to 3BB Indy

Thanks for all the responses. I just plugged in the old Hatari modem-router I got from 3BB, and there the line attenuation values are much more reasonable - 12.5 down and 5.0 up.

I'll try using VoIP again, see if its got any better.

Edited August 23, 2010 by TheScribe

[mightyharriss]

Anyone with a premiere line should not have problems. It is ridiculous, the Premier is supposed to give you a more dedicated international line for usability outside of Thailand. What a load of Claptrap. I have had problems with these muppets for months now. Everyt time they say an engineer will call, everytime I tell them that they never do. Absolutely abysmal. Unfortunately because of certain practices here, I am unable to go to true or other companies as my building is supplied by TOT. Bit of a joke really. Have they never heard of freedom to make your own decision.

3 BB S U C K

[Pib]

When making/receiving VOIP calls to people in Virginia, USA (I use a company called 8x8 at www.8x8.com) the calls are always clear with only occasional disconnects. Got pretty much the same results when I was with Vonage although 8x8 call quality is a little better IMHO. Even through Virginia is pretty much exactly half way around the world (12 time zones) from Thailand, I'm able to make/receive very clear/reliable VOIP calls (same as when I was living in the States) but my pingtest.net result gives me a D grade between Bangkok and Virginia (see below). I'm on a TOT 4Mb package in Bangkok. Take the Pingtest.net scores with a grain of salt; your VOIP provider has a much, much bigger impact on the quality/reliability of your VOIP calls.

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[wehugheog]

You sure you read the attenuation values correctly? With your attenuation of way over 100 I can't see how you would have any ADSL connection at all; at around 75 db attenuation your chances are getting any ADSL connection is close to zero. Below general guide on attenuation and SNR values may be helpful. And when it comes to a poor ping grade I wouldn't worry too much about it once you can get a stable ADSL connection.

I have a TOT 4Mb package with very good to excellent SNR and attenuation, get a ping grade of D (got the same ping grade when I was with JI-Net). Poor ping grade basically due to the long distance to the calling destination...calling a distance location like on the other side of the world via the internet/VOIP usually results in a poor ping grade/score when testing due to being routed through a lot of WWW servers/relays to reach the other side. But my VOIP connection/calls from Thailand to the U.S. (and vice versa) are clear with very few disconnects (both on current TOT 4Mb package and when on JI-Net 2Mb package). Heck, when still living in the States I would still get an occasional VOIP call disconnects when calling to another states-side phone.

General Guide for ADSL SNR and Attenuation

For S/N Margin Readings:

6bB. or below = Bad and will experience no line synchronisation or intermittent synchronisation problems.

7dB-10dB. = Fair but does not leave much room for variances in conditions.

11dB-20dB. = Good with little or no synchronisation problems

20dB-28dB. = Excellent

29dB. or above = Outstanding

Attenuation Rates:

20bB. and below = Outstanding

20dB-30dB. = Excellent

30dB-40dB. = Very Good

40dB-50dB. = Good

50dB-60dB. = Poor and may experience connectivity issues

60dB. and above = Bad and will experience connectivity issues

Right, so what do you make of this:

ADSL StateShow TimeData PathInterleavedOperation ModeG.dmt.bisMax.

Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps)12216 / 1125

Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps)2048 / 1021

SNR Margin Down/Up(dB)36.7 / 9.1

Attenuation Down/Up(dB)10.0 / 5.2

Power Down/Up(dBm)18.5 / 11.3

CRC Down/Up0/ 0

FEC Down/Up0/ 323

HEC Down/Up0/ 0

System Up Time473:20:51

DSL Up Time473:19:45

Is this line any good?

[NHJ]

Right, so what do you make of this:

ADSL StateShow TimeData PathInterleavedOperation ModeG.dmt.bisMax.

Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps)12216 / 1125

Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps)2048 / 1021

SNR Margin Down/Up(dB)36.7 / 9.1

Attenuation Down/Up(dB)10.0 / 5.2

Power Down/Up(dBm)18.5 / 11.3

CRC Down/Up0/ 0

FEC Down/Up0/ 323

HEC Down/Up0/ 0

System Up Time473:20:51

DSL Up Time473:19:45

Is this line any good?

yup line is good you don't even have any errors. you can get a maximum of around 12 meg on this line but your connection speed is slow now all 3bb lines or tot offer 5 meg as minimum.

you should contact your provider and ask for an upgrade(free of charge)

[Supernova]

I have a TOT 4Mb package with very good to excellent SNR and attenuation, get a ping grade of D (got the same ping grade when I was with JI-Net).

JI-NET:

[wehugheog]

I am on TT&T premiere for THB 112 a month. Now 3bb

[mallyrd]

3BB works a treat for me and always has done even when it was Maxnet

http://www.speedtest.net/result/992609977.png

[Supernova]

44ms ping to London??

Your DL/UL speeds may be accurate, but ping is way off the mark.

[mallyrd]

44ms ping to London??

Your DL/UL speeds may be accurate, but ping is way off the mark.

You may be correct for all I know. I am just posting the results. Just done a re-run.

[nikster]

44ms ping to London??

Your DL/UL speeds may be accurate, but ping is way off the mark.

You may be correct for all I know. I am just posting the results. Just done a re-run.

Remember the old saying... if it sounds too good to be true... that's because it is.

They're cheating on the speed test site. It's very easy for an ISP to intercept speed tests and there's then a million ways they can cheat - I imagine they just cache the results.

In any case, this cheating by 3BB makes speedtest.net completely useless. Try other sites. Or try lesser known speedtest.net servers. When I try some unknown places somewhere in Oregon I get realistic results which have a realistic ping (in the 300ms range) and a download speed that correlates to the speeds I am getting for real life websurfing etc. When I do San Francisco, I get 10Mbit and a 23ms ping... yeah right.

To repeat: 3BB is cheating on speedtest.net. Results are therefore useless.

If you want to do something about it report them to speedtest.net. I did this already. They could make their speed tests cache proof. However, they wouldn't have a chance if, say, 3BB simply prioritized traffic to speedtest.net servers.

Edited October 17, 2010 by nikster

[WhiteCadillac]

My 3bb premier has been terrible the last 3 days. Pings over 500 ms even to servers located in BKK. Yesterday the connection was fine for a while (pings less than 100 ms), but now is terrible again.

Todays results:

http://www.pingtest.net/result/29678644.png

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1060777724.png