Telkom Exchange Congestion

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Requim

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Not sure if this is the right forum to post this, but:
Does anyone have some advice for me on how to get Telkom to test/confirm if there is congestion at the ADSL exchange I am connected to? I am suspecting this to be the problem with my internet connection, but I can't seem to get a straight answer from any Telkom consultant I speak to.
I logged a fault on 11th May, and 19 days later I still have no answer or fix to my problem. I gave a detailed report to the lady who logged the call for me, even specifically said that I suspect congestion based on the tests I did, and asked them to test for that.
Every time I follow up on this call, I get told that they are investigating, or that a technician will be assigned to the call, but never any answer on what exactly is wrong.
Is there any number or department other than 10219 and 0800375375 that I can call to speak to someone that will be able to help?
My line stats are:
Code: 
ADSL Link           Downstream 	    Upstream
Connection Speed 	4096 kbps       512 kbps
Line Attenuation 	12 db 	        3 db
Noise Margin 	        19 db 	        12 db
 
Requim said:
Not sure if this is the right forum to post this, but:
Does anyone have some advice for me on how to get Telkom to test/confirm if there is congestion at the ADSL exchange I am connected to? I am suspecting this to be the problem with my internet connection, but I can't seem to get a straight answer from any Telkom consultant I speak to.
I logged a fault on 11th May, and 19 days later I still have no answer or fix to my problem. I gave a detailed report to the lady who logged the call for me, even specifically said that I suspect congestion based on the tests I did, and asked them to test for that.
Every time I follow up on this call, I get told that they are investigating, or that a technician will be assigned to the call, but never any answer on what exactly is wrong.
Is there any number or department other than 10219 and 0800375375 that I can call to speak to someone that will be able to help?
My line stats are:
Code: 
ADSL Link           Downstream 	    Upstream
Connection Speed 	4096 kbps       512 kbps
Line Attenuation 	12 db 	        3 db
Noise Margin 	        19 db 	        12 db
Click to expand...

Well it is not your line since you close to exchange, so post a tracert to local and international website
 
Merenwenrago said:
Well it is not your line since you close to exchange, so post a tracert to local and international website
Click to expand...
Traceroute to www.bbc.co.uk
Code: 
Tracing route to www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.246.92]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  *.*.*.*
  2    18 ms    17 ms    18 ms  *.*.*.*
  3    24 ms    25 ms    23 ms  196.22.169.134
  4    22 ms    24 ms    22 ms  196.22.189.3
  5    28 ms    28 ms    24 ms  196.22.169.241
  6    25 ms    26 ms    29 ms  196.22.169.210
  7   280 ms   279 ms   280 ms  196.22.163.230
  8   271 ms   263 ms   262 ms  149.6.98.17
  9   280 ms   280 ms   279 ms  154.54.36.169
 10   280 ms   282 ms   279 ms  130.117.0.97
 11   288 ms   283 ms   280 ms  213.248.70.237
 12   287 ms   279 ms   325 ms  80.91.247.91
 13   280 ms   292 ms   286 ms  80.91.245.27
 14   268 ms   262 ms   264 ms  213.248.104.70
 15   281 ms   280 ms   280 ms  212.58.238.149
 16   282 ms   281 ms   280 ms  212.58.239.234
 17   266 ms   264 ms   262 ms  212.58.255.12
 18   281 ms   280 ms   281 ms  212.58.246.92

Trace complete.

Traceroute to www.mweb.co.za
Code: 
Tracing route to www.mweb.co.za [196.2.63.110]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  *.*.*.*
  2    22 ms    22 ms    31 ms  *.*.*.*
  3    25 ms    23 ms    24 ms  196.22.169.146
  4    22 ms    22 ms    22 ms  196.22.189.3
  5    25 ms    25 ms    24 ms  196.22.169.241
  6    49 ms    49 ms    48 ms  196.22.169.42
  7    46 ms    48 ms    48 ms  196.28.178.99
  8    56 ms    46 ms    47 ms  196.28.178.70
  9    55 ms    47 ms    47 ms  196.2.63.110

Trace complete.

What makes me even more convinced that it is congestion, it the fact that if I do a speed test anytime during the day, between 7:00 and 17:00 (give or take a few minutes) I get results of 0.2Mbps, 0.4Mbps or there about. Then from 17:00 my results from speed tests will gradually get better the later it is, going from 1.7Mbps to 2.2Mbps. Usually from about midnight, it is always 3.5Mbps until about 7:00, when the speeds gradually get worse.
 
Requim said:
Traceroute to www.bbc.co.uk
Code: 
Tracing route to www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.246.92]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  *.*.*.*
  2    18 ms    17 ms    18 ms  *.*.*.*
  3    24 ms    25 ms    23 ms  196.22.169.134
  4    22 ms    24 ms    22 ms  196.22.189.3
  5    28 ms    28 ms    24 ms  196.22.169.241
  6    25 ms    26 ms    29 ms  196.22.169.210
  7   280 ms   279 ms   280 ms  196.22.163.230
  8   271 ms   263 ms   262 ms  149.6.98.17
  9   280 ms   280 ms   279 ms  154.54.36.169
 10   280 ms   282 ms   279 ms  130.117.0.97
 11   288 ms   283 ms   280 ms  213.248.70.237
 12   287 ms   279 ms   325 ms  80.91.247.91
 13   280 ms   292 ms   286 ms  80.91.245.27
 14   268 ms   262 ms   264 ms  213.248.104.70
 15   281 ms   280 ms   280 ms  212.58.238.149
 16   282 ms   281 ms   280 ms  212.58.239.234
 17   266 ms   264 ms   262 ms  212.58.255.12
 18   281 ms   280 ms   281 ms  212.58.246.92

Trace complete.

Traceroute to www.mweb.co.za
Code: 
Tracing route to www.mweb.co.za [196.2.63.110]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  *.*.*.*
  2    22 ms    22 ms    31 ms  *.*.*.*
  3    25 ms    23 ms    24 ms  196.22.169.146
  4    22 ms    22 ms    22 ms  196.22.189.3
  5    25 ms    25 ms    24 ms  196.22.169.241
  6    49 ms    49 ms    48 ms  196.22.169.42
  7    46 ms    48 ms    48 ms  196.28.178.99
  8    56 ms    46 ms    47 ms  196.28.178.70
  9    55 ms    47 ms    47 ms  196.2.63.110

Trace complete.

What makes me even more convinced that it is congestion, it the fact that if I do a speed test anytime during the day, between 7:00 and 17:00 (give or take a few minutes) I get results of 0.2Mbps, 0.4Mbps or there about. Then from 17:00 my results from speed tests will gradually get better the later it is, going from 1.7Mbps to 2.2Mbps. Usually from about midnight, it is always 3.5Mbps until about 7:00, when the speeds gradually get worse.
Click to expand...

Have you checked the ISP also?

and tracert reading in milisecs for exchange is double/triple than normal
 
Merenwenrago said:
Have you checked the ISP also?

and tracert reading in milisecs for exchange is double/triple than normal
Click to expand...

My ISP is Mweb, and I have contacted them on this forum actually, and according to them there is nothing wrong on their side.
If I could get a honest, definitive answer from Telkom that says yes or no to congestion or a problem with my exchange, I would be happy, then I would at least be able to eliminate a potential source of the problem.
As it is however, I am 90% sure it is a Telkom issue, although it is of course possible that it could be Mweb as well. (I have replaced my router already, and tested with a friend's computer connected in place of mine, so both of those are eliminated)
 
Requim said:
My ISP is Mweb, and I have contacted them on this forum actually, and according to them there is nothing wrong on their side.
If I could get a honest, definitive answer from Telkom that says yes or no to congestion or a problem with my exchange, I would be happy, then I would at least be able to eliminate a potential source of the problem.
As it is however, I am 90% sure it is a Telkom issue, although it is of course possible that it could be Mweb as well. (I have replaced my router already, and tested with a friend's computer connected in place of mine, so both of those are eliminated)
Click to expand...
Do you know someone with a Telkom account that you can test with from your router?
 
Lycanthrope said:
Alternatively, try Telkom's guest account:
Username: guest1@telkomadsl
Password: guest1

And see what speed this file downloads at in your browser. It's the server Telkom uses for their speed tests.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I just tried downloading that file using the Telkom guest account, download started at 20:53 and finished at 21:04.
The speed was going up and down by quite a lot, from 5.5KBps to as high as 250KBps, but mostly it was around 60-72KBps.
It also never went higher than 250KBps
 
Requim said:
Thanks. I just tried downloading that file using the Telkom guest account, download started at 20:53 and finished at 21:04.
The speed was going up and down by quite a lot, from 5.5KBps to as high as 250KBps, but mostly it was around 60-72KBps.
It also never went higher than 250KBps
Click to expand...

If it Helps, im 4 meg aswell, and for the last week i have been having the same issue :/

maybe these 1 meg lines are killing the exchanges ? Cause on that test account i average around 270 KBps.
 
Emp!r3 said:
If it Helps, im 4 meg aswell, and for the last week i have been having the same issue :/

maybe these 1 meg lines are killing the exchanges ? Cause on that test account i average around 270 KBps.
Click to expand...

Well, it was around 21:00 when I did the test, and like I said in my previous post, the speeds I get do improve the later at night it is. I will do this test again around midnight, and as well tomorrow around 12:00, then compare the speeds I got with the first test.
 
I tried the Telkom guest account again, download started at 22:59, finished at 23:01 and it kept downloading at a steady 426KBps
 
I have the same problem as you. I am in lonehill and now on my fifth fault report, the latest being open since the beginning of April.

My speeds and the quality of my internet fluctuates fairly drastically from deccent to absolutely abysmil. During peak times I get higher latency and on some occasions minor to severe packet loss, but unfortuantely it seems my problems are far from ending. If you manage to come right please let me know as I am at a complete loss as to what to do next. I am still able to download the roughly 50 GB of data I need to every month (which is why I can't move to a wireless provider or anything else really), but I am not exactly thrilled with the quality of service my nearly R1000.00 a month is gtting me.
 
Me too! Muizenberg. Ive been on at telkom for about 3 months now and am having a torrid time, no luck no answers and certainly necver a call back. 3 Tech managers, 3 engineers saying the line is fine but crap performance. Now my Phone has disappeared and Im syncing at 1Mb instead of 4Mb. And I have 100 people relying on the line :/
 
I can't seem to get more than 220k outta my account during the day! that's with the telkom test account.
 
@Requim, u are not alone buddy. I have the EXACT same problem you have. Telkom fitted my 4meg line about 2 months ago and my speeds are horrible. I tried different ISP's different filters I even went and bought a different brand of router, but nothinng. I logged 3 faults with Telkom but they keep telling me ADSL is a best efforts basis and they cannot gaurentee speeds, my line is "UP TO" 4meg. So basically it feels like im working on a a 56k modem but it can go up to 4meg (Absolute rubbish). My ISP said it was probably congestion but only Telkom can confirm that but they refuse to give me a straight forward answer.
 
DM_ said:
@Requim, u are not alone buddy. I have the EXACT same problem you have. Telkom fitted my 4meg line about 2 months ago and my speeds are horrible. I tried different ISP's different filters I even went and bought a different brand of router, but nothinng. I logged 3 faults with Telkom but they keep telling me ADSL is a best efforts basis and they cannot gaurentee speeds, my line is "UP TO" 4meg. So basically it feels like im working on a a 56k modem but it can go up to 4meg (Absolute rubbish). My ISP said it was probably congestion but only Telkom can confirm that but they refuse to give me a straight forward answer.
Click to expand...

Ya i get that it is a 1 meg line "up to 4 meg" so that it is fine.

but the lady said they are upgrading my exchange to give me 10 meg ? wonder if that is a story or not though!
 
Telkom infrastructure out of capacity

@Requim,

This seems to be a widespread problem.
What exchange are you on? Check the exchange location with
http://www.broadbandstats.co.za
http://www.broadbandstats.co.za/search/phone/

I'm on the Rosettenville exchange and it's overloaded.
I tried 3 different ISP's and that made no difference.
My 4Mbps ADSL line is mostly fast in the early morning.
Slows to 0.2Mbps during "prime time" - does not matter which ISP I use.

The problem seems to have got worse with the 512Kbps -> 1Mbps upgrade.

Here are a number of similar problems where the DSLAM/Exchange/Backhaul are out of capacity:
PIERRE-VAN-RYNEVELD-ADSL-Users-please-assist
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/274066-PIERRE-VAN-RYNEVELD-ADSL-Users-please-assist
ADSL-degrades-during-night
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/339445-ADSL-degrades-during-night
Tollgate (Durban)
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/333156-Latency-question?highlight=tollgate

Does anyone know if Telkom publish the usage stats for the DSLAM/Exchange/BackHaul?
 
Last edited:
I received a call from Telkom this morning about the fault I reported. When I told the lady the previous tech that called said it was congestion, she replied there's nothing they can do about it.
Is this true?
 
I'm in Randburg and am regularly phoning about slow connections on my 4MB line.

In fact, right now, I don't even have access to international sites. This might be a national problem, but it almost feels like a soft cap (like a 1GIG international + 10GIG local package) to try free up some congestion, but since it's day 3 on an uncapped business account, I don't expect it.

Is there such a thing as bandwidth load-shedding????
 
@OP,

Your traceroutes are just fine. Nothing wrong with the latencies...

"Let me give it to you straight": You have a better chance of winning the lotto than getting this fixed. I gave up after 18 months of screaming at telkom. Now 2 years with a similar problem and internet is still mostly pathetic. So....don't hold your breath bro.
 
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