Extremely slow internet connection for past few mo...

Question

Hello,
I am on a BT Total Broadband connection 'Option 3' (unlimited bandwidth). Router is connected to phone extension socket via ADSL micro filter.Been going strong for 3 years since setup. Since early October 2010, my connection speed suddenly dropped to an extreme low. There was no change at all around the home, nothing new, nothing removed. Prior to the sudden drop, the downstream was roughly around 9000 kbps according to HomeHub stats back then, which was good. But since early October and for the past few months the connection has not improved at all. Downstream has been staying constant at 462 kbs
I have also just tested against the test socket in the master socket, same result, no improvement.
Signal/Noise Margin is rather high from the average 6db I have read around the forums after looking into HomeHub stats (see below).
ADSL Line Stats
I have posted my extensive HomeHub ADSL line details below:
Modulation:
G.992.5 annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]:
888 / 462
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [KB/MB]:
440.00 / 1.03
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]:
12.0 / 0.0
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]:
12.0 / 24.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]:
15.0 / 31.5
Vendor ID (Local/Remote):
TMMB / IFTN
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote):
0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote):
2 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote):
0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote):
0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote):
2 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down):
0 / 0
CRC Errors (Up/Down):
0 / 0
HEC Errors (Up/Down):
0 / 0
Line Profile:
Fast
BT Speedtester results
Below is the BT speedtester results I have just carried out from http://speedtester.bt.com/:
Summary
So my connection has dropped from around 9000 kbps to an extreme and sudden low of 462 kbps since October 2010. I have a feeling my line was automatically throttled for unknown reasons, but i'm unsure. Or it could be the high signal/noise? Can anyone shed some light, advice, assistance?
Thanks in advance,

Answer 1

I've just carried out the 'Test Socket' test with my current phone (Phone A, a corded digital base phone) and router connected to the test socket via an ADSL micro filter. There was neither any improvement or degradation to the connection after 4 days. You can see the stats at the end of this post.
However, I have got hold of another corded phone (Phone B, corded only) and plugged this directly into the test socket and carried out the 'Quiet Line' test on 17070, and this time I can barely hear any noise, the noise I hear is very very faint, continuous and almost silent. Whereas when the test was carried out with Phone A under the same circumstances, the noise was truly noticeable and continuous with slight pulses.
In light of the above findings, i will soon carry out the same 'Test Socket' test this time with Phone B plugged into the test socket via the micro filter along with the router also connected for a few days to notice any changes in the speeds and report back.
This leads me to a question. How likely is it that a phone can introduce noise into the line and affect the broadband connection? Has anyone else experienced this (or heard of)?
Also, since my connection has been constantly slow for a few months now, will it take longer than usual for my broadband speed to reach normality due to IP profiling (from what I have read around)?
Latest ADSL router statistics:
Uptime:
0 days, 5:37:55
Modulation:
G.992.5 annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]:
888 / 462
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [MB/MB]:
15.88 / 60.02
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]:
11.5 / 0.0
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]:
11.0 / 22.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]:
16.5 / 32.5
Vendor ID (Local/Remote):
TMMB / IFTN
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote):
0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote):
2 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote):
0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote):
0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote):
2 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down):
0 / 0
CRC Errors (Up/Down):
0 / 0
HEC Errors (Up/Down):
0 / 0
Line Profile:
Fast
Hope you had a great Christmas, and have a Happy New Year!