ADSL 2+ confused I am

Hi folks

I was aware from samknows, that it looked like our local exchange (Dalbeattie, Scotland) was due for an upgrade and I'm starting to wonder if BT have slipped one in!

BT broadband checker says:
........................................................................................................................................................................
Your exchange is ADSL enabled, and our initial test on your line indicates that your line should be able to have an ADSL broadband service that provides a fixed line speed up to 2Mbps.

Our test also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL Max broadband line speed of 2Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 1.5Mbps and 4.5Mbps.

Our test also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL2+ broadband line speed of 3Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 1.5Mbps and 5.5Mbps. Our test also indicates that your line could support an estimated ADSL 2+ Annex-M broadband upstream line speed of 500Kbps and downstream line speed of 3Mbps; typically the downstream speed would range between 1.5Mbps and 5.5Mbps.
..........................................................................................................................................................................

So does this mean I can now get ADSL2+ and also, do I want it!?!?! Only reason I've made the second bit of the previous comment, is because I've read a fair few posts in the past where people have moved from a decent stable ADSL max connection (like mine) and ended up with a worse / unstable ADSL2+ connection. Or is this a myth????

And will Newnet just move me onto it, or do I need to request it?

I'm always interested to see that my real world connection (bar line faults, hot VP issues etc.) is far better than either my line length (best part of 3km as the crow flies), or my line ATTN (33db) would indicate. I usually get the full 8128kbps, with a 7150k IP profile (interleaving off and lately, very low error count). I suppose I must just have a decent line. Comes from having no one else close to me maybe and spliced straight into the main cable that runs between two exchanges (or so a BT engineer commented once).

Edited by MrBeeline (Mon 12-Dec-11 17:34:42)

Yes, as you are getting the full 8 Meg on ADSL Max, you will certainly benefit from ADSL2+. You should get at least 11 Meg sync on it.

BT broadband checker is way off on your line, even about your current connection.

www.farina1.com/adsl suggests 11500Kbps to 15000Kbps

Checker is being very conservative in your case

Thanks for that.

Think I'll look into this in the New Year.

Question.. is a move to ADSL2+ something that I will have to request (IE. give Newnet a phone)? or will it just happen at some point?

Second question... is an ADSL2+ connection likely to be as stable as my ADSL max connection has been? or is this really a "suck it and see" thing?

At the level your line is at it should be fine.

Some providers move people automatically - it is cheaper to provision than the old system.

So if you are on one of their current packages that are listed as up to 20Meg, then I'd expect automatic, if on an older package you may need to prod them, there may be differences in the package, e.g. usage allowances etc

In terms of stability, you should have no problems. Most of those who hit problems are on marginal lines, and squeezing the extra bit of performance heightens a pre-existing issue, usually a little help from fellow forum users can tweak things and stabilize them.

I'm on one of their older packages. The new ones are not as attractive (lower download allowance). Maybe time to consider a move in the New Year to another less business oriented ISP. Though loath to move, as I've found their customer service second to none.

Thanks again.

Just Emailed Newnet about this and they promptly replied within 5 minutes and commented that I am "hopefully" going to be part of a bulk migration to ADSL2+ in February.

My only "slight" concern, is that they did add the following caveat:

"However, due to the nature of the bulk migration process, Openreach can cancel migrations due to insufficient staffing or availability..."

and said that I could get a request put in straight away, at a cost of £11.

I'm wondering if problems with these bulk migrations are commmon? and if so, should I just cough up the £11 to jump the queue???

In the forums I monitor here I haven't seen any mention of problems with bulk migrations, but that is probably because people usually get told "it will happen some time but we don't know when", plus the alternative of the £11 charge to expedite it. That's a standard amount.

So they don't have any date to be missed that they can worry about.

Thanks for the reply.

Being an impatient sort of person. I've asked the kind folks at Newnet to raise an individual migration request.

Lets hope it all goes smoothly!

PS. It's just a shame that their higher bandwidth plans are not terribly competitive price wise. Up to now I've managed by scheduling large downloads between 2-7am but......

Edited by MrBeeline (Thu 05-Jan-12 22:07:08)