Should I move to Sky?

I am with ADSL24, but my exchange has just been enabled by Sky. I have always said to myself that I would go to Sky when my exchange was done, but now I am getting cold feet.

My line is fairly long and I normally only get a speed of 3-3.5Mbps, and occasionally 4Mbps.

My line stats today are
ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 3616 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 62.0 db 29.5 db
Noise Margin 9.4 db 18.0 db

The Sky speed checker estimates my speed would be between 2-5Mbps.

I have read that with long lines, moving to Sky can sometimes drop your speed. Is that something I should worry about? I would be happy if my speed stayed 3-3.5Mbps, but not if it dropped to 2Mbps.

Another question, about 2 months ago my noise margin went from 6 to 9 (and my speed dropped), even although my line had been stable and been holding connections for days and weeks at a time. The noise margin has not dropped back to 6, even after holding a continuous connection for 16 days. Could that have been as a result of Sky doing work in the exchange?

Stephen

Well i would consider a couple of things carefully

1, sky is now broadband & phone (full llu) so could be a pain should you ever wish to migrated away also it is not covered by the MAC code process
2, They run DLM and a default 7db snr profile, both can act as a way of artificially capping the max sync speed

As for sky being installed at your exchange causing a loss of sync ,i would be surprised to say the least, as each isp who has their kit installed should be completely independent and have their own power supplies and backup systems for power outages , but you never know , but as you connection is stable can you not contact your isp and get them to reset the snr ?

I did request a reset of the noise margin. That was done, and I was able to log onto my router when it was happening. The margin went to 6, but the connection dropped every few seconds, and then the margin went back to 9 and stayed there.
I was able to use the DMT tool to manually set the margin on my router to 6, and the connection was stable, but I reset it back to normal. It seemed to me that there was something else that was causing the margin to remain at 9 as my line seems stable, so when I seen that Sky was now in the exchange I just wondered if maybe there was a connection. But as you say, that's probably completely unrelated.

What ADSl24 package are you on?

i am on their Cable and wireless LLU service and i think it is better than what I would get with Sky. i could be wrong, because unless i went with Sky I would never be sure, but Sky uses DLM, which will no doubt not like my long lines.

I'm on the Home 30 (20CN) package. My exchange (ESNML) does not have 21CN WBC. It is only in the last few months that LLU has come to the exchange, first Talk Talk, now Sky.
From what I can find there is no plans to move the exchange to 21CN or fibre.

My concern is that I have read that LLU (ADSL2+?) can reduce your connection speed. Can Sky LLU offer either ADSL or ADSL2+. In other words if the 'newer' technology is not good for me, can they drop back to the older technology?

In reply to a post by soapysoutar:

I'm on the Home 30 (20CN) package. My exchange (ESNML) does not have 21CN WBC. It is only in the last few months that LLU has come to the exchange, first Talk Talk, now Sky.
From what I can find there is no plans to move the exchange to 21CN or fibre.

My concern is that I have read that LLU (ADSL2+?) can reduce your connection speed. Can Sky LLU offer either ADSL or ADSL2+. In other words if the 'newer' technology is not good for me, can they drop back to the older technology?

Yes, Sky offer both - whatever works - on their LLU packages. In fact, sometimes it's hard to tell if you're on ADSL or ADSL2+ as the packages don't mention it.

So, if they do plain ADSL, there should be little risk of a drop in speed if I was to switch, or is that not the case?

In reply to a post by soapysoutar:

So, if they do plain ADSL, there should be little risk of a drop in speed if I was to switch, or is that not the case?

Yes, that's the case.

It is always a risk. You may end up with a lower speed, you may end up with the same speed. The benefit is you will be paying less.

What I would suggest is change the broadband to sky. You have 7 days in which to change your mind, and if you do make sure you tell them and get a MAC code to change back to something else. I did that in 2007 when the T&C's were not correct for me. I have just moved to sky in 2011 and am happy now with what I have.

My line stats are similar to yours, but with a lot lower sync:


ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 2144 kbps 768 kbps
Line Attenuation 62.5 dB 31.5 dB
Noise Margin 5.7 dB 8.0 dB