Poor ADSL speed (3Mbps) on an EO line

Hi

I have already posted in the Fibre Broadband forum, and the excellent members here have helped me understand that my chances of Fibre Broadband coming any time soon are very slim. This is because my apartment block is on EO lines. I'm just under a mile from our exchange, which is Shoreditch.

So now I am seeing if I can get my existing ADSL connection to go any faster.

I had always assumed that EO lines had the fastest ADSL. But our ADSL speed (and that of everyone in the apartment block) never goes above 3Mbps up / 0.5Mbps down. The BT Telephone Number checker suggests that I should be able to get 7.5Mbps ADSL2+.

Anyone any idea what's going on, or what we can do?
Cheers
SL

Are you able to access the line stats in the router? In particular, the connection speed, attenuation and noise margin (SNRM) both down and up?

There is nothing special wrt speed about EO lines. Distance is the main determinant. Others are the quality and degradation of the cabling and junctions, and the presence of sources of electromagnetic noise between you and the exchange.

Do you have normal BT Openreach phone sockets, or are they the fancy "neat" MK type of built-in things that look more like hi-fi stuff?

Have a read of my Ring/bell wire, High noise margin and Miscellaneous nasties section on this page.

Hi, thanks for the info.

Our phone sockets actually look like CAT5 sockets! Never seen the like before or since. I can plug a normal phone in with the right adaptor.

BTW, I'm with Sky, ex O2.

Here's my router stats:

Uptime: 7 days, 1:45:53
DSL Type: G.992.5 annex A
Maximum Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 892 / 5,044
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 792 / 4,110
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 10.5 / 1.0
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 27.0 / 48.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 8.5 / 6.0
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / GSPN
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 10 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 872 / 2,325,300
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 872 / 893
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 2,005 / 534

I've not studied your pages yet, but I will. Thanks!

SL

So you are getting 4 meg on a fairly lengthy line

Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 792 / 4,110
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 27.0 / 48.0

There is also a fairly steady stream of errors, albeit over a week.

I don't like the sound of those sockets, were it me, I'd be investigating the internal wiring, as there may be improvements to be made there.

Agreed, I bet it's those weird sockets. Probably star wiring and split pairs going on.

Never actually seen 4Mbps; speed testers typically give closer to 3Mbps, never more than 3.5. But, yes indeed.

Is this speed good, bad or average for a little line of this length?

I've always been suspicious of those sockets.

Thanks
SL

http://www.coolwebhome.co.uk/calc/ Will answer that