Eureka! I've discovered some useful info about the Netgear DG834v3 's ADSL Mode (it's something you've seen before a year ago but have forgotten) while I was looking into another AOL LLU speed query.
Trained Mode: 16 Selected Mode: 1
16 means ADSL2+; it would have been 3 for G.DMT.
AOL basically offers 2 BB products: 24 Meg Full LLU (a la TT) or 8 Meg Partial LLU. All the stats I could find here on TBB for the 8 Meg product have Upstream Speed = 448 kbps. So, I'd been thinking that AOL was running G.DMT on their 8 Meg LLU, but now I suspect that they are running 8 Meg capped ADSL2+ with a sort of ADSL Max profile.
The OP's various reported stats all show the same Upstream Speed of 448 kbps, no real change of Attenuations and just a bit of variation in Downstream Speed as he plugs into different sockets. So I deduce that he has been on ADSL2+ throughout and that the "boost" consists of just removing the 8 Meg cap and we will not see any increase in Attn. that we had expected.
It is said that AOL & TT share the same network, but we can see that they package their products differently. I suppose that AOL can install a diff DLM in their exchange kit to achieve this?
Does that make sense?
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 19 Meg WBC