Ways to improve ADSL connection?

Hi,

So I am in the undesirable situation of having to rely on an old fashioned ADSL2+ line for internet. Unfortunately I am also quite far away from the exchange. The speeds I get using broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com are the following:

WBC ADSL2+ Annex M
Downstream Line Rate (Mbps): Up to 3.5
Upstream Line Rate (Mbps): Up to 0.5
Downstream Range(Mbps): 2 to 6

So does this mean 3.5 Mbps is what I should expect or should I be able to achieve speeds up to 6 Mbps?

I have read that installing a faceplate probably would help for instance from this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrbMpIW-BsU&ab_chann...

Right now I have a microfilter plugged into the socket in the wall and then I have a regular telephone network cable (I am not sure what this is called) round not flat plugged into the modem. So would a flaceplate help with setup?

When I use SpeedTest I get values of a little less than 3.0 Mbps. So I do not know if it is worth it?

And can a different router help? Or should one just accept, that this is as good as it gets!?

All the faceplate really does is filter/separate the voice and broadband signals.
Faceplates tend to perform the same as the rat tail filters.

I've found over the years that using a filter makes things perform a little worse than using no filter at all.
Of course filtering is necessary if you use the landline for calls.

The broadband availability checker simply gives estimates. The condition of everyone's wiring is different. No you shouldn't expect 6Mb/s.

You could remove the lower cover on your master socket and try connecting directly to the test socket behind it. That eliminates your internal wiring as being an issue.
If there's no improvement in sync speed from the test socket then that's that.

Different modems can indeed perform better than others.
Some modems allow manual tweaking of the SNR target. Some ISP's also allow you to directly tweak the SNR target.

Hi and thanks for your response,

I am not really very handy myself, so I will not venture into changing the wiring.

But it does sound like there would not be a lot to gain from this?

Also it sounds like one would have to have a good understanding of the router and signal to noise ratio, in order to play around with that, haha which I also do not have...

Any other sockets used or unused in the house ?

Like telephone sockets? If so no I do not think so.

There is antenna outlet. That is not being used.

Btw the antenna outlet, is that the one Virgin Media uses for it Hybrid fiber-coaxial connections?

In reply to a post by lo22:

Hi and thanks for your response,

I am not really very handy myself, so I will not venture into changing the wiring.

But it does sound like there would not be a lot to gain from this?

Also it sounds like one would have to have a good understanding of the router and signal to noise ratio, in order to play around with that, haha which I also do not have...

If you can stretch to it - get Starlink.. it's designed entirely for people like yourself..

You might even be able to get a voucher to help with the cost of the gear.

The antenna might just be for TV - without a picture we can't tell - unless it has Telewest or a VM logo on it?

Edited by PC8S (Sat 08-Oct-22 09:54:52)

I'd skip ADSL and look at 4G/5G options

Edited by jpm (Sat 08-Oct-22 10:14:18)

In reply to a post by PC8S:

If you can stretch to it - get Starlink.. it's designed entirely for people like yourself..

Surprised you didn't suggest a LL

In reply to a post by lo22:

WBC ADSL2+ Annex M
Downstream Line Rate (Mbps): Up to 3.5
Upstream Line Rate (Mbps): Up to 0.5
Downstream Range(Mbps): 2 to 6

Ofcom, Your right to request a decent broadband service: What you need to know

Depending on your router it maybe possible to select G992.3 ADSL2 rather than G992.5 ADSL2+ if your operator supports it. This may provider a slightly better downstream rate on longer lines.

In reply to a post by dect:

In reply to a post by PC8S:

If you can stretch to it - get Starlink.. it's designed entirely for people like yourself..

Surprised you didn't suggest a LL

nah Starlink would be good enough. A LL cost would be massive for someone out in the sticks as we know :/ I needed 455M and that was £2525 - and other costs made the ECC's £3800 - I would imagine it's about 30K for someone in the sticks even with the £2800 taken off

Edited by PC8S (Sat 08-Oct-22 20:27:17)

Just get Starlink. Done.

I do think Starlink is a no brainer for people like the OP - I am surprised they don't seem to know about it, or if they do have not thought about it - but they do now and I hope they can justify the monthly tag. From what I hear the Dishy 2 is okay - removing the Ethernet port seems to be the only negative about it.

Well I do know about Starlink (I do not not live under a rock, but rather in a place with poor internet, lol), but my understanding is that it has a ping that is too high and too unstable for doing gaming, especially for FPS games.

My solution so far has been getting a Billion BiPAC 7800DXL modem/router and change the modulation, and now it runs with a fairly stable ping, and I am able to play CSGO decently. I also tried playing with the SNR margins, but I think having a stable connection is more important for CSGO than increasing the bandwidth.

I actually found that G.Dmt modulation on the Billiom modem/router gives the most stable connection and more or less the same speeds as ADSL2 or ADSL2+ modulation. However, it is on an ADSL2+ enabled connection (I was told I had been switched to ADSL2 by BT). So does this make sense to anyone

Edited by lo22 (Tue 18-Oct-22 13:07:31)

In reply to a post by lo22:

Well I do know about Starlink (I do not not live under a rock, but rather in a place with poor internet, lol), but my understanding is that it has a ping that is too high and too unstable for doing gaming, especially for FPS games.

It isn't necessarily too high for gaming.

Normal satellite broadband has incredibly high latencies. Often 600ms+ and is completely unsuitable for gaming, due to the huge distances to the satellite

Starlink can have latencies in the 20-40ms range for many users which can be comparable or even better than many ADSL connections.

How stable the latency is and how bad the jitter is I have no idea but it isn't comparable with other satellite broadband services.

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

Starlink can have latencies in the 20-40ms range for many users which can be comparable or even better than many ADSL connections.

It is rarely as low as 20ms, 40-70ms is far more typical (pinging London based hosts from here in Essex, probably via the Starlink groundstation in Kent). But is also a lot more variable than ADSL, even when unloaded it will bounce between 40-70ms, with plenty of >100ms or even >200ms thrown in every minute or two.

And the packet loss is higher than ADSL.

There are also regularly very brief connection losses. It is normal to have multiple sub 2 second connection losses an hour. With streaming, web browsing and video calls these don't tend to be noticeable. But for example they do have a habit of freezing my remote desktop connection to Azure virtual machines for a few seconds.

I don't do any online gaming, so I'm afraid I don't know what real world impact this would have.

In reply to a post by andynormancx:

It is rarely as low as 20ms, 40-70ms is far more typical (pinging London based hosts from here in Essex, probably via the Starlink groundstation in Kent). But is also a lot more variable than ADSL, even when unloaded it will bounce between 40-70ms, with plenty of >100ms or even >200ms thrown in every minute or two.

And the packet loss is higher than ADSL.

There are also regularly very brief connection losses. It is normal to have multiple sub 2 second connection losses an hour.

That's the sort of thing you'd expect with the "active" satellite moving across the sky and changing as "better" ones come into view.

Have you tried setting up a BQM on it? Not that anything can be done about it, but it would be interesting to see.

In reply to a post by billford:

That's the sort of thing you'd expect with the "active" satellite moving across the sky and changing as "better" ones come into view.

Indeed, it is amazing that it works at all, given it is swapping satellites about once a minute.

In reply to a post by billford:

Have you tried setting up a BQM on it? Not that anything can be done about it, but it would be interesting to see.

Sadly not an option, Starlink use CGNAT, I don't have a public IP address.