New FTTC connection/BT wiring questions

Hi,

I have today been connected to Zen broadband on the "up to 80Mbit" connection, which was promised to be around 50Mbit. However, having been connected, I am only getting 42Mbit.

Here are the modem stats:

Text
1 23 45 67	Type    VDSL Status  UpUptime  0 days 1 hours 16 mins 49 secs Line Rate (Down / Up)   42551 kbps / 8079 kbpsNoise Margin (Down / Up)        5.8 dB / 6.1 dB Attenuation (Down / Up) 17.3 dB / 8.5 dBPower (Down / Up)       11.8 dBm / -1.1 dBm

Are these acceptable?

The one that I think it affecting my connection is the poor state of the master socket, or at least the wiring leading up to it. The BT line is actually coming in inside the garage on the opposite side of the house wall, which then goes through some junction box, over the ceiling into the living on the other there.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/82c5ne6olw5r2ra/2015-09-08...
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gseqzccow3fwcng/2015-09-08...

Once there, it goes through another junction box before going into a master socket.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/odqyh0gbedobagj/2015-09-08...

From what I can see, only two wires are connected from the point of entry in the garage to the master socket. Can I just replace it myself, leaving the master socket where it is? Or better yet, have the master socket moved to the garage. I can then run a CAT5 cable from the modem back to the house into switches etc.

Now I know I am not legally allowed to do it but... will anyone notice? If it's a big no-no, can I get Zen (they also supply the line for me, but it's BT's anyway) or Openreach to relocate the socket for £? Or will they refuse to do this?

Thanks
CJ

Might be noise pickup from running alongside the power distribution board

The junctions in themselves look clean and dry and so should not be leading to massive issues, location of joints may be increasing noise pickup i.e. rf noise from mains

Master socket relocate if £125+ (exact figure escapes mind at the moment)

The black insulation tape and a junction box hanging in the air suggests someone has already had a go at some DIY on that wiring anyway

If the OP is compentant and has the right tools then yes, relocating the master in the garage and away from the mains would be a good idea. Obviously need to heed warnings of imminent death/injury/prosecution/termination of service, but as long as they manage not to wire line ( or themselves) to the mains I doubt anyone or openreach will bother them.

Thanks Andrew. Blimey, that's expensive... I am going to try and put a new socket in place, leaving the existing extension/wiring in place (in case I break it!). I'll also move the main thick cable away from the wall as, like you say, it's very close to the power cables.

Regarding the sync speed with my stats - do these look OK? I know there are a lot of calculators for line attenuation in ADSL/ADSL2+ but none for VDSL, so I am not sure how these compare.

Noting all the warnings above, on a nice sunny day, I think I would temporarily install a socket at the Electricity Head junction (disconnecting the current internal wiring), plugging the modem/router in and seeing if that makes a difference.

John

The wiring in those junction boxes is fine even though it looks a little rough.

You almost certainly have a lot of noise pick up being that close to the incoming supply. Try taking out the fixing screw and moving it across the wall as far away as possible and seeing what you get.

WARNING: Nothing apart from the incoming fuses, cut-out, isolators and meter should ever be fitted to that backboard. I can be 99.99% certain that a BT Technician did not do that and it really should be moved.

As you ask and others agree with: Get your master moved to the garage and install te modem on a shelf close by with Cat5e across to a router and switch.

The grey cable coming up looks like armoured cable - the black insulating tape probably covering up the spiky bits where the armour has been stripped back.

Connection might be improved by remaking the connections with gel crimps (and moving away from the electricity service head).

They don't look a huge difference to mine, except for your attenuation figures, although maybe a HH5 which I have reports them differently. I'm about 400-500m from the cabinet with a line that goes to my roof from a post the opposite side of the road, comes down and then goes about 20m to a junction box and then ~2m to the master socket.

6. Data rate: 8848 / 55667
7. Maximum data rate: 8848 / 55981
8. Noise margin: 6.1 / 6.1
9. Line attenuation: 30.9 / 20.3
10. Signal attenuation: 30.3 / 18.6

I presume from what you say you could install a master socket in the garage and have the modem next to it, and presumably a cordless phone master. Then wire ethernet back to your switch or whatever.

Whether that would make any difference, who knows, it may be worth a try but leave the option of converting back to the old wiring as OR will probably not want to touch it if they think you've messed with it...

In reply to a post by CaptainJack:

Text
1 23 45 67	Type    VDSL Status  UpUptime  0 days 1 hours 16 mins 49 secs Line Rate (Down / Up)   42551 kbps / 8079 kbpsNoise Margin (Down / Up)        5.8 dB / 6.1 dB Attenuation (Down / Up) 17.3 dB / 8.5 dBPower (Down / Up)       11.8 dBm / -1.1 dBm

Are these acceptable?

On MyDSLWebstats, all comparable lines with 17-18dB of attenuation are getting speeds of 49-80Mbps, with the majority seeming to be in the middle. It likely means you aren't doing very well.

Your power seems a little low too. Whether this is a cause or an effect is debatable.

In reply to a post by CaptainJack:

I have today been connected to Zen broadband on the "up to 80Mbit" connection, which was promised to be around 50Mbit. However, having been connected, I am only getting 42Mbit.

Was this an engineer install? Did they do any line testing?

What result do you get from the standard BTW DSL checker? For both A and B ranges...
http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/

A speed of 42Mbps might be low enough for Zen to call out Openreach, who likely would investigate your master socket for free.

Openreach will likely only get involved if your speed is well below the bottom of the speed estimates though.