Getting up to speed

A port became available at my 'waiting list' cabinet and my 6Mb ADSL is now a faster fibre connection. Zen said they'd put me on the lower 'up to' (I think it was) 38Mb service because its easier to upgrade later if wanted but you can't downgrade. I would like the faster service for the 20Mb upload.

According the the Openreach DSL checker for my phone number:

Clean - 66.7 to 45.7 down with 18 to 12 up and a 39.8 handback

Impacted - 55.2 to 35 down with 15.5 to 8.3 up and a 29.5 handback

My line ought to be clean, its a new estate with new wires, no ancient unknown extensions in the attic.

First I'm worried about disconnecting my router too much as I try to get the best speed while the line is under test over the first couple of weeks. Having said that...

I have my own FritzBox 7490 router and my initial download speed was 26.8 with 7.1 up (tested here at TBB). Zen's supplied FritzBox 3490 gave me 31.1 and 7.6 but a setting change has got my own router's speed in line with Zen's.

That was connected to the Mark 4 faceplate (what I bought off eBay on advice given here...) but when Zen's router is connected to the internal 'test' socket I get 36.6 down and 7.5 up.

So the slower connection is being caused by...? The eBay Mk4 faceplate? The extension wired into the faceplate (no phone attached)?

What I see is that I'm getting the worst possible speeds from an impacted line. Which I doubt I have.

As I say I don't want to disconnect and reconnect too often in the first couple of weeks to work out how to get the best speed I can but I'm willing to hear what you think.

Are you talking about sync rates or throughput speed test results ?

Any other stats available. ?

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

Are you talking about sync rates or throughput speed test results ?

Speed test results from the ThinkBroadband speed test.

Any other stats available. ?

What would you like to know?

One thing I noticed is that the Zen router said was syncing at 40000 and 10000 when connected directly to the test socket. Using the faceplate gave a lower sync. Currently with my router it�s 34591 and 9997.

Edit: think those sync speeds are wrong, see next post...

Edited by Woolwich (Sat 02-Jun-18 19:47:36)

I know you can�t format here but here are my current stats...


Negotiated Connection Properties
Receive Direction Send Direction
Max. DSLAM throughput kbit/s 40000 10000
Min. DSLAM throughput kbit/s 128 128
Attainable throughput kbit/s 35001 12278
Current throughput kbit/s 34591 9997
Seamless rate adaptation off off

Latency fast fast
Impulse Noise Protection (INP) 42 0
G.INP on off

Signal-to-noise ratio dB 7 7
Bitswap on on
Line attenuation dB 21 32

Profile 17a
G.Vector off off

Carrier record J43 J43

There is no training period with fibre. DLM is always active. Disconnect it too often and DLM will move the speed down (it'll think there is a fault). From my own experience DLM has improved of late. Last year I was stuck in a range of about 66 - 72Mb/s for a long time drifting up and down over a period of a couple of months or so but of late it has moved me up to 77.2Mb/s. Just don't keep fiddling.

I do know with Plusnet, their fault replies include info on such things as whether you're line is impacted, disconnecting a lot etc. I'd imagine Zen do much the same. Just because it is a new estate doesn't mean that everything will always be squeaky clean. There are other factors to take into account.

And do try other speedtests sites - preferably wired.

Edited by 69bertie (Sat 02-Jun-18 20:37:03)

If you perform too many resyncs in a 24 hour period then DLM is likely to apply banding to the line. This can take many months to remove, sometimes never.

I strongly advise you to setup the modem how you like then leave it alone. There is no 10 day training period on FTTC. Despite BT quoting a training period to everyone DLM starts up on your line within the 1st 24 hours.

If you have a separate modem and router then you can do as much rebooting/fiddling with the router you like as DLM is only interested in the xDSL link between the modem and the cabinet.

You should not be looking at running speed tests to determine how your line is doing. There are so many variables (IP profile %'s, congestion, peering) that can affect throughput that it's just not a reliable guide.

You ideally want to login to your modem, or modem/router if using a combined unit, and looking up what your sync speed is.
You should really be getting 39,999/40,000Kbps if you are on the lower package and looking to upgrade.

Can you login to the modem and post the full connection/dsl statistics.
A description of what equipment is connected to what would also help.

Edited by j0hn83 (Sun 03-Jun-18 00:14:41)

Extension wiring often causes a speed loss, even with the filtered socket. Point is the MK4 is minimising that as much as possible, the difference in speed is likely this.

New build does not really make a huge difference. Often times, new builds are wired by builders who have no idea, they will run the BT lines alongside power cabling, and often run things however is easiest rather than the shortest route. They sometimes install fancy looking sockets, which they wire up poorly, often with the bell wires connected, and star wiring is not uncommon in new homes even to this date. With a new build things looks nice, however often it's cheap, nasty and poorly done below the surface.

Then with new builds, the developer is really responsible for providing anything over basic broadband. If the developer doesn't fund anything, then you kind of get what comes. New builds are often times quite far from the cabinet, and capacity can be limited at the closest cabinet, so it's not uncommon to end up on a cabinet much further away as this one had availability.

A new estate near me, half of it has internet speeds of 1Mbps. This is because the closest cabinet was at capacity, so instead they routed all the lines to a cabinet, which is in the opposite direction, and actually goes all the way back to a further away telephone exchange. The new estate effectively became the longest lines on that exchange. The FTTC is so far away, they still only see around 2Mbps on FTTC.

Anyway, who is your ISP, are you using the ISP router? If so, we can help get router stats.

Zen, judging from the first post, and there�s some stats from the Fritzbox posted later.

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

You should really be getting 39,999/40,000Kbps if you are on the lower package and looking to upgrade.

Can you login to the modem and post the full connection/dsl statistics.
A description of what equipment is connected to what would also help.

Yes, see above or below where I posted the router stats. I do have a 40000/10000 sync. I also see a drop in actual speed when using the Mk 4 faceplate rather than the test socket.

I'm using a FritzBox 7490 connected to the Master socket's Mk 4 faceplate. The router also has the phone line connected (because that model can do DECT). There's an internal extension running from the back of the Mk 4 faceplate to an unused but connected phone point.

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

Often times, new builds are wired by builders who have no idea

I had them run cable for me. There's Cat 5 Ethernet running from the incoming Openreach point to my Master socket under the stair. The OR Engineer connected his cable to the Cat 5 and installed the Master. There's also another Cat 5 running from the Master back to the incoming position for an extension. OR Engineer moaned that he wasn't down to wire an extension but did anyway. But he did use a second pair in the 'incoming' Cat 5 rather than the second cable. So I have a Cat 5 pair connected to the exchange line going to the Master with a pair in that cable 'returning' to an extension. If that makes sense...

A new estate near me, half of it has internet speeds of 1Mbps.

You must live near me! Some have FTTC, others not because the cabinet is full. Many others are on a cabinet without fibre and have less than 3Mb ADSL. But the developer is funding a new fibre cabinet. Real Soon Now.

Anyway, who is your ISP, are you using the ISP router? If so, we can help get router stats.

Zen. See previous post with stats.