Speeding up my Broadband

Hello

I'm on O2 broadband using the Wireless Box V, and currently getting a speed of 12.5 Mbps through ethernet and wifi. I'm on an up to 20 Mbps package. According to the BT Wholesale checker I could be getting 17 Mbps. I just wondered if there is any way I can boost my speed to get closer to 17? I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to these things so I don't know where to begin.

Here are my stats...

Uptime: 0 days, 8:30:28
DSL Type: ITU-T G.992.5
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 1.313 / 15.469
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [MB/GB]: 192,25 / 0,99
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 11,9 / 18,5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 13,6 / 25,5
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 7,3 / 6,0
System Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / ----
Chipset Vendor ID (Local/Remote): BDCM / BDCM
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 9 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 1 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): -
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 98 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 80.524
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 26 / 106
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 18 / 843

Also, what would the reason be that I am not able to get 20 Mbps? Is it to do with the wiring?

Thank you for your time.

The Wholesale Checker estimates are just guidelines, not "could get". More "might get" . Also, it refers to the connection/sync speed, not the actual speed test results obtainable, which are always much lower.

In your case you are connected at 15,469kbps. On O2 that should give actual speeds of around 12,900kbps, which some testers could report as 12.6Mbps.

Your attenuation of 25.5dB suggests you could connect at somewhere in the range 16,000-17,000kbps. So whatever is preventing that is nothing major. It may just be the way things are in your locality. There are many factors that can reduce your connection speed from the theoretical maximum, such as nearby electricity substations; electrified railway lines; the line passing industrial premises containing some types of electrical equipment between the exchange and you; and so on.

Regarding your own wiring, just check the usual suspects. See my Ring wire and Miscellaneous nasties pages.Or any similar factors at home. But I think it unlikely you have anything wrong there.

Edited by RobertoS (Sat 10-Mar-12 09:56:08)

In reply to a post by Grenade:

Also, what would the reason be that I am not able to get 20 Mbps?

Just that your line to the exchange is just a bit too long. Tho' if you can persuade O2 to lower your NM to a non-default 3 dB you might just get it. As it is you should be getting about 18 Meg Sync Speed.

Cheers.

I have my router connected to an extension socket. I've just tried it directly with the test socket. My highest speed before was 12.69/1.06 on the extension, and at the test socket it's amazingly 14.78/1.12. Much better. My ping has also slightly decreased (by 4 ms).

Obviously there's a problem with the extension wiring- perhaps some ring wire. I used to have a few active extensions in my house, though I currently only have the one extension socket in use which is for my telephone and router. It is in the same room as the master socket. I'm not sure if the wiring is still active for the other sockets, so I might have to get them totally removed, and also get the extension wiring checked out for this socket I'm using. The faceplate on my master socket is closed for some reason, so I can only use the test socket on it. I'll have to get a new faceplate.

Luckily for me my cousin works for OpenReach, so he should be coming sometime next week to replace my faceplate and look at the older extension sockets and ring wire. Should I ask for a faceplate with the ADSL filter fitted on? Also, is the extension socket capable of supplying the same speeds that I got from the test socket? I'd rather use the extension as it's closer to my PC which is connected via ethernet, though if the extension can't supply the full speed, for the sake of an extra 2Mbps I'd probably connect to the main socket and get a longer ethernet wire.

First thing to do is

1. Remove the ring wire
2. Remove any wiring that is no longer needed, i.e. extensions with nothing plugged in