STD codes

Hi to anyone out there
Please bear with me - I am new to using forums and pretty ignorant about broadband stuff, but I'm trying to learn. We are suffering really low broadband speeds following a move of ISP a couple of months ago - 1.5 download speed on Monday evening, which is not unusual, with frequent cut-outs. We were promised a minimum of 6.5 rising to 12.5, which is the range which every other broadband provider promises but I am not convinced that these speeds can in fact be achieved at our property. We are a relatively long distance from the exchange and from a cabinet, but I have now also discovered that ours is probably the only house in the area with an 'old' STD code - 8690 - and for the last thirty years all new properties / new phones around us have been given a different STD code - 0314. What effect would this have on our speeds if any? A neighbour with the 'new' code has no problem with internet speeds. Should we be asking for a new phone number? Thanks for any ideas.

STD code has no effect on broadband.

Changing your phone number will have no effect.

Can you find the actual connection speeds, attenuation and noise margin data from your broadband modem. http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/frogstats.php shows how to get these for most modems.

Once we see those we can comment further on your plight

8690 is not an STD code; they all start with 0.
0314 is a Non-Geographic Code given to firms who want National coverage.

My router is not one of those on the site. However, I have found out the following information:
Netgear router DGN1000
Downstream connection speed: 4589 attenuation 33.2 dB noise margin 8.5

upstream connection speed: 1023 attenuation 17.5 noise margin 10.3

Virginmedia are making all sorts of excuses, including wireless interference from next door neighbours.

Have been speaking to O2 who claim to be able to offer us much better speeds because they use ADSL2+. Is there anything in this?

The line should have you seeing speed tests around the 3Meg (3000Kbps) mark. If you get this at say 9am, but its bad at 7pm then its a case of change providers.

The Virgin Media ADSL products are not renowned for being great. Though that said based on your data, your modem should be connecting a lot faster. Also I think you on ADSL2+ already.

At the master socket, plug the modem with just the filter (no phone)
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/images/faq/faceplates/...
into the test socket that is revealed by unscreweing the lower half of the master socket. Then go get the figures again.

Then post the results back. We can then advise on the next step.

I would have thought that a 33dB attenuation with a default 6dB SNR should achieve around 11-12M throughput?

Edited by Deadbeat (Wed 25-Apr-12 19:52:50)

http://www.farina1.com/adsl
"11500Kbps to 15000Kbps"

So yes, was waiting to see what happened at the test socket. It is possible C&W who do the Virgin LLU has someone profiled the line and locked down to this sort of speed.

In reply to a post by Fryn:

...... Have been speaking to O2 who claim to be able to offer us much better speeds because they use ADSL2+. Is there anything in this?

O2 have been good for me for a few years now but it seems that cracks are starting to show. If you're a heavy downloader then Sky is the preferred option but be aware that this is a full LLU option only.

In reply to a post by Deadbeat:

I would have thought that a 33dB attenuation with a default 6dB SNR should achieve around 11-12M throughput?

Yeah, I was about to post that. My connection was 34db on ADSL2+ and I syncd at 13Mb/s over the winter at 6db and 14Mb/s over the summer at 3db.

Sorry for delay - various commitments. Have had very long discussion with Vm who have now downloaded a firmwire update for the router. Router is currently connected direct into test socket via ADSL filter but I will connect direct and post as soon as I have the results. Current speed looks about the same a yesterday, although there seems to be a better connection in my daughter's room. I think you are right about already being on ADSL 2 - I have noticed that when looking up the router on google.

Current data, with phone disconnected from ADSL filter:

Connection speed: 4558 / 1023
Attenuation 33 dB / 11.5dB
noise 9.2 / 10.7

Phone and router are kept in v. close proximity which I know is not wise, but I moved router in order to connect direct into socket to try and improve performance when I moved to Vm.

I have been informed that, in order to have stability range all we can have is now 5mB - 8mB, but still getting below 5, even in off peak times.

Also I have been given some information to the effect that BTs line tagging is out of date ie the line cannot support the previously quoted speeds of 6 - 12.5. Does that make any sense to anyone?

Makes perfect sense, as in Virgin Media support is just as bad as all the others.

The checkers are intended only for pre-qualification, and should NOT be used as a method for determining what an active line can manage. A good provider would look at the actual attenuation and see something is amiss.

Their wording suggests that may be limiting your speed. Answer change ISP.

We are not heavy downloaders unless my son is home from university and then the fur flies when he wants to download, we want to catch up something on BBC iplayer and my daughter wants to go on u tube! Although we live in central London we are on the edge of the exchange area and about 300 metres from the cabinet, so I do not expect miracles. My husband will not subscribe to Sky on principle.

As Mr S said, VM are telling you porkies - your download rate should be at least three times what it is. Time to move to a decent ISP!
Tell us your exchange and we can advise further.

Edited by Deadbeat (Thu 26-Apr-12 20:18:44)

In reply to a post by Fryn:

Sorry for delay - various commitments. Have had very long discussion with Vm who have now downloaded a firmwire update for the router. Router is currently connected direct into test socket via ADSL filter but I will connect direct and post as soon as I have the results. Current speed looks about the same a yesterday, although there seems to be a better connection in my daughter's room. I think you are right about already being on ADSL 2 - I have noticed that when looking up the router on google.

The router might be capable of ADSL2 but that doesn't prove you are on that. ADSL2 is a superset of ADSL so an ADSL2 modem will work fine on ADSL.

In any case even on ADSL1 you should be syncing at 8Mb/s and seeing 6.5Mb/s throughput. That's what I got 24/7 back in the day and my attenuation was slightly worse than yours. Have you followed the advice on Kitz about removing your ring wire?

The sync speeds are ADSL2 or 2+.