AOL 'Up to 24Mbps Speed Broadband Boost'

Hi

I'm at my parents house for Xmas and forgot just how terrible their AOL broadband internet is and have been trying anything to speed it up.

Looking at their online AOL account, I found a setting called 'Up to 24Mbps Speed' which was unchecked, so I ticked the box. That was a few hours ago and not much seems to have changed. It looks like:

http://i.imgur.com/xsgiHkJ.jpg

Can I assume this is something to do with using ADSL2+ and not ADSL? The current speeds are:

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3181961742

I'm not sure (but doubt) if my current router (a [censored] Belkin F6D4630) even supports ADSL2+. If it doesn't can you run an ADSL router on and ADSL2+ line, but where it defaults to a lower speed (thinking that otherwise if AOL do at some point switch it to a higher speed I've just killed my parents internet for a bit!).

Thanks

An ADSL router will work fine on an ADSL2+ line.

Unlikely that the setting change actually changed anything, sounds too simple for AOL.

The speedtest also shows that you would probably not see much of a speed boost from ADSL2+, perhaps an extra meg of download speed.

What you really need to look at are connection speed, attenuation and noise margin figures from the router and throw them into http://www.coolwebhome.co.uk/calc to get a feel for what the line can actually do.

Yeah counting on AOL to do anything simple isn't a good bet...

Also I agree there's not much room for improvement on my line - stats are

ADSL
Type Interleave Path
Status SHOWTIME

Downstream Upstream

Data rate(Kbps) 4436Kb 440Kb
Noise Margin 9 20
Output power(dBm) 123 190
Attenuation(dB) 57 26 *well that looks awesome!*

Going off on a tangent, if I switch to a FTTC provider e.g. BT would I be able to get the stated 30Mbps+ speeds, even if the attenuation isn't great? (thinking about it, is that attenuation value above from the house all the way to the exchange, whereas FTTC is only bad copper wires between the house and the cabinet, which is far closer than the exchange so there's less chance for the signal to degrade?)

In reply to a post by cgreen3:

Data rate(Kbps) 4436Kb 440Kb
Noise Margin 9 20
Attenuation(dB) 57 26 *well that looks awesome!*

To be honest thats a very good speed for that attenuation and it looks like you have room for more if your line is stable. If you're on BT Kit and subscribe for Up To 24Mbps with AOL, the new DLM allows the Noise Margin to drop to 3dB instead of the old 6dB if your line is stable.

In reply to a post by cgreen3:

Going off on a tangent, if I switch to a FTTC provider e.g. BT would I be able to get the stated 30Mbps+ speeds, even if the attenuation isn't great? (thinking about it, is that attenuation value above from the house all the way to the exchange, whereas FTTC is only bad copper wires between the house and the cabinet, which is far closer than the exchange so there's less chance for the signal to degrade?)

It all depends how close to the cabinet you are. VDSL speeds drop massively more over distance that ADSL so it can be very unpredictable on long lines unless you know where your cabinet is. What does the BT Wholesale checker say? It would also help to know your connection error counts so we can see how 'clean' your line is. Remember: ADSL2+ (Up to 24Mbps) is much more sensitive to errors than ADSLMax (Up to 8Mbps), so if you have a poor connection (As far as error rates are concerned) switching to ADSL2+ may not be very pleasant.

In reply to a post by chris6273:

If you're on BT Kit and subscribe for Up To 24Mbps with AOL, the new DLM allows the Noise Margin to drop to 3dB

I doubt that AOL will buy BT WBC in its non-LLU areas. I imagine that Boost is only applicable at LLU exchanges.

@OP: What exchange are your parents on?

Those stats are v. good for BTw ADSL Max which AOL has you parents on, prob. cuz they are not LLU there. Unlikely you will benefit from ADSL2+ on that long line.

What exchange is your parents on?

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

I doubt that AOL will buy BT WBC in its non-LLU areas.

Isn't it cheaper ? IPStream is also retiring at a list of exchanges.

I'm currently on this exchange http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/EACRH

Also I think I'm on LLU as in the account page the plan is listed as 'AOL BB (SMPF)' where I think SMPF is Shared Metallic Path Facility (another name for LLU?)?

SMPF is shared metallic path facility which did used to mean LLU broadband (with phone via BT exchange) however same term is used now for BT provided ADSL.

Exchange has both TT and AOL LLU listed and BT 21CN so ADSL2/2+ options should be available to you. They would give you a faster upload if nothing else, although I would expect a few hundred k uplift on the downstream too.