Slow connection, isp not interested

Online tests show my line is capable of 'upto 512k', in a speedtest I rarely see 400kbps. A friend down the road (same exchange), I'd say 0.5mile tops, shows 'upto 7mbps' on his line test and has much faster speeds.

My isp doesn't seem to want to help, any advice? It really is very frustrating paying full price for a measly 400kbps.

Is my line of poor quality and is there any chance something will be done about it?


Many thanks

Dom

Is my line of poor quality and is there any chance something will be done about it?

Post your line stats (nose margin, connection speed, line attenuation) from your router, and we might be able to tell you.

What ADSL service are you on? Fixed 512, 1Mb, 2Mb, or "up to 8Mb".

Please will you find your line stats and post them here. That gives us a lot of information about the quality of your line so we can judge what you should be able to get.

www.btwholesale.com/getbroadband gives you two speeds for a number - fixed and MaxDSL. What does it say for you ?

Trained Modulation ADSL_G.dmt
Path Mode Fast Path

Ds Rate (Kbps) 576
Us Rate (Kbps) 288
DS Margin (dB) 8
US Margin (dB) 14
DS Line Attenuation (dB) 48
US Line Attenuation (dB) 30

CRC Rx Fast 27
CRC Tx Fast 1
CRC Rx Interleaved 0
CRC Tx Interleaved 0



I'm on a 2mb package with Tiscali.

Those stats appear to be those for a fixed rate 512 kbps per link. Given that your downstream SNR margin is 8 dB, perhaps your line can't deliver more.

Could you try getting the same stats when plugged in to the test socket within your BT master socket? Doing so would rule out problems with your internal wiring and show the best you can achieve.

http://www.dslzoneuk.net/socket.php?type=html

Plugged into the test socket and..

Ds Rate (Kbps) 576
Us Rate (Kbps) 288
DS Margin (dB) 31
US Margin (dB) 28
DS Line Attenuation (dB) 47
US Line Attenuation (dB) 29

I plugged those figures (576, 47, 31) into http://www2.farina1.com/ADSL/default.aspx and get an estimate of a BT profile of 4 Mbps on ADSL Max.

That would seem to indicate that you have a problem with your internal wiring. If you fix your internal wiring problems you should get better syncs.

It also suggests you are currently on a fixed 512 kbps product.

I've just realised something daft, my main socket has an extension plugged into the front faceplace (no extensions off the actual socket) My filter was plugged into this 2 way extension on the front ergo the phone wasn't going through the filter!

So I'm currently on a 512k package (not the 2mb like I thought, they must have changed it) Seeing as my margin has gone up considerably, does this mean I can recieve higher speeds if I upgrade my package, if so why does the online check say 'upto 512k'? I don't want to pay extra if the speed won't increase.

Thanks for your help

I may be completely wrong but I suspect that BT "predict" your line is capable of no more than its current sync rate (in your case 576 kbps downstream).

I suspect you are now on a fixed rate 512 kbps link (simply because of your low, i.e. poor, downstream SNR margin).

It may auto correct but I doubt it. Wait a while (day or so?) and if you continue to have good (i.e. much greater than 6 dB) SNR margins complain to your ISP that you should be regraded.