Disappointing 21cn upgrade, new isp?

I am in a unique situation, I have 2 Internet connections, one of which is active. The 1st connection is not mine, I get BT business on it, and I do not pay for it. The 2nd is not a very good line, it has a lot of noise on it and therefor only syncs at 1536 kbit.

The other connection is, or should I say was, a lot better. I could sync at 7616, with an ip profile of 6500, with 20cn.

The problem is that yesterday I got upgraded to 21cn, I was expecting that this would increase my ip profile to 10,000 - 13,000. However I only managed a increase to 7000 with a sync of 8126 and what is very strange is that my upload decreased from 448 to 444, when I was expecting it to at least double. However the main problem is the increase in latency, 26ms to 43ms on pingtest.

So the question is, can I do anything from my end of the line?

The 2nd question is, could I get a decent connection on the 1st line with another isp. I use to have Sky on this line, at first I use to sync at 3Mbit this decreased to 1.5Mbit over time. The line stats on this line is a lot different to the other, I get a higher noise margin, higher attenuation and a much much lower power output.

I am not sure why this line is the way it is, but my theory is that this line is an older line and therefor still has the bell wire. Additionally there are a lot outlets around the house due to a previous user being deaf, where there was a flashing light instead of a ring. This leads me to think that the bell wire, or other wire, provided this light power and hence the line noise and power output.

So is there a reasonable chance that I could improve this line to get it as good as the other line, and if so is there a isp that will give me a better sync rate and a lower latency connection.

Also I should be able to get FTTC in March 2011, so I don't want to be stuck with ADSL when I could get FTTC.

1st line (BT) 21cn
Download sync: 8126
Upload sync: 444
Ip profile: 7000
Current Noise Margin: 15.4 dB (Downstream) 27.8 dB (Upstream)
Current Attenuation: 34.1 dB (Downstream) 12.7 dB (Upstream)
Current Output Power: 20.7 dBm (Downstream) 12.5 dBm (Upstream)

1st line(BT) 20cn
Download sync: 7616
Upload sync: 448
Ip profile: 6500
Current Noise Margin: 9.0 dB (Downstream) 23.0 dB (Upstream)
Current Attenuation: 30.9 dB (Downstream) 17.0 dB (Upstream)
Current Output Power: 19.7 dBm (Downstream) 11.9 dBm (Upstream)

2nd Line
Download sync: 1536
Upload sync: 320
Current Noise Margin: 17.0 dB (Downstream) 13.0 dB (Upstream)
Current Attenuation: 35.0 dB (Downstream) 21.5 dB (Upstream)
Current Output Power: 8.9 dBm (Downstream) 0.2 dBm (Upstream)

The BT BB connection used to be running at max speed for an interleaved line hence 7616, could well be that the line is speed capped hence the only small increase in speed with the upgrade.

The second line should be considerably faster. You need to remove any of the extension wiring which is no longer required, a quick and dirty is to remove the ring wire from terminal 3 of the master.

If you can get FTTC soon then you might as well wait unless you get a provider with a 30 day contract.

According to the BT website, there is no business broadband that is capped, 20 Down and 1 Up on all there packages.

As for waiting for FTTC, I am worried that it will not come on time. 21cn was a good few months late.

So if I don't go with another isp and I presume that FTTC will be on time, and will give me full speeds with low latency, that only leaves BT.

So, with FTTC is it only BT that is offering FTTC and how does normal BT home broadband compare to other broadband and to there business broadband. Since I presume that you could go from ADSL to FTTC with BT.

And if all else fails is there a way to force 20cn, I'd rather have better latencies then a increase of 500 Kbit.

The easy bit first . ISPs offering FTTC.

It seems quite common for then to be able to supply a few weeks before BT Infinity, as that seems to go according to a marketing rollout not technical availability.

The difficult bits. (Not made easier by you seeming to change your mind which is 1st line and 2nd line half way through ).

The 21CN line should indeed be connection at something approaching 14Mbps and the upload should be a lot higher. I think that is the business line?

I suspect either a router that is incompatible with the 21CN equipment at the exchange, or yet another dodgy line card at the exchange. Quite common . What router (and version and firmware version) are you using on it?

The slow line is the same attenuation as the good one and you should get the same speeds. You mention a Sky box. Is that on a filter or not? Lots of people don't realise everything has to be filtered, and Sky boxes are a killer. Does it have this kind of master socket?

Edited by RobertoS (Fri 17-Sep-10 21:29:33)

The slow line was 20cn, I presume, so the attenuation is not the same, I still pick up the ADSL signal, so I can check.

For the BT line I am using a BT2700HGV, which does support ADSL 2+. As for the Sky router, it no longer works, after I tried to installed unofficial firmware to try and improve the speed. The slow line no longer has Internet access all I can do is sync with the exchange nothing else.

As for the socket, the BT line as you would expect has a modern socket, however the slow line doesn't. The socket, which I presume is the master socket, does not have a test port.

Update: Just checked and the slow line is using ADSL.

Edited by Dark_Light (Fri 17-Sep-10 22:13:06)

In reply to a post by Dark_Light:

The slow line was 20cn, I presume, so the attenuation is not the same, I still pick up the ADSL signal, so I can check.

1st line (BT) 21cn
...
Current Attenuation: 34.1 dB (Downstream) 12.7 dB (Upstream)

2nd Line
...
Current Attenuation: 35.0 dB (Downstream) 21.5 dB (Upstream)

Near as dammit the same, though the upstream is high on line 2.

For the BT line I am using a BT2700HGV, which does support ADSL 2+.

Can you see whether it is using G.992.1, G.992.3, G.992.5, ADSL, or ADSL2+?

As for the Sky router, it no longer works, after I tried to installed unofficial firmware to try and improve the speed. The slow line no longer has Internet access all I can do is sync with the exchange nothing else.

Download the Netgear Recovery Tool and the correct firmware for that router. To use the recovery tool make sure you enable Windows firewall and disable your IS system, as that can cause the recovery to fail and completely brick the router, as I did because I forgot!

As for the socket, the BT line as you would expect has a modern socket, however the slow line doesn't. The socket, which I presume is the master socket, does not have a test port.

You can still open it up and check the wiring. As a master socket it should have a large capacitor at the top. It's probably an LJ2/1A as in the first pic here. What wires are connected to which terminals?

You haven't answered about the Sky box filtering.

You can't compare a ADSL1 line with a ADSL2 line, when the BT line was on ADSL1 there was 3.2db between them, both readings where taken from the same router.

On the Sky line all phones, Sky TV boxes etc are connected through the microfilters that Sky supplied.

This is all the information I a get from my router about the connection.

DSL Connection Details
DSL Line (Wire Pair): Line 1 (inner pair)
Protocol: G.DMT2+ Annex A
Downstream Rate: 8126 kbps
Upstream Rate: 444 kbps
Channel: Interleaved
Current Noise Margin: 15.6 dB (Downstream) 27.5 dB (Upstream)
Current Attenuation: 34.1 dB (Downstream) 12.7 dB (Upstream)
Current Output Power: 20.6 dBm (Downstream) 12.4 dBm (Upstream)
DSLAM Vendor Information: Country: {0xB5} Vendor: {IFTN} Specific: {0xB971}
PVC Info: 0/38

Seeing as you believe I don't know what I'm talking about it will have to be bye-bye.

I am well aware of the difference of attenuation between ADSL2+ and ADSL lines, and I was also aware of your 20CN stats on line 1. For the matter in hand that is totally irrelevant so I tried not to confuse you.

But you know better than me anyway so I would not be able to do that.

Suffice it to say that on the basis of attenuation alone both lines are capable of well over 12Mbps. Your problem lies elsewhere.

I made a few other suggestions and had quite a bit more to contribute. But seeing as I don't know what I'm talking about it and you keep ignoring part of what I say it would be pointless.