Right!

From the stats we can see that your sync-time margin is 15dB. The normal figure is 6dB. Sometimes it needs to be set to 9dB on lines with wide noise variation, but 12dB or 15dB usually means there has been a problem in the past or a current fault is preventing it lowering automatically. See my Noise Margin and High SNRM pages.

With a normal noise margin you should connect at 5Mbps or more. So this is a long-standing problem possibly from before that engineer redid the line.

Probably the first thing to do is to get BT to reset your Noise Margin. (Which causes a new 10-day training period). Then see what happens afterwards.

If you read the stats again as late as possible tonight, so we can see how much the noise margin has fallen, that will give us a very useful indicator of whether you should ask them to do that.

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 26-Oct-10 18:00:05)

I will try about 5pm to get the statistics again from my BTHub (after disconnecting and reconnecting)

What exactly do you mean by disconnecting and reconnecting as too much of that will cause your downstream noise margin to increase.
The ideal default figure for the downstream noise margin is 6dB when you took the stats it was 15.8dB so you a losing around 1500Kbps-2000Kbps in downstream sync rate.

Can you connect the router to the TEST socket (if it isn't already) within the master BT/Openreach socket, shown here and here in order to get a new set of line stats?
Connecting to the TEST socket (if wired correctly) helps to eliminate any issues with extension wiring in the house.

I have now connected to the TEST socket and the stats are:

InternetADSLVPNDynamic DNSADSL line status
Connection information
Line state Connected
Connection time 0 days, 0:08:28
Downstream 2,560 Kbps
Upstream 448 Kbps


ADSL settings
VPI/VCI 0/38
Type PPPoA
Modulation ITU-T G.992.1
Latency type Interleaved
Noise margin (Down/Up) 14.6 dB / 16.0 dB
Line attenuation (Down/Up) 53.0 dB / 31.5 dB
Output power (Down/Up) 17.8 dBm / 12.3 dBm
Loss of Framing (Local) 0
Loss of Signal (Local) 0
Loss of Power (Local) 0
FEC Errors (Down/Up) 203 / 0
CRC Errors (Down/Up) 0 / 2147480000
HEC Errors (Down/Up) nil / 0
Error Seconds (Local) 0

Hide Details
And the stats look pretty much unchanged.

In reply to a post by ian72:

But, it could be that the router during the day can sync at 4Mb+. But, if it resets then at night to 2Mb

That's a tremendous 2 Meg drop overnight. My line drops max of 0.5 Meg overnight. Anyway we have no evidence that OP can get 4 Meg in daylight. Still think it is noise on line.

the speed test on the line:


Test1 comprises of two tests

1. Best Effort Test: -provides background information.

Download Speed
1626 Kbps

0 Kbps 2000 Kbps
Max Achievable Speed

Download speedachieved during the test was - 1626 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speedsis 800-2000 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :2560 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 2000 Kbps
The throughput of Best Efforts (BE) classes achieved during the test is - 11.95:21.57:66.48 (SBE:NBE:PBE)
These figures represent the ratio while sententiously passing Sub BE, Normal BE and Priority BE marked traffic.

The results of this test will vary depending on the way your ISP has decided to use these traffic classes.

2. Upstream Test: -provides background information.

Upload Speed
347 Kbps

0 Kbps 448 Kbps
Max Achievable Speed

> When I disconnected and connected earlier I took the plug leading to the hub out of the socket.

My connections from the modern BT socket are:
1 a filter with one wire direct to the internet hub and

2 a connector with a wire to the SKY Box as part of it -

3 another connector (which goes into connector 2) which has a wire to the phone and an external connection wire leading to 3 connected diy upstairs extensions

In reply to a post by oldperson:

as soon after I will not be the only one using our Hub.

Doesn't matter how many are connecting to router. Only interested in how fast the router itself connects to exchange.

2 a connector with a wire to the SKY Box as part of it

You need to put a filter on the SKY box as it can create noise on the line.

In reply to a post by oldperson:

My connections from the modern BT socket are:
1 a filter with one wire direct to the internet hub and

2 a connector with a wire to the SKY Box as part of it -

3 another connector (which goes into connector 2) which has a wire to the phone and an external connection wire leading to 3 connected diy upstairs extensions

Hope you removed 2 & 3 when you tested from test socket.

Not impressed by the DIY 3 x extensions. Recommend a (cheapish) multi DECT cordless system.

The stats are minutely better but the downstream noise margin of 14.6dB via the TEST socket indicates that BT's exchange equipment has incresed the figure in the hope of keeping the connection stable due to the line picking up noise.

The connector, which has the SKY Box wire, is connected directly to the filter. The wire going to the SKY Box goes into a single phone type connector which has a wire which goes into the back of the SKY Box.

Do I need a second filter? which would go into the phone type connector which has a wire to the SKY Box?