In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

Re the connection speed itself, I agree it is low for the attenuation. We need to see what happens after the NTE5 is installed.

I just had the new NTE5 master socket fitted in my work room - all other extensions now defunct.

This is my router ADSL status right after:
DSP Firmware Version A2pB025f.d22k
DMT Status No Defect
Operational Mode G.DMT
Upstream 448
Downstream 7552
SNR Margin(Upstream) 22.0
SNR Margin(Downstream) 6.1
Line Attenuation(Upstream) 23.0
Line Attenuation(Downstream) 43.0

And this is a BT test I just did also:
1. Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
Download Speed
6156 Kbps

0 Kbps 7150 Kbps
Max Achievable Speed

Download speedachieved during the test was - 6156 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 2000-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :7552 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 6662 Kbps

2. Upstream Test: -provides background information.

Upload Speed
359 Kbps

0 Kbps 448 Kbps
Max Achievable Speed

>Upload speed achieved during the test was - 359 Kbps
Additional Information:
Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 448 Kbps

That's better than the last one I posted, and my speedtest showed a speed increase of approx. 2mbps right after the router was re-connected.

Remains to be seen if it stays good - been getting slowly decreasing speeds throughout each day, going to under 1mbps at times, so internet and email virtually useless. Always starts the day around 4.5-4.8, and sometimes drops late afternoon, sometimes late evening. This began in mid-October, so I'm hoping it was some wiring breaking down somewhere.
BT chap has taken new wiring from where the line comes to the house, routed it around the outside wall and in to the new socket.
My new router doesn't drop the connection like the Netgear did, and with this new socket, at least I've eliminated any likely problem within the house.

Looking good .

Definitely worth asking them to put you on G.992.5, ADSL2+. Depending on whether or not that causes an attenuation rise to about 46dB, it could make little difference to downstream, or at best another 1.5kbps connection speed. Your upstream connection would be over 1Mbps, if that's of any interest to you.

As you say, let's see how you go for throughput now.

Thank you - I was wondering about ADSL2 but will see how things go for a while.

It's still got good speed (it had dropped by 4pm yesterday), and last night, a BT test showed results below 'acceptable', telling me to contact isp.

The BT 'phone engineer couldn't tell how the main line got into the house because he found the actual one on the outside garage wall - the box we could see with a wire going up into the main bedroom was an extension box taking service into the house! He thought perhaps it had been taken under the garage floor. He disconnected that and wired up the bunch of wires he found on the oppposite wall.
18 years ago, a BT engineer fitting sockets in the house said that the one upstairs was our master socket, so we've always thought it just an old type box- feel happy to be rid of the four extensions and connected to a proper socket.

So, I had been thinking of upgrading to FTTC as a final resort, but if things remain steady, and with the option of potentially better with ADSL2, I'll wait a while. (They don't 'run out' of FTTC availability do they?)
A better upload speed would be useful at times for larger image files and website purposes. Super fast down speed isn't really necessary for me if I can maintain 6+ or a little more.

It's initially ADSL2+ we are talking about. ADSL2 is not the same thing, and probably not worth having for you. If you call Zen and ask for ADSL2 they may get confused .

Ah right! Thank you.

For now I'll just wait & see

Yesterday, I ordered ADSL2+ - when I'd asked last week, someone did tell me I'd likely get 13Mbps down and around 800k up, so yesterday I decideed to go ahead, and it was done overnight.

They had said I'd likely need to unplug the router and re-connect, but it appears to have done that by itself overnight (up time for WAN 6hrs 47min), and the router now states 'ADSL2+' and the speeds/SNR/Attenuation figures have changed.

Sadly, (but perhaps not unexpected) I have not got that ISP quoted speed - instead a slight drop to around 6.3, but the up speed has increased to 0.92. (previously 6.47 and 0.37).
Seems they were wrong and you were right!
Todays relevant router info below:

ADSL Status
Parameters
DSP Firmware Version A2pB025f.d22k
DMT Status No Defect
Operational Mode ADSL2+
Upstream 1087
Downstream 7424
SNR Margin(Upstream) 6.3
SNR Margin(Downstream) 7.2
Line Attenuation(Upstream) 22.7
Line Attenuation(Downstream) 46.0


WAN Interface
ADSL Mode: Annex L Annex M (ticked)
Modulator ADSL2 ADSL2+ G.Lite T1.413 G.Dmt (all ticked)
Capability SRA Enable x
PhyR Upstream Downstream x


WAN Profile
Parameters
Profile Port ADSL
Protocol PPPoA
Description VPI / VCI 0 / 38 Encap. method VC/MUX
Username Password
NAT Enable IP (0.0.0.0: Auto) Auth. Protocol Auto
NAT Enable MAC Spoofing
NAT Enable
IP (0.0.0.0: Auto) Netmask Gateway
Obtain DNS Automatic Primary Secondary
Connection Always On Idle Timeout 0 min(s) [1 - 1440] MTU 1492
MAC Spoofing
IPv6 Enable x

Edit Protocol Interface Description VPI VCI Encap. method NAT IP IPv6 Delete
PPPoA ppp_0_0_38_1 pppoa_0_0_38_2 0 38 VC/MUX Enable 0.0.0.0

In reply to a post by TrishaH:

Upstream 1087
Downstream 7424

These figures look better. What does BT report here: http://speedtester.bt.com/ ?

EDIT: I got a bit confused there - I think you were perhaps quoting results from a speed test when you said about change in speeds?

I've just read this complete thread - I'm even more confused now

It's worth a router restart during 'daylight' hours to see if those stats improve as you have a healthy downstream SNR margin...

Edited by b4dger (Wed 11-Jan-12 12:46:37)

In reply to a post by b4dger:

In reply to a post by TrishaH:

Upstream 1087
Downstream 7424

These figures look better. What does BT report here: http://speedtester.bt.com/ ?

EDIT: I got a bit confused there - I think you were perhaps quoting results from a speed test when you said about change in speeds?

I've just read this complete thread - I'm even more confused now

It's worth a router restart during 'daylight' hours to see if those stats improve as you have a healthy downstream SNR margin...

Around 7:30-8:00 AM (in early January) seems to be about the right time, the SNR might rise a little more during the day but it will be out of the night/dark phase and the modem should hold the line overnight as the SNR dips down to possibly 3dB.

Yes, I've been using Speedtest throughout for continuity. Sorry if it's all confusing - just to recap: I used to get constant connection drops and speeds which gradually became unusable as the day wore on, but were back to normal next morning.
A new router on Dec 12th completely stopped the connection drops, and a new socket & wiring on 29th made the speed much better and totally stable.
The ADSL2+ upgrade happened around 5am this morning apparently, and those details in my post above are stats from before lunch.

A new BT test is as follows:
1. Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
Download Speed
6423 Kbps
0 Kbps 7150 Kbps Max Achievable Speed

Download speed achieved during the test was - 6423 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 2000-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :7867 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 1083 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 6940 Kbps

2. Upstream Test: -provides background information.
Upload Speed
831 Kbps
0 Kbps 1083 Kbps
Max Achievable Speed

>Upload speed achieved during the test was - 831 Kbps
Additional Information:
Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 1083 Kbps


Since posting earlier today, I got three losses of connection. Last one didn't reconnect, so spoke to ISP. They did line tests and it reconnected. He did say there'd been some up HEC errors.
He also told me that although two pairs of cabinets are 60-70mts from us in either direction, our line appears to be almost 3km long! So perhaps that's why I didn't get the better ADSL2+ speeds?

Anyway, since it reconnected I did the above BT test.

In reply to a post by TrishaH:

He also told me that although two pairs of cabinets are 60-70mts from us in either direction, our line appears to be almost 3km long! So perhaps that's why I didn't get the better ADSL2+ speeds?

Anyway, since it reconnected I did the above BT test.

It does not matter where the PCPs (cabinets) are, the line on an ADSL circuit goes from you, through the PCP and finally back to the exchange. It is that full distance that matters.