I think the "Openreach box" is a phone socket. He is with Freeola and the line stats are clearly not FTTC.

Ah, yes! So looks like it's a block of self-contained rooms each with their own phone line. Nowt like a Travelodge at all (which only does chargeable WiFi unlike BestWestern I was last in which did free Ethernet).

what i meant was in design. Perhaps i worded it wrong.

Its 16 rooms each with a port to which the occupier is responsible for getting the phone line activated along with ADSL. Once that is done, it feeds back to a central switch and then out to BT.

So in reality, there could be 16 physical lines and ADSL active at any one time - i suspect there would be about 7 or 8 in this instance.

Call it a "socket" and not a "port" and we'd be clearer.

What I find frustrating is the 'usual' replies to the OP when something happens like this.

Like me, NOTHING changed except the sync speed connection.

I went through the filters/cables wires, washing machines, wind powered auotmatons, elephants in a nearby circus etc.

BUT, for some reason, this happens, and all you get from the engineers is 'all ok'.

I am wondering if it is caused but the upgrades to fibre boxes.

Nick

You should be getting a lot faster, but the noise margin is the issue. One possibility is that one of your neighbours has bought a new electronic device that is radiating a lot of noise. Has occupancy of one of the rooms changed recently? Maybe a Plasma TV?

Get Router Stats Lite and run it for 24 hours to record the SNR and sync speed to see if either changes ...

I am very au fait with these kind of wiring set ups, it is no different than any usual block of flats.

I'd be wondering if there was external interference, as someone else on here has asked, do any of your colleagues in nearby rooms have similar issues ?

Thanks for all the replies.

Trying to find out if someone has a new electrical item plugged in, or something in the vicinity is pretty difficult to determine.

I have spoken to my ISP again, and they have requested that i leave the connection which is currently at 5706kbs on the downstream and holding stable for the next 72 hours and see if it takes any hits (they are monitoring it)

I guess what i am wanting to know now, is if this remains stable at 5607kbs, can they/will they attempt to increase the speed for me step by step until it starts to disconnect? Even if i could get upto 10Mbits (which is 4mbits slower than before) i would be happy!

Rgds
Aidi

With an attenuation of 24dB, the Kitz speed calculator suggests a sync speed of 18Mbps+.

That you have a reduced sync speed alongside a "normal" noise margin of 6dB suggests that there is a lot of noise hitting you, as mentioned in plenty of other posts. If this is stable, then it suggests constant noise; if it varies, then you have a very variable source.

Have you tried using something like RouterStats to track the changes to noise margin over time, and the sync speed over time?

DSLstats does a similar job.

Either might also tell you the SNR values for all the different frequencies and/or the bit-loading values, displayed as graphs. With these, you can see if the noise is happening at specific points in the spectrum, or throughout.

Finally, you mention in a couple of posts that the physical connection goes via a "switch". What do you mean exactly?

To me a "switch" is a telephone exchange like BT's, or a private exchange (PABX) for a company. Going back a few years, these would switch at 64Kbps, and would prevent a broadband connection at all.

I'm sure you mean something else, but it would probably wise to find out if anything changed with the "switch" recently too.

In reply to a post by akwilliams:

I guess what i am wanting to know now, is if this remains stable at 5607kbs, can they/will they attempt to increase the speed for me step by step until it starts to disconnect?

The only way that speed can be increased, from the stats in the OP, is to reduce the noise margin further, making it susceptible to disconnections.

BT's 21CN can run at 3dB, but you need a very stable connection for that to stay connected. The amount of noise you obviously now have suggests that it isn't going to stay stable.

But a 3dB gain will buy you perhaps 1-2Mbps, tops.