In reply to a post by aquilla:

Now Matt - any chance of a discount on the "migrating in" fee.

Sorry - no offers on at the moment

Matt

Ever tried a different router? Or reset yours to factory defaults, (assuming you don't have a complicated setup in which case a configuration backup first is a good idea). The first might help, the second I doubt it, but you never know.

No worries Matt. I signed up last night and got a confirmation email this morning. Should be on by 26th May.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Ever tried a different router? Or reset yours to factory defaults, (assuming you don't have a complicated setup in which case a configuration backup first is a good idea). The first might help, the second I doubt it, but you never know.

Hi Robert,
That's the one thing I haven't changed as yet. I have a Cisco 877 which is connected to a Draytek 120 ADSL modem. The Draytek handles the line sync (as the Cisco has trouble with ADSL2+) and the Cisco does the authentication and routing.

I *think* I have a spare ZyXel 660HW tucked away somewhere. If it's ADSL2+ compatible I might give it a shot. Otherwise I'll see if I can pinch a Draytek 2820 from work for a week or so.

Well well well. I've just found the ZyXEL 660HW-61 (bought in about 2004!) and it still works. Flashed it to the latest version so it supports ADSL2+.

I have just plugged it into the test socket and here are line stats it's reporting:

noise margin downstream: 6 db
output power upstream: 12 db
attenuation downstream: 28 db

noise margin upstream: 5 db
output power downstream: 21 db
attenuation upstream: 15 db

According to me (and from checking the line stats on the Draytek), I have just *gained* 5dB on the downstream. That's one hell of a gain if it's correct. The line is currently sync'ed at 11774kbps down and 1110kbps up. Now I just need to move the ADSL modem to its proper home (off the upstairs extension) and see how it performs.

Remember a connection made in daylight times can be 1Mbps or more higher on ADSL2+ than one made when it is dark.

Hi Robert,

I'm aware that connections made at night can be lower due to higher levels of RF interference. However what I am surprised about is that when the Draytek was plugged into the test socket it reported an attenuation of 33dB (as seen at the top of this post). When I plugged the ZyXEL in last night it registered a lower attenuation and synced at a slightly higher speed.

Anyway I moved the ZyXel to its proper place last night, plugged it all in and got a downstream attenuation of 29dB (despite the Draytek registering 33dB with the same cabling setup). It's currently synced at 11784kbps / 1136kbps.

Oh well.

Different makes of router can report 3dB or so different downstream attenuation, there doesn't seem to be a standard way of calculating it, because of course the attenuation on each frequency/bin is individual, and the single figure is some sort of average.

Unfortunately it seems that this overall figure is reported to the DSLAM and used in the sync speed setting.

The stability of Drayteks appears to me to be very much linked to this. They connect slower, so of course are more stable.

Edited by RobertoS (Wed 18-May-11 23:25:26)

I've just been connected to Xilo.

Zen connection down at 13:56. Changed the login details and Xilo up at 14:03. Nice and swift. Currently synced at just under 11Mbps with a 9dB SNR (which is the standard for C&W).

Just downloaded the 100MB test file from Zen (sorry Xilo, it's the first one that I thought of). Download of 100MB took 93 seconds at a rate of 1.07MB/sec.

It's a good start, long may it continue.

(Yes I know I need to update the signature before anyone mentions it).

Do always have a play with our speedtester if you need to..

http://speedtest.uno.net.uk/

Matt