Goodbye BT, Hello Sky

Woo! Got away from that wretched BT this week and am now with Sky. I'm on the Max package which is a bargain for �10.

Got a couple of questions.

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 12087 kbps 764 kbps
Line Attenuation 36.0 db 18.2 db
Noise Margin 6.9 db 15.0 db

With the above stats, is that connection speed about right? My old Belkin router had a 30 db attenuation, but Sky's router is higher at 36. Why's that?

Also, I heard somewhere that as Max is LLU then my router won't go through the training period. Does that mean the above speed is final? And does that also mean i Don't need to keep my router on for 10 days (for the training)?

Thanks

Edited by kenneth_lad (Wed 12-Nov-08 19:11:29)

The attenuation figure is higher on Sky because ADSL2+ uses higher frequencies which are attenuated more. There is no training period on Sky LLU services, so what you sync at is what you get (less overheads of course). Turning off the router un-necessarily should still be avoided, though, because SNR target values can be increased if the line appears to be unstable.

thanks

My stats have noiw changed to:

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 8191 kbps 796 kbps
Line Attenuation 36.0 db 18.1 db
Noise Margin 13.8 db 14.0 db

What would cause this change if there's no training?

In reply to:

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Noise Margin 13.8 db

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Which router do you have?

Edited by wingco1 (Fri 14-Nov-08 16:47:22)

Hi. It's the one Sky supplied - a Sagem router.

Edited by kenneth_lad (Fri 14-Nov-08 16:58:20)

I am sure I read that Sky are using DLM (Dynamic Line Management) for all new customers and this is a recent innovation.

This system was used many months ago as a trial to those with "problem lines", the theory being that it would eventually provide the best stable sync for the line.

I believe it is proposed to eventually use this system on all lines. If you see your sync and SNR shifting a few more times in the next few days I guess that will be it.

OK, thanks. So does this DLM move the connection speed down and up to do its tests? My line the other day was connecting fine at 12mb so that's why I'm surprised it's now gone down to 7-8mb. Let's hope it goes up!

Not sure exactly what parameters it monitors but there were cases on the trial where users who had a stable line had their speed dropped for no apparent reason.

The drop you have seen does seem a large one, I can only assume it detected a large number of errors so upped your SNR which dropped your speed.

Be interesting to see what happens over the next few days.

Some info here on DLM.

It's gone up this morning to:

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 10239 kbps 796 kbps
Line Attenuation 35.5 db 18.1 db
Noise Margin 10.3 db 14.5 db