Soon to be a Sky Broadband user

Hi I'm new to these forums but have often used them as a reference on past occasions.

I am currently with Plusnet, using ADSL Max and as I find it to be slow during peak times and it doesn't cater for my needs otherwise, I am venturing to Sky's Broadband Unlimited package. I ordered this on the 1st of this month and it's due to be activated next Thursday (17th).

In doing this, I believe I can benefit from ADSL2+ technology using their LLU network and as I am close to my Telephone Exchange, Sky believe I should get 11.2-18.0 Mbps.

I shall post my router stats below, so can someone work out what speeds I should realistically get from Sky?

DSL Type: G.992.1 annex A
Channel mode: Interleave
Maximum Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 932 / 10,560
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 448 / 7,616
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/GB]: 0.00 / 82.29
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 11.5 / 19.5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 10.0 / 17.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 22.0 / 16.5

Many Thanks,
Xplosion

you should be getting around 18Mbps figure with those stats

You should get over 20 Meg Sync on ADSL2+.

However be aware that Sky is Full LLU, they also take over your phone line, which makes it the devil's own job to migrate away later on. See the trouble this user is having: http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/sky/t/4122118-re-sk...

In reply to a post by Kr1s69:

you should be getting around 18Mbps figure with those stats

That's great news thanks, Kris

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

You should get over 20 Meg Sync on ADSL2+.

However be aware that Sky is Full LLU, they also take over your phone line, which makes it the devil's own job to migrate away later on. See the trouble this user is having: http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/sky/t/4122118-re-sk...

Also, great news (re: sync speed) and I have read about others who've experienced hell switching in and out of LLU but if it all goes well I shan't be switching anyway.

Thanks all for your replies so far, I'll post my Sky stats pre-DLM and then once the 10 days are up

I'd say 20Meg too but with sky they seem to be a little more conservative with noise margin....

Only by 1 point from the norm; worth at most 0.4 Meg.

Okay so it's now the big day, the day that Sky said my line and broadband would become active. As of yet my Plusnet broadband still functions and I haven't got any texts from Sky nor has the order tracker moved past the router dispatched stage.

I'm aware this is normal as it can take up to midnight to activate Sky line rental and broadband, however I'd like to know what will happen today and the time that the work is likely to be completed.

Please bear in mind I'm going onto full LLU on the SVBN (Sky Voice and Broadband Network).

Thanks,
Xplosion

Just went live.

I must say I'm impressed, the DNS seems much better than Plusnet's. Even at half the speed, pages are loading in half the time. Obviously the speed is only slow because of DLM, but will improve in the next 10 days.

As promised, my stats...

Downstream: 4095 kbps
Upstream: 606 kbps
Line Attenuation: 18.5 dB/11.7 dB
Noise Margin: 15.3 dB/18.3 dB

Will post follow-up stats on the 27th (when DLM completes).

Thanks,
Xplosion

Speeds should ramp up well before the 27th

Do not turn off the router off during DLM

If it detects a router switch off DLM often reduces the sync.

DLM works on a kind of 'you have to earn it' basis.
Before it increases your speeds it likes to see that everything is absolutely perfect. It can take several days of DLM constantly monitoring before it increases the speed.

Also once the speeds increased it can go back down if DLM finds an error build up.

Changes in speed usually always occur during the middle of the night at around 2am and it can take a while before the internet comes back on.

Also I'm shocked at how much the attenuation has decreased. Hopefully you will see around the full 20mbps.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Thu 17-May-12 17:09:06)

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Speeds should ramp up well before the 27th

Great! I wasn't sure how that works so thanks for that information, MrSaffron.

With regards to ukhardy07's post. I was aware of how important it is to keep the router on in the first 10 days. That's no problem for me however, I've never been in the habit of switching my router off. Even since the days of Pipex in around 2007 I've been leaving my routers on.

Thanks MrSaffron and ukhardy07 for your replies today,
Xplosion

i went live yesterday - must say so far im impressed with sky . everything went smooth for re activated line which they only charged me the £10 setup .

6 months free calls and bb is a bargin imo . dlm on my line . It changed to 6 meg yesterday night and been stable all day (previously had 22 meg with be*)

should i be gettin 19-20mb with these stats ??

Line Attenuation
d/s 16.5 dB
up 10.8 dB

Noise Margin
d/s 14.1 dB
up 15.9 dB

thanks

Just woke up and tested the connection. Currently about 5.1 down and 0.7 up. Up time according to the router is about 4 hours.

The stats...

Downstream: 6142 kbps
Upstream: 797 kbps
Line Attenuation: 18.0 dB/11.7 dB
Noise Margin: 16.4 dB/15.8 dB

I have a couple of questions. Is DLM going well? Am I on track for the sync speeds suggested in previous posts?

Thanks,
Xplosion

What speeds should I expect tomorrow?

Thanks,
Xplosion

I also am a happy Sky User, 17mb here solid. I didn`t wait for DLM to finish as I wanted to go a Gamer Profile..

Looking at their FTTC product now as I hammer the ADSL connection with Netflix etc and not a moan from them

You wont regret being with them.

In reply to a post by Xplosion:

What speeds should I expect tomorrow?

Thanks,
Xplosion

if its any help ... i was activated day before you . i started on 4mb - early hours next day it went to 6mb - today its 9mb .

imrpressed upto now from ordering to activation and support on queries ive had

if its any help ... i was activated day before you . i started on 4mb - early hours next day it went to 6mb - today its 9mb

Great, thanks for the information, guvnor.

In reply to a post by oddsandmods:

You wont regret being with them.

You're right, not a single regret so far. The changeover has gone swimmingly. Stayed with Plusnet for a while only because I had heard horror stories about the big boys (BT, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, Sky, Orange) but I guess it's just the fact they have more customers, therefore more publicity.

Just for reference stats are still as they were when I woke up but should change in a few hours I hope.

Thanks all,
Xplosion

sky FTTC is having problems with throughput speed currently i would not jump into them right now.

In reply to a post by epyon:

sky FTTC is having problems with throughput speed currently i would not jump into them right now.

Ok, thanks but I don't have an FTTC date in sight

So it's now day 3 and it's overtaken my Plusnet connection. I'm getting an actual download speed of around 7.8 Meg and an actual upload speed of pretty much 1.0 Meg.

Speedtest.net Result

My stats...

Downstream: 9215 kbps
Upstream: 1112 kbps
Line Attenuation: 18.5 dB/7.2 dB
Noise Margin: 14.9 dB/9.1 dB

Is my actual download speed still in line with my Downstream sync?

Thanks,
Xplosion

Speeds have been consistent all day. Had a chance to have a go at some torrents. Very fast indeed.

Xplosion

Speeds have really picked up today. 10.5 down and around 0.95 up.

The stats...

Downstream: 12284 kbps
Upstream: 1112 kbps
Line Attenuation: 18.5 dB/10.4 dB
Noise Margin: 9.2 dB/8.9 dB

Really proud of my ping too... http://www.speedtest.net/result/1961395830.png

Xplosion

Stats today...

Downstream: 15357 kbps
Upstream: 1112 kbps
Line Attenuation: 18.5 dB/8 dB
Noise Margin: 5.9 dB/9.4 dB

All's good and I'm getting around 13.0 down and 0.95 up (actual) but that means appears they've stopped increasing my upload speed. Now as most posters on this thread have said I should get top speeds, shouldn't I get around 1.2 up (considering Sky say they are up to 1.3 up)? I am a YouTube channel owner, uploading on a day-to-day basis which means the respective speed is of paramount importance to me.

Thanks in advance,
Xplosion