Surpisingly bad line stats....

I'm in a newish build house, less than 100 yards from the exchange (I know this doesn't mean my line run is 100 yards but it can't be a great distance).

Line stats (Speedtouch 330) are

Attenuation 31db
Margin 8/9 db

Can anyone think of why these stats are so bad?

Is it likely that the internal wiring is having a detrimental effect. Would I be better off testing the main phone point? (currently plugged in to a slave upstairs - main point is by the front door so not really suitable for a PC!)

Anything else I can do. Have just been upgraded to Max - Synching at about 5mb but being so close to the exchange was really hoping for nearer 8mb.

TIA.

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I'm ... less than 100 yards from the exchange

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From the exchange or from a green cabinet?

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Attenuation 31db
Margin 8/9 db

Can anyone think of why these stats are so bad?

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Those stats are far from bad. They look like about 2 or 3 km from the exchange

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Is it likely that the internal wiring is having a detrimental effect. Would I be better off testing the main phone point? (currently plugged in to a slave upstairs - main point is by the front door so not really suitable for a PC!)

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Always take the stats from the test socket behind the front plate in the NTE5 [main phone point]. When you remove the front plate, it disconnects your wiring and you are purely reading the line which is BT's responsibility. Then when you try again at your intended connection point, you can take the difference between the sets of stats and tell whether your premises wiring is having a detrimental effect.

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I'm in a newish build house,

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Then it is definitely worth checking stats before and after your internal wiring to see how good or bad it is. On new build, an ordinary electrician without telephone training will typically do the phones, so I understand. So you might find it is wired in burglar alarm cable, or the correct pairings are not used or whatever.

31dB is rather high for 100 yards from the exchange. Either the exchange isn't where you think it is, or the cable goes round the block first, or you have a line fault.

I'm definitely that close to the exchange, although stats posted are from an internal socket.

Will re-test from the main socket once Bulldog have reconnected me (grrr...)

Just out of interest, what speed are you on?

Ooops just spotted your speed in your first post.

Yes, not good.

Edited by Ancient_Mariner (Wed 07-Feb-07 10:01:53)

Just wanted to post back with an update.

A quick check of connecting at the main phone point by the front door sees me synching at 7.4mbps compared to the 4.5 I'm getting at this moment of time in my office so internal wiring seems to be the issue!

Looks like an investment in a wireless router might be in order!

Sounds like a fair plan.

I personally like belkin routers not expensive and good performance topped with free helpline and a proper lifetime replaced if broken warranty

"Looks like an investment in a wireless router might be in order! "

.... or some Cat5 cable. Cheaper, and more secure.

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A quick check of connecting at the main phone point by the front door sees me synching at 7.4mbps compared to the 4.5 I'm getting at this moment of time in my office so internal wiring seems to be the issue!

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I would be v interested to see your line stats from this position. My suspicion is that your attenuation will be lower, which would point to incorrect pairings on your internal wiring. I would also be interested if you took the front cover off the NTE5, to expose the test socket and reported the wiring colours on 2, 3, 4 & 5. If they are plain colours and stranded, it is burglar alarm cable. Otherwise you should find that 2 and 5 are a matching pair of <colour>/white and white/<colour>, and solid core wire.

I work as a broadband consultant. Never forget that with regard to internal wiring it is the overall attenuation of the wiring and not the resistance. Obviously if anyone is running a router off a cheap unbalanced cable/extension lead this will cause problems. A master filter 2000 is a must to get a pure broadband signal at the poit of entry. Failing this a seperate cable to the computer point should be installed a filter 2000 fitted and all of the internal wiring fed from this. This will eliminate electrical interference, loss and filter any burglar alarms, sky etc. You also have the knowledge that you are getting the best from your signal.
You can do a BT test and compare it with the think BB test and see where the difference is. With Pipex you will see a vast gulf. In my case at the moment. BT Downstream 2.7Meg and wait for it...................................0.1Meg via pipex. I am giving them 5 more days. Nightmare company.