Demon (C&W LLU ADSL2+) SRA enabled?

I've just noticed that:

• My connection's stayed up for over 22 hours and counting.
• DS and US Actual Rate have been changing.
• SNR Margin has been hovering around 9dB.

Before this:

• My connection dropped at least once/day.
• DS and US Actual Rate only changed after a drop/reconnect.
• SNR Margin drifted around.

Either Demon have recently enabled SRA or it was enabled anyway and the alternative modem firmware I decided to try yesterday is now using it.

SRA is one feature of ADSL2+ which I'd been looking forward to. It makes sense on lines which, like mine, appear to have variable noise levels depending on time of day, how wet the weather's been and so on...

I'd be surprised if SRA was enabled. As far as I'm aware no UK ADSL2+ provider is using it officially. UKOnline will do it, but it's not officially supported
C&W are however new into this, so who knows

I'd be surprised if it's enabled too. But something seems to have changed. I'll be keeping an eye on it.

To provide a stable connection, aren't the choices SRA, IP/bRAS profiling, or to cap the connection permanently at the minimum speed supported by the line?

With none of these, the result is a connection which drops/reconnects to change the sync rate in response to changing noise levels. Hardly desirable.

I know BT had good reason (due to how their ATM network worked) to use IP/bRAS profiling, but WBC is an IP network, IP has flow control, so wouldn't SRA just work if it were enabled?

If Demon/C&W have enabled SRA I might be prepared to stick with them a little longer, at least until BT relent and enable it as well.

Otherwise might I be better off (have a more stable connection) if I migrate to an ISP who use BT, IP/bRAS profiling and all?

Has any ISP stated a good reason for not enabling SRA?

Be* say they need hard evidence that SRA will perform as expected, but if they won't enable SRA than how can anyone be expected to do any testing in order to provide this evidence.

They are also suggesting they would need to upgrade the DSLAM firmware and this would first need thorough testing and they don't want to risk upgrading the DSLAM firmware for it to introduce other problems.

This is despite being led to believe some time ago that that the DSLAM's were already configured for SRA - it just needed to be enabled

They also say there is a question over licensing for any software that needs to change or be added to support new features

That's interesting, though from my POV as someone who's been involved in writing software to standards, doesn't make much sense.

ITU G.992.5 is an International Telecommunication Union standard for what's otherwise known as ADSL2+

While I haven't looked at it (but probably will) it's reasonable to assume that SRA is part of this standard.

Therefore if a DSLAM doesn't support SRA then it doesn't conform to the standard. If it does conform to the standard then it supports SRA.

So are Be* suggesting that they've purchased/installed equipment which doesn't meet the standard it's supposed to meet?

No, Be* are just talking rubbish and making excuses IMO

We hjd similar when first trying to get fastpath enabled and there is still the issue of the why Be* block frequencies 2052KHz-2156KHz at the DSLAM?

you raise a very good point concerning SRA, one would expect any adsl2+ equipment to have SRA capability.

The question is was SRA ratified the day adsl2+ was ready for use?

Ukonline on a line that is SRA enabled many routers do not work with the feature which would suggest either.
(a) the routers in question do not support SRA although they support adsl2+.
(b) they dont support SRA the way the dslam operates.
If its (a) then of course as you said the routers would be disabling features that are supposed to be standard.

I find BE's position to be a lie, they have their reasons for not enabling SRA but I think they not revealing the truth, I have heard stories such as they require a firmware update and that firmware update is too expensive, never before have I heard a reason for not applying 'software' updates is due to cost. I think the real reason is they believe SRA will cause more issues than it solves and as such they dont want the support headache of turning it on or perhaps their equipment does support it but is a buggy implementation.

Regarding BT and c&w I have no idea why they dont enable it either and can only guess for the same reasons as BE. Given SRA is something that is going to benefit longer lines more than shorter lines we can see where the isp's priorities lie, in giving the best performance to the shortest lines.

If a isp has no SRA, no profiling and no line cap it doesnt mean the service will be unstable, every line is different. It just means if the line is unstable then the customer will generally need to report it and then the changes that are normally done by the profiling will be applied manually.

I can quite easily get at least 1 re-sync a day and of course this usually happens at night and typically when online gaming. Very typical of many other Be* users.

It's so annoying to get kicked as the host

I keep pushing Be* to get a trial going and am probably 1st in the queue to take part and those of us that do want to take part of CPE that can do it.

From a marketing perspective, Be* could do well if they did support SRA

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

If a isp has no SRA, no profiling and no line cap it doesnt mean the service will be unstable, every line is different. It just means if the line is unstable then the customer will generally need to report it and then the changes that are normally done by the profiling will be applied manually.

Before the ADSL2+ upgrade, the line's been down to ~750k during long damp spells and up to 3000k during long dry spells. BT's profiling worked, the connection adapted to changing line conditions (albeit with more inertia than SRA would provide.)

I don't fancy doing myself what BT used to do automatically. Besides, attempting to contact Demon about anything brings new meaning to the word 'futile'.

In the absence of a confirmed outbreak of SRA in the UK it looks like I'm better off with an ISP who use BT.

In reply to a post by nredwood:

I'd be surprised if SRA was enabled. As far as I'm aware no UK ADSL2+ provider is using it officially. UKOnline will do it, but it's not officially supported
C&W are however new into this, so who knows

They are new into this? I wouldn't say that - remember they are the network behind Bulldog, who were the first to use ADSL2+.

If connection speed is changing without a resync it has to be SRA.