READSL2 (Reach Extended), supporting ISPs, phone provider...

Hi folks,

Not sure if I should post all these questions in one thread but I'd be really greatful for some answers regarding the below.

Just some background information...

- Moving to a new house, currently no phone / broadband providers setup
- Property will be 4.1km from the exchange and like have 58-60dB downstream attenuation
- Colleague based off same exchange lives approximately 5km from the exchange and went from 1.5Mbps downstream to 3Mbps downstream after switching over to ADSL2+ / READSL2 (ISP = Zen)
- Local exchange is Garforth (category 3 I believe) with about 4 LLU providers and BT 21st Centurary network support

1) READSL2 (Reach Extended) - I've heard there is a technology called READSL2 (as opposed to ADSL2+) that is designed to help with longer line lengths (something to do with reducing transmission power to help with cross-talk). Is this feature supported by all UK ISPs that offer ADSL2+ services or do only certain ISPs support this mode (if so, any recommendations?)

2) Phone supplier - after having a browse on moneysavingexpert.com (love that site!) I saw you can get your phone supplier from a comany called "Primus" which re-sells BT land-line products and their line rental is only £9.15/month. Would I be able to pickup any UK ADSL ISP if I went with this provider or do I limit my choices technology choices? The site has just been updated and seems to suggest a combination of Primus/Plusnet for £15 a month (for ADSL MAX, which I was looking at first as I thought ADSL2+ wouldn't have any effect on a long line).

3) Latency - being an avid gamer, latency is really important to me (more than higher sync speeds). In the past I have been able to improve this situation by asking my ISP to switch off interleaving to save 10-15ms off my ping. How does ADSL2+ / READSL2 compare to ADSL MAX in terms of latency? Does it still use interleaving and is there an option to have this switched off?

4) Supporting Equipment - do all modems/routers that support ADSL2+ also support READSL2 or is this a special feature of certain manufacturers? Any recommendations for a wireless router with this feature that works well in conjunction with long/noisy lines?

Many, many thanks in advance for any advice!

p.s. this graph shows the benefit / extra speed with READSL2:

http://img460.imageshack.us/img460/6123/internodeads...

So the colleague is receiving ReADSL from a BT Wholesale service via Zen ? If so then any other retailer using WBC would be able to do the same. Prior to your posting I had only heard of Talk Talk's LLU running in ReADSL mode on the odd line that negotiated it.

Primus have an 18 month minimum contract. As i'ts a resold BT line you have the full range of broadband options except full LLU (Talk Talk, maybe Sky).

Interleaving helps stability on many lines and is available on all forms of xDSL. Its use may be down to the policy of individual ISPs but BT Wholesale provide facilities for it to be turned off.

In general you get most success with oddball things if your router uses the same make of chip as th eexchange, for example I can get 8128 interleaved using routers based on TI AR7 chipset as the DSLAM is also TI and both ends support the same optional extension to allow this to happen.

In reply to a post by yarwell:

for example I can get 8128 interleaved using routers based on TI AR7 chipset as the DSLAM is also TI and both ends support the same optional extension to allow this to happen.

That's interesting - I always thought the AR7 was the Spawn of Satan and Broadcom always whopped them - I guess that must be because I've never been on a connection with a TI DSLAM at the other end. Do you have any idea what sort of % of BT DSLAMs they represent?

I used to get 8128 interleaved on my exchange with a Netgear DG834Gv3 (TI-AR7 chipset). On O2 LLU now so don't know if I still would given that the exchange is now 21CN WBC enabled.

I always thought the AR7 was the Spawn of Satan and Broadcom always whopped them

not on very long lines in my experience. Broadcom = no sync.

I think there are a lot of TI chipsets in smaller rural exchanges, can't remember if it was a Fujitsu or Marconi DSLAM in ours (Fujitsu I think)

Thanks very much for the information folks!

So to summarise, would I see any difference going with an READSL2/ADSL2+ service over an ADSL MAX service with my line length or should I just stick to a Primus/Plusnet combination (ADSL MAX) for just £15 for the pair?

I am connected to a TI DSLAM at 8128 interleaved (<800 metres from exchange), but my DrayTek 2710n has; I believe; an Infineon chip.

When I asked, DrayTek would not give me the name of the chip manufacturer - "commercially sensitive information which is not released to the public"

The public... only has to unscrew the case to find out !!!

I might have a peek when the warranty expires

A google search found info that it is Infineon; if this is the case; it would seem TI DSLAM's may be compatible with other chips besides AR7

[Edit]

I am on a small rural exchage

Edited by deleted (Tue 23-Mar-10 16:12:47)

wouldn't Plusnet be using ADSL2+ anyway, if Zen are using it for your mate ? at least for their "Up to 20Mb speeds" products.

anything that supports the S=1/2 mode option can sync at 8128 interleaved

I was not aware of that; or, perhaps more precisely, if I did know, I've forgotten.

Thanks for the information. If my 'memory leak' gets repaired, which is unlikely I might remember in the future.