Downstream Attenuation increased a lot!

Got back from holiday Sunday, I used to have a 61DB downstream attenuation I notice that has now increased to 70DB!!!!

This is now having a direct impact on speed instead of the 3500/700kbps I was getting I now get a measly 775/480mbps. Last night my connection was flaking out completely and is really unstable, I actually plugged in the old HGV2700 2wire which I know is good on long lines and even that was losing connection every now and then, showing the maximum reading of 63DB downstream att.

I get Fibre on the 25th of this month, but with this issue I want to try resolving it first, I�m with Xilo and have noticed that there is some background interference on the voice side of the line. BT are due out tomorrow to take a look at the line, any ideas on what could of caused this massive increase in attenuation? Is there anything I could say to the BT guy to avoid the £99+VAT charge Sky have threatened if it�s not at BT�s end. I�ve tried two phones and both have that background interference.

I've tried the original filtered faceplate, 2 other filters in the test socket, 3 routers (2wire HGV2700, DG834GT and DGN2000), also tried 2 phones to test the voice side of the line. Nothing resolves the problem of poor voice quality and very poor attenuation. Could BT have changed my connection at the local cab without me knowing, putting me on a worse connection? I've the cable coming into the house direct at ground level (no grey box - not a new house) to the single master socket, no other sockets are used in the property.

I�m wifi tethering my phone now just to connect to the internet, which incidentally although latency isn�t as good, speed is better than my ADSL connection.

Edited by deleted (Tue 16-Oct-12 16:59:34)

if the noise is present when no ADSL kit plugged in and using the test socket then no worries about charge.

Similar with broadband, but the what a line is meant to achieve is very subjective, usually lines over 60dB tend to be assumed as lucky to get anything.

Was the old street cabinet given a new shell as part of the upgrades? This may have disturbed your line, or some other fault such as flooding is causing issues.

No a new cab was installed next to existing one, will see what he says tomorrow, still no connection tried putting snr on router to 200% still not seeing a signal, but this time two weeks ago and for the past two years, I've had around a 3mb connection. Weird.

In reply to a post by benbird7:

Got back from holiday Sunday, I used to have a 61DB downstream attenuation I notice that has now increased to 70DB!!!!

Yes you are right going from 61DB to 70DB is a large change, 900dB to be precise.

If you are going to quote figures, why not at least try to get the units correct.

In reply to a post by benbird7:

If you are going to quote figures, why not at least try to get the units correct.

Was your post helpful or indeed useful - not really. I work for a house builder primarily (not in communications) so stop with your condescending posts.

Plugged the phone in test socket last night without anything else plugged in, definitely crackling and interference going on.

Edited by deleted (Wed 17-Oct-12 10:29:33)

Well remind me not to buy from your employer as you can obviously not read data from one source and copy it elsewhere. What would happen if you got dimensions wrong and order 100 cubic metres of concrete instead of 1 ?

Hey calm down.
You have been using this site long enough to know we try to be tolerant.

You really are pedantic, let alone annoying.

MrSaffron knew exactly what I meant. Just seems you stick your oar in to pick up on faults others make.

Can you please stick to the topic in hand, instead of picking faults with others - maybe too much time on your hands?

You could clearly see from MrSaffron's response he was not confused by this small error in DB or dB...

Mental Human - Completely.

Edited by deleted (Wed 17-Oct-12 11:15:17)

I replied to EXACTLY what was posted. dB and DB is not a small error but an extremely large one.

Final warning - stop being so belligerent.
We all make typo's, it is not like the posts made here are life and death, or peer review of scientific papers.

A it has to be 100% perfect or I will have a go at people attitude will put off those who are unsure from posting at all, as the perceived attacks will frighten them off. Nothing wrong with a polite are you sure you don't mean dB and not DB when there is scope for actual confusion is fine, just like most people manage when there is confusion of b and B

Result.

BT Engineer called today, I popped home. Really friendly guy with plenty of experience and knowledge. Told me which cab I was connected to (I knew it was one of two) and the routing from that to the main exchange wasn�t very good.

He identified that there was noise on the line, used his computer to carry out a test, it couldn�t find a signal the first time but the second time he could but was still showing 63dB still 2dB higher than what it was previously). He installed a new BT master socket (BT Branded) and provided me with another filtered faceplate. Double checked it again still at 63dB. So only syncing now at 2500kbps with SNR to 6dB. I only will have to have this for a week, as I go over to fibre next Thursday.

He said he was going to look in the cab after my visit to try and run me on a pair with the least interference, but said with how close I am to the cab I should see very near, if not full speeds of 40/10 when I go over to fibre.

All in all a very pleasant experience, line fault should now be sorted, I�ll see when I get home from work whether it has been improved with a new line between me and the cabinet, but not to worry if not, as only a week until it gets upgraded anyway.

Edited by deleted (Thu 18-Oct-12 16:31:34)

Thanks for the update, glad it's working out

As you mention, fibre is going to transform your long line *green*

I take it back!

Engineer was great, but he's not fixed it.

Got back, turned everything off and on again to reestablish connection, however on netgear router the i keeps flashing orange, tried the phone, crackling and hissing still going on, tried the bt business up it just about manages a connection briefly then flakes out again.

Details are when connected

DSL Connection Details
DSL Line (Wire Pair): Line 1 (inner pair)
Protocol: G.DMT2+ Annex A
Downstream Rate: 950 kbps
Upstream Rate: 516 kbps
Channel: Interleaved
Current Noise Margin: 11.8 dB (Downstream) 5.5 dB (Upstream)
Current Attenuation: 63.0 dB (Downstream) 40.5 dB (Upstream)
Current Output Power: 13.4 dBm (Downstream) -31.0 dBm (Upstream)
DSLAM Vendor Information: Country: {0xB5} Vendor: {50 00 00 00} Specific: {0x00}
PVC Info: 0/38

Data Errors
Statistics
Collected for 0:10:35
Since Reset Current 24-Hour Interval Current 15-Minute Interval Time Since Last Event
ATM Cell Header Errors: 6476 6476 6476 0:00:00
ATM Loss of Cell Delineation: 3589 3589 3589 0:00:00
DSL Link Retrains: 1 1 1 0:08:42
DSL Training Errors: 1 1 1 0:08:27
DSL Training Timeouts: 0 0 0 0:00:00
DSL Loss of Framing Failures: 24 24 24 0:00:27
DSL Loss of Signal Failures: 2 2 2 0:08:43
DSL Loss of Power Failures: 0 0 0 0:00:00
DSL Loss of Margin Failures: 2 2 2 0:08:43
DSL Cumulative Errored Seconds: 429 429 429 0:00:00
DSL Severely Errored Seconds: 136 136 136 0:00:01
DSL Corrected Blocks: 19130 19130 19130 0:00:00
DSL Uncorrected Blocks: 6973 6973 6973 0:00:00
ISP Connection Establishment: 2 2 2 0:03:16

Posted this inbetween one of the disconnections, now on the phone back to sky!

I hope I get the same engineer, he must of done something at the cab that cause it to go bad again.

Edited by deleted (Thu 18-Oct-12 17:31:57)

Arh

Sky? I thought you are with xilo???

Could I add my support to Mr Saffron? As a non-techie this site has been and is an absolute godsend to those myself who don't understand the finer points. Those with knowledge gladly share it with those less fortunate, and usually share it kindly. Very seldom do they put noobies off ... and even I knew what the OP was trying to say.

Thanks again to all who run and help TBB, your efforts are much appreciated.

I am, hacked firmware on BT business hub. That's all, it seems to hold onto the weakest of signals, none of my netgears will even pick up a signal!

Fortunately wifi hotspot via my Galaxy S3 on three with ultd internet is keeping me going!

Ironically, although not as good ping times as broadband (still not bad for mobile network!) I get about 8mb down ad 2mb up on my phone as a modem!!!

http://www.speedtest.net/result/2250239388.png

Edited by deleted (Thu 18-Oct-12 18:32:21)

Ditto'd! Love coming on here for a read and where needed top notch support and assistance from most!

You've lost me now

Who's your ISP? xilo or Sky?

Sorry my bad.

Sky - for the line and talk
Xilo - for the Broadband

Broadband is moving over to sky for fiber next Thursday though. Sad to leave Xilo as they have been nothing but excellent, but 40/10 connection ult for £20 a month with sky, just didn't stack up against Xilo's capped pricing. The cheapest I could get was still £22.99 (40/2 connection) with a 15gb allowance peak times. I may see how sky goes and if perhaps in a few months, may upgrade homeplugs and go for the 80/20 connection for £30, not being greedy at the minute though, can't wait to get connected, just wish this issue wasn't hanging over my line.

http://community.xilo.net/topic/1657-new-fttc-packages/

Sky have told me BT will be out between 8-1pm on Monday.

I must say Sky customer support although you speak to a lot of different people (very personal with xilo Matt or Tom generally) they update your case and are extremely helpful, maybe the implementation of post phone call emailed surveys are helping keep this high level of customer service up.

Edited by deleted (Thu 18-Oct-12 18:45:10)

I'm with you now.

PS. If you know who sees your said fiber instead of fibre he'll get cross

Hahaha

That'll Be The Spell Checker On The Phone Then.

I'm Sure You Know What I Mean

Got back, turned everything off and on again to reestablish connection, however on netgear router the i keeps flashing orange, tried the phone, crackling and hissing still going on, tried the bt business up it just about manages a connection briefly then flakes out again.

I hope I get the same engineer, he must of done something at the cab that cause it to go bad again.

I'd be hoping for a different engineer myself. He seems not to have picked up the HR on the first visit. If you your attenuation has raised by such a pronounced amount, it might be worth your ISP trying to raise a RAID 1 fault with Openreach.

Well whoever I get will be here tomorrow between 8-1pm. I do hope they can sort the problem out, my downstream attenuation hit 735B. Crazy when two weeks ago it was 61 and a nice little 3mb speed on it.

I want to get it sorted before my migration to Fiber on Thursday.

Stats atm, but it won't establish a connection.

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 361 kbps 410 kbps
Line Attenuation 75.0 db 49.5 db
Noise Margin 5.3 db 6.7 db

Edited by deleted (Sun 21-Oct-12 17:36:26)