Need for speed

Hello

I am fed up with my Bt Broadband given that they have lowered my speed by 1 mbps brining my speed down to a 2002, 2 mbps. I think this may have happened as they have built a new set of houses at the back of my estate.

I have checked with O2 and Be and it seems they are able to offer me 4 mbps. But how's that? Are they using a different adsl technology or is it a trap?

The BT Wholesale website says I can only get 2 mbps. Whilst on the O2 and Be sites they imply I coud get such speeds not only on the "up to 24 meg" packages.

Does anyone have any experience of such claims?

Thanks!!

In reply to a post by rento:

I have checked with O2 and Be and it seems they are able to offer me 4 mbps. But how's that? Are they using a different adsl technology or is it a trap?

More than likely it is the former, if they have an LLU presence at your local telephone exchange.

Enter your postcode here, then click the link it gives you, scroll down to the bottom of the page and see if you can see O2/Be listed under LLU providers.

Better still enter his phone number .

As 12eason says, plus if you can find your line stats from your router we can give you a reasonably accurate estimate of your potential speed based on real facts. The estimates you are getting from BT and o2/be are based mainly, (but not completely - so as not to upset the purists like me), on BT databases that are well known to be frequently very inaccurate.

If you don't know how to get the stats, (Connection speed/sync, Attenuation, Noise Margin/SNRM), see here for help.

Hello

Just found out O2/Be have LLU presence at my exchange.

Thanks

Hi Roberto

Although speed tests on the web and BT will say that my spped is 2 mbps my modem seems in fact to be connected at 3 mbps. Also I just did a simple test... I have tried to download a large file using a download manager. I could see that the throughput was hovering slightly above the 3 mbps.

Finally here are my ADSL details

ADSL line status
Connection information
Line state Connected
Connection time 3 days, 16:56:22
Downstream 3,008 Kbps
Upstream 448 Kbps

ADSL settings
VPI/VCI 0/38
Type PPPoA
Modulation ITU-T G.992.1
Latency type Interleaved
Noise margin (Down/Up) 6.8 dB / 18.0 dB
Line attenuation (Down/Up) 57.0 dB / 31.5 dB
Output power (Down/Up) 17.9 dBm / 11.9 dBm
Loss of Framing (Local) 23
Loss of Signal (Local) 3
Loss of Power (Local) 0
FEC Errors (Down/Up) 16803078 / 127
CRC Errors (Down/Up) 3842 / 2147480000
HEC Errors (Down/Up) nil / 90
Error Seconds (Local) 1780

EDIT: I do have filters plugged in for the alarm and sky

Thanks

Edited by deleted (Wed 22-Jul-09 11:40:09)

In reply to a post by rento:

Line attenuation (Down/Up) 57.0 dB / 31.5 dB

Unfortunately, adsl2 would only add about half a meg to your current speed, but switching to o2 would be both cheaper and a higher quality service regarldess.

Edited by deleted (Wed 22-Jul-09 11:07:47)

On those figures you should get about the same connection speed on O2/Be but your throughput (actual speed) should be better and more consistent than BT.

However those error stats are a bit bad, even ignoring the "2147480000" upstream CRCs which is a reporting bug in the router.

Have you ever tried the test socket inside the Master socket, on the wall at the back in this pic? You could very well get a higher connection speed and a lot less errors.

Also if there are wires connected to the back of the faceplate as in the pic, then gently disconnecting T3 and T4 in the middle, taking care not to disturb the outer ones T2 and T5, should make the improvement happen even connecting to the external master socket.

If you are using a plug-in phone extension cable however, that could be the cause, so you need to try with just the short ADSL cable into the filter and that into the test socket.

Have you got a Sky box or phone-connected burglar alarm?

Hi Roberto

Thanks for the advice!

I have checked the master socket connections.. T2 and T5 are the only ones used.
My socket is slightly different from the one in your pic, nevertheless I have managed to do the test and there are some improvements but they seem only very minor.

I have tested the socket as depicted in this pic https://www.lumison.net/sites/all/themes/custom/lumi...

And these are the results:

ADSL line status
Connection information
Line state Connected
Connection time 0 days, 0:01:43
Downstream 3,744 Kbps
Upstream 448 Kbps

ADSL settings
VPI/VCI 0/38
Type PPPoA
Modulation ITU-T G.992.1
Latency type Interleaved
Noise margin (Down/Up) 5.6 dB / 15.0 dB
Line attenuation (Down/Up) 58.0 dB / 31.5 dB
Output power (Down/Up) 18.1 dBm / 11.8 dBm
Loss of Framing (Local) 45
Loss of Signal (Local) 5
Loss of Power (Local) 0
FEC Errors (Down/Up) 16044 / 0
CRC Errors (Down/Up) 2 / 2147480000
HEC Errors (Down/Up) nil / 0
Error Seconds (Local) 1787

Thanks

Odd that attenuation and output power went up.

Even odder the down FECs and impossible local error seconds in under 2 minutes uptime. Looks like all stats except error seconds are being reset I suppose.

To rento Not much use editing your previous post (EDIT: I do have filters plugged in for the alarm and sky) at 11:40 when you posted again at 11:36 . Unlikely anyone would see it unless you also edit the Subject to draw attention to it. I only saw it when I went to compare stats and even then nearly missed it.

We could do with more info about how the burglar alarm is filtered. Are you sure it is being done properly - into a normal filter is no good.

Sky boxes are well known to need double filtering quite often. A single filter sometimes isn't enough.

You seem to me to have definite problems at your end. Even so, the exchange name could help as well. How long have you had the Sky box and burglar alarm, well before the problem started or around the same time?

Hi Roberto

I have normal filters for both Sky and the alarm. What kind of filters should I use for the alarm?
As for the Sky box are you suggesting to chain a couple of filters?

Besides the test plug on my master socket seem to give slightly better values ( ? ), should I change the plug or is this to be expected?

To be honest this has always been my setup. I have lived with this kind of performance all this time, lately I have been getting a few disconnections and speed issues but I thought this is all I could ever get on my line.

My Exchange is Flitwick and I live 1.9 miles ( google maps directions ) away from it


Thanks

In reply to a post by rento:

Can you get Virgin cable were you are, you'd get far better performance from it.

Nope. I am not in a FC area.

I'm not an expert on the burglar alarm stuff, but IIRC it should be filtered at the alarm end by made-for-the-purpose filters, and wired into the back of the faceplate, if not the main hidden BT connections).

It does sound as if this setup could cause trouble.

So yes, chain a couple of filters for the Sky box, and for now if you have enough filters do the same with the alarm.

We need to see if we can reduce those errors as that is almost certainly most of your problem. Even if there is an external fault it will be hard to prove without eliminating the internal stuff.

Though I'm surprised the alarm didn't trigger an alert as it would have been disconnected by removing the faceplate. Or do I misunderstand you? (That's why it should be wired to the main connections).

Also start a new thread in (I suggest) General Broadband Chatter and specifically ask about the way the alarm should be wired and filtered. There are people around who will know far better than me, who won't necessarily see this thread.

Thanks for the exchange info. Nothing new to add because of it, but it has removed other thoughts from my mind.