ISP Query/AOL woe!

Hello all,

I'm John and come to you seeking advice. I have been a long time lurker on TB and feeling the need for guidance from experts, I have signed up to the forums.

I have been with AOL since 2000. I am totally unhappy with my speeds at peak times as I do a lot of online gaming/MMO playing. Downloading 1GB of data during this time, whether it be the latest Star Trek Online patch or Football Manager demo can take 6+ hours. Where as during the wee small hours my speeds are rapid. So I have had it with them.

After doing some research on the web and TB I find out about XILO who seem to be a good option for me, in a perfect world, I would plump for BE, but they have no equipment in my exchange. However, in a spooky coincidence I have received a letter from AOL today to tell me that they are installing new equipment at my local exchange which could be up to 24meg, the work being carried out by Openreach. Great news, but utterly useless if I am still capped at peak time right?

Also, I read on the site that XILO use TalkTalk equipment, so come this friday, would XILO be able to offer me up to 24meg as well do you think?

Does anyone else have any other ISP suggestions for me given that I am looking for a provider who won't cap my speed during peak times? Speed isn't all that important as I'm only looking at 2-4meg at the quickest, maybe faster once the work is done at my exchange.

Thank you all in advance for reading, your time and any replies you make. I look forward to reading some input!

Has Xilo said it can put you onto the TalkTalk LLU network?

The AOL upgrade could be almost anything, without knowing the exchange name and whether you are on LLU or IPstream it is hard to comment more.

What exchange? What's it say here: http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search ?

You are probably on BT IPStream and experiencing congestion at peak times. Getting onto LLU could improve matters. What are your router stats?

Installing AOL LLU kit at exchange has no bearing on TT kit.

Hello,

My exchange is Fauldhouse, also known in terms of code as ESFAU. It would appear to be a ADSL connection I have at the moment, I got this information from:

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/ESFAU

Hope this helps!


J

Actually, this exchange appears to already be live.

Name: FAULDHOUSE
The blue line on the map indicates a possible route of the broadband cable between your house and the exchange (0 miles or 0 kilometers). As the length of this connection increases the line attentuation increases and the possible synchronisation speed decreases.
Code: ESFAU
Address:
BARTON TERRACE
FAULDHOUSE
BATHGATE
WEST LOTHIAN
EH47 9LJ
Gigabit Backhaul: Yes
Service
State: Live Live
Line Characteristics
Projected Speed: 15.82Mbps (16200Kbps) Speed Test
Calculated: Wed, 19 Oct 11

Have you tried our checker? https://my.xilo.net/adslcheck.php - look for the Phone+BB tab to see if the products are displayed.

Matt

I am 2.9KM from the exchange. XILO has confirmed up to 4meg download and 1meg upload on the PHONE/BB tab after I input my number!

Here are the stats from my router, it is a Netgear DG834G:

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 3776 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 44 db 11.5 db
Noise Margin 5 db 22 db

Cheers,

J

In reply to a post by Destro:

Connection Speed 3776 kbps 448 kbps

You should be currently getting about 6 Meg Down on ADSL Max. You might get it slightly faster on ADSL2+ LLU.

How fast does XILO say under the Home/Office Tab? For some reason it's miles faster than the Phone/BB Tab for me.

Hi there,

To answer your question, Home/Office tab gives me speeds of 2Meg download with either 448 or 832k for upload depending on which price plan I choose.

I think BT estimate between 1mb and 3.5mb on my line 2meg being the average on their estimate... Or something like that LOL

I'm getting nowehere near 6meg!

Thanks,

J

Three things there :-

1) AOL belongs to talkTalk and it is TalkTalk kit that is being installed. I think you may already realise that.

2) uno = xilo, so it is xilo that is posting in the thread. You may not have realised that.

3) I feel you may have a poor phone wiring setup at home. That is a very poor connection speed foor the attenuation, and this is normally caused by internal problems, not the ISP. (The throughput problemsyou describe are another matter).

Could you tell us whether you connect to the master socket in the house, or one of the extensions, and whether or not you use a phone extension cable to get from the socket to the router? We will probably be able to help.

That looks like the wrong tab for the TT-based service. What else did it offer?

I would agree.

The tabs will differ. Home/Office is BT data and Phone+BB is TTB data (which is even more conservative than BT (my line estimates 15Mb but I get 23Mb))

Matt.

I seem to have lost the correct link for your checker Matt, dammit!

It is in this post

Matt

I would get the connection sorted out to at least get the best from what your line.

With ADSL2+ it can be slower than ADSL if the wiring in the home is not optimal.

Can you plug into the test socket (description of how to get that inside the BT phone book) and post the stats from the router again.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

1) AOL belongs to talkTalk and it is TalkTalk kit that is being installed

I believe AOL operate a separate network from TT. AOL still offer Partial LLU only ("BT line required") unlike TT. Both my daughters are on AOL Partial LLU and have no indication of TT's involvement. Of course it could be different at newly installed exchanges.

Edited by XRaySpeX (Wed 19-Oct-11 15:14:48)

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

1) AOL belongs to talkTalk and it is TalkTalk kit that is being installed

I believe AOL operate a separate network from TT. AOL still offer Partial LLU only ("BT line required") unlike TT. Both my daughters are on AOL Partial LLU and have no indication of TT's involvement. Of course it could be different at newly installed exchanges.

The samknows link the OP gave shows TT as going in on the 27^th September, no AOL.

Edited by RobertoS (Wed 19-Oct-11 15:37:19)

In reply to a post by uno:

It is in this post

Err - no . Click it and see.

Err.. it's in this post and have clicked it, works OK here.

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/which_isp/t/4054864...

Matt

In reply to a post by uno:

It is in this post

Matt

Ah - you mean this thread .

Hmph

Long day!

Matt

Yes, I know, but before that OP got a letter from AOL notifying of putting "up to 24 Meg", i.e. LLU, kit in exchange and we know SamKnows isn't always accurate and we're talking of the future.

that OP got a letter from AOL notifying of putting "up to 24 Meg", i.e. LLU, kit in exchange

Probability of independent kit = zero. One would hardly expect an email of that kind to spell out the ownership structure of the TalkTalk group.

It still tickles me that TalkTalk in the UK is a trading name of Tiscali Limited.

It's just prestidigitation; what the eye doesn't see the heart doesn't grieve!

Hi all,

Here are the stats from the router when it is plugged into test socket, which appear to be ever so slightly faster:

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 4032 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 45 db 11.5 db
Noise Margin 9 db 22 db


Hope this makes more sense to you than it does me LOL


Cheers

J

Isn't it unusual for Down attn. to be 4 x Up?

Very unusual usually downstream attenuation is half the upstream.

Does a phone work on this line?

Also when using the test socket this is the first socket on the wire from when it enters property, and no other phone sockets (that have the same number) work when using the test socket?

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Very unusual usually downstream attenuation is half the upstream.

Other way around, usually the upstream attenuation is half of the downstream.

My bad brain fail for the day

You're lucky you only get one a day