adsl max or fixed rate line

[dwaviation]

I live in the sticks and my line will only support 2.5mb (according to BT)

I have just migrated from the appalling Pipex offering, where I was down to 100k in the evenings, to idnet's 'adsl max' My line is settling down for the next few days and I am very pleased with the continuous stable line speed of 1.9mb achieved so far BUT should it be higher? or should I try the fixed 2mb line?  My modem indicates a line speed of 2.6mb but all the speedtests are coming up with 1.9 - will it get better over time?

[AvengerUK]

Its quite possible it will. If the line is stable, there is a chance the profile may increase slightly. A 2meg line will proberbly produce performance around 1.9 anyway - so if its stable then id stay maxed

[Rik]

Do you have some line stats, which would enable us to give you more meaningful suggestions?

The line speed you have would give you an IP profile of 2000kbps, so throughput of 1900kbps seems OK to me.

[dwaviation]

Do you understand any of this?

Line Rate             2784 up    448 down
Noise Margin       7.3db up   19db down
Line Attenuation  52db up    31.5db down
Output Power      12.3dBm    17.3dBm

[Gilba]

Well from this list it looks like you are 100kbps off a 2.5 Mb profile. You could try a resync to see if you sync higher but I would not recommend doing constantly. A stable connection is better than not.

[Rik]

Do you understand any of this?

Well, as you're in the 'training period', not much can be done, but for 52db attenuation, I'd expect you to sync at a higher speed. The noise margin suggests that your target may be higher than the default 6db - what figure to do you get immediately after re-booting the router?

If the margin has already been set higher, it suggests the line has shown some instability. If this is the case, do you have an NTE5 master socket - the type where the bottom 2/3rds of the faceplate is detachable?

If you do, try removing the faceplate and connecting your router to the test socket behind. Does this improve the sync speed and/or noise margin? If it does, then your extension wiring (assuming you have any) is contributing to the problem. For a start, disconnect the ring wire from terminal 3 of the face plate (if it is fitted). Colour is usually orange/white, but no guarantees on that, the terminal number is the thing to go by. You should be left with the exchange pair on terminals 2/5. Then, disconnect the ring wire at any extension sockets. That removes a big cause of noise from your wiring and, hopefully, will give your signal a boost in speed/stability.

Your u/s attenuation seems very high, however. My attenuation figures are 54db down and 21db up. I sync around 3328, just missing the 3000kbps profile. I do, however, have my target noise margin set at 9db to improve stability.

[dwaviation]

Thanks for that - I will have a root round some of my heath robinson wiring and see if it makes a difference - gotta say though, I'm very pleased with both BT and idnet at the moment.

[Rik]

Being pleased with IDNet is pretty common around here, you'll find us a generally happy bunch. OTOH, being pleased with BT is much more of a rarity!

[RobMc]

Hi I was on the Home 2000 product until recently and I can say that i was well happy when a speed test said I was getting 1.9Mb/s. I've recently moved to the Home Lite product and sync at the full rate and consistently get download over 4Mb/s.

Rob

[dwaviation]

With my old Voyager 2100

Line Rate             2784 up    448 down
Noise Margin       7.3db up   19db down
Line Attenuation  52db up    31.5db down


With my new Netgear router

Line Rate             3776 up    448 down
Line Attenuation  57db up    15.5db down


Is this better? Looks like it but the speed remains constant at 1.8/1.9mb !

[Rik]

The Netgear is putting you into the 3000kbps profile range, while the Voyager had you pegged at 2500. If your throughput doesn't improve after three days, contact CS as you may have a stuck profile. Before you do, though, run a check at the BT speedtester as that will give you both throughput and profile.

BTW, you have your ups and downs switched. 

[dwaviation]

I spoke to soon - Its 9 'o'clock and we are wading through treacle at 400k... Still holding a 3500 line rate though?

[Inactive]

I spoke to soon - Its 9 'o'clock and we are wading through treacle at 400k... Still holding a 3500 line rate though?

Don't throw that BT Voyager away just yet .. 

[Rik]

I spoke to soon - Its 9 'o'clock and we are wading through treacle at 400k... Still holding a 3500 line rate though?

Sounds like exchange congestion, have you checked the status of your exchange here?

[dwaviation]

All back to normal - The price of living in the sticks I suppose 

[Rik]

At the moment, a large number of exchanges are red (lacking capacity) for much of the time. It's as if BT can't keep up with demand. Hopefully, during the course of the year, things will improve.

[dwaviation]

Upto a steady 2.5mb now and no congestion- This gets better and better.

[Rik]

Doesn't it just.