Where have you been all my life?

[Michael]

Hi everyone, I've just joined IDNET and thought I'd share my ADSL experiences with you.

I had been with Nildram for many years and on the whole I was happy... until I made the big mistake of "upgrading" last December.

I thought the offer of a faster connection for less money was too good to be true. It turned out it was.

My 4500 sync speed dropped overnight to 1800 at best. I've only recently figured out that they must have moved me on to one of their Tiscali LLU lines. Nildram claimed there was nothing wrong with the line so I ended up stuck with this speed.

I started looking into ways of making my line faster and came across the BT I-Plate (highly recommended). This took me back up to around 3500, which was still much lower than before but at least was bearable.

For some daft reason I've stuck with that up until now. The 0.3 mb speeds in the evenings were the last straw and I finally decided to move to IDNet (this forum being one of the reasons I chose them - it looks helpful and friendly).

Well, I've been with IDNet for two days now and I'm syncing at 5075 currently. Superb. I'm also downloading at 4mb at peak times which is amazing.

Is this likely to go even higher during the training period?

Even if it doesn't, I'm a happy customer so far. Thank you!

[Rik]

Welcome to the forum and to happy land, Michael. I moved here three years ago from Nildram and I've never regretted it.

[Ray]

  Michael.

[Glenn]

  & Michael. I'm approaching my 4th year with IDNet in around 4 weeks time. While they are more expensive than the majority of ISP's, on the whole, they do provide a better service, not withstanding BT problems.

[Sebby]

[Simon]

  Michael, and thanks for your nice comments. 

[Lance]

If you post your router stats, then we might be able to advise if you could get any more speed from your line.

[Michael]

Thanks for the responses guys.

My router stats at the moment are...

Connection Speed     5075 kbps     883 kbps
Line Attenuation    49 db    14 db
Noise Margin    9 db    6 db

[Lance]

Assuming that the 9db noise margin is on the downstream, it looks as if the exchange has seen fit to raise it to guard against instability (at the cost of some speed). After 14 days of uninterrupted connection, you might find this reduces to 6db which will give a little bit more speed.

For your attenuation, your sync looks good, though, so I think I would rather keep the 9db margin.

[Michael]

OK, thanks Lance.

[Rik]

I'd agree with Lance. It might be possible to tweak your phone wiring, though, to improve things. Do you have an NTE5 master socket, the kind where the bottom part of the faceplate can be removed? I'm guessing you do, as you've fitted an iPlate. It might be worth trying the router in the test socket behind that, just to see if there's an improvement. What else is connected to the line?

[Michael]

I did try the master socket before the switch and did get a small improvement.

However, the master socket is right at the bottom of the stairs so repositioning the router isn't worth the small gain.

[Rik]

Master or test, Michael. The test socket disconnects all your internal wiring so tell you exactly what the line is capable of.

[Michael]

It was the test socket Rik (face plate off and plugged in).

[Rik]

What kind of extension do you use between router and master socket, Michael? I'm guessing it's a wired BT socket?

If that's so, there's little more you can do, but if it does happen to be a flat extension, dump it and wire it with twisted pair cable.

[Michael]

Yes, its a wired socket in the living room. The sync has increased again this morning...

DownStream Connection Speed     5143 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed    1035 kbps

I have noticed that the internet connection has been dead for the past two mornings though. Its still synced but nothing loads. A reboot of the router fixes it. Is this normal during the 10 day run in period?

[Rik]

No, it's not. It could indicate overnight work at your exchange, leaving you with a 'stale session', or it could indicate a dying router. Check with support on Monday, they will be able to look at the logs.

[Michael]

Just a little update...

I've been with IDNet for 2 weeks now and I'm syncing at 6617 downstream and 1005 upstream.

Unbelievable difference from my old ISP. If anyone is thinking about switching, do it!

Thanks again.

[Glenn]

Good to hear Michael 

[Rik]

Great news, Michael. 

[Simon]

Thanks for letting us know, Michael. 

[Sebby]

Good news, Michael.