O2 have told me my line is underperforming

Lethagized

Lethagized

Lethagized

Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2007
Posts
3,017
Location
Midlands
Got this email this morning...

Now that your O2 Broadband Premium package is live, our engineers have been able to test the line speed. Unfortunately, it's not as fast as we hoped it would be when you ordered.

There could be several different reasons for this. Your line may be unable to support the speed due to the distance from the phone exchange, or the quality of the wire, to your house, which, unfortunately, we can't do anything about. However, it could be the way O2 Broadband is set up in your home, which we can help you sort out easily.

Give us a call and we can talk you through some simple steps to try and improve the line speed. The number's 0800 230 0202 free from a landline, or drop the first '0' to call free from an O2 mobile.

But if it turns out there's nothing we can do, we obviously don't want to charge you for a service you can't receive. So we'll switch you to a more suitable broadband package like O2 Broadband Standard. It's free to switch and we'll adjust your monthly bill where necessary.

Best regards

The O2 Broadband Team


I've tried everything i can think of. TCP optimizer, disabling the firewall via telnet, running it on my gaming pc, so i's nothing to do with the cpu or anything like that. The router is plugged directly into the test socket on the master NTE5 box, no extension cables, no other circuits are connected, and only 1 phone is plugged into the micro filter. I've ordered a filtered faceplate, so at least i know i've done everything i can on my side. I am plugged into the master test socket using the original RJ11 cable from the filter to the modem, then a 5 meter ethernet cable to the pc. The house is a victorian house, so the wiring is going to be at least 1930's on the telegraph pole back to the exchange. We had a new line installed from the pole to the house in 1988. It's the multicore type instead of the 2 copper wire type. Is there anything else i can do? What sort of speeds should i expect? I was hoping some of the internet guys on here could help out a bit.

1.7KM from exchange

Uptime: 0 days, 6:33:58
DSL Type: G.992.5 annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 1,295 / 3,503
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/kB]: 0.00 / 0.00
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.0 / 18.5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 20.0 / 37.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 6.5 / 10.0
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / BDCM
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 23 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 8 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 12 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 16 / 31,260
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 16 / 37
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 31,741 / 25
 
something very wrong with your phone line, my line attenuation is 36 and i'm sync'd at 12mb/1.3mb with Bethere. sometime 14mb depending on the line i'm 1.6KM from my local exchange.

you got very high errors. i forgot the number to press for quiet line test to hear if there is any cracking or hissing, if so then report to BT fault department.
 
The only other thing you could do would be to try a different router. I'd highly recommend getting the (2Wire) BT2700HGV. It's an amazing piece of kit, but can only be bought through flea bay. :)
 
A router's not going to increase sync rate by a factor of 5 unless the original router was broken.

You've done everything you can do at your side, so unless there's a fault with your line and you can get BT to fix it, that's all you'll get. O2 can't really do much.
 
How's the telephone line for voice quality? If you get noise then there is a chance of BT remedying the situation. It could be a poor connection or a spot of aly wiring enroute
 
tolien said:
A router's not going to increase sync rate by a factor of 5 unless the original router was broken.

You've done everything you can do at your side, so unless there's a fault with your line and you can get BT to fix it, that's all you'll get. O2 can't really do much.
Click to expand...

A router that works better with poor lines should allow for a slightly higher sync and be able to hold the line better. So in the quest to get faster speeds I still say it's a good idea. :)
 
Well i called O2 up on friday, and the man said it would be monday before any tests could be carried out. I was on the verge of cancelling it because im still on Virgin 20meg at the moment. But im THAT fed up with VM, i want to try someone else. I've done a bit of tinkering. Bought a good quality filtered faceplate from ***** and hooked it upto the end of some shielded cat 5 cable. This isnt going to make a huge difference because the main BT line coming from the pole is normal multicore cable. Anyway after some frustration trying to get the phones working properley, i've hit 11.4MB on an Annex A G992.5. Im pleased with that, at least i know my line is capable of a decent speed now. I very rarely get above this on a VM 20meg connection, so it looks like i'll be stopping with O2. Im having a bit of trouble with this router though. It's a pile of rubbish, so i've got the netgear one to replace it. I had a decent netgear WGT624 on my VM setup, and never had a problem with it, so i've now got the ADSL DG834GT version for O2. Not bad for a tenner!


Uptime: 0 days, 0:23:01
DSL Type: G.992.5 annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 1,325 / 11,412
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/kB]: 0.00 / 0.00
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.0 / 19.0
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 20.0 / 37.5
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 5.5 / 4.0
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / BDCM
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 368 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 33 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 49 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 20 / 126,448
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 20 / 1
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 9,972 / 1
 
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Stick DGTeam or whatever the current third party firmware for the DG834GT is - it has a bunch of options that should squeeze a bit more out of your connection.

Firegod said:
A router that works better with poor lines should allow for a slightly higher sync
Click to expand...

Sure, but 5x != "slightly".
 
Firegod said:
Where have I said 5x? :confused:
Click to expand...

I said you did?

The OP's sync rate was ~1/5 where it should be, given attenuation and the change in the OP's second post confirms that there was evidently some wiring fault. Changing router would have been pointless under those conditions, not least because O2 would then refuse to offer support. The 585 is pretty decent on long lines too (not that the OP's is), and some models work with DMT as well...
 
tolien said:
Stick DGTeam or whatever the current third party firmware for the DG834GT is - it has a bunch of options that should squeeze a bit more out of your connection.
Click to expand...

Done! My speed dropped down to about 9.5MB round about 8'o clock, but after adjusting the SNR to 50%, this is what i've got now. Im hoping it'll break the 12 barrier tommorrow :)

Router1page.jpg

DMT-1.jpg
 
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That's a massive increase you got there. Was the cat5 cable used to rewire your extension or did you use it from phone socket to router with RJ11 plugs, I wasn't quite sure by your wording?

I need to get around to rewiring the extension I use for my ADSL as it currently uses cheapo Flat IPC Phone cable.
 
sounds like internal wiring was your problem

you'd be suprised how much a crap extension can cut off your sync
 
Nymins said:
Will the SNR at 1.6db not cause it to become very unstable?
Click to expand...

It seems quite stable. I've not lost any connections yet, and thats with 5pc's running off it.

DIABLO said:
Did you have to do anything special to get DMT to work with DG834GT? It won't connect to mine.
Click to expand...

I just installed DMT as normal, run the exe. Dont forget to enter the ip of the router 192.168.0.1 and the password which is password as default. I can't seem to adjust the SNR value with DMT tool, but if you flash the router with the DGTeam firmware, you can do it there.

DDave said:
That's a massive increase you got there. Was the cat5 cable used to rewire your extension or did you use it from phone socket to router with RJ11 plugs, I wasn't quite sure by your wording?

I need to get around to rewiring the extension I use for my ADSL as it currently uses cheapo Flat IPC Phone cable.
Click to expand...

I just run the Cat 5 cable hardwired from the back of the master socket downstairs upto the room upstairs, then attached a filtered faceplate (hardwired) onto the end upstairs. You'll need an IDC tool to do it properley, but they only cost a quid from online stores. I went for the filtered faceplate which also has a socket for the phone.If you have any sky boxes or fax machines, then double filter them. This is a good guide http://www.smithit.co.uk/optimize.html

Si MPS said:
sounds like internal wiring was your problem

you'd be suprised how much a crap extension can cut off your sync
Click to expand...

Definitly! I think the main thing causing my problems was the old 1930's Bell.
 
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