AOL Internet

eightiescrooner

eightiescrooner

eightiescrooner

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Joined
6 Aug 2007
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Hi, need a bit of help if possible

I recently upgraded my AOL account from a silver 512kbps to their Gold account with download speeds upto 8mbps, and I have been told on numerious times that the speed I'm likely to get is 3.5 - 4mbps

Anyway after a while they said it was completed and it was then going to have the 10 day stabalisation period, which would likely take just 2 days

Well it's now been 6 days and my speed has varied from 512kbps to 708kbps max, they've told me I need to keep unplugging the router and plugging it back in so their server can keep sending different speeds to it.


What I guess I really want to know is roughly how long should the stablisation take? Do I need to keep rebooting my router? Or is there anything I can actually do to make it happen quicker.

Alternatively is there another company that can be recommended? Need to have 3.5 - 4mbps speed (apparantly this is my lines max), no download limit, no traffic shaping / throttling. Willing to pay whatever.

I don't feel i'm being impatient, I ordered it on the 15th of November and was told it would take 1 week max, it's nearly been 1 month now and I'm getting very frustrated!!

Thanks in advance
 
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What does your router say it's connected at? 708kbps?
SNR margin and attenuation (your router should report them) would be useful. If 708kbps is all your modem can connect at, it's all you'll get with any ADSL ISP.

The 10 day "stabilisation period" is a pile of crap - your modem connects at the best speed it can at the time it connects, and will do that every time it connects. If your connection's unstable, automated processes run by BTw will step in and make changes to improve the stability (at the expense of speed).
 
It's in the web interface, but I can't remember where - there are instructions in the sticky.
BTw = BT Wholesale.
 
ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 704 kbps 448 kbps


Downspeed: 43db Line Attenuation / 11db Noise Margin
Upspeed: 15.5db Line Attentuation / 26db Noise Margin


Now is that good or bad??
 
It's 704kbps - so the fastest actual download rate you'll get is 512kbps. Nothing like 3.5Mbps.
Where do you have your router connected to the phone line? Any extensions?
Try connecting it directly to the master socket (big socket in two parts or just another socket, either way it'll have a BT logo), and disconnect all your extensions (if you have any).
 
Hi, I'd already tried connecting it to master socket and disconnecting all other devices. I also have a master socket in the PC room, nothing seems to work!!

Any other ideas? Or is it time to get onto AOL?
 
There isn't much AOL can do, unless there's some fault with your line, and you might find there's not much they will do.

For the attenuation, I'd have expected more (42dB is the boundary for fixed rate 2Mbps), so either there's a fault with your line or it's picking up a lot of interference.
 
You are a bit stuck then as if it is no better from the master socket whatever is adding noise to the line is probably outside so out of your control.

However the line quality isn't bad enough for BT to treat it as a fault so that's pretty much the end of the line for you.
 
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ok cheers. I can accept that the line is not great, but what really gets my goat is that they run line tests etc, tell you it's going to be 3.5 - 4mpbs but to be honest they really have no way of knowing

and the worst part is i get a 7 day cooling off period, yet they say it takes 10 days to stabalise the line. So by the time most people would wait the 10 days, they're already into the contract and by that time AOL wouldn't care.

Unbeleivable!!!
 
They don't run tests - that's part of the problem. The estimated speed you'll get is based on records.
As I've already said, the 10 days is a barrel of crap. If the line hasn't stabilised within the first 24-72 hours, it probably never will.
 
Exactly, you'll know well inside 7 days what sort of sync you'll be living with so if they encourage you to believe it is still going to improve any time up to 10 days then someone is being very economical with the truth :)
 
I'm going to cancel AOL tomorrow then I think. The last guy I spoke to was very helpful / gave me a lot of freebees etc, but if the service isn't going to work on my line I don't want it.


Guess I'm going to have to go down the route of getting another phone line installed, and getting internet on that. Yippie!
 
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