BT Said That “Basically I Can’t Have MAX…”

slipd · 18 Aug 2006 at 23:46

Hey guys,

I called Nildram the other day because I’ve been having a few speed issues with their MAX service. I started with about 2.4 MB and that has gradually dropped to 0.9 MB, which is what I’m currently getting

Nildram saw, and accepted the fault and BT came out to my house a couple of days later, yesterday.

The engineer ran his ‘laptop/modem’ test from nearly every socket in the house and informed me that with my stats, 55 dB Attenuation and SNR of 8-16, it basically wasn’t worth me subscribing to a MAX package because those stats could only support a 1 MB connection…

He laughed at BT’s website prediction that my line could support 3 MB!!!

His exact advice was that I should move nearer the exchange :mad:

So what should I do? Do I reside myself to the fact that I am just one of those unlucky ones that can’t have MAX (I’ll be the only person I know who can’t) or are there other things I can ask Nildram to ask BT for. Interleaving etc?

Otherwise can someone recommend me a nice, solid 1 MB package

Cheers,

SW.

Deathwish · 19 Aug 2006 at 00:25

I take it the BT Engineer tested from behind the Master Socket, NTE5? That will help isolate any interference that could be occouring on your line.

Also, do you have the ring-wire connected ? Just remove it, it serves no purpose really.

Filters, are you connecting near to your Master Socket? If so you could fit an XTE-2005 Filter which will do its best to help you

Have a good read here: http://yarwell.blogspot.com/

Also, which modem/router are you using? Speedtouch (516v6, 546 etc) are very good for noisey, long lines. In my case removing the ring-wire, fitting and XTE-2005 Filtered Faceplate and changing to a Speedtouch router improved my SNR from a shakey 10dB to a nice 27dB.

Edit: As for a 1 Meg IPStream service, I believe IDNet will give you one. http://www.idnet.net/broadband/default.jsp "Home 2000", Up To 2Meg.

slipd · 19 Aug 2006 at 00:42

Hi there,

Thanks for the reply

Yeah, he tested from the master, behind the faceplate.

I'm using a Netgear DG834G - which seems fine? Also got good quality filters on all of the houses four extension points. He got his own readings from his own equipment though :rolleyes:

I know my stats aren't great, but they should be able to support higher that 1 MB on MAX shouldn't they? I've be able to sync up to about in the past 4500kbps

Currently at 2496kbps...

SW.

Deathwish · 19 Aug 2006 at 00:45

Hmm, I had a Netgear DG834 before as well and it was useless for my long, noisey line, often dropping sync. Was all over the place.

If he tested the Master Socket then there's not much hope for you, as thats where it will show the best you can get.

Your sync speeds do seem to suggest MAX should be fine, im betting on it being the router

clv101 · 19 Aug 2006 at 00:52

sam.wheale said:
(I’ll be the only person I know who can’t)

I know loads of people that can't get much out of MAX, it's certainly not unusual. In fact the only guy I know getting close to 8mb lives 300 yards from the exchange.

Bang you details in here: http://www.samknows.com/broadband/checker2.php

What does it say?

tolien · 19 Aug 2006 at 01:09

clv101 said:
In fact the only guy I know getting close to 8mb lives 300 yards from the exchange.

There's a world of difference between getting full rate and getting regraded back to a fixed speed service with the excuse that "it's not worthwhile".

With a modem that'll do it, you could cap the sync rate at 1Mbps and stick with Max. It'll be as stable as home1000 would be, and at least you'd get the increased upload...

chris06 · 19 Aug 2006 at 01:15

sam.wheale said:
Do I reside myself to the fact that I am just one of those unlucky ones that can’t have MAX (I’ll be the only person I know who can’t)

I cant get max either

my line can only support 512k apparently.

slipd · 19 Aug 2006 at 01:44

clv101 said:
Bang you details in here: http://www.samknows.com/broadband/checker2.php

What does it say?

According to BT Wholesale, your line should be able to support a 3Mbps or greater ADSL connection via ADSL Max

SW.

lokkers · 19 Aug 2006 at 11:15

sam.wheale said:
55 dB Attenuation and SNR of 8-16, it basically wasn’t worth me subscribing to a MAX package because those stats could only support a 1 MB connection…

find that a little fishy as my attenuation is 53dB, SNR current 9dB and I'm sync'd at 2528kbps with a 2mbit download speed (My SNR drops as low as 3dB

, but I stay connected at that sync). I'd say from my experience of my awful line you should be able to get 2mbit from the connection :confused:

Mind you I have had no end of troubles getting Eclipse to help me out, but they finally did

Slightly OT, but whereabouts in Hampshire are you?

slipd · 19 Aug 2006 at 12:00

lokkers said:
Slightly OT, but whereabouts in Hampshire are you?

A little place called the Isle of Wight

SW.

CurlyWhirly · 19 Aug 2006 at 20:15

sam.wheale said:
The engineer ran his ‘laptop/modem’ test from nearly every socket in the house and informed me that with my stats, 55 dB Attenuation and SNR of 8-16, it basically wasn’t worth me subscribing to a MAX package because those stats could only support a 1 MB connection…

He laughed at BT’s website prediction that my line could support 3 MB!!!

I have a 54 dB attenuation with a target SNR of 9 dB and I sync at just over 4 Mb giving me a BRAS profile of 3.5 Mb so I believe that your line will support more than 1 Mb.

My connection is stable apart from when there is a thunderstorm in my locality.

p.s. I asked to have both interleaving enabled and my SNR target increased to 9 dB in an attempt to stabilise my line and it has worked.

sam.wheale said:
His exact advice was that I should move nearer the exchange

I can't believe you were told that :rolleyes:

Stupid advice isn't it?

Teal · 19 Aug 2006 at 20:31

One bit of missing detail is what was the sync speed at the time of the test?

The higher the sync speed the lower the margin will go so you can't really compare other peoples results with your own without knowing that detail.

Do you happen to know what your stats were before moving on to Max?

slipd · 19 Aug 2006 at 22:50

CurlyWhirly said:
p.s. I asked to have both interleaving enabled and my SNR target increased to 9 dB in an attempt to stabilise my line and it has worked.

I'm going to talk to Nildram on Monday and see what they say re: Interleaving? So far they've been pretty helpful

CurlyWhirly said:
I can't believe you were told that

Stupid advice isn't it?

What annoyed me further was, he went on to say that he lives a 'stones throw' from the exchange so he could get more or less the full 8 MB - but he wasn't really interested in it!

I should have asked him if he wanted to swap...

:mad:

slipd · 19 Aug 2006 at 22:56

Teal said:
One bit of missing detail is what was the sync speed at the time of the test?

The last couple of days or so I've been syncing in and around the 1900kbps+ mark.

Currently on: 2048kbps.

Teal said:
Do you happen to know what your stats were before moving on to Max?

This was taken the day before I went over

My SNR used to regularly drift into the early twenties though

SW.

CurlyWhirly · 19 Aug 2006 at 23:39

sam.wheale said:
This was taken the day before I went over

My SNR used to regularly drift into the early twenties though

SW.

When I was on a fixed 1 Mb speed my attenuation used to be 52 dB with a SNR of 24 dB so only slightly better than yours.

I would expect you will get 3 Mb off your line on Max giving you a 50% increase on what you have now.

Teal · 19 Aug 2006 at 23:51

A steady 24dB is a huge amount better than one that dips down to 11dB, it isn't a linear scale.

I have to say that with the results you had before swapping over, I personally would not have goen for Max.

Roughly you drop 6dB to double the speed you are on so your 11dB would have dropped below the minimum target of 6dB to get to 2Mb.

I know it isn;t what you want to hear, but I'd say that staying on a fixed 1Mb line was the best option to be honest as you will have a steady stable speed which you will not get from Max.

CurlyWhirly · 19 Aug 2006 at 23:55

Teal said:
A steady 24dB is a huge amount better than one that dips down to 11dB, it isn't a linear scale.

Yes I just realised that the 11 dB figure is from a 1 Mb connection and not the 2 Mb that he is currently on so you are right

tolien · 20 Aug 2006 at 00:18

Teal said:
I know it isn;t what you want to hear, but I'd say that staying on a fixed 1Mb line was the best option to be honest as you will have a steady stable speed which you will not get from Max.

A better option (depending on your perspective) might be replacing the DG834 with a router that'll let you either a) fiddle with the target SNR margin or b) cap the maximum sync rate.
The end effect's the same, you get 1Mbps down as before, but you also get the 448kbps upload rate.

slipd · 20 Aug 2006 at 02:05

I was thinking of trying yet another router - any recommendations for my situation

I think the only brand I haven't tried now is Speedtouch

And Nildram getting interleaving activated on my line wouldn't help me?

My pings atm are around 20-40ms most of the time on BF2, CoD etc.

SW.

n3vrmind · 20 Aug 2006 at 07:00

I dont know if you'll be able to get them to do it but try getting an engineer to test the line from the pole, the line from the pole to your house is really the only bit that moves about so if your line quality has dropped it could be that

i was having an issue at a place i used to live at where after a few minutes on the line a quiet clicking noise would happen and eventually get so bad that you couldnt have a conversation, took 3 engineers to sort it because they'd only listen for moment and clear off (always turned up when i was at work)

they replaced the line from the pole to the house and it was all sorted, of course if they test from the pole and its still that bad then your stuffed!