Help needed from you experts

dbov22

dbov22

dbov22

Associate
Joined
27 Jan 2011
Posts
262
Location
Washington
Right - I'm currently on virgin broadband through the phoneline - I live about as far away from the exchange as possible - meaning my speed is crap, HOWEVER...

When the line first went in the guy had tons of problems and ended up having to repair underground cables and everything, since then there's also been 2 other faults/repairs.

When broadband first went in I was getting speeds of around about 2.5 - 3 megabits but this slowly crept down to what it is now and has been for over a year and a half -

It is terrible - a standard length youtube video, I normally have to set it away, pause and come back 15 minutes later to play it.

My point is that when first in it was 6 times faster as the line was fluctuating and testing (don't know if they are correct terms) but it worked, the connection never died and it was good and faster than I expected...aftyer ringing virgin MANY times I basically get put through to people who are reading from a sheet and are not technically minded...

Help/advice please

Thanks
 
The first thing I would check is the Downstream SNR Margin, this is a value that will depend on your ADSL modem/router on how you can see it..

Normally it is 6db, this means that the modem connects to the exchange with 6db of 'headroom' in the signal for stability, as this number goes up (If the exchange sees lots of disconnections from your end, it will at some point bump it up in 3db steps, it can eventually hit 15db, as it's set at the exchange), having more 'headroom' means your actual connection speed decreases..

Obviously if you have an unstable line, then not having a high SNR margin may lead to the connection dropping more frequently..
It is also possible on some modems to override the SNR Margin value, and get your modem to connect with less headroom, thus upping your connection, but it normally involves some slight hacking or using some 3rd party firmware..

Your 'line stats' as people call them are a standard set of values that indicate the quality of your line to some extent and a good starting point in these situations.
 
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Yeah, post the line stats. I wouldn't be too surprised to see you've been put on a fixed profile 512/256 for stability.
 
dbov22 said:
thats great, will you tell me how to post the line stats please...
Click to expand...

It depends on your modem/router.. What is it? Ideally make, e.g. Netgear and model, e.g. DG824N.. if it's an O2 or SKY supplied/branded router, that's OK, just let us know any model number stamped on it..
 
Where do you live, no joke, give us an idea and we can check exchanges near you, doesn't have to be exact - do you live in the Pennines or something?

How's 3G / HSDPA in your area?
 
According to Samknows.... my exchange is Washington

General Information
Exchange name: Washington
Exchange code: NEWAS
Location: Sunderland North East
Postcode: NE372AB
Maps: Our map | Multimap | Streetmap
Serves (approx): 23,525 residential premises
1,136 non-residential premises.


3g on o2 and orange is brilliant...

it's a netgear router, supplied by virgin, dg834g v4 is the model number, seriously, any help is appreciated, i'm paying a lot of money for this 'broadband' and it's a joke!!
 
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i'm currently with sky for telephone, but they "dont own the exchange" so can't get their free broadband, have to pay £15 per month to virgin...

here are the router stats, mean nothing to me ;)

System Up Time 224:49:57
Port Status TxPkts RxPkts-----Collisions----Tx B/s-----Rx B/s------Up Time
WAN PPPoA 547949 877620--------0--------237-------3620------79:25:47
LAN 10M/100M 2317998 2311770-------0-------1506-------478-------224:49:49
WLAN 11M/54M 2184419 1288415-------0-------3571------ 204-------224:49:41

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 576 kbps 288 kbps
Line Attenuation 57.0 db 31.5 db
Noise Margin 28.9 db 26.0 db


By the way, those stats were done while I was connected via laptop wireless - the original speed test results were done whilst using computer on ethernet cable, if it makes any difference.

Thanks!
 
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as mentioned earlier, would using 3rd party firmware be legit and still ok to do? sky can provide broadband to me, but it's not free, it's 17quid per month, 2 quid more than virgin, sky have to charge as they said that exchange is not theirs...
 
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yeah sorry, I don't think they can tell if you use 3rd party firmware and most you can now flash back if needed so it's worth a try! TalkTalk would be cheaper, but probably as bad (maybe worse) than your current setup. You need to investigate why the line is so bad, then the speeds will improve. Have you tried direct into the test socket on the phone line socket?
 
dbov22 said:
i'm currently with sky for telephone, but they "dont own the exchange" so can't get their free broadband, have to pay £15 per month to virgin...

here are the router stats, mean nothing to me ;)

System Up Time 224:49:57
Port Status TxPkts RxPkts-----Collisions----Tx B/s-----Rx B/s------Up Time
WAN PPPoA 547949 877620--------0--------237-------3620------79:25:47
LAN 10M/100M 2317998 2311770-------0-------1506-------478-------224:49:49
WLAN 11M/54M 2184419 1288415-------0-------3571------ 204-------224:49:41

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 576 kbps 288 kbps
Line Attenuation 57.0 db 31.5 db
Noise Margin 28.9 db 26.0 db


By the way, those stats were done while I was connected via laptop wireless - the original speed test results were done whilst using computer on ethernet cable, if it makes any difference.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Looks to me as if you're on a fixed 512kbit service. The Noise Margin is very high, needlessly - that's where a great chunk of your speed is going.

You could likely get around 3-ish mbit using ADSL2+.

...out of interest, what kind of use do you do? Are you just browsing? Gaming? Heavy downloading?
 
thanks, any help on where to find the third part stuff would be great...
yes, i have tried plugged into test socket, infact, that's where it is, I was also conned into buying a noise reducer thing from the BT shop, that's also in but didn't imporive speed!

blue acid.. please forgive my lack of knowledge (in depth knowledge) adsl2+, is that something that virgin will need to sort out or something i do by buying more stuff?

I do quite a bit of online gaming, tons of browsing, can't really download anything because it takes that long, I normally just take my computer or laptop to mam's and download there - 22Mbit speed!!

If say i'm upstairs on this computer and gf is downstairs and were both just browsing net it is a joke, it is impossible, one of us always gets the google error pages because it's so slow!!

Please help me!
 
dbov22 said:
thanks, any help on where to find the third part stuff would be great...
yes, i have tried plugged into test socket, infact, that's where it is, I was also conned into buying a noise reducer thing from the BT shop, that's also in but didn't imporive speed!

blue acid.. please forgive my lack of knowledge (in depth knowledge) adsl2+, is that something that virgin will need to sort out or something i do by buying more stuff?

I do quite a bit of online gaming, tons of browsing, can't really download anything because it takes that long, I normally just take my computer or laptop to mam's and download there - 22Mbit speed!!

If say i'm upstairs on this computer and gf is downstairs and were both just browsing net it is a joke, it is impossible, one of us always gets the google error pages because it's so slow!!

Please help me!
Click to expand...

These things won't improve speed right away, they improve the noise on your line, but Virgin have fixed you on a 576/288 profile regardless of the amount of noise.
Phone them up and get them to put you back on a variable profile which will connect as fast as the line allows (at least 4Mb/s, and around 5Mb/s on ADSL2 LLU) . Also check you have line filters on every phone in the house, something must have been casuing your line to drop out in the past for you to get stuck on a fixed rate.
Even once you are back on variable rate, the BT service is quite slow to respond to changes.
Were the stats from being plugged into the test socket? If so post them again when the router is plugged in how you usually have it.


Having looked at your exchange C&W (Whom Virgin use for LLU) are due to have their LLU service ready at the end of april, which will move you onto ADSL2 and a much friendlier profile system.
If you can get out of your Virgin contract, Sky are LLU in your area - they are pretty awesome: cheap, fast and without limits.
 
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tbh mate, your line stats are pretty appalling...you really are going to be stuck with a slow connection unless the line can be improved....might sound harsh, but that's how it is!
 
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