High attenuation - long line? poor line material?

VaderDSL · 23 Jan 2011 at 15:15

Hi there.

Just wondering, is a high attenuation on a land line the cause of simply a long way from the exchange or poor materials? Like aluminium?

At the moment, I live in a block of apartments and the "as the crow flies distance" to the exchange is about 500 metres.

However these are my stats currently and nothing Sky have done can improve the speed, which to be fair seems a limitation of the line at the moment.

I'm assuming that the issue is that the internal wiring from BT in the building is to blame here, and I'm resigned to the fact that there won't be anything I can do about it. But just curious about the whole situation.

Iceman · 23 Jan 2011 at 15:50

You think yours is high??

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 3104 Kbps 448 Kbps
Line Attenuation 51.7 dB 31.5 dB
Noise Margin 13.0 dB 19.0 dB

VaderDSL · 23 Jan 2011 at 15:51

Iceman said:
You think yours is high??

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 3104 Kbps 448 Kbps
Line Attenuation 51.7 dB 31.5 dB
Noise Margin 13.0 dB 19.0 dB

How far from the exchange are you?

Iceman · 23 Jan 2011 at 16:08

Not too sure to be honest, is there a way to find out?

KIA · 23 Jan 2011 at 16:47

Samknows will give you the distance as the crow flies.

Iceman · 23 Jan 2011 at 16:48

Where do you find that info? Had a look but cant see it on there.

SoundsGood · 23 Jan 2011 at 23:00

Is this standard ADSL? Noise margin looks quite low. Do you get the same stats directly connected to the master socket with all other equipment/extensions disconnected?

Sylver123 · 23 Jan 2011 at 23:11

Iceman said:
You think yours is high??

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 3104 Kbps 448 Kbps
Line Attenuation 51.7 dB 31.5 dB
Noise Margin 13.0 dB 19.0 dB

With your line status, you should be getting around 3.5 MB, maybe even 4 MB.

I noticed your downstream noise margin is high at 13.0 dB and should be at 6 db for you to receive your lines full sync rate.

Iceman · 23 Jan 2011 at 23:15

Sylver123 said:
With your line status, you should be getting around 3.5 MB, maybe even 4 MB.

I noticed your downstream noise margin is high at 13.0 dB and should be at 6 db for you to receive your lines full sync rate.

Not too sure really, i am moving over ISP now and orange (who im currently with) seem to be giving me even slower speeds than when the internet was running good.
I have been previously getting around 3.5/4 mbps but last week once using a mac the internet has gone down to this. Was even lower a few days ago at around 221kbps.

VaderDSL · 23 Jan 2011 at 23:20

SoundsGood said:
Is this standard ADSL? Noise margin looks quite low. Do you get the same stats directly connected to the master socket with all other equipment/extensions disconnected?

I'm on ADSL2, I used to be with IDNet on ADSL2 and syncedd around 11-13mb

Sylver123 · 23 Jan 2011 at 23:26

Iceman said:
Not too sure really, i am moving over ISP now and orange (who im currently with) seem to be giving me even slower speeds than when the internet was running good.
I have been previously getting around 3.5/4 mbps but last week once using a mac the internet has gone down to this. Was even lower a few days ago at around 221kbps.

Which ISP are you considering moving to?

I have heard good comments about TalkTalk broadband or you could move to a BT broadband service, both of which now offer a ADSL2 service.

Iceman · 23 Jan 2011 at 23:31

Sylver123 said:
Which ISP are you considering moving to?

I have heard good comments about TalkTalk broadband or you could move to a BT broadband service, both of which now offer a ADSL2 service.

IM moving over to BT, but i have opted for the fibre optic service. I have had nothing but trouble with the internet since moving in the house im in now. Orange try to help but im getting no where fast. Had enough and decided 27mbps would suit me more.

Sylver123 · 23 Jan 2011 at 23:35

Iceman said:
IM moving over to BT, but i have opted for the fibre optic service. I have had nothing but trouble with the internet since moving in the house im in now. Orange try to help but im getting no where fast. Had enough and decided 27mbps would suit me more.

I take it your area has has been upgraded for fibre optic services?

Iceman · 23 Jan 2011 at 23:39

Yeah i was on sam knows the other day and it said it was enabled, went over to bt postcode/phone checker and there it was. Got the engineer coming out on the 2nd feb. Cant wait to have decent internet.

Sylver123 · 23 Jan 2011 at 23:40

Iceman said:
Yeah i was on sam knows the other day and it said it was enabled, went over to bt postcode/phone checker and there it was. Got the engineer coming out on the 2nd feb. Cant wait to have decent internet.

Your such a lucky son of a bitch.

I wish my area has fibre optic.

I can only get ADSL2 where I live and I doubt i`ll see fibre optic for a couple of years or so.

VaderDSL · 23 Jan 2011 at 23:47

I live in the centre of Manchester and ours isn't for another year!

Andrew G · 24 Jan 2011 at 00:16

This may be out of *date* since ADSL uses the bandwidth of the cable unused by voice, but I thought it was standard practise for BT in any flats to DAX lines together, which means you are sharing 1 copper line with up to 2/3 people? I believe this is common practise on "new" builds as a cost/time saving exercise?

Sylver123 · 24 Jan 2011 at 01:13

Andrew G said:
This may be out of data since ADSL uses the bandwidth of the cable unused by voice, but I thought it was standard practise for BT in any flats to DAX lines together, which means you are sharing 1 copper line with up to 2/3 people? I believe this is common practise on "new" builds as a cost/time saving exercise?

It's a bit stupid when they DAX lines as this will prevent the lines being broadband compatible.

Before I got broadband installed, I had a DAX on my line when the line first got installed which I didn`t know about and I had a hell of a lot of hassle trying to get BT to remove it so I could get broadband.