Hmm, need some help please

Sean_UK · 3 Jul 2007 at 19:57

ADSL line drops & slow, please advise...

My father’s got a few problems with his BT ADSL as the line drops for lengthy periods, I’m not up on router tech babble so can’t help him (should learn tbh i know).

Here's a snap of his line details using the BT2110.

He has the new style BT master line jack and no lengths of long internal wiring adding to the problem. BT help/service teams are been no help and dont seem to give a dam. Average 1100Kbps downstream and 300Kbps upstream (both seem about right considering), SNR margin is not mega low, parents do live fairly close to the edge of what's currently classed 'non ADSL' area. So any advice welcome as always & going to show him this thread should I get any replies.

KIA · 4 Jul 2007 at 08:30

A problem at the exchange perhaps?

I have no experience with the BT2110 but it may be worth borrowing/purchasing another router to see if it eradicates the problem. The SpeedTouch 585's are known for their superb stability. If possible, I'd recommend he migrates to an ISP with better support. Preferably Zen or Entanet.

the_box · 4 Jul 2007 at 09:42

http://www.dslzoneuk.net/socket.php?type=html

Sean_UK · 4 Jul 2007 at 18:33

Cheers for replys so far.

Well ive been round re-wiring etc and the diff is massive. :eek:

Still, he should be getting 2mbps speeds rather than the 1mbps (never goes above even though line suggest 1.8mbps avaliable), not budged since i fixed what appears to have been the problem. :confused:

After wire repairs >

Versus pre rewiring >

GSDog · 4 Jul 2007 at 18:45

What wiring did you change? Did you just remove all wires except 2 and 5?
Those stats don't look right.

I would probably go for the Thompson Speedtouch 585 router, it could help with stability and might give proper stat readings.

Also, do the BT speed test: http://speedtester.bt.com/

Sean_UK · 4 Jul 2007 at 20:26

Right after talking to my father who's clueless with anything modern and technical; turns out he's still on the old 2mbps subscription anyway. :rolleyes:

As for wires changed; replaced the router cable and extension too and from the main socket + all micro filters. 8mb is avaliable on his exchange as ive just checked, will the above stats have any bearing if he renews his sub or should i disregard that as im going to enquire about 8mb on his behalf...

GSDog · 4 Jul 2007 at 20:56

I don't think it would be worth you upgrading to 8MB. You won't get much more speed, if any, than you are currently getting.
I would find the cause of the drop-outs and stick on the fixed 2MB package until you're contract ends. Otherwise BT will hook you into another 18 months contract if you upgrade to their 8MB package.
Have you tired plugging the router directly into the test socket?

P.S) Remove wire 3, it will probably make a nice difference.

Sean_UK · 4 Jul 2007 at 20:57

Asked him to send me pics of the socket wiring, appears 2,3,5 are wired up and not just 2 & 5. Why would the BT engineer who visited last year connected wire 3? :confused:

Zildjian said:
Have you tired plugging the router directly into the test

Thats what i did from the start and thats how ive left it till i get chance to tidy up the house wiring for him this weekend.

csmager · 4 Jul 2007 at 21:01

Sean_UK said:
Right after talking to my father who's clueless with anything modern and technical; turns out he's still on the old 2mbps subscription anyway.

Wouldn't bet on it - you're connected to homeMAX, not home2000. And that second set of stats make no sense at all - with the Attenuation dropping that much (incredibly unlikely, anyway) the speed should've jumped to 8Mb at least!

Sean_UK · 4 Jul 2007 at 21:05

csmager said:
Wouldn't bet on it - you're connected to homeMAX, not home2000. And that second set of stats make no sense at all - with the Attenuation dropping that much (incredibly unlikely, anyway) the speed should've jumped to 8Mb at least!

Far as im aware its the Noise Margin (higher = better), that impacts the speed and not so much lower Attenuation from what ive read on FAQ over at http://www.dslzoneuk.net

csmager · 4 Jul 2007 at 21:09

Sean_UK said:
Far as im aware its the Noise Margin (higher = better), that impacts the speed and not so much lower Attenuation from what ive read on FAQ over at http://www.dslzoneuk.net

They're both interlinked.

As you increase your sync rate, your SNR will go down. homeMAX works backwards - instead of fixing the sync, they keep your sync at the rate which causes an SNR of ~6dB (as you can see from the stats).

What sync value an SNR of 6dB will give you depends on the attenuation.

(the above ignores any other random factors, but it's the gist of it)

From an attenuation as low as the router is claiming in the second stats, you should be getting 8Mb. Something is definitely amiss - I would guess the reporting it incorrect.

Sean_UK · 4 Jul 2007 at 21:16

Ah i see, well should i tell him to remove wire 3 or not in your opinion? Just seems weird as to why the BT engineer would connected it if there's no need...

csmager · 4 Jul 2007 at 21:18

Sean_UK said:
Ah i see, well should i tell him to remove wire 3 or not in your opinion? Just seems weird as to why the BT engineer would connected it if there's no need...

Standard practice - it's technically still needed (although only for ancient phones). No idea if it would make much of a difference.

What I would suggest is trying another router to see if you get some more reliable stats out of it.

Sean_UK · 4 Jul 2007 at 21:26

Could take my Linksys round over the weekend and try it out i guess, his BT2110 was sent as part of his sub iirc.

Sean_UK · 4 Jul 2007 at 23:30

Update; told him to remove wire 3, sent me email snap>

Apparantly its never shown more than 1850kbps downstream before, so perhaps wire 3 was causing a slight issue. Also informed me downstream now hangs around 1200kbps and upsteams around 300kbps when testing, still well short of the now suggested 2336kbps downstream.

tolien · 4 Jul 2007 at 23:39

The profile should eventually increase to 2Mbps, provided the downstream sync rate stays higher than 2272kbps.

KIA · 4 Jul 2007 at 23:49

Ask him to take the test at http://speedtester.bt.com/ to check his IP Profile.

Sean_UK · 4 Jul 2007 at 23:49

tolien said:
The profile should eventually increase to 2Mbps, provided the downstream sync rate stays higher than 2272kbps.

Well i wont tell him that at the moment, ill report back what i find after my visit to parents this Sat or Sun, cheers for reply.

Sean_UK · 5 Jul 2007 at 15:39

Edit.

Sean_UK · 6 Jul 2007 at 04:12

fluff said:
Ask him to take the test at http://speedtester.bt.com/ to check his IP Profile.

Done>

Edit: Told him to do one last reset in early hours before he left for work and got a decent result>

Hopefully holds sync so profile moves (should take about 3 days iirc?) without me having to phone up and speak to the call centre of broken english India BT. Would he befefit futher with perhaps new ADSL router instead of the BT2110; as surely this subscription sent router cant be all that? :confused: