Is my line bad?

HungryHippos

HungryHippos

HungryHippos

Soldato
Joined
25 Mar 2004
Posts
16,001
Location
Fareham
Hey guys,

Got Talk Talk non LLU ADSL here, and the speed is slooow (tops out at about 100K/Sec download speeds). Unfortunately my exchange is bad and doesn't offer any LLU or VM Cable services so i'm a little stuck in regards to changing to something faster/better.

I'm on the Wickham Exchange (http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/SDWCKHM) and as you can see it's pretty dire :(

Can you guys check out the line stats below and advise if the line is too bad to handle faster speeds?

Product Name
EchoLife HG520b​
Physical Address
b4:82:fe:81:ed:64​
Software Release
v2.08​
Firmware Release
3.10.21.0-1.0.7.0​
Batch Number
RTC10P0.028.310210​
Release Date
2009/10/17​
ADSL State
Show Time​
Data Path
Interleaved​
Operation Mode
G.dmt​
Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps)
960 / 448​
SNR Margin Down/Up(dB)
6.5 / 13.0​
Attenuation Down/Up(dB)
58.0 / 31.5​
Power Down/Up(dBm)
13.5 / 12.5​
CRC Down/Up
4703 / 21​
FEC Down/Up
43240 / 27​
HEC Down/Up
8472 / 47​
System Up Time
17:36:33​
DSL Up Time
17:35:46​
PVC Select
PVC-0​
PPP Up Time
1:17:34​
 
Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps)
960 / 448

SNR Margin Down/Up(dB)
6.5 / 13.0

Attenuation Down/Up(dB)
58.0 / 31.5
Click to expand...

You would expect a little higher at 58 attenuation, had something similar a year ago and had 3,000 ish connection speed on Sky, was LLU though. I don't recall the exact figures though.

Your SNR margin is pretty maxed out though at 6.5, much lower than that and your connection would become instable.

Have you tried connecting the router direct to the BT test socket and checking the SNR margin for any change? If there's a noticeable difference you may have some dodgy telephone wiring.
 
Cheers for the reply, the master socket is in the cupboard under the stairs, do you mean to plug it into this instead? or is there another way to access the test socket?

Current config is this:

Ground Floor: Phone + Filter (master socket)
1st Floor: Router + Filter
2nd Floor: Phone - (ran out of filters)
 
So the phone on the second floor is unfiltered? That's not going to help.

The test socket lives behind the faceplate of the master socket, if you have a new enough master socket (it should be fairly obvious, they're in two parts with the lower part removable with two screws).
 
tolien said:
So the phone on the second floor is unfiltered? That's not going help.

The test socket lives behind the faceplate of the master socket, if you have a new enough master socket (it should be fairly obvious, they're in two parts with the lower part removable with two screws).
Click to expand...

Ah ok, yes they sent us two filters only so we'd need to pick another one up to have every socket filtered. If the phone is unplugged on the 2nd floor might I expect a different result? the socket is wired in so I guess i'm asking if it needs a filter if there's nothing on it :)

Edit:

This is what I get on the test socket behind the master socket backplate:

ADSL State
Show Time​
Data Path
Interleaved​
Operation Mode
G.dmt​
Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps)
3040 / 448​
SNR Margin Down/Up(dB)
6.5 / 14.0​
Attenuation Down/Up(dB)
63.0 / 31.5​
Power Down/Up(dBm)
17.5 / 12.5​
CRC Down/Up
0 / 0​
FEC Down/Up
3924 / 0​
HEC Down/Up
0 / 0​
System Up Time
0:08:15​
DSL Up Time
0:04:03​
PVC Select
PVC-0​
PPP Up Time
0:02:26​

Interesting to note it appears to be saying it's connected at Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps) 3040 / 448 but the reality is that on www.speedtest.net I still get 0.72mbps downstream speeds.
 
Last edited:
If it's via BT Wholesale, actual throughput won't increase instantly. You'd need to stay connected at the higher rate for a while for your IP profile to increase.
That's a sign there's something wrong with your extension wiring though, whether it's the unfiltered phone or not.
 
I have had poor speeds on my 2meg line since I moved here....only getting 120kbs at best and even as low as 40kbs most of the time.....after deciding to do something about it on Friday I researched google and a lot of people were saying that if you are on an extension line direct to the router, if you disconnect the bell wire from the sockets...its the orange/white wire...it would improve your download speed...I did that and now i am getting 240kbs download speed...which is nearly the 2 meg I pay for...I am well chuffed.....it took about 24 hrs to get this speed so I assume the line has to optimise its self....may be worth giving it a go if you are on an extension.....and you will need that extra filter as well..
 
Last edited:
Depending on your wiring you could plug all those extensions into the filter at the main faceplate. If the extensions are hard wired into the faceplate it's not so easy.
 
Ok I checked the phone upstairs and it's a wireless one, it doesn't appear to be connected to any phone sockets up there so I guess it piggybacks off the wireless phone on the ground floor (which is plugged into the master socket). At least this means there are no unfiltered devices attached.

Doesn't quite explain the connected speed difference between the test socket and the extension socket though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom