Max line speed

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

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22 Oct 2005
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Is there anyway you can test what the maximum possible speed of your broadband line is?

I've recently had a problem with my line dropping from 2mb down to 0.25mb. I've been in contact with my ISP (Pipex) and they are looking into it. In their response they mentioned my line was an 8mb line. I didn't realise as I thought I was just on a 2mb line.

I know it's rare to achieve the full speed but I would hope I'd get more than a quarter speed, especially considering I'm only 500m from the exchange (I know this doesn't necesarily mean that it should be quicker than people that live further away).

I've looked at other ISP's I could switch to, and they claim my line can support 'up to 5mb'.

Anyway I can find out what my max speed could be?

Thanks.
 
Managed to get my brother to have a look so got these values from him:

Code: 
                              downstream          upstream
Attenuation db               0                       3.0
SNR   db                    32.2                     8.0
Attainable rate Kbps         8.32                    6.76
Rate   Kbps                  480                     448

I'm sorry but I have no idea what these values mean, or even if they're the correct values. I will have a read into the sticky you posted Daegan when I get home from work.

Do they look ok or is there a clear problem?

Thanks
 
Locky said:
They are the weirdest stats I have ever seen,

You are connected at 480kbps just 0.5mbit,

Attenuation is 0 which means you are in the exchange or next door,

If the SNR I see and Att are all correct you will connect at 24mb easy.
Click to expand...

Hmm, any ideas why they are so weird? Could my brother have looked at the wrong values? We are close to the exchange but not that close!

Might have to wait til I get home and I could try it with just a modem attached (wired) to my pc, might have another router kicking about but think I might have sold that....
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. Sorry I've been slack with updating but I couldn't do much at work!!

I've just got home and had a quick play with the network.

First I installed a modem and connected direct to that. It was an old Speedtouch 330 modem as that's all I have spare. That connected at 1.6mb which is much more like it.

That ruled out it being a naff line so I tried the router again and that was back up to full speed :) No idea why but it sorted itself out.

So, that leaves with my last question....any chance a new router could increase the speed?

I've got some screenshots of my router stats as well as a speedtest result:
routerw.jpg


I still don't really understand it, but that value for 'Attainable Rate' looks like the line is capable of going faster. Is this the case? FYI I measured the distance to the exchange in Google Earth and the distance is 230m as the crow flies.

Thanks again for any help.
 
Thanks guys. One last little bit of info. I looked for the line stats when I was connected direct using the modem only. The values I got were:

ReceiveAttenuation_dB= 9
ReceiveMargin_dB= 12
SendAttenuation_dB= 3
SendMargin_dB= 25

These were the values pointed to from this link in the sticky. Are they more realistic?

My area is naff for coverage, according to Samknows there is no LLU or cable services available. Just normal adsl (yes I know, I live in the middle of nowhere!). I know my exchange supports speeds faster than 2mb as both my mates receive ~7mb speeds from between 500m and 1km away.

Tbh I'm very happy with my provider so don't want to change. It's pipex not tiscali (not sure if they piggyback or whatever), but the line is cheap, unlimited and very reliable.

Will look into a new router if this is definitely the issue. Just don't want to buy a new one for the speed to remain the same, because, again, this router does everything I need and has also been reliable (until now!).

Thanks again.

**Edit** Oh, and my router is a US Robotics model 9106. Not sure if there's anything to look up on the specs to see if it's capable of handling faster speeds...
 
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Going to try borrow a router from somewhere but that might be a bit tricky, especially as I don;t know that much about setting up networks and the various settings. It'll be fine to setup in my house but when I give it back to them it would need setting up with their settings presumably which might be a bit tricky.

If I do end up getting a new router, how this Netgear DGN1000 look? Budget doesn't stretch to the DG834GT you mention Locky. Was looking nearer the £50 mark.

Thanks again.
 
Hi all. Quick little update. My dad managed to borrow a router off a friend. Unfortunately it's a tiscali branded Siemens thing which looks pretty poor.

I tried to install it but the setup cd wont complete without a valid tiscali login (which I obviously don't have). I've tried setting it up manually by connecting to the router but I can't get it to work. The only page I can see with settings is this:

tisc.jpg


I tried putting in the info I have but it said that the VCI value was already in use. I'm guessing that info will only work if you have tiscali login information anyway. Is there anything else I can try or shall I just go for a DG834GT?

Also, is there anything I should look out for with the DG834GT's on the auction site? Any particular models/firmware to avoid? I don't like buying from there but seeing as OCuk don't stock it and everywhere else it's 5 times the price I think I'll have to.

Thanks again.

**Edit** - Worth updating the firmware on my current US Robotics router? On the USR website the latest firmware is 4 years old so it might not be of much uses!
 
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