Max line speed

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

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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
 
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.
 
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....
 
As you say if you are close to the exchange which I think you are you should get very nice speeds, it could be that ancient router letting you down.
 
mpledge52 said:
It's a US Robotics router. Ancient but it's done the job for a long time now so had no reason to change. Can't remember the model number I'm afraid.
Click to expand...

You might want to try borrowing a more modern modem/router from a friend (e.g. a recent Netgear or such-like) to see what happens. Those stats would suggest there is no signal loss and exceptionally good noise/signal ratio (i.e. probably impossible). So either they are completely wrong and you won't see an improvement with a different router, or you could see a large speed jump if you're on ADSL2+.

Here are mine for instance;

Code: 
ADSL Link 		Downstream 	Upstream
Connection Speed 	20152 kbps 	1403 kbps
Line Attenuation 	23.5 db 	10.8 db
Noise Margin 		2.8 db 		2.6 db
Uptime			86:20:36
 
Its possible the exchange has been upgraded to WBC/21CN and the old router isn't properly compatible.

Its also possible that if you are very close (would prolly have to be inside 100m) then the signal is "overcooking" for want of a better way to describe it and the power levels, etc. need turning down.
 
dustofnations said:
You might want to try borrowing a more modern modem/router from a friend (e.g. a recent Netgear or such-like) to see what happens. Those stats would suggest there is no signal loss and exceptionally good noise/signal ratio (i.e. probably impossible). So either they are completely wrong and you won't see an improvement with a different router, or you could see a large speed jump if you're on ADSL2+.

Here are mine for instance;

Code: 
ADSL Link 		Downstream 	Upstream
Connection Speed 	20152 kbps 	1403 kbps
Line Attenuation 	23.5 db 	10.8 db
Noise Margin 		2.8 db 		2.6 db
Uptime			86:20:36
Click to expand...

nice stats there, I'm moving house in a couple of weeks to a house which is 890 meters from the exchange (crow flys) I'm hoping to get arround 16mb, but you never know.
 
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.
 
230m lol, you are practically on top of it! You should get ±20mbps on ADSL2+ and 8mbps on ADSL I would think - I'm further away than you and get that. You should seriously consider a new modem. Unless you are exceptionally unlucky you should get an excellent speed.

Is Bethere available in your area?
 
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...
 
Last edited:
In that case I would get a new router, something like a DG834GT should see you connect at full 8mb down.
 
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.
 
dustofnations said:
You might want to try borrowing a more modern modem/router from a friend (e.g. a recent Netgear or such-like) to see what happens. Those stats would suggest there is no signal loss and exceptionally good noise/signal ratio (i.e. probably impossible). So either they are completely wrong and you won't see an improvement with a different router, or you could see a large speed jump if you're on ADSL2+.

Here are mine for instance;

Code: 
ADSL Link 		Downstream 	Upstream
Connection Speed 	20152 kbps 	1403 kbps
Line Attenuation 	23.5 db 	10.8 db
Noise Margin 		2.8 db 		2.6 db
Uptime			86:20:36
Click to expand...

what adsl router are u using to get that speed? ive got very simular specs of line and get 18mb sync, could u let us know?
 
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