Need some ADSL advice.

Bigsy · 3 Jun 2006 at 10:35

Not really been keeping up with developments, had a quick look today and it seems things have changed quite a bit.

I'm with pipex on 1000 solo and by the looks of things paying well over the odds, i'm not tied to pipex so can move if I want. But also consider my totally crappy line, which for living in a major city is shockingly poor. eg:

SNR Margin 7.1 24.0 dB
Line Attenuation 48.1 26.5 dB
Errored Seconds 3 0
Loss of Signal 0 0
Loss of Frame 0 0
CRC Errors 3 0
Data Rate 2272 288 kbps
Latency FAST FAST

Bear in mind my SNR margin constantly jumps from about 4>7.3 (I have seen go as low as 2.6).

Would a better adsl router help this? I use a crappy origo jobby atm. (It's also in the master socket)

However, i'm guessing if I go max I would still deffo get 2mbit? as that is what the line syncs at atm? Or would I be chancing it?

Also worth changing from pipex? Nildram seems popular atm, any more worth considering?

TIA.

Phemo · 3 Jun 2006 at 12:59

With those stats you may find your speed will actually go lower if you move to MAX. A new router could help, but you'd be better off investigating your extension wiring and filters as this is the most likely cause for crappy SNR. Unplug all your extensions and try the router at the BT master socket if you can.

csmager · 3 Jun 2006 at 13:12

As above - if your SNR is dropping as low as that and probably causing sync loss, Max may increase your SNR target. If it increases past 7dB, then in all probability you'll be on a 512k profile! Not good!

Unless you live next to something making a hell of a lot of noise, you SNR margin ought to be better than that at those attenuation levels. So, again, as above try master socket to eliminate extension wiring as the cause.

Bigsy · 3 Jun 2006 at 13:50

As I said it is on the master socket, even with it being the only thing plugged in the SNR is the same. I am quite a way from the exchanged which I think is the problem, certainly BT think so anyway.

Or is there a way I can get them to sort it out? As I havent managed it in the past when I was refused 2mbit (I was on a 1mbit card at the time....it now seems to be on a 2mbit card now)

Or would I be better off going for a 2mbit service with someone else?

Jez · 3 Jun 2006 at 13:52

Er dude, you are on 2mbit data sync already.

Looking at those stats i'd stay that way, on a fixed 2mbit package. There is very little room to breathe there and i doubt you would achieve a reliable 2mbit data rate through max.

Bigsy · 3 Jun 2006 at 13:56

Yeah I know it's sync'ed at 2mbit, it's also not 100% stable, that's why I was wondering if I should chance it, didn't know if MAX added some extra stability or not.

I was thinking fixed 2mbit myself really.

Nildram the best for this? Alternatives.

Jez · 3 Jun 2006 at 14:01

On max i would not be at all confident of anything other than 1.5mbit data rate, so yeah definately go for a fixed 2mbit line. The issue you will have with max is that you'll likely get sync's below 2272 quite often, which will fix you on the next level down - 1.5 rather than 2. To get onto the 2.5mbit data rate on max you'd need 2848 sync ALL the time, which is NOT going to happen on that line.

Nildram are good yeah, whether they offer 2mbit packages anymore i am not sure

tolien · 3 Jun 2006 at 14:13

Bigsy said:
Or is there a way I can get them to sort it out? As I havent managed it in the past when I was refused 2mbit (I was on a 1mbit card at the time....it now seems to be on a 2mbit card now)

Nothing to do with cards, and with that attenuation I'd guess it was the product of a screwup with the bulk regrade scheme.

Bigsy · 3 Jun 2006 at 15:13

Well they were the BT engineers exact words.

When I moved in (brand new house and phone line) it was syncing at 2mbit when I first got hooked up but I was on 1mbit due to cost, it was crap and kept dropping sync, pipex arranged BT to come and test it, they said they would put me on a 1mbit card at the exchange. My connection was fine from then on.

I asked for 2mbit when this was affordable (kinda thought my line maybe better than before), but no go for oblivious reasons.

But recently I noticed I had more drop outs (one or 2 a day) and checking my router it seems it's back to sync'in at 2mbit. But I have to say it is no where near as bad as before for dropping out.

I posted this thread as I really didn't know to much about MAX and thought it could boost the line or something which maybe meant I could scrape 3mbit.

Thanks for the help anyway guys. fixed 2mbit it is

Jez · 3 Jun 2006 at 15:15

Max doesnt actually do anything, it just removed the set sync speed from the line and lets the modem do what it likes

Phemo · 3 Jun 2006 at 15:17

Basically MAX starts off with forcing your line to sync at the maximum speed while keeping your SNR at 6db. As yours is around the 6db mark already, you're not going to get anything faster and since it will drop below 6db, it'll cause it to resync at a lower speed. If it detects many resyncs it will raise your target SNR to try and minimise the resyncs and/or it can enable interleaving which is basically error correction to help improve stability, though with some extra latency.

For example, my line syncs at 3800 ish during the day (when the SNR is higher), yet in the evening the SNR drops to around 2 or 3db and it'll resync at 3100 ish to keep the target SNR of 6db. It will stay solid at 3100 ish unless I reboot the router during the day but it'll just drop again in the evening anyway.

It is possible, however, that MAX would give you 1.5mbit and a more stable connection than what you've got now.

tolien · 3 Jun 2006 at 16:35

Bigsy said:
Well they were the BT engineers exact words.

With some misinterpretation involved most likely. There's no line card change involved in a regrade...
Interleaving might get more (or what you've got with more stability), but it's debatable.