Question about Be*

RoachycaL · 19 Apr 2008 at 19:26

Ordered the unlimited package this afternoon, and the speed depends on how far away I am from my local exchange - so I guestimated!

However I clicked on the link to my local exchange: (the one above newcastle business park)

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/mapping/mapping.php?ecode=NENTW

And when I click on the blue house (the exchange) it says up to 8Mb!!!

Does that mean on the service I payed for up to 24mb broadband I will be getting 8Mb Max?! If so should I order the value service instead?

Thanks

Deluxe1 · 19 Apr 2008 at 19:31

Says the same for me even tho i live really close to my local exchange,been thinking about joining be myself.

stewart.r@ntlwo · 19 Apr 2008 at 20:34

I live about 2km away from my exchange and get nearly full on my 8mb Be Value.

dave-lew99 · 19 Apr 2008 at 21:25

The exchange is ADSLMax enabled, you will get whatever is technically possible for the distance, up to 24meg.

I'm about 500m from the exchange and i get a solid 18meg, i've seen people at around 2km away get 16meg or so, so you should get a decent rate.

You could always downgrade your package later if you find you're only getting around 8meg, but IIRC there are other benefits of unlimited over value...unless that's changed since i ordered.

tolien · 19 Apr 2008 at 23:19

You'll get up to 24Mbps from Be's LLU, but it has nothing to do with "ADSLMax" (IPStream Max only does up to 8Mbps right now, but it's a BT Wholesale thing so irrelevant).
It says "BT Wholesale (ADSL Max) [sic] (up to 8M)" - it's talking about BT Wholesale, not Be.

Do you already have an ADSL service on the line, or at a stretch the straight line distance from Samknows?

marmalade · 20 Apr 2008 at 09:13

Position the exchange, then follow the main roads to the exchange this should give some idea as to distance though not necessarily the quality of the line. Don't forget for o2 £25 back via quidco and much the same if going the BE route

Mp4 · 20 Apr 2008 at 10:53

i'm looking to bo to Be. Also but not sure atm as its more expensive!

Also via my router settings

Connection Speed 5984 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 42 db 13.5 db
Noise Margin 9 db 18 db

i'm 2.4 km – about 6 mins / 1.5 miles

ADSL Max status:Enabled as of 31/03/2006

Just waiting for Be.

05/04/2008 Be Unlimited has updated the enablement date for the Eastbourne exchange to 30/04/2008 (Was previously 31/03/2008)

RoachycaL · 20 Apr 2008 at 11:33

tolien said:
You'll get up to 24Mbps from Be's LLU, but it has nothing to do with "ADSLMax" (IPStream Max only does up to 8Mbps right now, but it's a BT Wholesale thing so irrelevant).
It says "BT Wholesale (ADSL Max) [sic] (up to 8M)" - it's talking about BT Wholesale, not Be.

Do you already have an ADSL service on the line, or at a stretch the straight line distance from Samknows?

Yeah Im currently with Nildram - paying for up to 8mb but they decided upon 6.5mb for the line. Hopefully that has changed now.

I believe the line distance (using the google maps tool) was 2000 odd metres which was about 1.2km (so its past 15mb Be* say).

However as someone else posted, can I do a diagonal line straight from my house to the exchange or so I have to follow the main roads?

RoachycaL · 20 Apr 2008 at 11:35

dave-lew99 said:
The exchange is ADSLMax enabled, you will get whatever is technically possible for the distance, up to 24meg.

I'm about 500m from the exchange and i get a solid 18meg, i've seen people at around 2km away get 16meg or so, so you should get a decent rate.

You could always downgrade your package later if you find you're only getting around 8meg, but IIRC there are other benefits of unlimited over value...unless that's changed since i ordered.

Will I still get the 1.3mb upload that in the package or is that limited by the line speed etc? Thats one of the main attractions I had to Be*

tolien · 20 Apr 2008 at 11:52

RoachycaL said:
Yeah Im currently with Nildram - paying for up to 8mb but they decided upon 6.5mb for the line. Hopefully that has changed now.

If that's all your line can do, it'll have some bearing on what you get with Be. Look for values for attenuation, SNR margin and the speed your modem's connected at (they should all be within its web interface if you're using a router, or the software that came with it if you're still using a USB modem).

However as someone else posted, can I do a diagonal line straight from my house to the exchange or so I have to follow the main roads?

Sure. Excel has a random number generator function too - it would be about as useful.

Upload speed is affected by loop length too, but if Be reckon you'll get >15Mbps down, you're probably going to get 1.5Mbps up unless there's something specifically affecting the upstream frequency range.

Mp4 · 20 Apr 2008 at 12:01

Question

The Be. Box you get (FREE) is it any good?

i use a netgear DG834G router at the moment (yes its old)

RoachycaL · 20 Apr 2008 at 12:38

tolien said:
If that's all your line can do, it'll have some bearing on what you get with Be. Look for values for attenuation, SNR margin and the speed your modem's connected at (they should all be within its web interface if you're using a router, or the software that came with it if you're still using a USB modem).

Sure. Excel has a random number generator function too - it would be about as useful.

Upload speed is affected by loop length too, but if Be reckon you'll get >15Mbps down, you're probably going to get 1.5Mbps up unless there's something specifically affecting the upstream frequency range.

Ok well thanks for the help so far although I have to say now that I really dont know much about this stuff... that's why I'm asking!

My router (Netgear DG834GT) has some information which you think may be useful:

Downstream / Upstream
Connection Speed: 8128 kbps / 448 kbps
Line Attenuation: 25.0 db / 13.5 db
Noise Margin: 6.0 db / 24.0 db

So I take it I need to follow the main roads as best I can after that sarcastic remark?

I would think at the most Im 2Km away from my exchange.

& @ Mp4 - I dont think you will be able to use your current router with Be* - that's why I changed from the G to the GT, theres some new stuff it does which works with Be* so I was told. So if you did get Be* you would probably need to use their box yes.

dave-lew99 · 20 Apr 2008 at 13:15

The Be Box is perfectly adequate - but don't expect too much from it, it does do the job though.

If you want to replace it, it has to be able to support ADSL2+ and Annexe M (not all routers do)

Mp4 · 20 Apr 2008 at 13:18

hmm sounds like im going to have fun then on setup!! ill wait and see!

tolien · 20 Apr 2008 at 13:28

RoachycaL said:
Downstream / Upstream
Connection Speed: 8128 kbps / 448 kbps
Line Attenuation: 25.0 db / 13.5 db
Noise Margin: 6.0 db / 24.0 db

There's an estimator in the sticky that gives some estimation of what you could get.
It reckons you'll connect at 18250kbps and get ~16150kbps of IP throughput.

So I take it I need to follow the main roads as best I can after that sarcastic remark? I would think at the most Im 2Km away from my exchange.

I wouldn't do either - loop length isn't that useful, and estimating it from a map's just going to make it worse. From your attenuation, you're got ~2.5km of copper between you and the exchange.

& @ Mp4 - I dont think you will be able to use your current router with Be* - that's why I changed from the G to the GT, theres some new stuff it does which works with Be* so I was told. So if you did get Be* you would probably need to use their box yes.

So long as it does ADSL2+ (which the G does), it should be fine. If you sign up for Pro, you need one that does Annex M for the extra upload.
Be don't care if you use another router, they just won't support it.

AbsenceJam · 20 Apr 2008 at 13:37

Mp4 said:
Question

The Be. Box you get (FREE) is it any good?

i use a netgear DG834G router at the moment (yes its old)

It's pretty rubbish, I got a Sky DG834GT from eBay for £25 which gave me a higher synch and I've not had a single issue with it - unlike the BeBox.
The DG834G is a bit old, unless you have the latest revision (v4 I think) it has an odler chipset which doesn't work as well as the GT.

RoachycaL · 20 Apr 2008 at 13:44

tolien said:
There's an estimator in the sticky that gives some estimation of what you could get.
It reckons you'll connect at 18250kbps and get ~16150kbps of IP throughput.

I wouldn't do either - loop length isn't that useful, and estimating it from a map's just going to make it worse. From your attenuation, you're got ~2.5km of copper between you and the exchange.

So long as it does ADSL2+ (which the G does), it should be fine. If you sign up for Pro, you need one that does Annex M for the extra upload.
Be don't care if you use another router, they just won't support it.

Thanks for the help, I got an email this morning saying the line would be activated on the 29th so Ill drag this thread up from the depths to state the speed I'm getting. I cant imagine getting 16mb on this line though, the area is really old and I'm imagining that the phone lines are too!

Mp4 · 20 Apr 2008 at 13:49

i was planning on getting a new router anyway tempted to get Netgear WNR854T
but not sure if it will work with Be.

AbsenceJam · 20 Apr 2008 at 13:56

Mp4 said:
i was planning on getting a new router anyway tempted to get Netgear WNR854T
but not sure if it will work with Be.

That's just a router sans modem, you could use it with the BeBox in bridged mode (dumb modem) but then that's two devices and the BeBox is still carp. The DG834N is the version with a modem but it lacks a Gigabit switch.