Rural BB options

[Mobius]

Hey guys. I am currently living quite rurally (postcode - SL6 5NN) on a farm/countryside sort of area and am stuck with 512k ADSL until the lines get upgraded here, which I guess is never. Is there ANY way I can speed up the process of BT performing upgrades in this area? My connection is constantly going down, sometimes every 10 minutes and sometimes once every few days, for a period of 12 hours. I have phoned them and emailed them countless times but I always get the same responses. Eventually the connection clears up and they tell me to phone if it occurs again which of course I do, and the same thing happens again.

Basically I just want to be rid of crappy BT ADSL asap, but due to my location this is really the only option available to me. I've run line tests etc and I cannot go over 512k. How do they decide where is upgraded, and is there any way of influencing the decision at all?

Appreciate any advice!

 

[OllyM]

Unless there's a wireless ISP around (unlikely), you're not going to see anything faster. It's probably the length/quality of your telephone line that means you can't get above 512k - have you got any line statistics? i.e. attenuation and SNR.

512k is better than dialup, surely?

 

[Gibber]

Unfortunatly you won't get anything faster. I'm in the same prediciment here. Unless BT decide to install DSLAM's in cabs (and by the looks of things that doesn't look like it's ever going to happen) I don't think there will be any hope of ever getting something faster on ADSL.

 

[Mobius]

Argh, that sucks. I used to have 56k, so this is definitely an improvement but I also had 4mb when I lived in London, so I've been at both to internet heaven and hell. I wouldn't even mind this connection so much, if it was at least consistant. I'm constantly being disconnected. I've just phoned them again, and after 5 minutes of trying to explain how to spell my 2nd name, she has told me she can't run line tests because they have faults in the office at the moment, and to ring back tomorrow. The connection came back of its own accord after around 30 minutes, as usual.

Here is some information. I hope it helps!

BT ADSL broadband availability
You are connected to the Littlewick Green telephone exchange.

ADSL is available in your area
Your exchange is also enabled for ADSL Max services

According to BT Wholesale, your line should be able to support a 0.5Mbps or greater ADSL connection.

Standard ADSL RAG results:
[BT ADSL Code: REGEGEC] You cannot receive 2Mbps ADSL
[BT ADSL Code: REGEGEC] You cannot receive 1Mbps ADSL
[BT ADSL Code: REGEGEC] You can receive 512Kbps ADSL
[BT ADSL Code: REGEGEC] You can receive 256Kbps ADSL

You are approximately 4.37km from the exchange (straight line distance).

Line Mode G.DMT Line State Show Time
Latency Type Fast Line Up Time 00:00:22:01
Line Coding Trellis On Line Up Count 4

Statistics Downstream Upstream
Line Rate 576 Kbps 288 Kbps
Noise Margin 10.5 dB 19.0 dB
Line Attenuation 63.0 dB 31.5 dB
Output Power 15.9 dBm 11.8 dBm

 

[Phemo]

If you're lucky you might scrape 1mbit if you move to ADSL Max. However, your SNR margin doesn't give a great deal to play with so don't get your hopes up.

Is your router plugged into the master socket? Do you have any extensions coming off it? If so, try taking the front of the BT socket off and plugging a filter and the router into the BT test socket underneath, then see what your downstream noise margin is. If you could get scrape an SNR of about 15db then it'd probably be worth going to Max.

 

[Mobius]

My router is plugged into a microfilter which is plugged into the master socket, but there is no phoneline connected to it. I've tried disconnecting all my phonelines in the house etc, and it hasn't helped. I have no distortion or crackling during phonecalls so I am quite certain it isn't related to that. Also I get disconnected between midnight-6am, when nobody is using the phone, and I highly doubt anybody is calling in. (I live with my grandparents, who sleep from 8pm to 10am. )

I guess I'll have to accept that 512k is the fastest connection I'll be getting for a while but I'd still like to fix the connection so it stops going down, so if anybody has any ideas that'd be cool. There is no pattern to the disconnections. I get disconnected between 1 and 20 times a day, from a period of 2 minutes to 12 hours. When the connection is fine the lights on my router (bt voyager 210) are all green, and the ethernet light flickers, but when my connection goes down the only light that remains is the power light. The ethernet light will occasionally flicker, and for a few seconds the DSL light comes on. If it stays on for more than about 10 seconds then the internet usually comes up, but if not then it doesn't.

Like I say I've phoned BT and emailed them about 20 times and they just give me the same stuff about unplugging everything, etc. I'm basically thinking its a hardware problem (dodgy router, dodgy wire) or something, or just the quality of the lines in this area. I've said as much to them twice and each time they've told me they can't run tests because of problems in the office, so I'll be ringing back tomorrow to try and find answers.

try taking the front of the BT socket off and plugging a filter and the router into the BT test socket underneath

I'm not sure I understand. How would I do that? Thanks.

 

[Phemo]

I'm not sure I understand. How would I do that? Thanks.

If your BT socket is the NTE5 type with a split across the front then you'll be able to take off the lower half as in this picture. Note that there may be wires coming off the removable lower half depending on how your extensions are wired in. If so just leave this dangling temporarily.

There is a BT test socket underneath - plug the filter and router directly into that and see if it improves your SNR at all.

 

[tolien]

Bear in mind that connecting to the test socket just disconnects any hard-wired extensions.
If you've got none, and you disconnect any other extensions, the result is the same at the front socket as at the test socket.

What modem are you using? Some behave better on marginal lines than others.

 

[Mobius]

Mine doesn't look like that. I don't seem to be able to remove the front of it.

Modem? I just have the voyager 210 router, which goes into the master socket, and also into the back of my computer.

 

[iamgud]

I have spoken to many people who have "no" extensions and it works from the test socket sometimes, it can be that they are wrong and there are extensions, the actual faceplate itself is causing problems or the extension cable is dodgy or there is a device connected directly to the line like an alarm system.

But anyway if you have tried the master test socket with a different filter, you could also try another modem. If it is still not working then you can report it as an intermittent fault which if you are lucky BT will fix.


If you are getting droputs it is likely the line can't handle 512k and is just long, where as some lines are short but broken, BT fix something and voila nice and fast but in your case it is probably just long. However the attenuation and SNR would be useful.


Stuck on 1mb here. My line is probably good for 2-3mb but not much more .



EDIT: not all houses have these NTE5 faceplates so you might just be unlucky or it might not be the master socket, are you sre it is???