Strange ADSL problem, used to be able to connect at 2Mb speeds but now cannot.

dirtydog

dirtydog

dirtydog

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I have MAX ADSL and for about the last nine months or so, I have been able to attain 2Mb speeds (BRAS profile of 2000) for that whole period, 24/7. While the SNR margin does drop in the evening, it wasn't enough to lose the connection. Until now.

Because I am a long distance from the telephone exchange, I was actually doing well to squeeze 2Mb out of the line because officially it is only good for 1Mb. But due to a good router I have been able to do it successfully - until recently. I can now only attain enough speed for 1.5Mb in the evening/overnight, and 2Mb only during the day. Of course my BRAS profile has now been knocked down to 1500 by BT.

I am just wondering whether there is something unique about the atmospherics at this time of year which is affecting the line? I haven't changed anything in the router settings or the cable or anything else recently so I am rather baffled about this. As I am on a long line I understandably want to get 2Mb if I can because even that isn't particularly good nowadays.

Any thoughts or insight would be welcome :)
 
There is lots of things that influence the speed you can get on your broadband connection.

There might be a fault with the cable, or its degraded so you now have more noise on the line causing your line speed to drop accordingly.

The problem is that since they don't guarantee the speed means that even if you get hold of BT that they won't do anything especially since you are a long distance away from the exchange and BT's estimated speed is 1mbit they will say you are lucky that you still get 1.5mbit.

I think you can get your ISP to reset the BRAS and you will have a new training period but unless the line quality has improved or your luck has changed you might get it back to syncing at 2mbit but if you are unlucky you might end up syncing at 1mbit.

Best way to improve the speed move closer to the exchange :D
 
I do have another cable somewhere, maybe I should try that. I just have a short cable to the router and then a long ethernet cable into my PC. The line attenuation has stayed the same at between 55.5 and 56.0. I did get loads of errors overnight at 2Mb speeds - in fact I still do even at 1.5 (I have to boost the coding gain to the max just to connect at 1.5 speeds even during the day) - but it's never been enough to kick me offline. (I can stay connected 24/7 at this speed because my router lets me put a ceiling on my sync speed)

I'll try and dig out my other cable then. Otherwise I'll have to put up with my new lower speed :) Or yes, I could move :D
 
Have you tried using a Speedtouch modem (second hand one for £13) and using DMT Tool with it?

I managed to boost my sync from 1312 -> 2048 using it and i'm only "officially" meant to get 1MBit :)

Say it's worth a shot for the £ spent vs. hassle
 
Not yet - I am using a Voyager 205 also with DMT :) Before I discovered it, I would always lose sync at night time. Since then it's been as good as gold... until recently that is.

Well I've changed the cable and have raised the router's cap to 2Mb (interleaving is on so to get a sync of 2272 I have to set the cap to 2464 with the overhead). I currently have an SNR margin of 13.5 which is good, but I'll have to wait till tonight/tomorrow morning to see if it can stay connected. The SNR margin would normally drop to 8-9ish at night which is still okay.

Oh, I think it would be much easier to get 2Mb if I could simply sync at 2048 with interleaving off, but Freedom2Surf have proved useless in getting BT to turn off interleaving permanently as I have asked. BT told them they have done it but they haven't. F2S agree with me that they haven't, but they haven't chased it up or anything and subsequent email contact with them has been ignored. Phoning them is too expensive and no more useful in any case.
 
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I was the same.. I even sent a snail mail letter to orange.

Ended up accepting my speed and got on with things!
 
Maybe I should have been a bit more clear with what I meant with cable, I meant the cable leading from the exchange to your house which obviously isn't that easy to change.

However it is better having long network cables than a long modem lead to the phone socket as internal wiring and extension cables will/can add to the line noise. So if its possible plug the router into your main phone socket which is where the connection to your house comes in, then either use long network cables or go wireless.

But as EVH said different routers will allow you to tweak the connection with various tools and also some routers are better than others in handling noise on the line.

Sometimes tho there is nothing you can do you just have to accept the speed or move to a different house.
 
Jumping said:
However it is better having long network cables than a long modem lead to the phone socket as internal wiring and extension cables will/can add to the line noise. So if its possible plug the router into your main phone socket which is where the connection to your house comes in, then either use long network cables or go wireless.
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I was already doing that :) It is in fact plugged directly into the test socket and there are no extensions present either.

But as EVH said different routers will allow you to tweak the connection with various tools and also some routers are better than others in handling noise on the line.
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And that.

Sometimes tho there is nothing you can do you just have to accept the speed or move to a different house.
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Indeed, but what mystifies me is why it was okay for 2Mb for nine months and now all of a sudden isn't.
 
dirtydog said:
I was already doing that :) It is in fact plugged directly into the test socket and there are no extensions present either.


And that.


Indeed, but what mystifies me is why it was okay for 2Mb for nine months and now all of a sudden isn't.
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As I said there is a lot of "stuff" that can happen to the line that goes from the exchange into your house that will impact on your speed. If its overhead wires maybe some bird been chewing through the cable etc, or there might be some water inside the cable etc.

The problem is that BT won't do anything about it until you can't get a voice call through unless they have changed their policy. Or if you get really woefull speeds and disconnects. As their checker only says you are good for 1mbit they will just say you should be glad you get 1.5mbit.

I think it was on samknows site that you can check your line length compared to the distance you are from the exchange as sometimes BT seems to run cable round a whole town before it goes into the house, if thats the case for you you might be able to get a shorter lenght by ordering a new phone line put into the house. Obviously this will cost you money but it might give you a better ADSL sync speed.
 
Hmm come to think of it we did have torrential rain recently for a few days. I wonder if these problems started after that - possibly.

I am actually a long way from the exchange physically anyway - I am on the edge of town and the exchange is in the town centre :)

I guess I'm gonna have to live with 1.5 for now. I will try to connect at 2.0 periodically in future to see if things have improved.
 
One of the best modem/router for hanging onto a line must be the Thomson Speedtouch 780WL. I have a line Atten 42 noise 6 and am getting 768 up with 8000 down (ukonline thay are in the exchange £19.99) I just can't believe it. Bought the 780 at auction but not withstanding its excellent modem qualities its voip part wont work and the software upgrade also does not work; but what voip router/modem shall I replace it ?
 
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