A recent low sync could have easily knocked your IPprofile back down to the 135 speeds :/
I cant understand why the engineer didnt fit an NTE5 socket when he was last there, so cant comment on that
No the ST330 and voyager 205 arent the same - BT at one point mostly supplied ST330s, but they also provided the Voyager 205.
Unless you physically removed it then the Voyager software should still be there, although you shouldnt need software to connect to the Voyager if you connect via ethernet.
You should be able to access the Voyager 205 via your browser on
http://192.168.1.1
Line stats are under Troubleshooting >
Advanced Diagnostics >
DSL Param
However I appreciate what youre saying about the loss of wireless and once again having to go back to an extension (which could possibly introduce more noise on the line).
Ideally you should use the test socket to check your line - but since you dont have an NTE5 then this isnt an option.
>> Hub takes 3 days rather than 30 minutes to recover!!!
If you are refering to throughput speeds then that is more down to the way max works and something called the bRAS or IP profile. (More info on the
bRAS profile.)
Its primarily because of the IP profile that we are often hesitant about recommending max on long lines.. since it is very likely that this is what will be limiting your throughput speeds for days at a time. One bad sync and youre going to see slow speeds for several days.
I hate to sound pesimistic but I have a horrible suspicion that because you say your SNR is all over the place and up to 16dB.. that the DLM has increased your target SNR to 15dB to try and maintain stability. The nasty side effect of this is that your router is going to sync at much lower speeds than if it was set at the default.
"Traditional" adsl doesnt have this configurable Target SNR thats done by the DLM either, and its static. I wouldnt be too surprised if the BT Engineer on his last visit got your target SNR reset, but after a few days the DLM took over again (as it is designed to do - and should do), which has knocked you back again. Unless theres a specific fault on the line this is likely to continue to keep happening.
Based on the information you have given ie 62db line with an average SNR Margin of 6dB, then unless youre able to do something to increase the SNR Margin at your end* then it could just be that your line is physically incapable of acheiving the higher speeds of max. :/
The BT checker is a guide from the database and just an estimate. Max works by utilising every spare bit of SNR to give you the highest possible speeds. However it falls down on very long lines due to the IP profiling.. and also
if you target SNR is set by the DLM at anything much above 9dB then theres a strong chance that your speeds are going to be slower on MAX than they were on traditional adsl. The database doesnt know your individual line stats - those can only be obtained when you plug in your router as thats down to how your modem/router communicates with the exchange.
IMHO its worth trying the Voyager to see if it can eke a bit more out of the line than the HomeHub.
However as it stands the line stats youve provided from the HH show a grim picture.
None of us here like admitting defeat easily nor do we "fob off" - hence the long posts... but I think I know what my own ISP would be recommending if I were this situation - if I hadnt already requested it myself.
I hope that one of the other guys will comment too - just to make sure I havent missed something obvious.
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*Normally we would try take you through all sorts of
testing to see if you could increase your SNR Margin.. but the fact that youre already plugged in at the master socket and are using a adsl nation filter etc, it would appear to me that you have done all you can already.
The only thing I can think of is attempting to remove the ring wire and making sure that theres nothing nearby to your router which is adding additional electrical noise.
