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[waltergmw]

Hi Dave,

You've either got an old or non-standard set up. It would be worth checking if the back of the faceplate has a (usually Yellow) capacitor and if so it is an old style master socket which should be changed for an NTE 5 with a SSFP (filtered faceplate) if you can invent an excuse for a free engineer call-out.

If not it's worth looking for the master socket and using that if possible. Disconnect the ring wire if it's still on.

Kind regards,
Walter

[dave1892]

Thanks - I think it does have that yellow capacitor.

Do you think BT will do it for free if I complain that I have an old socket that is adversely affecting my adsl? I guess I'd have to go to Demon first anyway.

cheers
Dave

[HPsauce]

Unless it's faulty BT won't change it. There's no reason why a properly-installed old-style master socket would affect broadband.
Now, the extension wiring is a different issue entirely.....

[dave1892]

As far as I know, this is the master socket. Why would you think I have extension wiring (I realise that two people think that ;-)

[HPsauce]

I don't think you have any extension wiring and didn't say you did (or didn't). 

Just pointing out for general information that working master sockets don't affect broadband, but (working) extension wiring can (and often does).

[dave1892]

Ah, OK, so if you're right, and it makes sense to me, then the only explanation we have left here is that Demon are limiting it to 8000? Are there any others?

thanks
Dave

[HPsauce]

It certainly looks odd as Kitz said earlier.
Your noise margin is high which might explain part of the discrepancy but not all.

Try rebooting the router regularly (say 2 or 3 times a day) and post here the downstream sync speed, noise margin and attenuation both before and after.

If the speed is being "capped" it probably won't vary at all, though the noise margin could. If there's something else going on there will be some changes evident on reboot.

[dave1892]

Thanks. I have noticed the speed vary, from around 7900 to 8300. Funnily enough, adsl just restarted itself, and it's the highest ever - first entry below (and that's with a fairly low SNR compared to the last few days)

                Down            Up
SNR (dB):       9.2             6.5
Attn(dB):       30.5            16.0
Pwr(dBm):       19.0            12.7
Max(Kbps):      10688           1044
Rate (Kbps):    8902            1023

Here are some subsequent ones:

                Down            Up
SNR (dB):       9.1             5.8
Attn(dB):       30.5            16.5
Pwr(dBm):       19.0            12.5
Max(Kbps):      10796           1008
Rate (Kbps):    8933            1007

Here are some before/afters

                Down            Up

Before:

SNR (dB):       8.4             6.0
Attn(dB):       30.5            16.5
Pwr(dBm):       19.0            12.6
Max(Kbps):      8108            1008
Rate (Kbps):    8925            1007
           
After

SNR (dB):       9.2             6.6
Attn(dB):       30.5            16.5
Pwr(dBm):       18.5            12.6
Max(Kbps):      8068            1044
Rate (Kbps):    8562            1023


Before

SNR (dB):       7.6             6.6
Attn(dB):       30.5            16.5
Pwr(dBm):       18.5            12.6
Max(Kbps):      7672            1044
Rate (Kbps):    8562            1023

After:

SNR (dB):       9.4             6.6
Attn(dB):       30.5            16.5
Pwr(dBm):       18.5            12.8
Max(Kbps):      7588            1040
Rate (Kbps):    7980            1023
                       

[roseway]

As the speed varies a bit it may not be a speed cap, but you're certainly getting less speed than the line should be capable of. It's probably worth getting down to basics and making sure that your own setup is as good as possible. You can see some hints here and in the associated pages. One other quite likely possibility is that your target noise margin has been increased to 9 dB because of some earlier instability in the connection, which would reduce the connection speed. But this wouldn't completely explain the shortfall.

[dave1892]

OK, thanks, will look into that. Do you have any idea what BT might charge to come out and just replace the lot with a decent plate.

And thanks for the quality reponses on this forum. I'm very impressed. High SNR, you could say ;-)

cheers
Dave

[roseway]

Here's the BT price list. The cost for upgrading the master socket is near the bottom of the page. But do be aware that you will probably also have to pay the standard callout charge unless the engineer is already visiting for another reason.

[dave1892]

Thanks for the list, I'll give them a call on Monday and see what I can get.

In the meantime, my adsl command on the box has quite a few options (see below) Would you recommend trying
any particular ones to see what happens?

thanks
Dave

> adsl --help
Usage: adsl start [--up] [--mod <a|d|l|t|2|p|e|m>] [--lpair <(i)nner|(o)uter>]
           [--trellis <on|off>] [--snr <snrQ4>] [--bitswap <on|off>] [--sesdrop
<on|off>] [--sra <on|off>]
           [--CoMinMgn <on|off>] [--i24k <on|off>] [--phyReXmt <on|off>]
       adsl stop
       adsl connection [--up] [--down] [--loopback] [--reverb]
           [--medley] [--noretrain] [--L3] [--diagmode] [--L0]
           [--tones]
       adsl configure [--mod <a|d|l|t|2|p|e|m>] [--lpair <(i)nner|(o)uter>]
           [--trellis <on|off>] [--snr <snrQ4>] [--bitswap <on|off>] [--sesdrop
<on|off>] [--sra <on|off>]
           [--CoMinMgn <on|off>] [--i24k <on|off>] [--phyReXmt  <on|off>]
       adsl bert [--start <#seconds>] [--stop] [--show]
       adsl afelb [--time (sec)] [--tones] [--signal <1/2/8>]
       adsl qlnmntr [--time (sec)][--freq (msec)]
       adsl info [--state] [--show] [--stats] [--SNR] [--QLN] [--Hlog] [--Hlin]
[--HlinS] [--Bits] [--linediag] [--reset][--vendor]
           [--cfg]
       adsl --version
       adsl --help

[jeffbb]

Hi
Dave you wont get much change out of £200 that is Call out charge ,1hours work ,the change of socket .Mind you its difficult to get a straight figure from any price list as you have to see if call out charges are applicable etc.
Regards Jeff

[kitz]

In the meantime, my adsl command on the box has quite a few options (see below) Would you recommend trying
any particular ones to see what happens

Not really - the only one you should be touching is adsl info to get stats and other details.

You can use adsl configure to change target SNR (Q4) and mod to say swap between adsl1, 2, 2+ etc..  but unless you know what youre doing far better to change anything in the web interface or DMTtool.... or you could muck things up big time! 
Dont touch lpair (default), trellis (on by default), bitswap (on by default) sra (only used by UKO).  I really would leave the other stuff well alone.

[dave1892]

OK, thanks. Out of interest, what does the target SNR do? What can you set it to, and what effect does that have.

Also, if my connection drops once or twice a day, or I restart a few times a day, does that actually have any adverse effect on speeds, profiles etc. Demon finally replied to me to say they thought my connection is intermittent - well, I have been restarting it regularly.

So, attached is a pic of my connection. I guess it's an old style one, and I can disconnect the ring wire from pin 3? I notice on the tips page on the website it says I would end up with just 2 and 5 connected, but I seem to be starting with all 6 connected. Can I really disconnect all except 2 and 5?

thanks
Dave



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