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[Clenched Buttocks]

[kitz]

>> The SamKnows tool shows our distance from the exchange as 2,600 (1.6miles)

1) What happens if you use this sites broadband checker and what distance does it return for road.  This is usually a much better indication that straight-line distance.

2) Then could you please let us have the line stats..  from the attenuation we should also be able to get a rough idea of the distance & line quality.

>> cable, which became available around these parts a month or so ago.

3) What does the BT checker say?


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>> Or is the strength of signal from exchange so much stronger from exchange to cab that any loss due to tardy cable.

FTTC works differently.  The copper between the exchange and cab is replaced with fibre optic cabling which doesnt have the same problems with loss of signal as does copper.  You will be cutting out a huge chunk of copper and therefore any signal deterioration will only be between the cab and home.  Just taking the info youve supplied so far you are going to be loosing at least a mile of copper, therefore speed should be considerably higher.

>> should my folks not be entitled to some sort of upgrade on a quid pro quo basis?

Unfortunately not:/  The service is provided as is and will go as fast as the line can handle.  The technology to implement rADSL is exactly the same regardless if your speed is 0.5 Mbps or 24Mbps. 
In reality its more expensive to provide adsl to the home that is further away than to the house that is near the exchange and able to get full speed. The longer lines are also less profitable for the ISPs because these lines are the ones that frequently need more support.. and cost BT more to maintain because of the length of copper.
As an example, I've never had to contact any of my ISPs over the past 9 yrs in regards to a line fault or problems syncing etc. and Ive contacted my current ISP once in about the past 5 yrs and that was only to get a new router - which they are now dishing out FoC to anyone who had one of their old ones.
Unfortunately its the ones with longer lines that need more support & man-hours from both BT and the ISP

[waltergmw]

Hi CB,

Just to clarify Kitz's suggestion if you use the BT Wholesale checker as retail checkers won't give estimates outside their acceptable speed ranges.

http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/adslchecker.welcome

you will see what BT expect your line is capable of, right down to 100 KILO bits per second up and down for those that are seemingly condemned by BT.
If you know the numbers of some of your friends you can enter theirs as well for comparison purposes.
Failing that, use the Wholesale address checker which often seems to provide identical figures even though there are caveats.
(I suspect, but can't prove, that the caveats could be mainly due to the possibility of postcodes shared by two PCPs.)

Kind regards,
Walter

[Clenched Buttocks]

[kitz]

>> Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]:   31.5 / 63.5

63.5dB is the maximum figure the majority of routers will report.  In all likelyhood the true attenuation figure will be higher than this. 

>> By Road:   3.6 km

Looks like the wiring literally goes "round the houses" before reaching your parents home.  Based on the above its more like 4.5 km.*

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Considering that line has been up 2weeks, those stats look quite good and relatively stable for such a long line.  Obviously I cant see SNRM variations that would occur, but it seems to be holding the sync quite nicely.  This would seem to indicate that the wiring and local conditions are quite good.

* One thing we cant check or know is, if that line has some aluminium on it.  I only mention that because the attenuation could perhaps seem a bit high, judged on distance, but then again we dont know how much the cable goes round the houses first.  Only BToR engineer visiting your home would be able to tell you that.

>> You are eligible for superfast BT Infinity.    31.3Mb download

That indicates a distance of around 700m from the cab.

I think its becoming a no brainer.  Youre going to be lopping off the best part of about 4 km worth of copper.



*Distance figures are appx

[waltergmw]

@ Kitz & CB,

Out in the sticks we observe that the Wholesale estimator does seem to take into account the quality of the line so there are quite wide variations in the speed estimates which only make sense when you know how bad some of the lines are !

The top entry in the attached PDF is a case in point with horribly unreliable aluminium. It is frequently demonstrated whenever the hapless Openreach staff have to open a joint all hell breaks loose with crackling lines a-plenty !

The distances are the known cable routes as measured on the SCC Interactive map distance measuring facility. Line lengths will be a little longer especially on the overhead sections with the extra 6 m cable drops at every joint.

As Openreach staff seem totally overwhelmed with installation dates now into December, excited readers will have to wait until next year for the actual performance results.

Kind regards,
Walter

[Clenched Buttocks]

Kitz: Given what I was expecting, that seems to be a pretty healthy prognosis of the said line. In the light of which, I think I reckon we'll just upgrade as suggested. Thanks very much for help, Kitz. 

Waltergmw: Thanks too, for the comments. Was a bit befuddled by the reference to the "attached PDF". Perhaps you can redirect me? Thanks, Walter. 

[waltergmw]

Hi CB,

If you click the link with the paperclip on it you should be able to download my PDF file and open it with Adobe Reader or similar.

(I do agree with Kitz that you should go for a VDSL upgrade though.
You have nothing to loose provide it all goes according to plan. )
When you do please post a BT speedtest showing all the figures including the IP profile.

Kind regards,
Walter

[Clenched Buttocks]

Finally got it.    Very intersting. Thanks, Walter.