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Author Topic: How do I know my line has been upgraded?  (Read 2209 times)

SirPodgio

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How do I know my line has been upgraded?
« on: August 14, 2019, 09:48:24 AM »

Hi everyone,

I am with NOW TV and about 5 days ago I upgraded my package from up to 40mbps to up to 80mbps with an estimated max speed of 45mbps (I know hardly worth it). Prior to the upgrade I got about 37mbps and I still am getting about this. There doesn't appear to be a change to my line. My router is syncing at 39610kbps and hasn't moved although I don't know what this was prior to the upgrade. I would expect it to go to something above 40000kbps. Speaking to CS, they say the line upgrade is complete and this is the maximum speed I can get. I'm not convinced - I've seen my line faster than this in the past. Admittedly I know it won't go much more though.

How do I know if my line has been upgraded other than taking the word from CS?

NB I have ordered a new router which is coming today (Asus DSL-AC68U) which hopefully give me more information about my line and perhaps allow me to tweak some parameters. My current bundled NOW Hub Two router is rubbish from this point of view (although general use I have no problems).

Thanks.
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spaace

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Re: How do I know my line has been upgraded?
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2019, 11:10:02 AM »

check what sync speed your router is connecting at, if it has been upgraded and is still connecting at 40mb or less then you may as well revert to the cheaper option if your line is not capable of it. it is not out of the question that although the estimate is 45 it is maxed out at 38 or so, my estimate is 69 but i get nearer 65
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licquorice

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Re: How do I know my line has been upgraded?
« Reply #2 on: August 14, 2019, 11:20:56 AM »

If you only got 37Mbs before, that is all you will get after. All the upgrade does is remove an artificial cap which you were below anyway.
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RealAleMadrid

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Re: How do I know my line has been upgraded?
« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2019, 11:29:08 AM »

@SirPodgio

I would strongly suggest that you do not connect the DSL-AC68U to your line. It is probably has the worst ever VDSL2 modem chip which performs very poorly on Openreach FTTC equipment and causes DLM to severely restrict your line speeds.

Just do some searches on this forum and others to find out how bad it can be, I wouldn't even open the box. ;D

Looks like your line won't go much above 40Mbps anyway.
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dorzb

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Re: How do I know my line has been upgraded?
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2019, 11:35:18 AM »

Hi everyone,

I am with NOW TV and about 5 days ago I upgraded my package from up to 40mbps to up to 80mbps with an estimated max speed of 45mbps (I know hardly worth it). Prior to the upgrade I got about 37mbps and I still am getting about this. There doesn't appear to be a change to my line. My router is syncing at 39610kbps and hasn't moved although I don't know what this was prior to the upgrade. I would expect it to go to something above 40000kbps. Speaking to CS, they say the line upgrade is complete and this is the maximum speed I can get. I'm not convinced - I've seen my line faster than this in the past. Admittedly I know it won't go much more though.

How do I know if my line has been upgraded other than taking the word from CS?

NB I have ordered a new router which is coming today (Asus DSL-AC68U) which hopefully give me more information about my line and perhaps allow me to tweak some parameters. My current bundled NOW Hub Two router is rubbish from this point of view (although general use I have no problems).

Thanks.

can you post your line stats?
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tubaman

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Re: How do I know my line has been upgraded?
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2019, 01:07:07 PM »

If you are syncing at 39610 it sounds like you never hit the previous 40Mbps cap so it's unlikely that the upgrade will make any difference to you - certainly not with your current hardware anyway.
As for the DSL-AC68U I would take @RealAleMadrid's advice and send it straight back (hopefully you can), as the modem side of that is awful. :no:
If I were you I'd go on eBay and see if you can pick up a decent Broadcom based modem-router - eg Zyxel VMG8924-B10A or VMG3925-B10B - they can be had for very reasonable prices.  The high quality modem side of these may be able to get you over that magic 40Mbps (no guarantee though).
 :)
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j0hn

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Re: How do I know my line has been upgraded?
« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2019, 01:07:20 PM »

@SirPodgio

I would strongly suggest that you do not connect the DSL-AC68U to your line. It is probably has the worst ever VDSL2 modem chip which performs very poorly on Openreach FTTC equipment and causes DLM to severely restrict your line speeds.

This ^^^

If you value your current sync you won't even connect the Asus.
G.INP is banned on these devices so if you're on a Huawei cabinet the sync will be much lower.

It's a horribly unstable modem and should be returned to sender immediately.

As for the sync at the moment.... the only difference between 40Mb and 80Mb products is an artificial cap at 40Mb.
Your line syncs less than 40Mb.
The upgrade has done nothing and really isn't worth it for you.
I'd ask them to downgrade you.

Quote
My current bundled NOW Hub Two router is rubbish from this point of view (although general use I have no problems).

It may not be the best router in the world but it syncs at a similar level as my Zyxel 1312-b10a does, and that's the best modem I've tried.

I wouldn't waste money on a different modem to get a higher sync. It's not that simple. Your line doesn't reach 40Mb and a new modem is unlikely to help that.

If I were you I'd go on eBay and see if you can pick up a decent Broadcom based modem-router - eg Zyxel VMG8924-B10A or VMG3925-B10B - they can be had for very reasonable prices.  The high quality modem side of these may be able to get you over that magic 40Mbps (no guarantee though).
 :)

Have you tried the Now TV Hub 2?
It syncs higher than my Zyxel 8924.
« Last Edit: August 14, 2019, 01:12:22 PM by j0hn »
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tubaman

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Re: How do I know my line has been upgraded?
« Reply #7 on: August 14, 2019, 01:22:01 PM »

....
Have you tried the Now TV Hub 2?
It syncs higher than my Zyxel 8924.

Thanks for adding that @j0hn.
If that's the case then scratch my suggestion and stick with the hardware you have (unless you really want those stats - I have an unfortunate addiction to looking at them which is proving hard to cure  ;D).
If you are paying more for the 'upgrade' then I'd ask them to bin it as it's of no benefit.  :(
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dorzb

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Re: How do I know my line has been upgraded?
« Reply #8 on: August 14, 2019, 03:14:18 PM »

This ^^^

If you value your current sync you won't even connect the Asus.
G.INP is banned on these devices so if you're on a Huawei cabinet the sync will be much lower.

It's a horribly unstable modem and should be returned to sender immediately.

As for the sync at the moment.... the only difference between 40Mb and 80Mb products is an artificial cap at 40Mb.
Your line syncs less than 40Mb.
The upgrade has done nothing and really isn't worth it for you.
I'd ask them to downgrade you.

It may not be the best router in the world but it syncs at a similar level as my Zyxel 1312-b10a does, and that's the best modem I've tried.

I wouldn't waste money on a different modem to get a higher sync. It's not that simple. Your line doesn't reach 40Mb and a new modem is unlikely to help that.

Have you tried the Now TV Hub 2?
It syncs higher than my Zyxel 8924.

Is the Now TV Hub2 actually as same as the Sky Q Hub ER115?
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SirPodgio

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Re: How do I know my line has been upgraded?
« Reply #9 on: August 14, 2019, 04:52:45 PM »

Thanks for the replies everyone. I didn't get a notification people had replied so only just noticed.

OK, well reading what people have said, a few things have made more sense. I received the (dreaded?) Asus router today and have spent the last few hours getting it connected which turned out to be a pain! But it is now syncing with NOW BB. At a lower sync rate than before might I add, of 36167kbps. This comes as no surprise from what people have said about this router. Although it may be due to my many connection attempts negatively causing DLM to slow me down. Time will tell - the sync rate is slowing increasing but where it will get to will be interesting!

I spent a while yesterday reading up on which router to buy so a bit miffed it turns out I got the bad one. I thought Broadcom chipset routers are good, which according to https://wikidevi.com/wiki/ASUS_DSL-AC68U it is?! Although I've just seen it contains two CPUs: one Broadcom the other MediaTek... So annoying, why can't these systems just get along. After all that's why we use standards!

I was hoping the max speed estimates from BTO were incorrect and based on past performance (bad past performance is reference to a fault on the line when I moved into the house) and by getting the 80mbps service I would miraculously discover my line can support faster (hopefully much!). It seems that is simply incorrect and not the case.

Thanks for your help.
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SirPodgio

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Re: How do I know my line has been upgraded?
« Reply #10 on: August 14, 2019, 05:49:32 PM »

OK so I've returned the router already! Got to love Amazon returns!

Prior to de-installing I took a copy of the line stats, see attached. Does a max speed of 40mbps seems about right with these numbers? I think so given I am about 600m from the cabinet. Confirmation would be great.

Thanks.
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tubaman

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Re: How do I know my line has been upgraded?
« Reply #11 on: August 14, 2019, 06:14:31 PM »

From a quick look at your stats I think you are getting as good as you are going to.
You already have G.INP and 3dB on the downstream side so DLM has already done its best for you.
Good job you didn't leave that Asus on too long as both of the above would have been likely pulled and your speed would go way down.
 :)
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j0hn

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Re: How do I know my line has been upgraded?
« Reply #12 on: August 14, 2019, 06:57:32 PM »

You're I a Huawei cabinet with G.INP enabled.

With the Asus on DLM takes G.INP away after a couple days and that would have taken a good few Mb off the sync.

I don't know if the attenuation reported on the Asus is accurate or not.

Could you post the estimates from the dsl checker here, removing your phone number or address:

https://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/adslchecker.welcome
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SirPodgio

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Re: How do I know my line has been upgraded?
« Reply #13 on: August 14, 2019, 10:08:23 PM »

You're I a Huawei cabinet with G.INP enabled.

With the Asus on DLM takes G.INP away after a couple days and that would have taken a good few Mb off the sync.

I don't know if the attenuation reported on the Asus is accurate or not.

Could you post the estimates from the dsl checker here, removing your phone number or address:

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

See attached results plus the latest sync stats from the NOW Hub Two. The attenuation is reported slightly differently.
Cheers.
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kitz

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Re: How do I know my line has been upgraded?
« Reply #14 on: August 15, 2019, 12:18:10 AM »


I spent a while yesterday reading up on which router to buy so a bit miffed it turns out I got the bad one. I thought Broadcom chipset routers are good, which according to https://wikidevi.com/wiki/ASUS_DSL-AC68U it is?! Although I've just seen it contains two CPUs: one Broadcom the other MediaTek... So annoying, why can't these systems just get along. After all that's why we use standards!

The wifi / routing chipset is Broadcom, but the modem chipset is MediaTek.
 
Ironically the [cable] router only version (RT-AC68U) gets extremely good reviews.    The DSL-AC68U is basically an RT-AC68U with an added modem chipset to enable it to work on DSL.   
Unfortunately it's the MediaTek modem chipset which is rubbish.... and why it performs badly on xDSL.   
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