Am I getting the best speed possible?

[coxby50]

I live approx 5km from my local exchange and the best possible download speed I get is around 655 Kbps. My exchange [Kemble] does not appear on any of the BT Upgrade lists now or in the future, so my question is: Is it acceptable to be paying the same for my rather poor connection when 1mile down the road you can expect around a 6Mb using the Cirencester exchange for the same price? The BT site tells me to expect between 0.75Mb and 2.5Mb (Estimated speed: 1.0Mb). Is my 655Kbps really the best I can do?

ADSL Line Status

Connection Information

Line state: Connected

Connection time: 5 days, 07:10:45

Downstream: 896 Kbps

Upstream: 448 Kbps

ADSL Settings

VPI/VCI: 0/38

Type: PPPoA

Modulation: G.992.1 Annex A

Latency type: Interleaved

Noise margin (Down/Up): 9.8 dB / 13.0 dB

Line attenuation (Down/Up): 62.6 dB / 31.5 dB

Output power (Down/Up): 15.2 dBm / 11.9 dBm

FEC Events (Down/Up): 9600441 / 4823

CRC Events (Down/Up): 1816624 / 3202

-------------------------------------

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.

Download Speed 655 Kbps 0 Kbps 1000 Kbps

Max Achievable Speed Download speedachieved during the test was - 655 Kbps

For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 200-1000 Kbps.

Additional Information: Your DSL Connection Rate :896 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM) IP Profile for your line is - 750 Kbps

As for the house, I only have one BT socket with an Accelerator Plate fitted, not appliances nearby and same result with filters and master socket. BT India have agreed the speed should be better, I've had an engineer over twice who managed a 1.5Mb connection with his device but I've never approached this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have read numerous threads but feel I need to put this down as each case seems to be different with test results.

[imjolly]

with your attenuation even though long line I would still hope for 1.5/2mb.

have you tried the test socket?  normally accelerators are for use where you have other extension sockets to eliminate noise and are not normally recommended where only a master.  have you tried test socket and without the accelerator?

[john46]

Hi these ideas may also help you Have you tried the quiet line test? - dial 17070 option 2 - should hear nothing - best done with a corded phone. if cordless phone you may hear a 'dull hum' which is normal

also you could try the hints given by poster RogerB in this link they may help http://community.bt.com/t5/BB-in-Home/Poor-Broadband-speed/m-p/14217#M8397

Then someone here may be able to help and offer more advice.

This is a customer to customer self help forum the only BT presence here are the forum moderators

[coxby50]

imjolly: I have just come back online after plugging the hub into the test socket direct with the accelerator plate left unscrewed and dangling! I am now hard wired into the test socket and have even worse results after broadband went into a spin when the connection was reset and had to wait over a day before I could browse again:

Download speedachieved during the test was - 87 Kbps  

For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 200-1000 Kbps.

Additional Information:  Your DSL Connection Rate :1088 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)  

IP Profile for your line is - 750 Kbps

However the router is a little more hopeful:

ADSL Line Status Connection Information

Line state: Connected Connection time: 1 days, 00:36:20

Downstream: 1.063 Mbps

Upstream: 448 Kbps  

ADSL Settings VPI/VCI: 0/38

Type: PPPoA Modulation: G.992.1 Annex A

Latency type: Interleaved Noise margin (Down/Up): 6.8 dB / 13.0 dB

Line attenuation (Down/Up): 62.6 dB / 31.5 dB

Output power (Down/Up): 14.8 dBm / 11.9 dBm FEC

Events (Down/Up): 1003226 / 651

CRC Events (Down/Up): 63808 / 318

I'm also testing the speed using Apple's uSwitch App. The speed needly litterally bounces up and down hitting 0Mbps several times. I've never seen such an erratic connection!

[gouledw]

If I may add my worth then you might want to take a look at this that I wrote a few weeks ago, to another customer who was on a long line, in my view its the best way to squeeze every last bit out of your connection http://goo.gl/ddnG2 🙂

[john46]

Hi your noise margin has reduced and your connection speed has increased however your download speed has dropped i suggest you leave your hub connected to the test socket for 24 hours and keep running the bt speedtest so we can see how your speed changes your low download speed may be low because of peak time usage

[coxby50]

john46: I've only have a cordless phone and have tried the quiet test but will try with a cordless phone in the next day or two. There is some static on the line, I have quite a quiet line anyway so I'm sure this has some effect on my broadband - will follow this up.

I've read RogerB's list of possible 'killers', I've run these tests with everything switched off, even the fridge and changed the filter but no joy. The only thing close to the hub is the cordless phone charger and a small light but I get the same results with them both switched off.

Can someone there help and offer more advice please? Thank you.

[john46]

you should only hear a dull hum from a cordless phone any other noise should be reported to BT faults on 151 but do not mention broadband once fixed your broadband should improve

[coxby50 · Accepted solution]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. After several tests I have found the accelerator plate was faulty as was one filter (both fitted by a BT Engineer) - Is there any way of testing filters and plates to see if they are faulty?

Now with the plate hanging off and a new filter fitted, although I'm still not getting great speeds I have a consistent download rate of around 600kbps which is the best I can hope for really. It still amazes me how behind we are in rural areas. I'm selling the house in the Spring and moving to town, one of the search criteria for a new home has to be able to support BT Vision or similar products. I just hope the people moving in don't want to watch iPlayer!!

[seab20]

Your profile will be ensuring that you only have 600kbps download but your connection rate may be higher can you post your connection stats again along with bt speedtester results? Also can you confirm that there is now no noise on the line