Sync Rate vs Distance from Cabinet

[REB]

I have just cancelled my DR service from Ask4 as they tell me that as I am 1.3Km (its actually 1.12Km by road - and I know the cable probably doesn't follow that route) from my cabinet, 10.6Mb/s is the maximum speed my line will support. This despite having had a stable 18MB/s connection last year that has slowly deteriorated down to the current 10.6Mb/s.

BT Infinity estimates 17.1MB/s and I am led to believe that this is on the conservative side. My neighbour gets 24Mb/s with TalkTalk.

So my request is, can users please give an indication of their sync rate vs the distance from their cabinet.

I am not interested in those with a cabinet outside their front door (but I am envious) and getting 70+Mb/s etc. I am also well aware of the limitations regarding line quality etc so lets assume all other factors except distance are equal.

Thanks.

[LeJimster]

@REB do you know what profile you are using 8b or 17a.. I do believe you may benefit from running 8b if you aren't already.

Also, you may want to keep any eye on the vectoring trials BT are running. If they decide to deploy that service it *may* boost your speeds to 25-40Mb. I wouldn't be surprised if you are suffering from crosstalk interference as more users are migrating to FTTC, in theory Vectoring can help solve this limitation. However, unless they decide to install a cabinet closer or you get FTTP you'll never see close to 70Mb+ I'm afraid.

[Originb]

(07-06-2013 05:44 PM)REB Wrote:  I have just cancelled my DR service from Ask4 as they tell me that as I am 1.3Km (its actually 1.12Km by road - and I know the cable probably doesn't follow that route) from my cabinet, 10.6Mb/s is the maximum speed my line will support. This despite having had a stable 18MB/s connection last year that has slowly deteriorated down to the current 10.6Mb/s.

BT Infinity estimates 17.1MB/s and I am led to believe that this is on the conservative side. My neighbour gets 24Mb/s with TalkTalk.

So my request is, can users please give an indication of their sync rate vs the distance from their cabinet.

I am not interested in those with a cabinets outside their front doors (but I am envious) and getting 70+Mb/s etc. I am also well aware of the limitations regarding line quality etc so lets assume all other factors except distance are equal.

Thanks.

Hi REB,

Are you getting BT to install a new line or are they using the line DRL was working on?

If they are just changing one SLU for another on the same line and the same distance. Have Ask had BT or one of their engineers out to your premises to see if there is a fault on your line vs your neighbours?

Thanks,
Origin

[REB]

@LeJimster I have no idea what profile I am on but Ask4 say that they have done all they can in conjunction with Thales to improve matters. I know I'll never achieve anywhere near the 70Mb/s mark but I would like to get back to the almost 20MB/s I had last year. Incidentally, whilst it may be purely coincidental, my sync reductions (particularly last year when I was getting 19+Mb/s) usually occurred just after Ask4 notified users of a 'software upgrade' or 'maintenance'. Edit: I have just emailed Ask4 regarding my line profile.

@Originb I haven't spoken to BT or anyone else yet (I'm off on holiday tomorrow for 2 weeks so won't be taking any action until 24 June) but I was planning on using the existing line. I had a full line test done back in Feb/Mar as part of my negotiations with Ask4 to improve matters. The BT guy changed my Maplin bought filtered faceplate for a new BT one but it didn't make any difference. He also reported that there were no faults on my line.

Incidentally, what would be the advantage of installing a new line? As I understand it, short of digging up the road and my driveway, it would surely use the same copper/aluminium cable that is already in place and therefore see no improvement. Or am I missing something?

[LeJimster]

@REB if they have been fiddling with the profile on your line, raising your SNR, changing band profile it can have dramatic effects on a long line like yourself. So it may be possible to get closer to your existing speeds if it's a case of tinkering gone wrong. I presume you don't have an unlocked HG612 or router that shows your line stats? That would be very useful to diagnose and extract the max from your line.

[REB]

(07-06-2013 07:03 PM)LeJimster Wrote:  @REB if they have been fiddling with the profile on your line, raising your SNR, changing band profile it can have dramatic effects on a long line like yourself. So it may be possible to get closer to your existing speeds if it's a case of tinkering gone wrong. I presume you don't have an unlocked HG612 or router that shows your line stats? That would be very useful to diagnose and extract the max from your line.

No HG612 I'm afraid and I use a Draytek 2820n as my router. The DR supplied Cellpipe feeds this. As for the tinkering, I spent about 2 months last year and again earlier this year with emails and phone calls going back and forth plus doing various tests at my end (using Master Test socket etc) all to no joy. I have no idea what they tinkered with but I presume (perhaps naively) that Ask4 and Thales knew what they were doing.

[Originb]

(07-06-2013 07:17 PM)REB Wrote:  

(07-06-2013 07:03 PM)LeJimster Wrote:  @REB if they have been fiddling with the profile on your line, raising your SNR, changing band profile it can have dramatic effects on a long line like yourself. So it may be possible to get closer to your existing speeds if it's a case of tinkering gone wrong. I presume you don't have an unlocked HG612 or router that shows your line stats? That would be very useful to diagnose and extract the max from your line.

No HG612 I'm afraid and I use a Draytek 2820n as my router. The DR supplied Cellpipe feeds this. As for the tinkering, I spent about 2 months last year and again earlier this year with emails and phone calls going back and forth plus doing various tests at my end (using Master Test socket etc) all to no joy. I have no idea what they tinkered with but I presume (perhaps naively) that Ask4 and Thales knew what they were doing.

Hi REB,

The line swap may not change the entire wire from your home to the cabinet, but it will usually be different pairs which can see large changes in speed and performance. This can depend on multiple factors but it is correct changing one aluminium pair for another aluminium pair will not change anything.

I'm guessing you have gone through the normal troubleshooting steps such a testing socket and internal wiring change?

Its a shame to loose a customer of the DRL network if there is anything that we can help with just let us know.

Hopes this helps,
Origin

[REB]

@Originb I'm pretty certain my cables are copper and having searched Google, I understand that there may be a spare pair of wires in the cable. It's certainly something I'll investigate when I speak to my next provider.

As for the internal testing and wiring, I've done the lot several times. That's how I went from 16Mb/s to nearly 20Mb/s when I swapped my plug-in filters for a filtered faceplate from Maplin. I've also eliminated the spare wire going to my extensions (I only have one cable going from the master to 2 extensions that are daisy chained around the house).

Interestingly, when I put my postcode into Origin's availability checker, it estimates 28.5Mb/s down and 10Mb/s up - I wish!! I know its only an estimate but if I PM you my phone number and address is Origin able to 'do a survey' or is that against the rules?

[LeJimster]

'fraid the sync speed wont be any different with Origin as they use the same hardware as Ask4 to connect.. You would have a cheaper price for a better service with Origin imho however. £18.50/pm is better than £25 and cheaper than you'd get with any BT Fibre product currently. Still, that isn't to say there aren't things that can be done to improve your line. Changing pairs is going to be pot luck, you might get a better/shorter pair, but I doubt it'll be a huge difference to what you're already experiencing.

[Ray_Von]

This little graph posted by @spenceruk gives a rough idea of what speeds you might in relation to the distance you live from the cabinet

https://drlforum.co.uk/showthread.php?tid=147

I am roughly 860m from the cabinet and get around 22/23mb d/l and around 8.5mb u/l on Origins 24/10 package.
The underground copper cable must go all over the place because it is less than 200m to actually walk to the cabinet from outside my house.