Having problems upgrading my broadband speed

[MrShed]

Hi all, hope you can help. Fairly basic query I think but I dont know the answer!!

I live a long way from the exchange, and have only ever been able to get 512k speed. However, a couple of weeks ago I checked my phone number on the off chance, and was delighted to see I could now get 1MB. I checked this on a couple of places just to make sure. So I promptly applied for an upgrade, which he confirmed I could have.

2 days later, I got a phone call from my ISP saying that actually, the speed couldnt be regraded, and it only supported 512k. Strangely enough, now when I did a search it did in fact tell me that I could only get 512. Having had conversations with both the next door neighbours they have both told me they get between 1mb and 1.5. They are on the same exchange. The only reason I got from the ISP was the standard "distance from the exchange, cabling etc" which presumably cannot be any different from either of my next door neighbours. And presumably they do not check on a line test the internal wiring? As point of note, I have had BT do a line test who have confirmed there is no fault showing on the line.

My questions are several fold:

- Does anyone know as to why this fairly quick up then down grading of my maximum line speed may have occurred?
- Are there any reasons I am missing as to why my neighbours can get a THEORETICAL higher speed? I realise actual speed will depend upon my internal wiring(which I freely admit is rubbish)
- Is there any department at BT whom I can speak about this? The ISP cannot help me, as they can only state what BT tell them, and BT says any broadband queries must go through my ISP.
- Finally has anyone managed to get a successful manual regrade of their line speed based upon this kind of situation?

Thanks in advance.

[honey1968]

bt have a dept fo broadband customers i have had to ring it several times and the lady i spoke to was very nice and helpfull

[MrShed]

But bearing in mind I am not a BT Broadband customer? Is that still the case? If so do you know the name/number of department?

[buzby]

This is a case of the organ grinder, not the monkey provides the service. I still take the opinion that LLU (Local loop unbundling) is nonsensical, it over complicates issues that are already inhgerently complex. Same for 'virtual' mobile networks. No thanks!

Your issue is really that your BB supplier only works with the guidance it received when lines were originally surveyed - and can only work with this. BT otoh can line check in real time, it really is a case of paying your money and taking your choice. However, if your neighbour are on a higher speed, the more phonl in the area that join in will bring this down! (Probably to 512!).

[Advoc8]

Originally Posted by MrShed

- Does anyone know as to why this fairly quick up then down grading of my maximum line speed may have occurred?
- Are there any reasons I am missing as to why my neighbours can get a THEORETICAL higher speed? I realise actual speed will depend upon my internal wiring(which I freely admit is rubbish)
- Is there any department at BT whom I can speak about this? The ISP cannot help me, as they can only state what BT tell them, and BT says any broadband queries must go through my ISP.
- Finally has anyone managed to get a successful manual regrade of their line speed based upon this kind of situation?

Thanks in advance.

The online BT line checker is notoriously fickle and changes its mind quite frequently. Basically your chances of success depend on how willing your ISP is to push a manual regrade through so you need to convince them that there's a point in doing so. Are you able to get SNR and attenuation figures from your router / modem? If you are you might be able to use these to convince your ISP to push a manual regrade through?

Your internal wiring might be quite an issue here and if you've a modern-style master socket you can try plugging the router/modem into the test socket behind the frontplate and see what difference it makes to your SNR etc. If there's a big difference try addressing your internal wiring problems then reapplying for a regrade.

However there's also no guarantee that all your neighbours phone lines follow the same route from the exchange to their properties as yours does.

For more specific technical advice post on the ThinkBroadBand / ADSLGuide forum at thinkbroadband.com :: Viewing list of forums

[MrShed]

Thanks for all the replies, and specifically Advoc8 - excellent advice there. Quick question - what are SNR and attenuation figures?? :S I would imagine I can, it is a Zyxel router with telnet access.

[Advoc8]

Originally Posted by MrShed

Thanks for all the replies, and specifically Advoc8 - excellent advice there. Quick question - what are SNR and attenuation figures?? :S I would imagine I can, it is a Zyxel router with telnet access.

SNR is signal-to-noise ratio - e.g. how strong the electrical noise on your line is in comparison to the strength of the broadband signal on the line.

The attenuation figure is how much drop in signal there is along your phone line e.g. how much the signal leaving the exchange is reduced by when it reaches your phone. If it drops too much your router won't be able to 'lock on' to the broadband signal.

Think about someone shouting in a field next to a road. The further away from the person you are the harder it is to hear them (attenuation) and the more traffic noise will interfere with what you can hear (SNR).

With ADSL the maximum speed you can reach is dependant on both factors - high attenuation and low SNR both limit the maximum speed. Both figures are given in dB and for example you might find that if you've got low attenuation and high SNR figures you can give your ISP they might push a regrade through, although this does depend very much on how willing the ISP is to do so. Who is your ISP?

The method for obtaining the figures is very much dependant on the model of router you have. People at the other forum I mentioned will be able to give you very specific guidance.

[MrShed]

My ISP is Tesco Broadband - not particularly tied to them however! Especially when having made a slight complaint about the failure to look into the issue for me, I was told "if I didn't like it, I could get my MAC code and leave"!

Excellent advice Advoc8, thanks once again!

[Advoc8]

Originally Posted by MrShed

My ISP is Tesco Broadband - not particularly tied to them however! Especially when having made a slight complaint about the failure to look into the issue for me, I was told "if I didn't like it, I could get my MAC code and leave"!

Excellent advice Advoc8, thanks once again!

The MAC code might not be a bad idea! Tesco BB doesn't have the best reputation for support so it's not surprising they won't look into a manual regrade. Smaller ISPs generally are better geared up to deal with that sort of problem.

[MrShed]

Any recommendations? They are still the cheapest broadband package I can find without download caps :S

[Advoc8]

Originally Posted by MrShed

Any recommendations? They are still the cheapest broadband package I can find without download caps :S

Now it gets tricky! It depends what your budget is and how much you would intend to download (especially if you get a higher speed connection).

Basically uncapped broadband isn't really sustainable with the current wholesale pricing regime so more and more providers are introducing caps or other traffic management methods, forcing the heavy downloaders onto the fewer remaining uncapped providers, who then start to suffer and have to start capping, so the downloaders move on ... anyway, end of sermon!

Currently Enta resellers e.g. UK Free Software Network have quite a good range o of packages. IDNET IDNet - Broadband | Web Design | Secure Hosting also have a good reputation. I've been with Nildram Nildram UK - Internet service provider offering upto 8Mb Broadband ADSL for the past 5 years without any problems. All of these do have caps in place but depending on the actual speed / amount you download they may not affect you.

Having said all that I'd still start by establishing SNR etc and sorting the internal wiring out (if it appears to be causing a problem) as the basic physical issues will remain regardless of the ISP.

[MrShed]

Thanks A8 - had considered Nildram as my work is actually a reseller!

[Rich44]

Nildram is basically Pipex these days who have sadly destroyed Nildram (I was with them in the last of the good days and would never go back!) theyre ok if you're a light user but if you actually intend to do much with your connection their heavily over congested BT Centrals wont help.

Im with Freeola another Enta reseller but theyre fiddling around with in house billing so wouldnt recommend them but UKFSN are excellent Jason is a regular poster on Thinkbroadband and its quite a good deal as is Vivacity and many of the other resellers. Usage allowances are quite high

30GB peak 300GB off peak
off peak is from 10pm till 8am and from March if you're on Premium Max then off peak starts at 8pm till 8am

This package is a measly £19.99 per month with not throttling or caps. Well I say no throttling they have instigated a rough throttle system if the BT Centrals are getting overloaded so that no one sees any packet loss and it drops people to a minimum of 2Mb until the overload drops.

Enta are one of the few (if not only) who will let you monitor the state of their centrals we currently have 2 fully populated 655Mb BT Centrals with a third with 3 segments lit (one more as needed to be lit) and 2 more centrals being installed one in March and one in June so within 6 months they have doubled their Central capacity to meet demand, show me another ISP installing centrals at that rate and being open about it as well.

I really cant speak highly enough of Enta Boggits and Smidge are also both active posters at Thinkbroadband which is very helpful if you have problems