Line far worse than my neighbour - same cable on same pole

[#1]

Well the router stayed stable through the night. Router stats recorded the lowest SNR to be 8dB and it was back up to 12 by 7am. Maintained sync at 2560 throughout.
Can anyone comment on the error stats I posted, are they horrendous? The ATM Cell Header Errors is now showing 1556 in 22hrs 51 minutes although none in the last 15 minute period (presumably because the SNR is now back to 12db).
Unfortunately my line rental and calls are currently with Sky. Whilst I was able to migrate my broadband, I have to wait until february 2010 before my 12 months of phone package contract with them is up, after which I can move that too. As soon as I have the opportunity I will have it all with PN.
I have tried 151 but that goes through to sky.

[#2]

Ugh, sky! I'll have a look at the errors later, but at a quick glance they are not awful, latest stats will help with a more representative view of that.

[#3]

Quote from: julesandtash

Unfortunately my line rental and calls are currently with Sky. Whilst I was able to migrate my broadband, I have to wait until february 2010 before my 12 months of phone package contract with them is up, after which I can move that too. As soon as I have the opportunity I will have it all with PN.

You might like to compare what Plusnet do if you have a problem with the voice side compared to the BT Code of Practice. I posted an extract here: http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,80733.msg658712.html#msg658712
My phone is with BT!

[#4]

OK, story time.
Ring 151, when they answer tell them you get occasional noise on the line, can they do a line test? If and only if they say has this got anything to do with Broadband, say no, this is the phone line.
As an aside, I thought new OFCOM rules means they can't tie you to more than 10days, but worth a check out, look at the terms you agreed to, and what they are now.
HTH.

[#5]

Its the SkyHD contract thats the problem. By agreeing to take SkyTalk and line rental for 12months (would have been broadband too but I already had that) I got my HD cheap and managed to negotiate free installation. Unfortunately that means that I cant change my phone away from them until the 12 months are up (ie February). Generally I like Sky for TV but would seriously recommend avoiding them for anything else. Their broadband 'connect' package is failing terribly. I forgot how terrible it was until I visited my sister in law the other night who is on sky. Her router sync was 8192 (all right for some) and her IP profile was 7150 according to the BT speedtester and yet at 20:00hrs her download rate was less than 300kbps !!!! I had the same kind of problem (as do many other sky customers) hence moving here to plusnet.
Unfortunately calling 151 takes me through to Sky who no doubt will completely useless.
Anyway, back to the point, router been stable all day so far, router stats showed 12db from 7am through to 1pm. Then 13db to 3:30pm then back to 12 until 4pm. It has slowly dropped down to 10db where it is now (5:05pm). No surprises there, it dropped a little as soon as darkness started to fall.
Sync is still 2560kbps.
Current stats:-
Sync 2560Kbps (Downstream) / 448Kbps (Upstream)
Noise 10dB (Downstream) / 14.0dB (Upstream)
Power 17.7dBm (Downstream) / 11.9 dBm (Upstream)
I have also attached current error stats.

[#6]

I hate storms !!!!
Power has been on and off today, no probs as after first outage I swiched off the router and didn't power it back up until the weather had calmed down.
All was well until 7:15pm when off goes the juice again. When it came back, the router resynced at 2018!!! agggghhh. The 12dB target SNR coupled with it being dark really killed my speed.
Just before that happened I was looking at the SNR falling as night fell. With a sync of 2788Kbps (oh so close to a 2500 profile) it was steady at 12dB until the light started failing and down it tumbled. Was down to 7dB before the power cut.
I really am thinking that I may as well forget it all, just plug a basic router in and live with it for the next 20 years until BT bother to do something about the network  or move to anywhere else in the world where I can enjoy 20Meg broadband at least. I dont really see the point in keeping this thread going, nothing I can do seems to make any difference.
I came very close to leaning out of my window today and ripping down the aerial cable to my house which was bouncing around in the wind - ironically in high wind and driving rain (but daylight) I had 2788 at 12dB and yet now its calm and dry, just dark, and I'm down to 2018.
I give up 

[#7]

Could it be a street light  that is giving you interference.

[#8]

Quite possibly, but do you think that there is any chance of getting anybody to do anything about it if it is? As I get broadband at what is laughably deemed an 'acceptable' speed, BT wont be fussed and I cant see whoever is in charge of the street lights caring.
It is definitely an outside source, I have tried all of the checks suggested by anotherone and none have any effect on the SNR.
What really sickens me is that mother, mother-in-law and sister-in-law all have 8meg connections despite hardly using their computers. I use mine all the time and get stuck with less than 2 

[#9]

well what a choice, now shall I go for a week at each or move in with Mother in law  - better run away quick

[#10]

Feeling a little less depressed now so have paid some more attention to this.
Noise is certainly not the street lights. At 7am this morning the SNR was at 12dB with all the street lights glowing happily as they had been since 5pm the previous evening. Router stats showed noise was worst between 11:30pm and around 3am then fairly level until 6am when started to climb back to 12dB.
Currently got a sync of 2560 and SNR didn't drop below 6dB (still a 6dB drop from the target of 12 though).
Looking at my current bit loading, the nighttime graph is taking a pounding between tones 40 to 60 compared to the daytime graph. Anotherone has already said that tone 46 is Radio 4LW so I'm guessing that AM radio is my killer. I guess being a few miles from the south coast of cornwall and having a pole hung cable doesn't help.
As such, I have ordered myself a RF3 filter online. I'm not sure how good they are and have seen mixed reviews online but nothing ventured nothing gained, and it was only £7 delivered.
I know that technically I shouldn't touch the wiring upstream of the NTE5 but I'm happy to give it a go - its not as if BT have an interest in fixing broadband issues themselves.
Once its here I will capture one nights stats prior to fitting then a night with it fitted. Will also see how it affects attenuation.
If this doesn't fix it then I really will give up.

A

[#11]

Hi Jules,
Very frustrating, but do keep listening to your line for noise periodically, just in case.
Have you tried ringing your Sky faults yet on 151 and doing the "storytime" as I suggested?

Quote

looking at my current bit loading, the nighttime graph is taking a pounding between tones 40 to 60 compared to the daytime graph. Anotherone has already said that tone 46 is Radio 4LW so I'm guessing that AM radio is my killer. I guess being a few miles from the south coast of cornwall and having a pole hung cable doesn't help.

You are not wrong, but the variation still seems excessive, and with the "extra" attenuation, this could still be down to a line fault - it is important to get a POTS test done on it - (I still wonder if the line is not 100% balanced or has a low insulation fault or bad joint). The BT spec. on these tests is now quite demanding.
I would also get this done before you experiment with your RF3 filter.
Like you, I don't hold out much hope with the RF3 (it cannot filter the band which is used by ADSL otherwise it will filter out the ADSL!) but if the problem happens to be caused by out of band RF, who knows.
Posting a couple more SNRM overnight graphs (just in case something can be spotted), also current stats (make sure to include uptime) might be useful.
Just to double check (without re-reading the whole thread) you have tried another filter straight into the test socket instead of your filtered plate?

[#12]

Hi, I have tried another filter straight into the master socket, in fact I have tried a different filtered face plate too since I have bought one for my mother to save her having filters around the place and, as she is about 300metres from the exchange, I figured I would keep the best one and give her the worst since attenuation will not be a problem for her. As she has a fully underground service from the exchange and the armoured cable actually rises under her stairs, RF is not going to be an issue for her at all.
Different filters have not really made any difference to be honest. I haven't rang sky yet, I'll make sure I brush up on my Indian before I do 
I will post a few more graphs soon for you to view.
Annoying I had resynced at a time which gave me 2560sync and a margin which only dropped to 6dB at night so very low errors. Unfortunately last night the router resynced for no apparent reason giving an exit code of ERR_DMA. Having looked on the web this seems to be caused by certain P2P applications allowing too many connections, the suggestion being that 'too many' is over 50 - the wife was using emule and it was set to allow 800 connections. I have tweaked that down to 40 and router has not given the same error since, unfortunately it happened around 8pm so sync was appalling all night.
I have resynced this morning just after dawn at 2304 which will do for now - should give a stable 2000 profile providing nothing untoward happens and noise margin shouldn't drop too low at night.
The RF3 has been dispatched, I will have a play once it gets here and let you know what happens, it will be good info for people if nothing else.
Cheers
Jules

[#13]

Well I've got the RF3 today and fitted it. It seems to be helping already. Managed to Sync a couple of minutes ago (in the dark) at 2304kbps with 12dB margn after fitting the little white box. I will see how it goes through the night, router stats is up and running.

[#14]

@julesandtash
CAn you post where you ordered the RF3 filter from please, as they sound like a good idea.
IAn

[#15]

Certainly, here is the link...
http://www.run-it-direct.co.uk/BT80BRF3.html
Very quick service too - very impressed.
Just for info, still connected at 2304kbps, SNR has dropped a little but still at 10dB. I have noticed that the bit loading graph seems better and there are far more bits on tone 46. Previously this was down to almost zero where now I have 5. There seems to be a dip at tone 58 though.
Only time will tell overnight I guess but its looking better at the moment.