21CN == 19th century network ?

[#1]

With your line stats (see reply #9), I'm surprised Plusnet would put you on ADSL2+, as there is no benefit in speed terms.

[#2]

@maranello,
that's a reasonable point; maybe there is some "reliability" factor that is supposedly increased with 21CN?
With my line stats I'm surprised it can be called "broadband", and I have to pay the same as someone getting 8Mb+ ... but that's another topic that the broadband industry (BT, and the downstream providers) in this country is sadly not willing to tackle.

[#3]

@persistability
My stats are pretty much the same as yours, I'm about 4km from the exchange and with a 63dB downstream attenuation, but I do have a reliable 2meg connection (tempting fate here I know). Fortunately on a Market 3 exchange so at least not paying over the odds for a minimal service.
I would be worth getting clarification from Plusnet if they are going ahead with ADSL2+ for you, or simply giving you ADSL1 over the 21CN network.

[#4]

@persistability,
Your line is currently provisioned as ADSL1 over 21CN, I'm not sure it will make a huge difference but I have raised an order to upgrade to ADSL2 tomorrow. If in a worse case scenario there are any issues with that we can place another order to reverse it.

[#5]

Thx Adam,
Today it is connecting as
Connection Speed 1392 kbps 672 kbps
Line Attenuation 39.5 db 74.5 db
Noise Margin 6.5 db 6.70 db
so slightly better upload speed, slightly lower download speed, noise is less, but line attenuation has dropped further ... maybe they've moved the exchange even further away!

[#6]

Wrong way round - the lower the attenuation, the better the line quality/speed.

[#7]

Quote from: persistability

but line attenuation has dropped further ... maybe they've moved the exchange even further away!

According to the Kitz speed calculator, "attenuation is calculated differently for adsl and adsl2+, and its not unusual to see an increase of 3-4 db when moving from adsl1 to adsl2+."
10dB seems like a lot though...