Activated today! .. but now concerned..

[#1]

Had to jump ship and leave Pipex. 
Always had concerns about doing this as not sure that MAX would benefit me: it was a huge struggle to get a 1mb connection - took a year after the free regrades from 512 for the rest of the world took place.  In the end though, I couldn't face being with Tiscali and paying £24 for a 1mb line so pretty much had to go somewhere!
I'm a keen gamer so chose the BBYW product.  Figured I would still be paying over the odds for just a 1mb line but would have guarantees about performance..  I think I could have been wrong about that!!..
I know that after changing to MAX there is a bedding in time but my current d/l speed is 300kbs - that seems extremely slow and I can't see it going up by much.
I'm a fair distance from my exchange and don't think I have a particularily good line: 
                                (Netgear DG834)
                                Down            Up
Line Attenuation      57.0 db  31.5 db
Noise Margin            17.1 db 14.0 db
I have been running a stable fixed line for several years at 1mb with those stats and investigations pre migration seemed to suggest that with MAX I would possible get slightly more than 1mb - but certainly not less.
Recently, for a period of a couple of days after I was unknowingly switched to the Tiscali network (not LLU), my connection dropped back to 512mb but then jumped back to 1mb.  Is there some sort of incorrect maker on my line ?
What's your opinion?
Should I stick out the bedding down period and see what happens or raise this as an issue now? 
I'm starting to think that I should have stuck with a fixed line - maybe my IP profile is wrong?
I need to get back to at least 1mb connection!!

[#2]

You're on a long line with that attenuation, but the noise margin is excellent so it SHOULD be stable.
Plugging the numbers in you could MAYBE get 2Mb to 3Mb on Max, but you do need to wait for the stabilisation period to work through.
We only have  a partial picture, what are your sync speeds?
And what does BT (use the BT speedtester) say your IP profile is at present?
For that matter what's your speed profile at PlusNet? https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=data_transfer_speed
Finally - 300kbps - how did you measure that?

[#3]

Ok, I'll try and give more info:
Router:
                                    Down              Up
Connection Speed    416 kbps      448 kbps
Line Attenuation        57.0 db        31.5 db
Noise Margin            17.7 db        14.0 db
Current download speeds using ADSL Guide and Plusnet speed checker: c350kbps
Speed profile on Plusnet says 8000
BT speedchecker "Unexpected result received when querying the network to find your services connection details."

[#4]

Hi Discord,
If you've just been activated you'll be in a period that generally takes 10 days where your speed will be up and down and generally all over the place - this is normal.  We've got a fairly technical explanation about how 'max' broadband works here:
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/products/faqs_and_guides/dslmax_guide.shtml
From it:
The first 10 days:
During the first 10 days of Max your phone line will be automatically measured to establish what speed it can support, and in particular at what speed the line will remain stable. You will see your sync speeds vary, and commonly may experience disconnections and some instability of your connection. During the testing period you should frequently make new connections to the Internet so these tests can take place. It's a good idea to power off/on your modem or router when doing this - this will force your equipment to reconnect.
Basically, until your line has its Maximum Stable Rate determined (after the 10 days following activation) we wouldn't be able to raise a fault.   Make sure your filters are good quality and plugged in right and keep switching off your router and back on again (it's important that a new session is established regularly throughout the 10 day period).  Try connecting from the master socket if you can and see if that makes any difference.
If your speed continues to be extremely poor at all times during this period our technical guys can certainly have a look for you and give some pointers.  Whatever you can be sure we'll do our best to help you get the best performance.

[#5]

  excellent.
Thanks for the advise about turning the router off.

[#6]

Hi Discord,
To add to what Peter's said - I'd definitively give things the first 10 days with a daily reboot to see if this improves things.  If it doesn't I'll be more than happy to move you onto a fixed 1Mbps service if you would like me too.

[#7]

It's not looking good.  Apart from one peak at 670ish I'm still only getting c350kbps.
From what I've read, it's usual that the 1st day of "training" is actually what your line will be set at.
I'll wait for the training period to finish though before jumping to any conclusions.  I may try connecting to the master socket - on an upststairs extension at the moment.  Just a bit of a paid as I've got to move the PC!  Using the master socket when on a fixed line made no difference so not holding my breath.

[#8]

If that's the case, and given the line stats you've posted, I'd suggest getting a router (if you don't have one already). That way you could leave the router plugged into the master socket and either access it wirelessly or run an ethernet cable to the room with the PC in - this way you aren't losing any further signal thanks to telephone extension cables and you also won't have to move the PC.
Hope that helps,

[#9]

FWIW if you're trying to make the most of a weak connection I'd strongly recommend a faceplate splitter fitted to the master socket. It seems silly that after travelling N km to your house a few tens of metres of extension would make a difference but it does.

[#10]

I'll second that, having fitted two myself yesterday (one for me, one for a friend).
ADSL Max is MUCH more sensitive to your wiring than your old "1Mb fixed" service, so to get the 3Mb or so that's theoretically possible you do need ideal wiring.
My personal installation isn't relevant to you (I'm on 20mbps ADSL2+) but my friends is a good example, though faster than yours. He was getting just 2mbps from BT "Max" but his neighbours were getting quite a bit more (5 or 6).
We seriously sorted out his phone wiring yesterday, including a filtered faceplate with the router next to it, and he's now maxing out the BT 8mbps link with headroom to spare (ADSL2+ prediction 16mbps).
In your situation it's even more important to get the wiring right. Good luck. Ask away and you'll be guided!