Can I upgrade to a fixed rate package

[#1]

One of my wifes relatives has a legacy Broadband plus product on a foxed 1meg line. I have recently installed a router for them, as they wanted a wireless connection for their laptop. I checked their stats, and the attn is 54dB, SNR 21.  I enquired if they wanted to be upgraded to max, but they declined, but would like a faster spped, but without the hassles of Max. Is it still possible to upgrade to a fixed rate 2Mb product?

[#2]

Unfortunatly not.
The threshold for the 2Mb service is an attenuation of 43dB.

[#3]

OK,  I can understand that, but then why if they were on max would they be able to get around 3-4meg?? (according to some estimators)  Is this another of BTs oddities?  Also most sites, including BTs wholesale checker, and the checker on Kitz site, suggest fixed rates of 2Mb should be fine.  Can you elaborate???
BTW, they are not keen on Max as a friend of theirs has had no end of trouble with low speeds etc, and they want the safety net of a fixed rate product.

[#4]

The fixed line products use different technology to ADSL Max and thus have their own conditions for use. The fixed line products use the downstream line attenuation to determine what speed is allowed, with Max the technology uses a minimum SNR (Signal to Noise ration or margin) to determin the sync rate possible. An increase in sync rate results in a lower SNR value so Max uses a min of 6dB SNR and that determins the maximum sync rate attainable. As the SNR varies, so will the sync rate.
IPStream home 2000 (2Mbs fixed line product) can only be applied to lines that have no more than 43dB Downstream line attenuation.
IPStream Home 1000 (1Mbs fixed) can only be applied to line than have 60dB or less line attenuation.
IPStream home 500 will be applied to any line that has more than 60dB line attenuation.
IPStream Max will sync at the highest rate but maintaining a min SNR of 6dB.

Max is an adaptable technology so variations will occur. In general the higher your line attenuation / lower your SNR the more chance there will be of having variations in speed and thus problems. Some of this is due to the way BT determine your max throughput rate which can result in low data rate speeds even when you have higher sync rates. This is unfortunately how things are and one of the drawbacks with Max.
You have a fairly high SNR (good) but also a high line attenuation (not so good) but even so you will probably attain 3 or 4Mbs. How reliable this is is impossble to determine as everyone's line is different and affected by different things.
I would recommend you try it and if it proved to b a problem, PN will put you back on the fixed rate product at no cost.

[#5]

Hi there,
The earlier days of Max were somewhat problematic and nowadays, it is a lot more reliable.  BT will also be looking at removing the fixed rate products at some stage in the future.
Max pushes the boundaries of an ADSL service more than your normal fixed rate products, hence the ability to get a better speeds.

[#6]

Thanks for the very informative replys guys. I will see if I can persuade then to be maxed.