Help with testing broadband connection

[#1]

The thing to note is that the noise margin increased from 16.7dB to 22.7dB indicating that your internal wiring is negatively affecting your connection.
Can you check to see if the ring wire is connected http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/socket.htm

[#2]

Thanks for that.
The article reminded me that my router usually sits at the end of an old BT junction box off a 'spur' and a long extension.
I checked and the ring wire was still connected at that end so I disconnected it from there and these are the new stats:
Statistics Downstream Upstream
Line Rate 3023 Kbps 440 Kbps
Noise Margin 23.8 dB 24.9 dB
Line Attenuation 43.0 dB 18.5 dB
Output Power 0.0 dBm 12.5 dBm
So it looks like it was affecting the noise margin.  
All the same, my connection with the ring wire connected had been stable at around 5Mbs for a long time before the BT line fault.
Am I right in thinking that the Line Attenuation is the main culprit?
Checking my old stats I see it was at 40dB before the line fault.

[#3]

A change of +/- 1dB is quite normal and although yours is more than that it may just be an effect of the changes made when they fixed the problem.
The reason your speeds are poor is, as Jojo said, because your line is banded. This is a peculiarity of ADSL2+ when the automated system will restrict your line speed due to perceived instability. The original fault would have caused that.
Once the banding has been removed your line speed will increase but possibly not to the same level as before as it is quite possible that the default noise margin has also been increased.
If this is the case Jojo will be able to fix that as well
We are getting there - but nothing happens immediately with BT Openreach

[#4]

Hi Bookworms,
Are you in the test socket now? It's not worth me removing the banding while you're in an extension socket as you may just be banded again.
Jojo

[#5]

Quote from: Bookworms

Am I right in thinking that the Line Attenuation is the main culprit?

No. Attenuation doesn't usually change much and is largely dependant upon the length of the line from you to the exchange. It may be that when the line was repaired you've been put on to a pair that follows a slightly different route.
Is your telephone now working correctly with no background noise (use the quiet line test to check: 17070 option 2)?

[#6]

Quote

Is your telephone now working correctly with no background noise (use the quiet line test to check: 17070 option 2)?

I tried the test  using a modern  handset and it was silent.
So it seems the line is now ok.
My download speed  was  an excruciatingly slow 182 kbps at 11pm last night according to  'mybroadbandspeed'
It's so slow now, the test is taking more than ten minutes to complete, and I've given up on it.
Just to add - could the fact that I switched from a legacy tariff to 'broadband extra' while the line fault was still ongoing have compounded the speed problem?

[#7]

Quote from: Bookworms

Just to add - could the fact that I switched from a legacy tariff to 'broadband extra' while the line fault was still ongoing have compounded the speed problem?

No, that wouldn't make any difference. Are you in the test socket?
Jojo

[#8]

I did the quiet line test using a handset plugged into the test socket but my router is now once again connected via  an extension.
Due to the master socket being placed in a very awkward position (it was installed years ago when the previous occupants lived here) it's impractical to leave the router directly and permanently connected to it.
I disconnected the router about a dozen times yeterday whilst testing the internal wiring and I asume this will have caused my speed to drop even lower?
I haven't connected the router directly to the test socket since I removed the ring wire.
If necessary I can probably do it later this evening, but as my internal wiring appears to be as good or better than it was before the line fault, I though it might be better to leave the router plugged in at the moment to allow the connection time to stabilise?

[#9]

Hi Bookworms,
I understand what you're saying about the internal wiring but as your ticket is now waiting for fault testing the first thing they will ask you to do is plug it into the test socket so they can test it there. They have to rule out your internal wiring or if an engineer is sent out and it turns out to be a problem with your internal wiring you would be charged a hefty amount for a call out.
If you plug it into the test socket I can look at some things for you but otherwise I would suggest waiting for the faults team to look at it.
Jojo

[#10]

Any idea how long before the faults team do look at it?
They left a message on  Sunday saying the problem had been escalated, but nothing since.
I have to go out fairly soon but I could briefly connect the router to the test socket before I do ( and I'll have to connect to it wirelessly, which means booting up my rather slow laptop).

[#11]

How far away is the PC from the router? Could you use a longer ethernet cable? If I was to lift the banding and you maved it back the extension it would probably get banded again.
Jojo

[#12]

Hi, the router is right next to the PC but it's situated in a different room to the master socket and is normally  connected via a permanent  extension that was fitted by BT more than ten years ago.
Due to the layout of the house I would need a 10m lead to connect it without moving the PC.
The longest ethernet cable I have is about 3m but I do have a new 10m  commtel  'modem reel' - would that would be of any use for testing purposes?

I did have a problem with dropouts about a year ago and  I traced it to a flakey connecting cable between the router and the end of the extension.
After  I replaced that I had stable connection for the best part of a year (before the recent line fault, that is), so I'm pretty sure my current wiring could handle something faster than the terrible (135kbs?) speeds I'm experiencing at the moment.

[#13]

HI Bookworms,
I'm not 100% sure on the quality of the modem reel but I would definitely trust it more than the 10 year old extension. You can, however, buy ethernet cables up to 100 metres long.
Jojo

[#14]

Thanks, I'm off out now but I will probably try testing the connection again using the direct cable later tonight.
I'm just a bit paranoid about disconnecting the modem again - won't it set back the line stabilisation every time ?

[#15]

HI Bookworms,
Don't worry about the disconnects. Just remember that because of the banding you won't see any difference in speed or sync rate. Once it's connected I'll have to have it removed and then we can see how it performs.
Jojo