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VDSL Mk 2 faceplate on adsl2+ line

oldgeezer
Grafter
Posts: 219
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Registered: ‎02-02-2010

VDSL Mk 2 faceplate on adsl2+ line

I'm on a exchange only line of around 3.5 km, and presumably because of the position of my home at 950 feet above sea level,  I suffer from a large variation of noise margin between night and day. This used to cause frequent overnight sync drops. I got around this by using the NM altering facility of my Billion 7800n modem-router.
Of course this lowers my sync speed but at least it's stable.
I've recently swopped my BT V10 faceplate filter for the Mk 2 version of the VDSL filter, the one with the built in common mode choke similar to the RF3 filter.
This has enabled me to sync a good 700 kb/s higher with a sync speed of 8300+ kb/s and download speeds of  above 7000 kb/s for the first time ever.
If your adsl2+ line is on the long side and you suffer from large night-time NM drops, it might be worth spending a few quid on the Mk 2 filter.
10 REPLIES 10
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
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Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: VDSL Mk 2 faceplate on adsl2+ line

Very thorough oldgeezer!
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
oldgeezer
Grafter
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Registered: ‎02-02-2010

Re: VDSL Mk 2 faceplate on adsl2+ line

It gets better and better !
The line did a reset in the early hours of yesterday morning and is now syncing at almost 9 Mb/s. The Plusnet profile is now 7.9 Mb/s and I am now downloading at 7.6 Mb/s which is an all time record for my line.
When I consider that I used to be lucky to achieve 3 Mb/s a few years ago before I tidied up the internal wiring and bought a decent router, I think things are as good as their going to get, until BT sort out a exchange only line solution.
LNNFN
Dabbler
Posts: 23
Registered: ‎12-12-2008

Re: VDSL Mk 2 faceplate on adsl2+ line

Quote from: oldgeezer
...I've recently swopped my BT V10 faceplate filter for the Mk 2 version of the VDSL filter, the one with the built in common mode choke similar to the RF3 filter.

Interesting report!
I'm guessing that you have an overhead line all the way back to the exchange.
xreyuk
Grafter
Posts: 234
Registered: ‎23-05-2014

Re: VDSL Mk 2 faceplate on adsl2+ line

Are you allowed to swap BT master sockets?
tonycollinet
Grafter
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Registered: ‎14-08-2007

Re: VDSL Mk 2 faceplate on adsl2+ line

The faceplate is a plug in item. Fitting is no different to removing the faceplate cover to access the test socket.
oldgeezer
Grafter
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Re: VDSL Mk 2 faceplate on adsl2+ line



Underground from the exchange to the DP up the pole with a long drop wire to the eves.
The area receives a ridiculous amount of RF garbage, especially at night.
Gave up on wireless door chimes after trying about eight different makes, no joke with chimes operating almost every night with no one there. Settled for hard wired and nineteenth century solenoid type door chime.
Had an automated garage door fitted with super dooper German technology. Operating on 800+ Mhz with umpteen trillion combinations. I used to get up in the morning to find the garage door open or sometimes it wouldn't open at all due to radio jamming. I gave up in the end and converted it to keyswitch operation.
But at least we get clean air and terrific views   Cheesy
ReedRichards
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Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: VDSL Mk 2 faceplate on adsl2+ line

I was called-in to visit one of the houses in my area with broadband speed problems.  I used routerstats to monitor the line and found that there was about a 5dB variation in noise from morning to night.  This is very much more extreme than on my own line and I live nearby (and at the same elevation, 28m above sea level).  Fitting a VDSL faceplate helped a lot; unfortunately I did not remeasure the morning to night noise variation afterwards.  As with oldgeezer the telephone lines were underground to the pole and then formed the longest drop from that pole to the eaves of the house.
Anotherone
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Re: VDSL Mk 2 faceplate on adsl2+ line

Interesting, as well as some frustrating experiences there oldgeezer. I am a touch surprised that you have so many RFI issues which I wouldn't just put down to you height above sea-level. I would have thought that there might be some "installation" not too far away perhaps saturating electrical stuff with RF. Perhaps a Radio Station antenna, TV transmitter, Mobile mast, or Radar etc.
Glad you've found the latest VDSL plate to have helped which is being used now as the standard when replacing Master sockets where there is any form of Broadband installation.
Also with the extended dry weather periods we've been getting, a lot of not so perfect u/g lines and joints have been "drying" out and this might have added a couple 100K to your speed. Lets hope it remains stable, whatever the reasons.
oldgeezer
Grafter
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Registered: ‎02-02-2010

Re: VDSL Mk 2 faceplate on adsl2+ line

Quote from: Anotherone
Interesting, as well as some frustrating experiences there oldgeezer. I am a touch surprised that you have so many RFI issues which I wouldn't just put down to you height above sea-level. I would have thought that there might be some "installation" not too far away perhaps saturating electrical stuff with RF. Perhaps a Radio Station antenna, TV transmitter, Mobile mast, or Radar etc.

Unless GCHQ have installed a covert transmitter nearby then I'm not aware of any local sources of interference apart from mobile phone masts a plenty. The problems were there before the masts arrived. Listening to a MW radio at night reveals strong continuous transmissions from one end of the band to the other.
When we lived at a slightly lower location nearer the city centre in the seventies, we used to be troubled by the "Russian Woodpecker".
This was an over the horizon radar of enormous power in the USSR. My hi-fi speakers used to emit loud clicking noises which could be heard clearly.
All this happened with the hi-fi switched off !!!!  
The signal was picked up on the loudspeaker wiring and de-modulated by the un-powered output transistors in the amplifier.
As it happens my amplifier had speaker selector switches and by interrupting the circuit with the speaker switch we were able to silence the row.
What it must have been doing to poor souls in the nordic regions I shudder to think.
Anotherone
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Re: VDSL Mk 2 faceplate on adsl2+ line

Yep, MW propagation can be a pain in the ****, but equally at some lower levels, depends a bit on aspect, and (multiples of) 1/4 wavelength overhead line length will not be helpful for broadband!
Ha, I vaguely remember the Russian Woodpecker. I remember hearing the clicking but can't remember atm what I heard it on or when.
I really must get around to fitting the Mk.2 VDSL plate here. I was (at one time) going to do some comparison tests with all the various frontplates/filters/RF3 and the i-Plate. Finding the time when conditions are stable enough to do all that, and not upset the 20CN DLM either, tend to be a bit tricky. One day he said.