Sky router stats (speed, noise, attenuation) explained

[Koala5]

CRC errors are corrupt data that needs to be retransmitted, the more of them the slower your speed, if there are too many things will grind to a halt, as Saturday suggested you need to read sections of the forum on cabling/stats and faceplates. These errors are often caused by dodgy internal extension wiring. A good start is to find your master socket thats the first one as the line comes into your house, assuming it is an NTE5 if you remove the faceplate you will find a test socket if you plug the router in there with nothing else connected then that will isolate the internal wiring connecting you direct onto the BT line, run for a few hours using the internet heavily then take the stats again and see if things improve.

[jimscrivener]

I would prefer reliability over speed - and I want to know what I should request from Sky Support.

Is it possible to ask for Sky to permanently set a higher noise margin (maybe at the cost of line speed)?

[IWasNotTheEnemy]

no, NM is purely based on line - capping the line will set it higher but at the cost of speed

[jimscrivener]

Originally Posted by IAmNotTheEnemy

no, NM is purely based on line - capping the line will set it higher but at the cost of speed

Thanks. Let me just get this 100% clear. If speed is not too important to me, then I could ask Sky to cap the speed and this is likely to lead to better noise margin and greater reliability?

[IWasNotTheEnemy]

pretty much yeah - but u can do it urself using software linked via this site (i think its the mossywell one but might be wrong)

[jimscrivener]

Originally Posted by IAmNotTheEnemy

pretty much yeah - but u can do it urself using software linked via this site (i think its the mossywell one but might be wrong)

I've tried Mossywell and Mognuts - though I think maybe you mean the TCP Optimiser - but this has no beginner level instructions and although I can pull the speed lever down low I'm not really sure what it does. Doesn't that only affect one PC rather than the router as a whole?

[IWasNotTheEnemy]

its the one where yo can fix ur NM higher - in effect what Sky will do but u can chose to remove it, whereas Sky's cap will be permanent....

unless thats what u want

[Saturday]

Mognuts is a webpage which allows scripts to be run manually that will affect the router/connection parameters. These are temporary and undone with a router reboot.

Mossywell's "bounce router" is an application which sits on the PC to automatically run some of the same scripts as Mognuts.

TCPoptimizer has no effect on the router or the connection parameters but makes changes to the PC's TCP/IP settings - in effect the "pipe" size.

Sky's capping adjusts the connection at the exchange level by limiting the speed that the router can sync at. If you lower sync you raise noise margin and vice versa. This is a permanent change i.e. the user can't undo it.

[richypat07]

Attenuation.............Approximate Line Length............Potential Connection Speed
32db...................................2.3km...... ...............................16000kbps
35db...................................2.5km...... ...............................14500kbps
40db...................................2.9km...... ...............................11800kbps
45db...................................3.2km...... .................................8500kbps
50db...................................3.6km...... .................................6500kbps
55db...................................4.0km...... .................................4500kbps
60db...................................4.3km...... .................................3200kbps
65db...................................4.7km...... .................................2000kbps

My line attenuation is 57 db and i'm 720 metres from your exchange (as the crow flies). Does that seem right??? Could i get sky to replace my line if its at fault or do i just have to put up with it?
Regards
Richy

[Saturday]

Lines rarely run in straight lines from the exchange to the home - imagine the number of poles BT would need or the trenches to be dug

Whilst yours appears an extreme case it's not all that unusual. Bad line problems can increase the attenuation by a few db but not to the extent yours would have to change.

No Sky won't replace your line. It's nothing to do with them.

You might get lucky with BT if you found a friendly engineer who was able to find a spare pair which takes a shorter route (if there is one). Ask BT to lay a new line and they might say OK if you pay. Depending whether it was overland or under, or existing poles in place, expect a bill of £10,000 - £1m