Low Attenuation and Low Noise Margin

[vinyl_ninja]

Hi

I've been trying to figure this out all night and not getting much further forward. I recently joined Sky Broadband Unlimited and I'm currently five days into the DLM process. I'm lucky enough to live fairly close to the exchange and so already syncing at 15357kbps. What I'm a bit worried about is my noise margin which is currently at 7.4dB - very close to Sky's cut off. My full stats:

Connection Speed 15357 kbps 1105 kbps
Line Attenuation 12.5 dB 8.5 dB
Noise Margin 7.4 dB 9.5 dB

I've disconnected everything and plugged the line into the BT test socket (hopefully disconnecting it a couple of times tonight won't mess up the DLM process). I know most people would love to sync at this speed but with such a low line attenuation I was hoping to get closer to the 20mbps.

Despite reading a hundred different posts I can't figure out whether this noise margin is a sign of a line fault or just something that is expected as the sync speed increases?

I assume Sky won't do a lot until after the DLM process is complete but when it is, if the noise margin is still low will they do anything or are they likely just to fob me off?

If anyone can shed any light on this it'd be appreciated!

[Scubbie]

You need to primarily look at the WAN uptime to see whether or not the DLM process is still working.

Take a look in the morning and see if the WAN up time reset over night. Typically this will be between 2-3am, but could be between 1am and 6am.

You should get the full 20Mb connection, perhaps a little more.

You may also benefit from fitting a filtered faceplate rather than using the test socket and the microfilters which Sky supply with the router.

Sky User - Which ADSL Faceplate Filter?

[vinyl_ninja]

Thanks for the advice.

So the noise margin shouldn't be that much of an issue by the sounds of it?

[Scubbie]

Occasionally I have seen someone with a noise margin close to 7dB still get an improved connection speed, so yes, do not worry at this stage.

Should DLM complete and you finish short of the peak connection speed, then there is the option of calling Sky to get it increased further.

[vinyl_ninja]

DLM has now been completed and my stats haven't changed.

Does anyone know if there is a good approach to getting Sky to provide a bit more speed given the line attenuation is so good?

[Scubbie]

A friendly call is in order to Sky. Don't let someone put you on DLM again, just ask it they have the access to increase your line connection. If they don't, ask to be put through to someone who does.

If this isn't possible, hang-up and call again.

It may be necessary to call a few times before you get someone who has the correct access..

[Exdee]

Don't think there will be a drastic change in your speed.

[vinyl_ninja]

Didn't have time to sit on hold for ages so I thought I'd try sending them an email. To be honest I was expecting the usual standard reply but I actually got a response from a real person saying they'd set my connection to sync at 19997kbs and to let them know if there are any issues. Everything looks good so far, and I'm very impressed so far with Sky. Just got to wait till a quite time to do a speed test and see what its capable of

Thanks all for the help!

[Scubbie]

If you could post the complete stats from your router it would be useful. Occasionally some people forget to increase the upstream connection as well.

[railfrog]

Didn't have time to sit on hold for ages so I thought I'd try sending them an email.

What was the email address that you used for this?