DLM set up at 0.8 and down at 0.8

[Wingco]

An elderly friend of mine signed up with Sky Unlimited in January this year. At sign up Sky gave an estimate of around 4.5Mbps. The DLM completed on 18 January this year and set download and upload at 0.8Mbps.

Line stats are;

Connection Down 761 Up 796
Line Att Down 43.5 Up 24.4
Noise Margin 5.3 Up 12.0

What speed could she expect to get with those stats?

[Shonk]

there's internal wiring problems

plug the modem into the test socket on the master
and post your stats again

I advise fitting an nte2000 faceplate at the master and pluging in the modem to that

[Scubbie]

A frequent problem that can occur is for someone to plug in the Sky STB before the microfilter. It can often produce results like this.

The Sky installation engineers use a particular splitter that has some red writing on it that indicates that it should never be unplugged. This splitter must be filtered and there many examples where this hasn't been done.

I would firstly check that any and all extension sockets have been correctly filtered.

Once you have done this, power-cycle the router (i.e. turn it off for around 15 seconds, then turn it back on) and check the stats.

As always it is better to use the Master Socket. If possible look to use the Master Socket.

In the stats you are looking for any/all of the following:

• reduced Line Attenuation figures (on both sides)
• increased connection speed (again on both sides)
• slight increase in noise margin on the downstream if the speed increases to the target, otherwise a reasonably large increase of the noise margin on the downstream. The noise margin on the upstream may well change, but is less predictable

The target connection speed will be around 7mb to 8mb according to the tool on this site. If the speed is short of this, and the noise margin is above 7dB, then your friend will need to call Sky. Your friend can pass the phone over to yourself once the security questions have been answered.

There are other things that could cause this issue. I have described the most common cause. If this isn't the case, please post again to let us know. Perhaps something else can be done.

Do remember that this site is going to be updated this evening so no one will be able to make any fresh posts after around 5pm. The update could take until at least 10pm.

[Wingco]

there's internal wiring problems

plug the modem into the test socket on the master
and post your stats again

I advise fitting an nte2000 faceplate at the master and pluging in the modem to that

Unfortunately she doesn't have an NTE5 so no test socket. Both sockets are filtered correctly, other than checking for a ring wire there isn't a lot I can do.

[Wingco]

Thanks Scubbie. I checked the Sky box wasn't plugged when I was last there. I'll have to visit again next week and spend a bit of time on it.

[Scubbie]

Reading the other responses as well, I would be inclined to check every socket, and look to check behind the faceplate of the master socket to ensure that it is. There should be a capacitor (blue of yellow) to identify it as the master socket.

Check too where the telephone line enters the property. It is possible that the Master socket is in the loft (yes it does happen!).

It may also be a good idea to perform a 'quiet line test'. Using a corded telephone dial '1' and listen for any undue noise.

[Wingco]

The problem is she lives in sheltered accomodation, 41 flats. It would seem that the telephone lines to the building are underground. I have no idea how the lines are then distributed to each flat. It's a two storey building.

I think all I can do is check the sockets are wired correctly.

[Scubbie]

The wiring isn't your responsibility, or hers.

There are two specific things that now need to be considered from my perspective, others may want to add to them:

1. is there any noise on the line?
2. the wiring in flats is notoriously bad in many cases, there could well be some interference from others, but I would suggest that you ask some of the other residents about their connections