Line testing has begun again over 2 years since it had previously finished, why is this?

[Tal71]

Thanks for the help gymno.

I've just rebooted my router now, and the downstream has increased lightly, its finally above the 18000 kbps range but the upstream hasn't improved.

[Tal71]

Going by your wan uptime, dlm actually finished on the day you couldn't connect & had to reboot the router.

It's done a good job with the downstream, but the upstream should really be somewhere around 1100kbps.

I'm no expert with this kind of thing, but it could be that the issue you had has indeed caused dlm to finish early.
If so, you may have even got a little bit more on the downstream, had it had a chance to complete.

If the line is stable & the noise margins aren't varying wildly, i'd give sky a call & explain that you had a one-off issue during dlm & that you're positive it's affected the outcome.

Wether it's best to ask for the line to be profiled manually, or for dlm to be run again, i don't know.

I've just emailed Sky and mentioned that "I had a one-off issue during dlm & that I'm positive it's affected the outcome, and I've asked if its possible to have the line profiled manually, or for dlm to be run again"

I'll post back with the outcome.

Thanks again

[gymno]

Without going in to detail (not that i could, lol) upstream speed is more important than you think.

Requesting dlm to be run isn't a standard thing, but i can't see a sky agent having a problem with it once you've explained why you're asking.
It's obvious that the line could do better.

I just remembered.
Sky can only use a downstream noise margin of 7db when they manually profile a line.
Only dlm can use the lower margins, so that's the way to go.

Sorry for any confusion.

[Tal71]

Just to update. I emailed Sky the other day and here is the reply I got back off of them:

Thank you for your email regarding the Broadband upload speed.
Having checked your account, I see that the best download and upload speed which your Broadband line can support is up to 20 and 1 mbps. You are receiving download speed of 18 mbps and upload speed of 0.7 mbps which are the best speeds available. As your line is receiving the best speeds, we are unable to start the DLM (Dynamic Line Management).
You can checks the speeds by referring to the below link :
Broadband speed test - Information about broadband speeds from Sky
Whilst I realise that you may be disappointed with the information provided, I hope that you can understand our position on this matter.

Kind regards
Manjunath
Sky Help Centre

[Scubbie]

Obviously that email was from someone who does know about the profiles and what they should look like.

With your current download speed I would expect to see an upload speed in excess of 900kbps, perhaps more like 1100kbps.

There is the Noise Margin for it and DLM needs to be rerun to improve things IMHO.

[Tal71]

Obviously that email was from someone who does know about the profiles and what they should look like.

With your current download speed I would expect to see an upload speed in excess of 900kbps, perhaps more like 1100kbps.

There is the Noise Margin for it and DLM needs to be rerun to improve things IMHO.

Thanks Scubbie.

What's the best procedure/contact method to use for getting Sky to run DLM again?

[Scubbie]

Personally I would make a friendly call and speak to someone.

Explain what has happened and ask if they can suggest something to resolve it first. Obviously you are hoping that that can restart DLM and monitor it, returning the call back to you in a few days when it has completed. A manual reset would limit the noise margin on the download to 7dB. This would reduce your download speed a little, however the upload speed should be able to be increased to a more suitable figure.

Maybe I am hoping for too much, but I am sure that there would be a few members of Sky's call centre staff who would be able to do this with you.

What you and I can't see, unless you use a non-Sky router, is the list of CRC errors on the line. This is something that the people in the call centres can see and perhaps something that can be checked whilst you are on the line.

[Tal71]

A manual reset would limit the noise margin on the download to 7dB. This would reduce your download speed a little, however the upload speed should be able to be increased to a more suitable figure.

Thanks very much Scubbie for the help.

In that case, I would rather have the increase in the download stream speed that I now have since the last line testing finished and a slightly slower upstream speed, than having a manual reset and a reduced downstream speed but a higher upstream speed. For me having a higher downstream speed is more important to me than a higher upstream speed. I download a lot more than upload if I'm honest. Thanks again

[Tal71]

Just to update this thread. My router must have rebooted in the early hours.

Since the line testing that happened just after Christmas, my upstream would never go above 796 kbps, but since this reboot in the early hours my upstream and downstream have both increased quite a bit too

Here what I was seeing before the router rebooted in the early hours, the screen shot is a few weeks old, but the figures are the same as I was seeing yesterday:





Here's what I am seeing now after the router rebooted in the early hours:

[gymno]

I think your previous 18014 / 796 is an actual selectable profile, meaning that no amount of manual rebooting would have ever got it above that.

If i'm correct, then DLM must be running on the line.
Had it been set manually, the downstream noise margin would be nearer 7db (unless your margin naturally fluctuates a lot).

The 'broadband connection details' section of your 'my sky' page should update in a day or so to indicate this.