Does the roundabout ever stop

[negativepitch]

Im on ADSL broadband unlimited, for the past few years I have always had 2.5mbps, always thought that was it and nothing I could do, then my speed dropped even further down, so contacted sky for help, they sorted some noise issues on the line and it went up to 3mbps, which was a big surprise to me after getting 2.5 for about 5 years.
a friend of mine sent me a BT speed accelerator adaptor, (plugs into the master socket and the the face plate goes into that) its just another filter, but my speed went up to just over 4mbps.
contacted sky to tell them about this, and ask that if this filter could increase my speed up to just over 4, why couldnt they do that without using this filter, they didn't really say anything about the BT filter (I had already tired 4 different micro filters)
sky told me from their end they can see I should be getting 6mbps with a standard micro filter fitted, which I wasn't, if i just used a standard micro filter it dropped back down to 3mbps.
anyway sent them my stats, and they said there is definitely a problem.
so I explained how I had tested.....
faceplate off, micro filter into test socket, into router, ethernet cable in to mac pro laptop, wireless turned off, all other phone leads unplugged, phones switched off etc etc, not near a fish tank, radiator etc etc,
speed still 3mbps. sent them another email, then they asked me to send a copy of my original email (which was already listed underneath the reply to me)
sent it all again....
we see you as getting 6mbps, but we see there is a lot of problems on your line and is getting worse, we will sent you a new micro filter, even though I had told them I had tried 4 others....
get the micro filter...surprise, surprise...still the same, each time they ask me to try the live help, there never seems to be anyone on it, resend emails back to sky help asking to deal direct with tech help rather than customer service as we are just going round in circles each time, asking me to send copies of old emails, try all the tests again...blah blah blah.
yes you can see theres a problem...just sort it please !!
as of today we have sent 12 emails each back and fore, just going round in circles with the same questions and requests to try.


my stats are below, my noise level was 21db till they changed it. but they still say I should be getting 6, but they can still see lots of problems with my line.


Downstream
Connection Speed 4096 kbps
Line Attenuation 46.0 db
Noise Margin 11.6 db


upstream
796Kbps
20.7db
12.0db

[Scubbie]

Welcome to the forum. Looking at what your friend recommended it looks possible that you have installed an i-Plate. This is suitable when there some background noise being picked up on the line which is interfering with your ADSL signal.

It also isolates the internal telephone wiring in your home, another source of interference. Read the article linked below for more information on this topic:

::. Kitz - REIN .::

Since you are able to plug the microfilter into the Test Socket and see the speed drop, this indicates that there is a problem between your home and the telephone exchange. As you can see from the article, the potential sources for such interference can be anything from a faulty street light to a faulty TV in someone's home. If it is a constant issue, then it indicates that the problem is more likely to be related to something which is on all the time too.

Consider any transformers which you may have in your home, such as one for a DECT telephone or charger for a mobile. All have been linked to similar issues.

As for your current line stats, it does help us to see the entire figures. If you could click the WYSIWYG button and repost them it would be useful please. Include the uptimes and the upstream and downstream connection.

Using the checker on this forum, you should be looking at a potential speed of between 6-7mb on the download side. Since the noise margin is higher than what Sky normally targets, it would indicate that the DLM software is picking up a problem.

If you have a corded telephone, could you plug it into the Test socket and let us know if there is still any background noise? Ideally it should be totally quite, but it would be acceptable to have a small amount of background hiss. Any clicking would not be acceptable. You may hear a high-pitched noise like a fax machine. This again would be acceptable. However if you here it with the microfilter plugged in, it might be time to consider getting a new one under normal circumstances.

Another important thing for you to be aware of is that the i-Plate is not normally supplied by BT now. The latest filtered faceplate from BT is the VDSL filtered faceplate. This includes the i-Plate's filtering and a far better filtration for the ADSL (and VDSL) signal. The i-Plate is associated with reducing your potential connection speed in some cases.

So for now, if you could do the above tests and let us know the results. Also post your full stats from both the Test Socket (with the microfilter) and the i-Plate please.

[negativepitch]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
Right then .........we do not have a corded phone, so I cant check for line noise on that, the cordless digi phone sounds as clear as a bell with out any distortion.

I have gone all over the house, upstairs and downstairs, and unplugged from the wall sockets everything from the wall, the only thing I couldnt unplug was the fridge/freezer as its behind the thing, and with out pulling it out, .....so I just switched it off at the wall switch......was a bit of a pain to do, re-setting clocks etc afterwards
even unplugged the house alarm, I couldnt do the smoke detectors as they are mains powered with battery backup.
The heating/water was switched off so no pumps running etc. so nothing was plugged in and running, at all
we live in a fairly new-ish build house, around 15 years ago.

I am running a Mac, so I wasnt sure how to do the WYSIWYG editor, or even find a button inside the router marked the same type of thing as this, or copy stats etc etc.
So I took some screen shots.

Both the tests below were done with out any other telephone wire/lead connected, and I moved the other cable as far away from the main box as I could to try and stop any leakage from them, and the phone was unplugged from the wall anyway, so just one connection to the router and via ethernet cable to the Mac book pro, running safari 6.0.3,
I also tried another spare ethernet cable just in case.

Tried the rebooting of the router etc etc in the past as sky always ask you to do
The router was sat in the middle of the living room more or less with no extension lead from the router mains adaptor to the wall socket. so unless there is interference on the main house wiring I cant say.

I tried five speed test on each to see if I could average it out, but it came up with the same thing more or less each time, never any higher than below, I also closed the window each time between each speed test so it was a fresh page load on each.

This first one below is with the BT iPlate filter fitted and then a speed test.

link here if you cant read the numbers below etc.
http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt115/negativepitch/stats/withiplate.png





The one below is without the BT iPlate but with the new micro filter I got today from Sky, but I get the same thing with another three of my own micro filters I have tried.

Again link here just incase you cant read it below.

http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/t...houtiplate.png






there are no power trans formers near us as far as I know, but there seems to be a BT bloke sat with his umbrella up at the junction box at the start of out estate pretty often


Hope the above is what you needed to see from the router....please say it is after all that

[negativepitch]

EDIT....
ooh! forgot to say, tests done with anti virus switched off (not that you really need it on a Mac ) and firewall turned off just in case, but tried it with it on as well.

[Isitme]

You don't say whether you were plugged into the test socket when doing the second test? The iPlate performs 2 main functions, it includes an RF3 filter which reduces interference on the incoming line and a bell or ring wire filter. From what you are reporting I think it is the latter which is gaining you the speed.

One thing to be careful of is that if DLM is running on your line, it will see the frequent disconnections as a fault and may even reduce your speed further. I would advise fitting the iPlate and the new filter and leaving it alone for 2 or 3 days. Make sure that you have filters fitted to everything you have plugged into the phone line, including and especially STBs.

Ultimately you would be better fitting a filtered face plate which will provide a high quality filter and isolate all your house phone circuit.

[negativepitch]

all tests done plugged into the test socket

part of my argument is with sky, unless a friend on the internet had not even mentioned and sent me the iplate, which i had never heard of in the first place, it was still down to sky to sort it out, I was getting problems before fitting the iplate which sky were aware of, just because I fitted the iplate and it increased the speed just a bit, why couldnt sky sort it out with out me having to buy the iplate from a mate, which in the end is still not giving me the speed that sky have said in three emails to me, not "up to" but the speed I should be getting.
Im paying for a service, they should be sorting it, not relying on me to buy things to increase the speed.

rant over
I would rather just stick the front face back on and just use their micro filter, and not use the iplate or get/buy anything else, and then leave it for a few days to see what the DLM does, and let them sort it out that way with just their stuff,

Edit: Im not sure if you have seen my main reply to scubbie as it includes links and is waiting for it to be moderated before being posted.


Re-edit
whats the STBs..
also on the off chance, this is what it looks like behind the face pale of the main socket.

blue and white going into the test socket....
http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt115/negativepitch/stats/P1000041.jpg


wire spaghetti inside the main box...
http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/P1000042.jpg

three wires going into the phone socket....
http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/P1000043.jpg

[negativepitch]

just checked in my sky, doesnt say if DLM is running at the moment, but it does say is was last run and completed on 11/1/13 which is when my speed increased, but then dropped again after a while.

which filtered face plate would you recommend ? and how easy is it to fit, would I need a tool to insert the wires etc ? and also which wire goes into which socket on the new face plate

my plate at the moment just says BT with the little person blowing the horn or what ever they are doing on the top but looks like the NTE5 plate without the open reach logo on it, so it doesnt say anything special on it,

the other thing Im thinking is, since i have tried both through the iplate and just through the master socket, Im still getting the same readings. as i said i hopefully tells all in my reply to scubbie when its posted.

[dragon2611]

They'd need to reset the DLM or manually set the noise margin to 6db, ideally do it when you have your i-plate or w/e filtered faceplate you have.

[negativepitch]

They'd need to reset the DLM or manually set the noise margin to 6db, ideally do it when you have your i-plate or w/e filtered faceplate you have.

ah..ok...which make filtered face plate is best to buy, I have read that some have a better ferrite coil? than others.

[dragon2611]

ah..ok...which make filtered face plate is best to buy, I have read that some have a better ferrite coil? than others.

No Idea, my house used to be wired in such a way I couldn't use a filtered faceplate, Although I did have one of the ADSL nation Filtered extension sockets and it was pretty decent until someone rammed the sofa into it. (It was behind the sofa)

I think the VDSL ones work for ADSL as well, there was a company selling them but I can't rememeber where I saw it.