Does Sky inform you if DLM has ben activated since first installation?

[Wingco]

About two days ago my router re-synced at a higher rate than that shown in the MySky settings. The snr dropped to 3 where it was 6 before, and my download speeds became erratic. I rebooted the router but the sync and snr remained the same. Speedtests from Speedtest.net are around 8-9mbps, whereas from Thinkbroadband are in the 12-13mbps region.

I was wondering if Sky has activated the DLM on my line?

[Isitme]

Unfortunately you do not get advised when DLM training is put back on your line, which is a bad failing in my opinion. If it is working you will probably see your router resyncing in the early hours. Although they will put it on your MySky page eventually, usually this is after the fact.

[Wingco]

Thanks Tom. It is definitely a bad idea not to inform. I don't know if it is DLM or a faulty router. I suppose I will have to see if it settles down after ten days.

[Scubbie]

You can log into the Sky website and look in the My Sky section. Sometimes when DLM is re-profiling a line it mentions it here.

[Wingco]

Thanks, just had a quick look and nothing current mentioned.

"We constantly monitor your line to make sure it has been set to support the fastest speed possible whilst maintaining a stable connection.

Line connection testing completed on 18/04/2010."

I'll see how things go.

[Wingco]

Interesting, over ten days and still my line appears to be uncapped. I'm not complaining as my down and up speeds have increased. No disconnects during the early hours, suggesting that DLM may not be running. One noticeable difference is my pings have increased, this is nearly always on hop 4, which in my case is the jump from the Easynet network to the Sky network. The increase is around 20ms.

[Wingco]

An interesting fact has come to light. When Sky LLU'd my exchange all connections were pppoa on Easynet kit. A friend of mine had a much better sync speed and download speed than me. He uses the Sky supplied Sagem router. I have always used my own kit. When I recently noticed that the cap on my line had been removed, I assumed it was due to reactivation of DLM.

On checking my friends stats recently I noticed that his sync had reduced and was now below mine. What's more his connection was now MER not pppoa. Obviously a Sky download to his router. The difference to his sync speed was in the region of -5mbps.

I assume it's not possible to force the Sky router to revert to pppoa, am I right?

[Scubbie]

What you say there is interesting.

Sadly there is no way to force a Sky router to use MER or PPPoA. The routers auto-detect the connection and take it from there.

I would be more interested to know which specific Sagem your friend has and if it is the Sagem 2504N which firmware is present.

With the most recent DLM update some are finding that their connection speeds have been improved yet again, above the update which they received last year. Even the upload speeds are now getting better too with over 1200kbps seen.

[Wingco]

Sadly there is no way to force a Sky router to use MER or PPPoA. The routers auto-detect the connection and take it from there.

Thanks for that. My router is still connected by pppoa, so does the Sky kit in the exchange output both?

[Scubbie]

It is possible that your friend is connected physically to a different piece of kit.

Also some ADSL connections actually support both MER & PPPoA. The Sky router will typically default to MER when this is possible.