Our Sydenham exchange was upgraded to 21CN recently - that's BT 21st century whizzy-wizz telephone system. It also enables faster ADSL2+ broadband over ordinary BT lines.
I'm now getting 12Mbps downloads at peak on a 15Mbps connection. I'm about 600 yards from the exchange which is opposite Thicket Road on Crystal Palace Park Road, Penge.
Anybody else benefiting?
Admin
Sydenham Telephone Exchange Upgrade
try this site, getting 5mb myself but that's the package I'm on
http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk
http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk
Assuming you're paying for a 5Mbps line Annie then they're about right. Upload is always less than download.Annie wrote:I did the test you sent me,thank you,
and i got the results below
5056 kbps and 360kbps
are these good or bad?
As for benefiting I'm getting upgraded from a bog-standard 2meg line to a 10meg line for free for a year. I'm assuming this is to get me to try it and see...probably as a direct result of the upgrade?
Most people using a BT line (which does include many non BT ISPs - I use Zen) are on ADSL Max which has a headline rate of 8Mbps. Nobody gets this. I got close at with a downlink connection of 7.6Mbps. You can usually find the connect speed by logging into your router if you haven't lost the manual.
The connection speed is negotiated between your modem and the exchange based on the quality of your telephone line. Basically the further you are from the exchange the lower it will be as there is more noise on the line. It can also be affected by the quality of wiring in your home, the number of extensions etc.
The actual achieved download speed achieved will be lower than the connection speed. This is affected by the site you are downloading from, the quality of the ISPs network (which sits behind BT) and even your own kit. Some ISPs - notably BT's own 'shape' traffic - that is they don't provide sufficient capacity and restrict traffic at peak times. Before tmy re-grade I got downloads around 5/6 Mbps like you.
So Annie - your result is quite respectable for an 8Mbps service. Does your ISP offer the ADSL2+ service? It is often quoted as 20Mbps. It just about doubled my connection and transfer rates. As a 'no-cost' regrade it was a no-brainer as long as your modem supports ADSL2+.
I use http://speedtest.net 'cos its prettier
The connection speed is negotiated between your modem and the exchange based on the quality of your telephone line. Basically the further you are from the exchange the lower it will be as there is more noise on the line. It can also be affected by the quality of wiring in your home, the number of extensions etc.
The actual achieved download speed achieved will be lower than the connection speed. This is affected by the site you are downloading from, the quality of the ISPs network (which sits behind BT) and even your own kit. Some ISPs - notably BT's own 'shape' traffic - that is they don't provide sufficient capacity and restrict traffic at peak times. Before tmy re-grade I got downloads around 5/6 Mbps like you.
So Annie - your result is quite respectable for an 8Mbps service. Does your ISP offer the ADSL2+ service? It is often quoted as 20Mbps. It just about doubled my connection and transfer rates. As a 'no-cost' regrade it was a no-brainer as long as your modem supports ADSL2+.
I use http://speedtest.net 'cos its prettier
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chrisj1948
- Posts: 538
- Joined: 15 Jul 2008 15:12
- Location: Sydenham
My ISP is Demon (Cable & Wireless). I was upgraded in the summer to ADSL2+. Upload speeds nearly quadrupled (welcome since I run a web server for photos) but download connection speed stayed about the same at around 6,5Mbps. Reliability became much worse. The line goes down a couple of times a day, and the S/N ratio drops after connection until I often have to reboot the router to get a service. In total it has been a retrograde 'enhancement' for me.
Regards
Chris
Regards
Chris
Chris - I had exactly the same symptoms on re-grade. The uplink increased but the downlink stayed at 7616Kbps. This was because although my modem was in multimode - that did not include ADSL2+. I had to physically select the ADSL2+ option. On reboot it immediately picked up the 15000Kbps connect and we were flying.
It got brought back down to 7616Kbps as soon as my daughter turned her laptop on. Turned out this had a very noisy power supply. It is now banned. The problem with operating near the margins is that there are more things that will interfere.
Try a few things, talk to Demon - do they have a forum where users exchange experiences using your type of modem?
Admin
It got brought back down to 7616Kbps as soon as my daughter turned her laptop on. Turned out this had a very noisy power supply. It is now banned. The problem with operating near the margins is that there are more things that will interfere.
Try a few things, talk to Demon - do they have a forum where users exchange experiences using your type of modem?
Admin
This is proving interesting.
As I might have mentioned I've another place on Crystal Palace Park Road here in Sydders. I'm about the same distance as you are from the Sydenham Exchange Admin [and it is in Sydenham, not Penge BTW, perhaps you meant Thicket Road was Penge?] but I'm showing a max possible connection speed of 9Mbps despite it being close to the exchange and BT claiming the service should be 20meg...
My main place at the top of Knighton Park Road shows the same theoretical max even though it's much further away.
It does beg the question, do you have to live IN the exchange to get the speed quoted of 20meg!?
The Sydenham exchange covers all numbers from 020 8659 - 020 8778.
Why have I got it in my head that there's also an exhange off Newlands Park?...
As I might have mentioned I've another place on Crystal Palace Park Road here in Sydders. I'm about the same distance as you are from the Sydenham Exchange Admin [and it is in Sydenham, not Penge BTW, perhaps you meant Thicket Road was Penge?] but I'm showing a max possible connection speed of 9Mbps despite it being close to the exchange and BT claiming the service should be 20meg...
My main place at the top of Knighton Park Road shows the same theoretical max even though it's much further away.
It does beg the question, do you have to live IN the exchange to get the speed quoted of 20meg!?
The Sydenham exchange covers all numbers from 020 8659 - 020 8778.
Why have I got it in my head that there's also an exhange off Newlands Park?...
Assuming you're paying for a 5Mbps line Annie then they're about right. Upload is always less than download.
As for benefiting I'm getting upgraded from a bog-standard 2meg line to a 10meg line for free for a year. I'm assuming this is to get me to try it and see...probably as a direct result of the upgrade?[/quote]
To be honest I have no idea what I am paying for, I pay AOL and use my laptop wirelessly, I live round the corner from the Sydenham exchange,I think it is Aol 9 silver?
As for benefiting I'm getting upgraded from a bog-standard 2meg line to a 10meg line for free for a year. I'm assuming this is to get me to try it and see...probably as a direct result of the upgrade?[/quote]
To be honest I have no idea what I am paying for, I pay AOL and use my laptop wirelessly, I live round the corner from the Sydenham exchange,I think it is Aol 9 silver?
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chrisj1948
- Posts: 538
- Joined: 15 Jul 2008 15:12
- Location: Sydenham
I am using a 3com router which is labeled as ADSL2+ but has no specific method of enabling that mode ... I just thought it sensed it by itself.admin wrote:Chris - I had exactly the same symptoms on re-grade. The uplink increased but the downlink stayed at 7616Kbps. This was because although my modem was in multimode - that did not include ADSL2+. I had to physically select the ADSL2+ option. On reboot it immediately picked up the 15000Kbps connect and we were flying.
My attenuation is 50db, and SNR varies from 9db on connection to negative values after a period. Negative normally means that there is a noticeable performance degradation and it is time to re-boot. I think my high attenuation is what restricts the connection speed.
Regards
Chris
Chris - my downlink SNR was 9.0db on 7616 and drops to 5.5db at 15321kbps. ADSL2+. I think that is normal.
If your SNR is changing significantly during a connection (that is mote than .5db) then there is something up. Does your modem show the exact uplink/downlink speed of the connection, whether it is interleaved, connection type and so on? Could it be switching?
Does your modem have the latest firmware? Some manufacturers do push gear out of the door that is supposed to do stuff but the software may still be in development!
I'm a D-Link fan but my original modem/router worked fine from the original 512Kbps to 2Mbps. It did work with ADSL Max but was a bit unstable. A new D-Link sorted it back to rock solid. Most of the problems appear to be an old modems not quite coping with the higher speeds. If your firmware is the latest my best suggestion is to try somebody else's modem and see if it makes a difference before shelling out on a replacement.
Otherwise you should be able to lock down your connection to ADSL2 or get Demon to revert the regrade. My ISP offers free reversion to people who have issues.
Admin
If your SNR is changing significantly during a connection (that is mote than .5db) then there is something up. Does your modem show the exact uplink/downlink speed of the connection, whether it is interleaved, connection type and so on? Could it be switching?
Does your modem have the latest firmware? Some manufacturers do push gear out of the door that is supposed to do stuff but the software may still be in development!
I'm a D-Link fan but my original modem/router worked fine from the original 512Kbps to 2Mbps. It did work with ADSL Max but was a bit unstable. A new D-Link sorted it back to rock solid. Most of the problems appear to be an old modems not quite coping with the higher speeds. If your firmware is the latest my best suggestion is to try somebody else's modem and see if it makes a difference before shelling out on a replacement.
Otherwise you should be able to lock down your connection to ADSL2 or get Demon to revert the regrade. My ISP offers free reversion to people who have issues.
Admin
No - I think you have to inside the BT Reaearch Lab. I doubt if BT claims 20Mbps connect speed (download speeds will always be lower). Its bound to be 'upto 20Mbps connection'. Some ISPs are quite angry about this as if one claims 20Mbps the others have to say they can match the speeds since they are using the same infrastructure. However the earache they get when false expectations are not met ruins their reputation. It seems BT care less.Ulysses wrote:It does beg the question, do you have to live IN the exchange to get the speed quoted of 20meg!?.
It is the type and length of the cable from the exchange that counts. Cables don't always take a direct route. If there is some aluminium cable (used in the 50's) its a killer. Then there is your home network. One thing to try is disconnecting all phones and removing the microfilters (if you use them). Does this make any difference? Also telephone cables are sometimes laid in the same ducts as power cables and can pick up interference that way. Turn everything possible off - does that improve things? If it does you can work backwards to find the equipment causing an issue.
As I mentioned to Chris - your modem should have the latest firmware. I'm also convinced that some gear is better than others. Its not always a matter of price either.
Finally are you talking connect speed or download speed? 9Mbps download would not seem too unreasonable where you are unless you have a very clean line.
Admin
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chrisj1948
- Posts: 538
- Joined: 15 Jul 2008 15:12
- Location: Sydenham
Admin
When the upgrade came, and things were worse, I tried applying the latest router firmware version. It made no difference, and was a real pain to apply since I have a lot of port and other configuration to support my rather complex system here, and that had to be re-applied from scratch. It turns out a further upgrade appeared a couple of months later. I might apply that if I find the time and energy.
I did buy another router to see if that helped. It did not appear to make a great difference and could not support the port and DHCP scheme I wanted, so that is shelved at the moment.
A rumour (urban myth?) is that the AR7 chipset in my router is known to be poor with C&W kit.
I hobble along. I am reluctant to drop back to ADSL2 because the 800kbps upload speed is good for those who download from my site.
Regards
Chris
Status
Configured Current
Line Status --- SHOWTIME
Link Type --- Interleaved Path
Data Rate
Stream Type Actual Data Rate
Up Stream 811 (Kbps.)
Down Stream 6885 (Kbps.)
Operation Data
Operation Data Upstream Downstream
Noise Margin 5 dB 3 dB
Attenuation 61 dB 50 dB
Defect Indication
Indicator Name Near End Indicator Far End Indicator
Fast Path FEC Correction 0 0
Interleaved Path FEC Correction 0 113491
Fast Path CRC Error 19 0
Interleaved Path CRC Error 0 665
Loss of Signal Defect 0 ---
Fast Path HEC Error 8 0
Interleaved Path HEC Error 0 0
Statistics
Received Bytes 18980496
Transmitted Bytes 25113648
When the upgrade came, and things were worse, I tried applying the latest router firmware version. It made no difference, and was a real pain to apply since I have a lot of port and other configuration to support my rather complex system here, and that had to be re-applied from scratch. It turns out a further upgrade appeared a couple of months later. I might apply that if I find the time and energy.
I did buy another router to see if that helped. It did not appear to make a great difference and could not support the port and DHCP scheme I wanted, so that is shelved at the moment.
A rumour (urban myth?) is that the AR7 chipset in my router is known to be poor with C&W kit.
I hobble along. I am reluctant to drop back to ADSL2 because the 800kbps upload speed is good for those who download from my site.
Regards
Chris
Status
Configured Current
Line Status --- SHOWTIME
Link Type --- Interleaved Path
Data Rate
Stream Type Actual Data Rate
Up Stream 811 (Kbps.)
Down Stream 6885 (Kbps.)
Operation Data
Operation Data Upstream Downstream
Noise Margin 5 dB 3 dB
Attenuation 61 dB 50 dB
Defect Indication
Indicator Name Near End Indicator Far End Indicator
Fast Path FEC Correction 0 0
Interleaved Path FEC Correction 0 113491
Fast Path CRC Error 19 0
Interleaved Path CRC Error 0 665
Loss of Signal Defect 0 ---
Fast Path HEC Error 8 0
Interleaved Path HEC Error 0 0
Statistics
Received Bytes 18980496
Transmitted Bytes 25113648
When I was running in ADSL2 mode after the regrade the downlink stayed at 7616Kbps but the uplink went from 448Kbps to 848Kbps. When I switched to ADSL2+ mode the uplink nudged up to 888Kbps. If that replicates on your system your server issue might be solved.chrisj1948 wrote:I hobble along. I am reluctant to drop back to ADSL2 because the 800kbps upload speed is good for those who download from my site.
FYI my router is a D-Link DSL-G624M. No idea about chipset.
Admin
I am with 'Be Unlimited' which is an ADSL2+ operator. I am on the 'Be Value' package which for £13.50 a month offers up to 8Mbps download & 1Mbps upload.
I am roughly 800m or 900 yards from the Sydenham exchange, and using the speed test site above I got the following results
14000Kbps downloading
1110Kbps uploading
Downloading is usually around 12000Kbps, so maybe things have improved.
I get superb results when you look at what I am paying for. I guess all users on 'Be Unlimited' are on 24Mbps and they then limit you if your on the cheap package. It appears I am not being limited enough.
I can highly recommend 'e Unlimited's value package at if you use the Sydenham Exchange
I am roughly 800m or 900 yards from the Sydenham exchange, and using the speed test site above I got the following results
14000Kbps downloading
1110Kbps uploading
Downloading is usually around 12000Kbps, so maybe things have improved.
I get superb results when you look at what I am paying for. I guess all users on 'Be Unlimited' are on 24Mbps and they then limit you if your on the cheap package. It appears I am not being limited enough.
I can highly recommend 'e Unlimited's value package at if you use the Sydenham Exchange