Broadband/wiring query

[BOAC]

A while back, with excited anticipation, I disconnected the bell wire at all boxes and stood back to see - no change in speed:confused:

A check today in the master socket produced 2560, 1850 on the faceplate socket. So, I checked an unused extension in a bedroom. NOISY! Aha! Disconnect it and.................... no change:confused:

All I have left is 2 non-noisy extensions. BUT there still is a second line BT installed from the pre-broadband days wired off inside the master box. However, even with that undone at the extension socket end..........................no change:confused:

Will it take a while for the speed to adjust to the changes? The changes plugging in and out of the master socket were instant.

I guess I should be grateful I still have the same speed as before the bell-wire caper? I note that my 'Interleaved path FEC correction' ('far-end indicator')?? has gone from 51 to 479 whatever that means.

[mixture]

Herr BOAC,

Changes to cabling infrastructure are instantaneous for fairly obvious reasons.

What you are potentially seing is the "rate-adaptive" aspect of a BT Wholesale based DSL service kicking in.

That does rely on exchange side equipment do fancy things, than that can take some time (from memory I seem to recall a figure of in the order of days before it settles down and decides on a speed).

For "interleaved path FEC correction", try google.... :cool: .... to help you on your way, search results work a peek at may include Security Forums :: View topic - router stats what do these things mean? (http://www.security-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=45510) and noisy line - slow speed :: Technical Issues :: think broadband (http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/technical/3628883-noisy-line-slow-speed.html)

[BOAC]

Yes, thanks - I had 'googled' but could not make head or tail of the numbers - some posters on some of the fora had numbers in 6 digits and there did not seem to be any explanation and both of your links I had seen but since I don't read Greek.......................

I think I'll ignore it.

Anyone know if filters are 'lifed'?:)

[mixture]

Some filters are better than others

adslnation.com - Inside ADSL MicroFilters (http://www.adslnation.com/support/filters.php)

[BOAC]

Thanks again, m - I will do some looking to see what I have.

I also see widly fluctuating download speeds at times, steady'ish at others. At worst, 120-3700kb with a 'norm' as in post #1. What causes this?

[BOAC]

This is strange - IF I physically disconnect all the extensions at the back of the faceplate, my router shows 2400kb. If I then plug into the actual master socket I see 3700kb. It is a 'standard' BT master with detachable faceplate. Is it known for a breakdown to exist in these faceplates? I assume it is just a straight wiring connection between the faceplate male plug and the connectors on the back or is there something else there?

[mixture]

IF I physically disconnect all the extensions at the back of the faceplate,

Oddly enough, I was going to post yesterday to ask you if it was feasible for you to try that experiment. However I figured I'd give other forum members a chance to contribute ! :cool:

It may be an issue with your extension wiring rather than the face plate itself. Perhaps you can get your hands on a spare extension socket and wire that in and see what happens ?

[mixture]

BOAC,

Just a thought, what sort of tool did you use to fit your extension wires to the master IDC connectors ?

Did it look like this :
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a3/Plastic_Insertion_tool.jpg

or this :
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Images/Products/size_3/GPT107.JPG


If the former, then I'm not at all surprised you're having issues. :E

Might just be dodgy IDC mating due to incorrect tooling ?

[BOAC]

I use the nostril hair plucking device below. I don't see a problem with ANY extension wiring since it was disconnected?

Plan 17 is:
1) Contact cleaner into the sockets
if no change
2) I just 'happen' to have a spare BT Master......................

[mixture]

Sounds like a cunning plan.

[BOAC]

Hmm! Up to 3900kb improvement now with c/c, BUT one of my extensions is definitely 'dodgy'. 'Man at work'

Thinks incorrect tooling - isn't that an offence?

[BOAC]

I've had to disconnect that extension, but now have 3900 down at the PC on the RJ45.

The RJ11 telephone socket is, I think, a master which is odd as it comes off a BT master. Could this be the problem?

If not, I'll have to invest in a wireless phone, I reckon.

[mixture]

As far as I know, extension sockets shouldn't have the capacitor or any of the other gubbins that makes would make it a master socket.

[mixture]

- isn't that an offence?

Selling plastic IDC insertion tools should be an offence. :cool:

[BOAC]

I'm afraid it is the way I have the cable run - it was a topic here a year or more ago. A crap builder left me no choice. Even with the BT wires disconnected from the socket, the capacitor and resistor cut I still get the loss. Hey ho - it looks like a wireless phone for me..

[mixture]

Hi,

Yup, sounds like you'll have to put it down as one of life's experiences.

Having been in to help "pick up the pieces" many times over the years, I've come to learn very quickly that you should never trust builders or electricians with data or telecomms cabling.

Take a look at the Siemens Gigaset range of wireless phones .... quite nifty and have some good energy saving features on them, for example you can configure them to turn off the radio subsystem when there's nothing happening..... as a result they can hold their charge for an eternity (well, ok, perhaps more like a week based on my non-scientific experiement)

[BOAC]

To wrap this thread up - I treated myself to a pair of 200mb mains ethernet plugs - brilliant! Problem solved. Fax and phone restored and seamless secure connection to router.

[green granite]

I treated myself to a pair of 200mb mains ethernet plugs

Hope you don't have any amateur radio enthusiasts near by, as those devices don't comply with the EU EMC directives, the RSGB is considering taking Ofcom to court to force them to act, which at the moment they don't want to do, too much money involved.

[BOAC]

Now, why did I just KNOW there would be a problem?:ugh:

[green granite]

:E:E:E:E:E:E..................

[BOAC]

Are you sure you are not mixing this up with Power Line Transmission? These adapters have a max range THROUGH THE WIRING of about 300m so any RF in the 2-30meg band would be very weak I think.

[green granite]

From the RSGB, other documents also here. Power Line Telecommunications (PLT) news page | Radio Society of Great Britain (http://www.rsgb.org/plt/)

The RSGB has fundamental and grave concerns about the decision of Ofcom and the European Union to permit the continued operation of data-over-mains devices (PowerLine Adaptors, or PLA), which provide local Ethernet communication using the house mains wiring. (PLT refers to the more generic description of this technology - PowerLine Telecommunications)

The RSGB is not prepared to allow the HF radio spectrum to be consigned to history, as this spectrum has always provided, and continues to provide, the only means of infrastructure- independent, long-distance point-to-point communications. It is used by broadcasters, who are now rolling out the new DRM digital technology, military, aviation, safety of life, diplomatic/government services, low power devices (including medical) and The Amateur Radio Services. The HF Radio Spectrum is a valuable natural resource, where the proper management of man-made noise through international standards has been achieved over the last half century. The combination of standards requiring low interference from non-radio devices, and disciplined frequency allocation by ITU, has allowed all forms of radio service to co-exist and operate as intended.

This equilibrium is now being severely disturbed by the roll-out of devices which exceed existing standards by a considerable degree over much of the short wave spectrum, and it is this that the RSGB is resolved to reverse.

The EMC Directive of the European Union requires that:

Equipment shall be so designed and manufactured……..to ensure that ……the electromagnetic disturbance generated does not exceed the level above which radio and telecommunications equipment …… cannot be operated as intended (Essential Requirements (1) in Annex 1, relating to Article 5 of the Directive)

Furthermore, although the PLA units, as measured by RSGB and other test houses, are helpfully notched to minimise interference in the amateur frequency bands, they nevertheless produce conducted emissions which will result in interference across much of the rest of the HF Radio Spectrum. The conducted emissions significantly exceed the limits defined in the benchmark relevant international standard CISPR22 (Harmonised EU Standard EN55022).

The RSGB has clear evidence that the use of this equipment is such that it will inevitably cause interference to other radio systems – most notable reception of short-wave broadcasting and DRM. The RSGB contention, therefore, is that not only are the relevant international standards exceeded by up to 1,000 times in terms of the emission of conducted power, but that these emissions inevitably cause radio equipment in the vicinity to fail to ‘function as intended’, contrary to the essential requirement of the EMC Directive.

The RSGB has been in discussion and correspondence with Ofcom over this problem, and this exchange can be followed in the documents below