Sky Broadband taking the mick?

JPS

Hey guys

I had Sky Broadband activated 9 days ago. I am paying for the Max service, which gets me up to 20mb.

However, I originally got a letter saying that they will start the connection off at 4MB and increase it gradually until the maximum is reached. I have logged in to Sky and it says line testing is now complete with a line speed of 4MB. It didn't go any faster within the testing period. It has always shown exactly the same connection speed on a speed test (bang on 4300kbs).

I am 99% sure my line is easily capable of going faster than 4MB, but they seemed to have capped it to this.

Has anyone had any experience with them before about this? I did email them and they said they had made some adjustments but nothing changed.

If I try and ring them I can never see to get through....

I'm just sure my connection can go faster if they were to set the line to a faster speed and it's really frustrating that I am paying for (up to) 20mb and only getting 4mb. Any ideas on who to contact?

Red_Dwarf

What makes you sure your line can go faster? Have you had ADSL on your line before at faster speed? If any of your neighbours have ADSL, maybe check what speed they are getting.

It would help if you could paste your router stats in here, to see what sort of line you have. To do this, open 192.168.0.1 in a browser, user: admin password: sky (if you havnt changed the pass) and click the "show statistics" button. Paste the results of the page in here, particularly the figure called "attenuation".

ADSL depends on line length and quality. The further the distance from you to your BT exchange, the lower your speed will be, you can also have a short line, but bad quality, which again will lower the speed.

And yes I know, it seems unfair that you are paying for 20mb and only getting 4mb, but thats how ADSL works. Speed is never guaranteed, two people can be paying the same amount for an identical service, one could be getting 20mb, one could be getting 2mb.

It's unfair, but thats just how it is in this crazy world!

JPS

Thanks RD. I have just moved in so I have not had ADSL on here before but it is just the way my speed tests ALWAYS go to 4300kbs no matter what time of day, and I have been told I should easily be able to get more than 4MB, I am only .8km from the exchange.

My stats are:

ADSL LinkDownstreamUpstreamConnection Speed7616 kbps764 kbpsLine Attenuation41.0 db22.4 dbNoise Margin8.1 db13.0 db

I just get the impression that Sky never increased the line bandwidth from 4mb since it was first connected as a "trial" speed.

penrhyn

Sky will put your connection on DLM (Dynamic line management) for the first 10 days or so. Ideally you should leave it connected continually.
Download Speed 7616 kbps Upload 764 kbps
Line Attenuation down 41.0 db up 22.4 db
Noise Margin down 8.1 db up 13.0 db

From your stats you are connecting at 7.6 Mbps.
Its possible that by now thy have capped your line to get it stable.
However with your line attenuation you should be able to get 10 - 12 Mbps.
Plug into the test socket, unscrew the faceplate on your master socket to find it, and repost your stats.

Red_Dwarf

Yea, I'd give it a few more days or so, as the above post said, at least 10 days.

Your speed goes up and down like a yo-yo for at least the first 10 days until they find a suitable speed that is stable.

Going by those line stats, i think the 7meg is roughly what you should end up with in any case.

jamesb1239

JPS wrote: »

Thanks RD. I have just moved in so I have not had ADSL on here before but it is just the way my speed tests ALWAYS go to 4300kbs no matter what time of day, and I have been told I should easily be able to get more than 4MB, I am only .8km from the exchange.

My stats are:

ADSL LinkDownstreamUpstreamConnection Speed7616 kbps764 kbpsLine Attenuation41.0 db22.4 dbNoise Margin8.1 db13.0 db

I just get the impression that Sky never increased the line bandwidth from 4mb since it was first connected as a "trial" speed.

Your actually receiving 7Mbps download and 764 kbps (3/4 Mbps) from the downstram attenuation of 41db i would say that you are closer to 3km from the exchange (remember it doesnt go as the crow flies as cables dont take the quickest route).
Are you sure that you have microfilters on all equipment connected to the line and are not using a telephone extension lead? If there were any problems such as missing filters etc then call sky tech support and ask them to re-run DLM on your line which will re-train the line. Hope that helps

JPS

This is what I have been thinking.....positive someone at Sky just ticked a little box saying 4mb! lol

I have been using www.speedtest.net to do speed tests but when I download torrents I max out at 350kbs odd.

Will try plugging in to master socket now. I have emailed Sky again explaining all of this. I am sure it is down to them changing the settings at their end. 10-12mbps would just be awesome and I am determined to get the fastest speed possible! I could only get 2.5mbps in my old place you see.

Thanks for your help guys I'll post back when I have tried the master socket.

JPS

Only have one phone and that is going through microfilter which the router is connected to, which connects to the main phone box in the lounge. Have tried rebooting but it is always bang on 4.3mbps in speed tests.

JPS

Just tried master socket, exactly the same....

JPS

jamesb1239 wrote: »

Your actually receiving 7Mbps download and 764 kbps (3/4 Mbps) from the downstram attenuation of 41db i would say that you are closer to 3km from the exchange (remember it doesnt go as the crow flies as cables dont take the quickest route).
Are you sure that you have microfilters on all equipment connected to the line and are not using a telephone extension lead? If there were any problems such as missing filters etc then call sky tech support and ask them to re-run DLM on your line which will re-train the line. Hope that helps

Having checked again, it looks like I am .9km from the exchange, but certainly not 3km

Red_Dwarf

Attenuation of 41dB is around the 3km mark, you may be much closer than this in a straight line, but lines can be twice as long as the straight line.

Infact my brother lived 500m away from his exchange, but his actual line length was 2km because he lived beside a canal, so the line had to go down one side, across the bridge, and up the other side (instead of just going underwater)

If you are connected at 7.6meg and only getting 4.35meg, constantly, then they have probably capped your line at this until DLM is finished. Though I have doubts as to wether or not your line is actually on DLM, since one of the tell tale signs of Sky's DLM is an upload rate of either 412 or 794, you have neither. But I'd wait until the 10 days are up at least, before contacting them.

10-12meg is a bit optimistic for that attenuation, id say closer to 8-9 and considering you are already connected at 7.6, this might not be too far from where it ends up.