Kayak. Thx for time.
BT desktop Help manager gives me download speed of 3.018
Not sure about the other info. From the router manager stats, are these what you mean?

Statistics Downstream Upstream
Line Rate 8128 Kbps 448 Kbps
Noise Margin 8.5 dB 22.0 dB
Line Attenuation 39.0 dB 20.0 dB
Output Power 19.8 dBm 11.8 dBm

Edit: Can't get them into neat boxes - sorry

Bolshi

I found the following tweak sites:-

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/tweak2.htm

http://www.aopr43.dsl.pipex.com/ppages/tweaks.shtml

I've not had a need to look at anything like this yet myself, because my own 1.1Mbps BT Broadband speed is mostly OK, but it looks like the stuff on these pages can be used by anyone to tweak and get an improvement.

And I also found a Tweaktester.

"Your PC may not be setup properly to take full advantage of broadband speeds. Modifying your configuration to maximise performance is known as tweaking. For many users, tweaking is a misnomer as it implies subtle improvements. Fixing huge problems is more accurate!"

http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks

Tweaking might fix
Slow download speeds
Download slower than upload speed
Skipping in TCP streaming video/audio
Blank web pages
Connection issues to some sites

That's it Bolshi.

You're connecting at the highest possible speed with Max DSL, 8Mb/s downstream and 448Kb/s up. Your maximum throughput in terms of data should be around 7Mb/s (there is overhead to take off the 8Mb) but you're getting less than half that on BT's speed test. You can try the speed test at http://www.adslguide.org.uk/tools/speedtest.asp which is sometimes more accurate. If you still get a low result then the speed test at http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/btwspeedtest.htm will help you see whether the problem is at BT wholesale (BTw, who provide the equipment in the exchanges) or with BT retail (who provide you with your service). If the former then the problem is due to lack of capacity at the exchange and you are not likely to get benefit from changing ISP. If the latter then changing ISP will be of benefit.

As for the remaining numbers you posted up, the downstream attenuation of 39dB is the amount the ADSL signal has decreased over the distance from the exchange. It probably indicates a cable run of around 2-3Km which if you can see the roof of the exchange either means that the cable takes a very roundabout route or that the wiring is of poor quality. Either way you're stuck with that. It makes no difference at the moment since you're on the top speed but when ADSL2+ comes in with speeds up to 24Mb/s you will probably find you won't get too much more than you're getting at the moment.

The Noise Margin is the strength of the ADSL signal over background noise and the figure is not too bad in your case. This is very dependent on the quality of the house wiring and the main way to improve it is to separate the ADSL signal out at the master socket with a built-in filter rather than piping it around the house. However in your case there would not be a huge benefit in messing around since you are already at the highest speed.

You can try the tweaks Doc suggests. In terms of general browsing speed with IE, if you're comfortable changing the registry then the following change will give a large benefit as it means IE can request 16 files at the same time rather than the default 4, I think.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings: Set MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server and MaxConnectionsPerServer to 16 decimal.

By the way, BT have said in the past that people should not expect the performance of MaxDSL to be much more than 2Mb/s at peak times, although most people are getting more than that, and certainly off-peak.

Many thanks Kayak & Doc. I'll get onto it. Not very encouraging to know that adsl2+ not going to do much for me. Hey-ho.
I wonder if I can talk BT into giving me bunched pairs?

I've tried the adslguide tester by the way and I just get the blank grey square. I've done as they suggested and deleted and re-installed Java bt I think there may be a problem with their tester itself.

I'll have a go at the registry tweek (after backing up my old registry settings). Thx again

Kayak: Under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings
I don't have any MaxConnections.... (or like) value names.

Bolshi, create them if they are not there. The first few I have in there are AutoConfigProxy, CertificateRevocation, DisableCachingOfSSLPages, EmailName, EnableAutodial etc. etc.

Kayak, yep I have those first as well. I've never created value's but game for it :-)
I am using Registry Magic which is a Fix-It utility so not totally flying blind - just a little bit foggy!
Because I couldn't find the values I started a "Find" command looking for "MaxConnectionsPer*" under My Computer searching for a Value Name. It started at 1535 and still going strong!!!! I'll cancel it.

My other thought was to lower the line resistance of household wiring. I am connected via Ethernet (someone told me it was the most efficient way), but my router is plugged in via a small extension off the bedroom extention (18 metres-ish + 2 plug and sockets). I reckon to save a few ohms by plugging router in to main telephone socket and then wireless to my PC. Is it worth it do you reckon?

My eldest lad has just emailed me with this problem,any ideas please ????

HELP.............bought a wireless router and a wireless card for the pc but still cant get connected to the internet via it..........the comp will work great with my broadband until I try to use the router then I get no internet connection I get all the correct lights up, excellent strength signal but I cant get my server to work with it..........my server is AOL and ive tried asking it to find new connection but its not playing.


Hope someone can help please !!!

Rick...

It's not a question of Ohms (after all the signal has come a few thousand meters already) but of how far around the house the ADSL signal travels. As it travels it will be subject to interference from household appliances as well as from the bell wire which is split out at the master socket in UK installations. The bell wire acts as an aerial picking up AM stations which interfere with the ADSL signal.

Ergo the best thing to do is to split out the ADSL signal at the master socket and only pass the telephone signal to the extensions. If you have a modern master socket with the two halves there is a replacement half which does this. But it won't actually help you at this stage since you are already on the maximum speed of 8192kbps. The lowering in performance in going to a wireless connection would be much greater.

Mega:

I have a hunch that AOL only supports routers at certain subscription levels (eg AOL Gold).

[Edit]
Log into aol then use this url:

http://channels.aolsvc.co.uk/homenet/article.adp?id=20040806095509990002&n=navbar&p=Setting%20up%20a%20wireless%20network%20homenet_setting_network&c=homenet

Gives the router settings required. (According to my son!)

MM

Derek,thanks will pass that answer on !!!

Rick...

Rick -- see edit in my post (above).

Derek

Kayak, interested in your post 4511. I am currently rewiring my phone system as it was previously split 2 ways at entry into the house. I now have it wired from the master socket to the first extension, where the router now sits providing wireless signals to my computers. I am extending the wiring to a second socket some distance away which will be the socket the router then sits at. It isn't necessary to have a phone at this point. Should I try and split the adsl signal at entry instead or carry on to finish what I'm doing now and see what transpires?

It is generally much better to split the signal at entry. Ideally, the cabling would run from the external BT junction box by the shortest path straight to the master socket situated next to the router, you would have a new style master socket (NTE-5) with the top half replaced by http://www.adslnation.com/products/xte2005.php, the router plugged into that socket, and the wiring continuing to the extension (voice) sockets without the ADSL signal.

Of course it is illegal to tamper with the BT wiring up to the master socket in a way that would be obvious to BT, and it is illegal to buy an NTE-5 master socket (with BT logo) on eBay to replace an older one yourself. It is however legal to pay BT 100+ to do it all for you :-)

Another possible solution is to split the signal at the master socket, in a different room to the router, and then carry the ADSL signal over a standard telephone pair (or preferably CAT-5e/6 cable) to the router, separately from the voice wiring.

It is also possible to have the router on an extension socket but disconnect the third (ring) wire throughout the house, at both ends of each run. When you use an ADSL filter on a telephone, the filter will generate a ring wire for its telephone. It avoids interference from the ring wire acting as an aerial. Modern phones normally ignore the ring wire anyway. The ring wire was introduced in the UK to stop the tinkling of the bells on telephones throughout the house that happens in other countries when you dial on a pulse dial telephone. Very few people still have pulse dial telephones and so the whole thing is now quite redundant.

It is however all a lot of trouble to go to unless you have house wiring that is introducing signal to noise ratio losses. If you do, then the effect will be impressive. If you don't, it will be marginal. If anyone is in doubt and can produce speed/attenuation/SNR figures on their current setup I can try to advise or of course the forums at ADSLGuide are full of experts.

Kayak, that's brilliant. Thanks. I won't do anything that's illegal or buy anything suitable on ebay, I'd much rather pay BT :-)

Kayak,

Interesting to learn about the belll wire.

We live in a 1902 apartment block. A previous owner installed a separate bell.

Since we introduced ADSL we have had the bell ting as we use, or stop using, a phone. I don't think we had that effect before we got broadband.

I also have a real problem getting any distance out of my wireless modem/router. It barely goes from one room to the next and yet I am constantly told of people getting signals from neighbours houses.

I listen to an AM station for Wake Up to Money whilst shaving and I am aware of masses of interference. Only this morning I carried the radio around the flat trying to diagnose where it was worst in an attempt to source the problem.

My feeling was that if I could find out where the problem arose it might be possible to disconnect something. It did seem worse near door jams and I was surprised as I'd have expected it to be worse near light switches and power points. I'll look at this remote phone bell when I get home this evening.

I'd willingly pay 100 to BT to sort it out - but always worry that it would be money down the drain (a bit like the rogue plumber who wants to descale your boiler instead of re-lighting the pilot light).

Am I on the right track?

TP

You may well be on the right track TP. Tuning an AM radio between stations and listening for background noise is said to be a good way to listen to the ADSL signal. The signal should stop if you unplug the router from the phone socket and turn it off (perhaps after a while).

If it's an old house the telephone wiring may well be a mess particularly if it was added to bit by bit over the years. If you have a modern BT master socket you can sort out the wiring after it yourself if you want. Probably best to rip all the old cable out and start again. There is plenty of stuff on the internet on what wires to connect.

Which brings me to one problem you have, which is that the bell should of course have a broadband filter before it just like the phones! Difficult to do if it's plumbed in. Personally I would just disconnect it or replace it with a telephone socket and phone.

Surprisingly, given what it's trying to do, the frequency used for the signal in wireless routers has a lot of trouble going through walls. Stud partitions are OK but brickwork is a problem. Your old house will have thick brick walls everywhere. The signal will be going through the doorways and up and down the floors, so the people in the flats above and below will get brilliant reception. In a house a lot of people put their router in the loft but I guess you won't be able to do that. Mirrors are another no no apparently. Some of the newer 108Mbps routers handle this sort of situation much better, but that technology is evolving quickly at the moment.