BT Master socket

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 18 May 2009, 14:28

When I moved into my house about 2 years ago, we had Sky broadband, with a download connection of 14Mbps, this slowly dropped over time to 8Mbps.
About a year ago I changed to O2 broadband, and was getting about 7Mbps down and anywhere between 0.9 and 1.2Mbps up (which is great as I run a web server).
Phoned them up at the weekend due to a few DNS issues they were having, and took advantage of the outage to connect the router to the master socket, which to my suprise had an old BT "T" logo with the dots, with no test socket within (that was one of the things the O2 techie asked me to try).
They tried a few things and concluded that it's most probably the old socket dragging the speed down.
BT will replace the socket if I call for a socket move, and charge me £100, as voicewise there's no issue.
Anyone got any other ideas for options?

DickieG · Post by **DickieG** » 18 May 2009, 15:32

Buy the socket in Maplins or B&Q and DIY, they appear to sell quite a lot of phone equipment.

I wish I could get your broadband speeds, I'm lucky to get 1.0 Mbps

Ross_K · Post by **Ross_K** » 18 May 2009, 16:37

Unplug all phones and filters/splitters and plug the ADSL modem straight into the master socket. the reason I say this is that I've seen filters on the way out dragging the speed down.

Failing that, fit a new master socket yourself:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0372121605

If you're still having problems after that get BT to check your line.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 18 May 2009, 18:07

Cheers for the link Ross, have ordered a new socket.

First thing I did was try a different filter and connect direct to the master socket, got 7Mbps down and 0.9 up.
O2 made a change their end and it got me an extra 300Kbps up but made no effect on the down, and suggested it was an issue with the socket as they expected if the upstream has jumped that much the down should have jumped some too.

MikeT · Post by **MikeT** » 18 May 2009, 18:59

DIY an ADSL socket is my advise too. I wish I kept it now but my local BT engineer once gave me the number to dial to initiate an automatic line test. You can ask them to do this anytime you feel there's a problem but as the line is built for voice and not data, they will only correct voice affecting problems.

Regarding the slowing speeds over time, can you confirm it's not just happening during busy periods as more and more people come on line - the network is shared so you should expect some throttling by your ISP.

Post by **myglaren** » 18 May 2009, 19:24

Could be that initially you were to only customer on your node. As more are added the speed for each individual using that node drops.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 18 May 2009, 19:54

myglaren wrote:Could be that initially you were to only customer on your node. As more are added the speed for each individual using that node drops.

That would give a varying connection speed depending on the contention at the time or a fixed max if it was manually capped.
I'm currently on £10 a month for up to 16Mbps so if a new socket doesn't improve things I can drop to up up to 8Mbps for £5 a month as long as only my bill changes and they don't reduce my upstream!

Sid_the_Squid · Post by **Sid_the_Squid** » 18 May 2009, 20:49

Hey Xac, According to the o2 blurb, the 'standard' package has the same upload as the 'premium' package at 1.3mb/s

I'm currently an o2 bb customer on the 'standard' package, no LLU in my area, my router reckons 979kb up, but the web benchmark says closer to 825kb/s

Overall I've found o2 board band to be very good.

o2 stuff
http://broadband.o2.co.uk/home/packages.jsp

broadband speed tester I used
http://www.mybroadbandspeed.co.uk/

dnsey · Post by **dnsey** » 18 May 2009, 21:36

Bear in mind that most changes won't have an instant effect. To over-simplify somewhat, the DSL line is set dynamically to the highest speed that will maintain a reliable connection in each case. If you improve things, it will take a while (at least a few hours) for the system to recognise the potential for higher speed, and increase your down/upload speed accordingly.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 18 May 2009, 23:36

Sid_the_Squid wrote:Hey Xac, According to the o2 blurb, the 'standard' package has the same upload as the 'premium' package at 1.3mb/s

I'm currently an o2 bb customer on the 'standard' package, no LLU in my area, my router reckons 979kb up, but the web benchmark says closer to 825kb/s

Overall I've found o2 board band to be very good.

Good to know both packages have the same upstream and it's a decent rate

So the worst case scenario is I save £5 a month

i have to say I've never had a problem with O2 broadband, free 24/7 support that doesn't fob you off.

Homer · Post by **Homer** » 19 May 2009, 00:44

Xac wrote:Cheers for the link Ross, have ordered a new socket.

First thing I did was try a different filter and connect direct to the master socket, got 7Mbps down and 0.9 up.

What's the SNR?

Normally it will aim to get the SNR at 6 but if your line has had problems the target may get raised with a corresponding drop in the synch speed.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 19 May 2009, 01:16

KP · Post by KP » 19 May 2009, 15:16

BT should if they visit replace the socket FOC in my experience.
The problem is there is usually a built in capacitor of sorts that does the ring part of the circuit and helps protect BTO's equipment and also your equipment from them or outside shocks.

This often fails after about 20years and is best off being replaced with an NTE5 socket and faceplate. Dont bother with a fancy ADSL faceplate. more hassle than they are with in my experience and easier to get decent filters and use them instead.

Make sure if you do DIY it that you get the wiring right for the back plate and the front plate and be warned that there may not be very much slack to work with if someone has got there before you, BT CSE's generally leave a few inches on the drop and internal cables for future problems and easier terminations for extra extensions.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 19 May 2009, 15:51

That's what we're suspecting has happend with the capacitor in the current socket.
BT unfortunately said as there's no problem with the voice line they won't come out and swap it without a £100 charge.

Thankfully it's just on the end of the black lead that comes through the window frame so there's plenty of wire to work with.

New socket should arrive in a couple of days.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 20 May 2009, 16:45

Well, fitted the new master socket and still only getting 7.1Mbps down.
Looks like I'll have to call O2 and get them to drop me to the 8Mbps tarrif.