What am I looking at in my modem stats?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › What am I looking at in my modem stats?

tallmaninthecnr

128 posts

Master Geek

#111191 26-Oct-2012 19:45

Hi can someone educate me as to what I am looking at when I look at this information on my router. I am will Telecom.

The reason I ask is that quite a few years ago we were have connectivity issues with lots of disconnects and they resolved the matter at the time but I am pretty sure they said they did something at the port? to cap the speed. That was a few years ago and before we had access to ADSL2 I believe. We are I think on the Three Kings exchange.

I am particularly interested about the 'Max Rate' 4552 kbs

thanks

ps happy to be educated about any info of note from the 2 pics.

vexxxboy

3308 posts

Uber Geek

#707144 26-Oct-2012 19:53

those stats are fine because you are still on ADSL , it maybe because of your modem, how old and what mode,l because your upload speeds are ADSL2 speed

Common sense is not as common as you think.

tallmaninthecnr

128 posts

Master Geek

#707167 26-Oct-2012 20:47

vexxxboy: those stats are fine because you are still on ADSL , it maybe because of your modem, how old and what mode,l because your upload speeds are ADSL2 speed

Model details are listed in the first picture.

raytaylor

3461 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#707193 26-Oct-2012 21:20

System information
Pretty self explanatory

DSL Line (Wire Pair)
Tells you its using the middle pair (two of the 4 pins) on the dsl plug at the back of the modem

Rate
The rate that the line is currently running at

Max Rate
The maximum rate that the line has been capable of since it connected to the dslam.

The port speed can be limited so that the modem doesnt 'try' to achieve what it is capable of due to interference. By trying to overreach, the interference / crosstalk between pairs (telephone lines) running in the trunk cable down the street can cause it to disconnect.

Noise Margin
A measurement of how much better the signal level from the dslam is over the noise caused by crosstalk and other interference (like AM radio) that is being detected.

Attenuation
A measurement of how much the signal degrades as it passes down the telephone line copper itself, and through other items of hardware such as solder joints and cable joiners inside cabinets and streetside connection points.
More attenuation = longer line, or bad joints.

Output Power
The transmission power level of the signal being sent down the line
A higher power level will go further, but more signal will be leaked into other lines by crosstalk which can slow them down.

It can be a difficult balancing act to get the right transmission power level so that there isnt too much noise on each line coming out from the DSLAM or exchange. Eg. higher power helps speed up those further away with a longer loop/line length, but slows down people closer because they pick up more crosstalk noise.

Protocol
The language your modem is talking to the DSLAM. See wikipecia for the ADSL annex speed specifications
Some modes sacrifice downstream speed for upload speed - eg one mode allows up to 2mbit upload but you loose alot of download speed. SHDSL offers speed of 2mbit down, and 2mbit up. ADSL offers 8mbit down, 1mbit up and ADSL2+ offers 24mbit down and 1mbit up, but add annex M? and it drops some download speed but doubles the upload.
You can only use a mode or protocol that the dslam is able to support.

Channel
Says interleaved - not really the channel. Interleaving means that the dslam will send multiple packets to the modem before asking for a confirmation. It improves speed but at a cost of ping time and reliability - its not much of a difference but fancy gamers like to turn interleaving off which your isp can do at the dslam.

ATM PVC
Just the settings relating to older ATM based systems. In NZ we typically use 0/100 but telstra clear use some other numbers on a few of their commercial business area services.

Attenuation at 300khz
Same as above but rather than looking at the general attenuation, its a specific measurement at the 300khz frequency. Usually helps determine the quality of the copper at higher frequencies. A lower quality of copper will allow lower frequencies to pass, but higher frequencies will degrade more over distance. ADSL works by having multiple pieces of data coming down the line at the same time at different frequencies, then pieces it back together at the other end. The lower frequencies go further than higher frequencies and thats why it degrades over distance - there is less space or frequencies avaliable to carry the information over said distance.

Rate Cap
Looks like the maximum speed the dslam is configured to allow - to make your line more stable by stopping your modem from trying to connect at higher speeds and dropping the connection. Is just a few kilobits higher than your line has been capable of so it looks like it could be raised a little bit and continue to work. Most dslams however work on profiles. So by default you are placed in the max down / max up profile. But they may have configured others such as
max down / 128kb up
1 down / 128 up
2 down / 500 up
5 down / 500 up
etc
So that if you have a bad line, you can be placed into one of the other profiles and therefore your line may be more stable. Or you are only paying for a slower speed plan so they limit you that way.

Final recieve Gain
Pretty sure this is the signal level you are recieving.

Not exactly sure what the others are. But they dont look that important and more for error troubleshooting.

Ray Taylor
Taylor Broadband (rural hawkes bay)
www.ruralkiwi.com

There is no place like localhost
For my general guide to extending your wireless network Click Here

Ragnor

8035 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#707259 27-Oct-2012 01:49

raytaylor:

Noise Margin
A measurement of how much better the signal level from the dslam is over the noise caused by crosstalk and other interference (like AM radio) that is being detected.

Signal to Noise Ratio and Noise Margin are different things (some modems label them badly):

Noise Margin:
A buffer, amount of the frequency range that's not used to allow for stability.

Higher noise margin = more stable = lower line rate (as less frequency range is available for use).

Chorus use 12dB, Orcon/Vodafone/Callplus/Compass use 6dB on their gear gear, Telstraclear use 9dB on their own gear (iirc). This should be a relatively fixed amount.

Signal to Noise Ratio:
As per your description above... basically signal level divided by noise level, should vary based on the noise on your line.

Ragnor

8035 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#707260 27-Oct-2012 01:54

vexxxboy: those stats are fine because you are still on ADSL , it maybe because of your modem, how old and what mode,l because your upload speeds are ADSL2 speed

29dB line attenuation should be able to achieve >10Mbit on ADSL2, even on ADSL1 (G.DMT) they should get higher than 4Mbit.

@tallmaninthecnr

Looks like a very Conservative line profile has been applied to your line to limit it due to past issues.

You should check your address on the Chorus service availability tool:
http://www.chorus.co.nz/sat

This should tell you if you are you connected to a cabinet or exchange and whether ADSL2+ is available.

Then you should ring your ISP and ask them to look at resetting your DSL line profile to a standard ADSL2+ one.

Also: It would also be a good idea to get your internal house phone wiring looked at if you have had past issues, think about getting a master filter installed.

Coffeebaron is the man you want if you are interested in that ^
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/user_public.asp?user_id=24485

tallmaninthecnr

128 posts

Master Geek

#707344 27-Oct-2012 10:02

Hi and thanks to all. From looking at the map we are in an area that has had ADSL2+ since 2008 (Dornwell Rd Mt Roskill) . I guess I am wondering why we are not getting that and can I just drop Telecom (?) an email to ask why and if something can be done. Bit nervous about tinkering with it if there is a chance of screwing what we have up but it does seem slow.

Before the problem was resolved someone came out from Telecom and said the problem did not appear to be our internal wiring and as we had a spare line we made that a dedicated broadband line so it was separate to the phone.

Do you suggest I phone someone or can I just email and ask?

tks again