[Snap] Could a move to Snap from Slingshot release my VDSL's full potential?

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › [Snap] Could a move to Snap from Slingshot release my VDSL's full potential?

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#154747 6-Nov-2014 13:24

My Slingshot VDSL has consistently reported a good quality line with a 2db downstream attenuation.

My (limited!) understanding is that, all other things being equal and the physical cabling to and in my property being at a suitable level of quality, I should be getting some pretty decent sync speeds on VDSL2.

Although the 30ishmb on a good day I have been getting isn't terrible I feel I could be getting a fair bit more and Slingshot aren't really interested in addressing this or giving me a solid answer as to what I could reasonably expect to achieve on this installation and why it may not be achieving its full potential.

I have heard that Snap have a better focus on customer care and technical adeptness when delivering VDSL than Slingshot and potentially have better infrastructure to boot.

Given that cost and Global mode were the only reason I stuck with Slingshot and considering I am using Netflix less and less and the VDSL costs are now in parity, would anyone like to hazard as to whether they think a move to Snap could result in a better performing VDSL service?

Cheers

PeterReader

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#1169984 6-Nov-2014 13:24

Hello... Our robot found some keywords in your post, so here is an automated reply with some important things to note regarding broadband speeds.

If you are posting regarding DSL speeds please check that

- you have reset your modem and router

- your PC (or other PCs in your LAN) is not downloading large files when you are testing

- you are not being throttled by your ISP due to going over the monthly cap

- your tests are always done on an ethernet connection to the router - do not use wireless for testing

- you read this topic and follow the instructions there.

Make sure you provide information for other users to help you. If you have not already done it, please EDIT your post and add this now:

- Your ISP and plan

- Type of connection (ADSL, ADSL2, VDSL)

- Your modem DSL stats (do not worry about posting Speedtest, we need sync rate, attenuation and noise margin)

- Your general location (or street)

- If you are rural or urban

- If you know your connection is to an exchange, cabinet or conklin

- If your connection is to a ULL or wholesale service

- If you have done an isolation test as per the link above

Most of the problems with speed are likely to be related to internal wiring issues. Read this discussion to find out more about this. Your ISP is not intentionally slowing you down today (unless you are on a managed plan). Also if this is the school holidays it's likely you will notice slower than usual speed due to more users online.

A master splitter is required for VDSL2 and in most cases will improve speeds on DSL connections. Regular disconnections can be a monitored alarm or a set top box trying to connect. If there's an alarm connected to your line even if you don't have an alarm contract it may still try to connect so it's worth checking.

I recommend you read these two blog posts:

- Is your premises phone wiring impacting your broadband performance? (very technical)

- Are you receiving a substandard ULL ADSL2+ connection from your ISP?

I am the Geekzone Robot and I am here to help. I am from the Internet. I do not interact. Do not expect other replies from me.

sbiddle

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#1170008 6-Nov-2014 13:40

Assuming you're on a Chorus wholesale VDSL2 port now it's not going to make any difference at all to your sync speed.

eXDee

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#1170010 6-Nov-2014 13:42

Item:My (limited!) understanding is that, all other things being equal and the physical cabling to and in my property being at a suitable level of quality, I should be getting some pretty decent sync speeds on VDSL2.

So what are your sync speeds?

Post full details. Line rates, attentuation, SNR etc.

Item

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#1170013 6-Nov-2014 13:49

eXDee:
Item:My (limited!) understanding is that, all other things being equal and the physical cabling to and in my property being at a suitable level of quality, I should be getting some pretty decent sync speeds on VDSL2.

So what are your sync speeds?

Post full details. Line rates, attentuation, SNR etc.

Currently and usually around:

Annex Mode ANNEX_A
SNR Down 11.9 dB
SNR Up 25.1 dB
Line Attenuation Down 2.0 dB
Line Attenuation Up 102.3 dB
Data Rate Down 30856 kbps
Data Rate Up 10348 kbps
MAX Rate Down 36328 kbps
MAX Rate Up 17448 kbps
POWER Down 8.0 dbm
POWER Up 8.2 dbm

These stats seem to carry on both my current DSL-N66U and the Slingshot provided VBWsomenumbers... unit if I swap them round.

I have batted these back and forth with Slingshot on several occasions and others on this forum have been helpful in providing their input and opinion, so didn't really want to rehash line troubleshooting again at this point!

More curious to understand whether a move to an alternative provider might yield better results or whether these were set in stone by the line and local exchange hardware.

Cheers

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#1170018 6-Nov-2014 13:54

sbiddle: Assuming you're on a Chorus wholesale VDSL2 port now it's not going to make any difference at all to your sync speed.

Bugger!

So the provider's infrastructure makes no real difference to the through-put or sync speeds?

...what if perhaps there was an issue which lay with a fault or configuration error - would Snap or A.N.Other be more useful in identifying or resolving it than Slingshot?

It may well be I am on to a hiding to nothing here - I guess am just becoming increasingly more frustrated with the vague technical support from both Slingshot at home and CallPlus at work and as a result, I don't really have much faith in it.

eXDee

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#1170046 6-Nov-2014 14:22

Item:
sbiddle: Assuming you're on a Chorus wholesale VDSL2 port now it's not going to make any difference at all to your sync speed.

Bugger!

So the provider's infrastructure makes no real difference to the through-put or sync speeds?

...what if perhaps there was an issue which lay with a fault or configuration error - would Snap or A.N.Other be more useful in identifying or resolving it than Slingshot?

It may well be I am on to a hiding to nothing here - I guess am just becoming increasingly more frustrated with the vague technical support from both Slingshot at home and CallPlus at work and as a result, I don't really have much faith in it.

So if you're on Slingshots "Better network" You're on their own DSLAMs. This can have slightly different set ups to Chorus equipment so can give a different result. However you appear to be on Chorus equipment (12dB SNR), and even between the two your line stays the same, you can can't change that.

Lets over simplify. So your connection to the exchange is basically like a pipe. The pipe can only be as good as what your line allows, and you'll always be able to put through the same amount of data through that section of the pipe regardless of ISP. So yours will always be 30.

The next section of pipe is a much larger one, carrying all customers data from the exchange to chorus network. If you have an overloaded exchange, then you reach a bottleneck at this point when several customers are trying to put through too much data and the exchange has low capacity. This only tends to happen in rural areas these days, not on a VDSL capable exchange as these are fibre fed with good capacity.

The next section of pipe is from chorus to your ISPs core network. These days this section of the pipe is usually high capacity and usually doesn't get overloaded, unless your ISP is cheaping out and they have too many high usage users.

The last section of pipe is from your ISP to the rest of the internet. Or should i say pipes, as they are going to connect to different networks that are beyond their own. These sections can get congested if your ISP has cheaped out and not bought enough bandwidth.

So to answer your question, if you're speedtesting close to ~26 megabit, or downloading at 3.2MB/s then you're hitting the upper limit of the smallest section of the pipe. You will always get slightly less than your sync rate due to overheads.
Can only send so many watery bytes down that series of tubes!

Item

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#1170056 6-Nov-2014 14:44

eXDee:
So if you're on Slingshots "Better network" You're on their own DSLAMs. This can have slightly different set ups to Chorus equipment so can give a different result. However you appear to be on Chorus equipment (12dB SNR), and even between the two your line stays the same, you can can't change that.

Lets over simplify. So your connection to the exchange is basically like a pipe. The pipe can only be as good as what your line allows, and you'll always be able to put through the same amount of data through that section of the pipe regardless of ISP. So yours will always be 30...
!

Thanks for the considered reply - appreciated.

My reported MAXRATE I have seen as high as 48mb and at one point I have been able to achieve sync/DL speeds of just under 40mb by SNR tweaking...though this did introduce instability so I pulled it back. We have gone back and forth with DLM resets etc with no conclusive result.

I think the true capability of my connection is unclear (your "small pipe" example) and I am not sure how to nail it down and find out why there is such a difference between potential and actual - unless it is all down to increasing contention/crosstalk as posited previously on another thread?

Quic Broadband

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nickt

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#1170099 6-Nov-2014 15:23

Item:
Line Attenuation Down 2.0 dB
Line Attenuation Up 102.3 dB
Data Rate Down 30856 kbps
Data Rate Up 10348 kbps

The difference in those attenuations seems a little odd, and the first post in the VDSL tuning thread indicates 2 dB attenuation down would be much higher data rate than you have. Typo/device misreporting and/or left off 0.1 dB units ?

Item

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#1170102 6-Nov-2014 15:26

nickt:
Item:
Line Attenuation Down 2.0 dB
Line Attenuation Up 102.3 dB
Data Rate Down 30856 kbps
Data Rate Up 10348 kbps

The difference in those attenuations seems a little odd, and the first post in the VDSL tuning thread indicates 2 dB attenuation down would be much higher data rate than you have. Typo/device misreporting and/or left off 0.1 dB units ?

Yeah, hence why I have gone through this several times in a few threads (including the one above) and with Slingshot on various occasions!

Will have to double check the upstream on my other modem, but the downstream certainly reports consistently on both devices.

Item

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#1170120 6-Nov-2014 15:32

nickt:
Item:
Line Attenuation Down 2.0 dB
Line Attenuation Up 102.3 dB
Data Rate Down 30856 kbps
Data Rate Up 10348 kbps

The difference in those attenuations seems a little odd, and the first post in the VDSL tuning thread indicates 2 dB attenuation down would be much higher data rate than you have. Typo/device misreporting and/or left off 0.1 dB units ?

A little Google-fu and indeed some posts on the VDSL tuning thread suggest that I am not the only one getting a weirdly high reported upstream attenuation with the DSL-N66u or on Slingshot!

Suffice to say I am getting expected upload speeds around 8-9mb up when tested, so it must be a reporting glitch.