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Hi Freeola,
My knackered old BT Exchange is due to be upgraded this summer to support FTTC under the government BDUK project! :¬)
I've measured my line to the local cabinet and it's around 600m, so I should see around 35Mbps download (up from the current 6Mbps on my longish line).
Can you say when you will be documenting your FTTC offerings on your Broadband page?
In previous forum posts you didn't want to discuss pricing but as FTTC is getting more and more popular I'm hoping you will be publishing some official information soon?
There are lots of competitive packages available so I'm hoping you haven't published details yet as you are still investigating your options.
Thanks,
My knackered old BT Exchange is due to be upgraded this summer to support FTTC under the government BDUK project! :¬)
I've measured my line to the local cabinet and it's around 600m, so I should see around 35Mbps download (up from the current 6Mbps on my longish line).
Can you say when you will be documenting your FTTC offerings on your Broadband page?
In previous forum posts you didn't want to discuss pricing but as FTTC is getting more and more popular I'm hoping you will be publishing some official information soon?
There are lots of competitive packages available so I'm hoping you haven't published details yet as you are still investigating your options.
Thanks,
[s]Hmmm...[/s] Page:
I know.
I feel like a 'broadband bumpkin' not being able to tell how my line's doing!
I'll have to start saving my pennies.
I feel like a 'broadband bumpkin' not being able to tell how my line's doing!
I'll have to start saving my pennies.
[s]Hmmm...[/s] 
The Fritz!Box (7490) has a very nice UI. Gives you loads of info like:
Negotiated connection properties
Receive Direction Send Direction
Max. DSLAM throughput kbit/s
Min. DSLAM throughput kbit/s
Attainable data rate kbit/s
Current throughput kbit/s
Seamless rate adaptation
Latency
Impulse Noise Protection
G.inp
Signal-to-noise ratio dB
Bitswap
Line attenuation dB
Profile
G.Vector
Carrier record
Spectrum, stats, line settings and a whole bunch more.
N.
Negotiated connection properties
Receive Direction Send Direction
Max. DSLAM throughput kbit/s
Min. DSLAM throughput kbit/s
Attainable data rate kbit/s
Current throughput kbit/s
Seamless rate adaptation
Latency
Impulse Noise Protection
G.inp
Signal-to-noise ratio dB
Bitswap
Line attenuation dB
Profile
G.Vector
Carrier record
Spectrum, stats, line settings and a whole bunch more.
N.
A new day...
First off just to say thanks again to Freeola who have answered many daft questions in the build up to my FTTC upgrade via Support Tickets - it's all appreciated. Just imagine getting a straight answer out of some other ISPs that are out there!
My move from 20CN ADSL to FTTC was as seamless as it could be - none of my 'issues' are with Freeola's end of the deal - so thanks again :¬)
I'm currently using Openreach's supplied modem(ECI) along with a Freeola supplied TP-Link TL-WR841N router. This is a decent router with a very simple and easy to use GUI.
I managed to get an IP Profile report out of BTw's speedtester late last night - 20.48Mbps. With the download speed in red showing it's not too good. Running it again this morning BTw have rather cheekily changed this to green reporting that's acceptable for my line. Talk about moving the goalposts to suit yourself!
The problem with BT's FTTC modems is you can't see any line stats. It's like working in the dark! Without seeing your sync, snrm, error rates etc. it's hard to troubleshoot things. That's why I'm always advising people to monitor and get to know their standard ADSL lines. "If you can't measure it you can't fix it" as they say.
I didn't realise the ECI modems (from what I've read) aren't just a firmware hack to unlock them. You need to unlock it via a hardware hack (UART connection on the PCB) as well :¬(
The alternate HG612 looks like a firmware unlock - might have to find one of those in the future. I need to either do more reading or save up for a FRITZ!Box or other combined router/modem.
After seeing a steady 20Mbps I decided to test what I could.
Took the Master Socket apart and tried the TEST socket same speeds. This is where you REALLY need to see the line stats as not all improvements/fixes are immediate - this catches lots of people out when troubleshooting ADSL! At least with FTTC (and ADSL2+) profile changes are much quicker than with ADSL.
Now the bit I didn't want to change...
The Kelly engineer thought my setup would be fine.
Unfortunately he only had basic diagnostics tools and couldn't see the actual line sync. The only speeds results he could access were by using the phone line to get BT to text him the speeds. This showed the same results as I could see.
My study is on the ground floor and my Master Socket is in the loft!
This has always been a pain. I've run for years with a faceplate filter in the Master Socket and a quality RJ11 plumbed down to my study. I've done many tests in the past ensuring that I wasn't introducing problems, as it's always best to connect directly to the Master Socket when you can. But I had proved to myself that with standard ADSL my lines characteristics were identical and couldn't be improved.
So my next test had to be plugging the Openreach ECI FTTC modem directly into the Master Socket in the loft using a short RJ11 cable and a temporary power lead. I have previously run some CAT5 cable from the loft to my study as I guessed that one day I might need it and I wasn't going to plaster the walls again in a hurry! So I connected the modem in the loft to the TP-Link router in my study via the CAT5 network cable to see if this improved things. The modem does all the 'heavy lifting' for the VDSL connection so the CAT5 wouldn't be an issue for the router.
Fired it all back up (remember not to turn things off/on too many times else BT's DLM will put you on a go-slow!!!) give things a few minutes before running another test - and I'm getting my 'sort of' expected 30Mbps over my longish line (600m+ to the cabinet).
It's a funny new world this - a 10Mbps increase on 20Mbps after running for years around 6! Interestingly my IP Profile still shows as 20.48 even though my actual download speed is 29! I guess BT's systems will catch up later.
TL;DR
My FTTC seems to be performing as it should for my line :¬)
First off just to say thanks again to Freeola who have answered many daft questions in the build up to my FTTC upgrade via Support Tickets - it's all appreciated. Just imagine getting a straight answer out of some other ISPs that are out there!
My move from 20CN ADSL to FTTC was as seamless as it could be - none of my 'issues' are with Freeola's end of the deal - so thanks again :¬)
I'm currently using Openreach's supplied modem(ECI) along with a Freeola supplied TP-Link TL-WR841N router. This is a decent router with a very simple and easy to use GUI.
I managed to get an IP Profile report out of BTw's speedtester late last night - 20.48Mbps. With the download speed in red showing it's not too good. Running it again this morning BTw have rather cheekily changed this to green reporting that's acceptable for my line. Talk about moving the goalposts to suit yourself!
The problem with BT's FTTC modems is you can't see any line stats. It's like working in the dark! Without seeing your sync, snrm, error rates etc. it's hard to troubleshoot things. That's why I'm always advising people to monitor and get to know their standard ADSL lines. "If you can't measure it you can't fix it" as they say.
I didn't realise the ECI modems (from what I've read) aren't just a firmware hack to unlock them. You need to unlock it via a hardware hack (UART connection on the PCB) as well :¬(
The alternate HG612 looks like a firmware unlock - might have to find one of those in the future. I need to either do more reading or save up for a FRITZ!Box or other combined router/modem.
After seeing a steady 20Mbps I decided to test what I could.
Took the Master Socket apart and tried the TEST socket same speeds. This is where you REALLY need to see the line stats as not all improvements/fixes are immediate - this catches lots of people out when troubleshooting ADSL! At least with FTTC (and ADSL2+) profile changes are much quicker than with ADSL.
Now the bit I didn't want to change...
The Kelly engineer thought my setup would be fine.
Unfortunately he only had basic diagnostics tools and couldn't see the actual line sync. The only speeds results he could access were by using the phone line to get BT to text him the speeds. This showed the same results as I could see.
My study is on the ground floor and my Master Socket is in the loft!
This has always been a pain. I've run for years with a faceplate filter in the Master Socket and a quality RJ11 plumbed down to my study. I've done many tests in the past ensuring that I wasn't introducing problems, as it's always best to connect directly to the Master Socket when you can. But I had proved to myself that with standard ADSL my lines characteristics were identical and couldn't be improved.
So my next test had to be plugging the Openreach ECI FTTC modem directly into the Master Socket in the loft using a short RJ11 cable and a temporary power lead. I have previously run some CAT5 cable from the loft to my study as I guessed that one day I might need it and I wasn't going to plaster the walls again in a hurry! So I connected the modem in the loft to the TP-Link router in my study via the CAT5 network cable to see if this improved things. The modem does all the 'heavy lifting' for the VDSL connection so the CAT5 wouldn't be an issue for the router.
Fired it all back up (remember not to turn things off/on too many times else BT's DLM will put you on a go-slow!!!) give things a few minutes before running another test - and I'm getting my 'sort of' expected 30Mbps over my longish line (600m+ to the cabinet).
It's a funny new world this - a 10Mbps increase on 20Mbps after running for years around 6! Interestingly my IP Profile still shows as 20.48 even though my actual download speed is 29! I guess BT's systems will catch up later.
TL;DR
My FTTC seems to be performing as it should for my line :¬)
[s]Hmmm...[/s] 
Thought you'd say that ;¬)
Nice that you've achieved 'development' Hmmm but getting similar speeds from ADSL2+ since my upgrade last year ...
... however, what has been happening today?
First thing this morning ... router had 'gone off-line' and no settings! Sorted, imported back-up and on-line. No problems all day, until Mrs DL wanted access about half-hour ago ,,, no problem but no internet. Router 'off-line' again but had maintained the settings!
What is going on? Is it our line? Is it ... ?
... however, what has been happening today?
First thing this morning ... router had 'gone off-line' and no settings! Sorted, imported back-up and on-line. No problems all day, until Mrs DL wanted access about half-hour ago ,,, no problem but no internet. Router 'off-line' again but had maintained the settings!
What is going on? Is it our line? Is it ... ?
Writing via FTTC!!!
I've just been upgraded :¬)
Quick swap of my old faceplate filter (thanks ADSLNation for years of good service) to the Openreach supplied one - Kelly engineer then connected me up in the cabinet - all done in around 20mins.
Currently getting around 20Mbps down.
BTw checker results:
1. Best Effort Test:
Download Speed : 19.84 Mbps
2. Upstream Test:
Upload Speed : 4.98 Mbps
Your speed test has completed and the results are shown above, however during the test an error occurred while trying to retrieve additional details regarding your service. As a result we are unable to determine if the speed you received during the test is acceptable for your service. Please re-run the test if you require this additional information.
Nice speeds to what I've been used to (connect around 6Mb and see just under 5Mb - profile/overheads) but hoped to be in the 30s at my distance from the cabinet.
As the above results show I'm not able to see my IP Profile etc. so I'll look at this again tomorrow and hopefully more info will be available.
NB. I don't believe you get to see your line sync via this checker when on FTTC but in theory you can work it out by multiplying your IP Profile by 1.033 ;¬)
Still early days so I'll wait to see how things pan out.
I've got a spare ECI modem so guess I'll hack that so I can see the actual line stats - shame Openreach have locked them!
I've just been upgraded :¬)
Quick swap of my old faceplate filter (thanks ADSLNation for years of good service) to the Openreach supplied one - Kelly engineer then connected me up in the cabinet - all done in around 20mins.
Currently getting around 20Mbps down.
BTw checker results:
1. Best Effort Test:
Download Speed : 19.84 Mbps
2. Upstream Test:
Upload Speed : 4.98 Mbps
Your speed test has completed and the results are shown above, however during the test an error occurred while trying to retrieve additional details regarding your service. As a result we are unable to determine if the speed you received during the test is acceptable for your service. Please re-run the test if you require this additional information.
Nice speeds to what I've been used to (connect around 6Mb and see just under 5Mb - profile/overheads) but hoped to be in the 30s at my distance from the cabinet.
As the above results show I'm not able to see my IP Profile etc. so I'll look at this again tomorrow and hopefully more info will be available.
NB. I don't believe you get to see your line sync via this checker when on FTTC but in theory you can work it out by multiplying your IP Profile by 1.033 ;¬)
Still early days so I'll wait to see how things pan out.
I've got a spare ECI modem so guess I'll hack that so I can see the actual line stats - shame Openreach have locked them!
[s]Hmmm...[/s]
Is FTTC available via Freeola at the moment? I'm just waiting for bt to take back over my line so I can place the order and come back to Freeola again. After a very bad customer relations issue with another supplier which has caused me to cancel my order with them.
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