Wireless Networks and IP addresses

[MartinS]

Jezza
Not sure - it's just the standard 'up to 8MB' service. Before last week it had worked almost flawlessly, but now it drops out all the time and my son (who has jujst purchased a 3 month subscription to his new world or warcraft game) is not best impressed! I've had to install their ADSL USB modem to just get it working, but that doesn't always work and it means my son doesn't have internet either, so not ideal. Problem I find is getting through to them - after 5PM, calling their fault line, you just get disconnected as 'all their lines are busy'. They had a major network problem early last week and then they upgraded the exchange on the 26th, so I should be getting a much faster speed (was maxing out at 1.8MB before it all went wrong).
I'll PM you the number - any info that willl help resolve this would be much appreciated. Worst comes to worst, I'll try getting through again on Sunday morning at go from there.
Thanks again
Regards
Martin

Originally Posted by Jezza

Martin are you on ADSL or ADSL Max?

ADSL Max is a rate adapative connection and it WILL be very unstable for the first 2 weeks whilst it works out its maximum reliable connection.

If your running ADSL it should be fairly reliable, I know a lot of people who are using Talk Talk without any problems, if you wan to PM me the telephone number that has been activated I will look up the details of it for you to see if there are any issues with your distance from the exchange.

If the line does keep dropping out get Talk Talk to register a fault with BT, you can try doing it yourself, but I don't think they'll talk to you

Another thought - have you set the time out period to 0 on the router, this prevents it disconnecting when it is not being used.

[Jezza]

General

What is ADSL Max?

ADSL Max is the next generation of ADSL technology. It can offer increased performance,
with maximum theoretical download speeds of up to 8Mb. Maximum theoretical upload speed is also faster, with the Standard variant being capable of up to 448Kb and the Premium version 832Kb.

How does it work?

ADSL Max works using rate adaption technology. This means that each individual
connection will synchronise itself with the local exchange over a period of time to make sure that it is running at the fastest speed possible while still offering a stable connection. As with any type of DSL connection, the performance will depend on the line quality and length so the actual speed achieved will vary depending on these factors.

Is ADSL Max available to all users?

There are 180 exchanges out of a total of just over 5,500 where ADSL Max is not available, which tend to be in very rural areas. The vast majority of customers will be able to receive the service.

What speed can I expect?

As previously stated, performance will be related to line length and quality. As a guide, any
customer currently able to receive a 2Mb service should see an increase in performance, with 42% of lines being able to deliver 6Mb or greater and 78% of lines capable of 4Mb. Actual download speeds have a maximum possible speed of 7150Kb. Please note that performance may vary due to the nature of the technology. Below is a summary of anticipated performance based on line rate:

Line rate Anticipated download performance range

288Kb 100 – 250Kb
288 – 576Kb 100 – 500Kb
576 – 1152 Kb 200 – 1000Kb
1152 – 2272 Kb 400 – 2000Kb
2272 – 8128Kb 800 – 7150Kb
NB – Upload speed ranges from 67Kb minimum to 448Kb (Max
Standard) or 832Kb (Max Premium)

Will I have to buy a new router or modem?

Most routers and modems will be capable of working with ADSL Max. It is possible that some cheap older USB modems will not work reliably. We would recommend that you ensure you have the latest firmware installed on your modem/router as older firmware may be less capable of handling Max circuits

Provisioning

What is the 10 day stabilisation period for?

This period is used for your on-site device (router or modem) to interact with the ADSL
equipment at the local exchange to establish the maximum reliable speed for your specific
connection. As ADSL Max is a rate-adaptive product you will find that your line rate and
performance varies considerably during this period while the DSLAM and your router find the
most reliable speed to run the circuit at. During the 10 day period it is quite normal to suffer
short outages while the circuit retrains, these should become less as the 10 day window
progresses. The more the connection is used during this 10 day period the more accurate the
Maximum Stable Rate (MSR) and Fault Threshold Rate (FTR) will be.

What is the Maximum Stable Rate (MSR)?

The performance of the line is monitored and adjusted over the first 10 days of service and
this is what establishes the MSR. This will be rounded down to the nearest 0.5Mb increment
and set as the line profile. This does not prevent a connection from synchronising at a higher
rate, but is used to set the Fault Threshold Rate (FTR).

What is the Fault Threshold Rate (FTR)?

The FTR is derived from the above MSR information. The FTR will be set at 30% below the
MSR, rounded down to the nearest 0.5Mb, and is used to determine if a line has a fault. A
NetDSL Max connection should not drop below the FTR for more than 8 hours in a 7 day
period. If it does this may indicate a fault.

What is the difference between throughput and line rate?

Throughput describes the actual speed at which a connection can download and upload data,
whereas line rate refers to the maximum theoretical performance of an individual connection.
In practice this would never be achieved, but higher line rates will generally result in higher
throughput.

How can I improve my line rate?

NetDSL Max technology is more sensitive to interference than previous versions of ADSL as
it runs at higher speeds. In order to make sure that your line rate is as high as possible make
sure that all connected telephone points are provided with a high quality microfilter, that all
extensions are properly wired and that any sources of potential interference (eg DECT
phones) are isolated. Also, altoHiway would recommend that you ensure you have the latest
firmware installed on your modem/router as older firmware may be less capable of handling
Max circuits.

Performance

What is Dynamic Line Management (DLM)?

DLM is a process which operates in the background, gathering data about a specific
connection over time. Should the performance of a connection improve or degrade over time,
a new profile may be applied automatically to reflect this increase or decrease. As the product
is rate adaptive, increases or decreases in performance must be expected and do not
necessarily indicate a fault.

When would DLM increase the speed of my connection?

In instances where a connection would support an increased speed for a minimum of 3
consecutive days, DLM may increase the connection speed by the next 0.5Mb increment.

When would DLM reduce the speed of my connection?

If a connection becomes unstable or a router or modem is performing at a lower line rate for
more than 75 minutes continuously, DLM will reduce the speed to attempt to re-stabilise the
connection.

What is interleaving?

Interleaving is an element of DLM, and is a technology used to maintain connection stability if
errors occur on the line. Interleaving is a useful technology, particularly for connections at
extreme range for service delivery or those where there are local quality issues, as it helps to
ensure reliable service. However, applying interleaving to a connection will impose a small
amount of latency (typically between 20-40ms). This will have little or no effect for many
applications such as email and internet access, but may have a slight impact on others
applications that are very sensitive to latency such as Voice Over IP (VOIP). Interleaving will
generally provide a more reliable circuit which has better throughput characteristics at the
cost of a small amount of latency.