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Understanding High Signal Attenuation

itlity
Grafter
Posts: 80
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Understanding High Signal Attenuation

Just installed a Hub 2, and wondering whether some of the info it shows may "explain" the dropping of our broadband download speed.

 

2 to 3 months ago our line went down to 1Mbps and the Openreach engineer -though not-doing-anything- made our line to go back to 12Mbps for a few weeks. We are about 1.2 km away from the street cabinet, just outside a small village in the country side.

I noticed in the Hub info below there is a max download speed at 14Mbps whilst the actual download speed is at 7.9Mbps.

SNR is not good but not that bad, but signal attenuation seems quite high for the distance to the street cabinet: am I reading that right? 

 

Plusnet Hub 2.jpg

31 REPLIES 31
Mr_Paul
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 718
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Registered: ‎07-06-2022

Re: Understanding High Signal Attenuation

@itlity 

For reference, I am 50 metres from "our" cabinet. My router stats say:

Line attenuation:   2.1 / 4.5

Signal attenuation:   2.1 / 4.7

 

jab1
Legend
Posts: 19,081
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Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Understanding High Signal Attenuation

@itlity A question - are you on an ADSL or FTTC connection? Those figures suggest ADSL to me, but I could be wrong. Of more concern than your attenuation figures is your DSL uptime of only 37 hours - this points to an OR network issue, irrespective of connection type. I will post below my 'help us to help you' script, and await your response before saying much more.

For Community members to be able to help, information from these two sites, as screenshots, posted as pictures within the topic, not as attachments:-

BT Broadband(obscuring your phone number) and BTW Performance Tester - Over a wired (Ethernet) connection if at all possible, please report the 'ADDITIONAL DIAGNOSTICS', and sight of the broadband connection status from your Hub (with the 'Username' obscured) would be a good starting point.

For the Hub One -

Navigate from the Home Screen to Troubleshooting > Helpdesk

For the Hub Two -

Navigate from the Home Screen to Advanced Settings > Technical Log > Information

It may also be a good idea to report the results of a Quiet Line Test - dial 17070 option 2 from a (preferably corded) phone. After the confirmation of your phone number, there should be total silence apart from the regular 'Quiet Line Test' announcement. Any other noise - report a PHONE fault first.

If you are unsure about any of the above, please just ask - I am happy to help.

John
itlity
Grafter
Posts: 80
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: Understanding High Signal Attenuation

Thanks for the reply, and script!

I am indeed on an ADSL broadband.

Up time is short as I installed the hub 2 on Saturday morning and router restarted by itself at about 00.30am on Sunday.

Will provide the tests results tomorrow.

jab1
Legend
Posts: 19,081
Thanks: 6,255
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Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Understanding High Signal Attenuation

Cheers for confirming your connection - the u/s speed threw me as it is a bit high, given your attenuation figures and the capabilities of ADSL.

John
Dan_the_Van
Hero
Posts: 3,084
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Registered: ‎25-06-2007

Re: Understanding High Signal Attenuation

@jab1 

The Hub Two Technical Log extract shows VLAN 101 isn't that FTTC ?

 

jab1
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Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Understanding High Signal Attenuation

@Dan_the_Van Good point, but I'd rather wait until we have a bit more to go on before saying much more - one piece of a jigsaw is not very useful.

John
bmc
Hero
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Registered: ‎28-02-2017

Re: Understanding High Signal Attenuation

@itlity 

To provide a bit more detail you could run your phone number in the following.

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

 

Post a screen shot of the results, including the narrative. Remember to obscure your details.

 

Brian

jab1
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Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Understanding High Signal Attenuation

@bmc Already covered in my 'help us to help you' script, posted above.

John
Dan_the_Van
Hero
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Registered: ‎25-06-2007

Re: Understanding High Signal Attenuation

@bmc 

That has already been requested

@jab1

Over the years in support I've seen many a diagnosis go wrong because of an assumption, just helping to ensure this doesn't happen here.

 

jab1
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Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Understanding High Signal Attenuation

Fair enough, @Dan_the_Van - hopefully the details I have requested will make a full jigsaw. 😉

John
bmc
Hero
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Registered: ‎28-02-2017

Re: Understanding High Signal Attenuation

@jab1 

Sorry - mis-read your post and didn't realise you were speaker about the Checker.

 

Brian

jab1
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Re: Understanding High Signal Attenuation

@bmc My 'help sheet' is always the same - it would be a macro if I could remember how to create them.

John
RealAleMadrid
Aspiring Hero
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Registered: ‎07-07-2009

Re: Understanding High Signal Attenuation

@jab1  if the stats show VLAN 101 it must be FTTC, however  the OP who seems to think it is ADSL will not be responding until tomorrow.🤔

jab1
Legend
Posts: 19,081
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Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Understanding High Signal Attenuation

@RealAleMadrid Agreed - after Dan's query earlier I refreshed my memory. When I get all my ducks in a row (all the requested data) then I'll have another think, but my current thinking is the OP is in a very rural location, with a looong copper wire, but still with problems , looking at the 'current' and 'attainable' d/l figures - and a couple of other stats on that grab.

John