No response from support AT ALL for 5 days

[#1]

@jelv - Sure, and I appreciate that - granted I did pick an extreme to illustrate the point, which was that for some people broadband isn't the be-all and end-all; that a couple of days running at a slower speed simply isn't an issue for some people and that that should be respected.
That's all I was trying to say.
@davesellars - no worries, hope you do get chance to test and that it does make a difference (extension wiring between the master socket and extension sockets can degrade performace, hence the request).

[#2]

@davesellars
Does the socket in the hall have a removable lower half? If so when you take that off you should find there are wire(s) connected to the removable part and then when it is removed ALL of the other sockets in the house are dead; if that is not the case the extensions are incorrectly wired. Having confirmed that it's correctly wired, it is then worth putting the router in to the test socket inside and getting the stats. The sync speed, attenuation and noise margin you get then will indicate how good your line could be if you made internal changes - you can then consider whether it's worth the effort.
@Matt

Quote from: Matt

that a couple of days running at a slower speed simply isn't an issue for some people

If the internal wiring is duff it's not a couple of days at lower speed, it ain't going to improve if you left it a couple of years!

[#3]

Quote from: jelv

@Matt W If the internal wiring is duff it's not a couple of days at lower speed, it ain't going to improve if you left it a couple of years!

1) W?
2) I'm not entirely sure what you're saying here? What I'm saying is that some people have more important things to do than reshuffle their houses and disconnect the broadband to test from the master socket, and that if this is the case it should be respected.

[#4]

Not sure where the W came from!
Before deciding whether to go to the effort of doing the tests it's helpful for the user to have an idea of the potential scope for improvement so they can make an informed decision. If the potential gain is less than 250kbps they would probably decide it's not worth the effort, I'd agree with that. I'd might not even suggest it and I certainly wouldn't push them to do it.
In this case we have a difference of 7.5db in the attenuation and something is definitely not right. http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/max_speed_calc.php gives a sync speed difference of over 1500kb/s between 51db and 58db! That's why I was unhappy with you underplaying the scope for improvement. (Don't forget that if there is something wrong with the internal wiring his current speeds are more likely to go down than up!)

[#5]

I didn't mention the scope for improvement. Once again, I was only trying to point out that if someone finds other things more important than testing their broadband line and therefore doesn't want to do it immediately that that should be respected.

[#6]

I've been tying to be tactful, but...

Quote from: Matt

Well the change is in the good direction. The attenuation will go up if the speed goes up (and SNR goes down)

This is wrong! You gave the user an very misleading impression that all was well.
For a given line sync speed and noise margin will vary inversely and that is normal, but attenuation won't increase by over 7db unless something is wrong, and an improved sync together with an increased attenuation is very wrong.

[#7]

Ah, sorry about that - certainly wasn't intentional. It was something I thought I remembered happening but Chris said something a while back, too - I'll happily retract that, and sorry davesellars about the incorrect info.
I wasn't relating that to the statements I made later though...

[#8]

Attenuation will vary very little unless there's a transient fault on the line and/or a repair.
If conditions are such that sync varies between different modes (e.g. ADSL vs ADLS2 or ADSL2+) the annenuation can vary (typically only a couple of dB at most) as it is measured in different ways across different frequencies.

[#9]

Hi Matt, I was trying to be tactful as well, but jelv and HP have addressed your faux pas, so no point in me saying any more 

[#10]

So you're all telling me that because my attenuation has gone up (is that right?) then by implication my SNR has gone down?
I really don't know anything much about ADSL technically, so I'm entirely reliant on what people here are saying as to whether things have got better or not (wiring/signal-path wise).
However, www.speedtest.net (which I have used all along) is now showing  me 2.7Mbps down speed, and when I opened my ticket (and started this thread) I was getting 1.05
So, for me, that's a huge improvement, and although some of you may think I could improve it even more, that is still a big leap up in speed without me really having to do anything. (Thanks to PlusNet and esp. Matt T).
If I have the time and opportunity this weekend I will try the master socket, but I hope you can appreciate that I have seen a huge improvement already. I will also try the reccommended BT speed test app too.

[#11]

What the increase in in attenuation is telling us is either (a) someone has picked your house up and moved at around half a kilometer further away from the exchange or (b) a problem has been introduced to your line or your internal wiring. I think we can rule out (a)! Associating SNR with attenuation is totally misleading.
The biggest factor affecting attenuation is the distance you are from the exchange, as you get closer to the exchange the attenuation goes down so the lower the attenuation the better. Attenuation can also be increased by problems on the line such as bad joints.
http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/linestats_explanation.htm has a good explanation of the stats reported by routers.

[#12]

Well, not surprisingly (to me) I didn't have the time and opportunity to try the master socket over the weekend, but I did just do a speedtest.net and I am still getting 3Mbps which is a huge improvement on what I was getting before. Also, my connection is stable (i.e. connection time on the router is over 5 days), so I can't see how this is worse. I understand that the attenuation is apparently worse, but the reality is that I've got a better service than before, as far as I can tell. I will still try the master socket test, maybe over the Xmas break when I'm off work, but TBH with the holiday season in full swing, I'm going to struggle to find any spare time before then.

[#13]

Checking these things out properly takes time and care, otherwise it's easy to jump to wrong conclusions. As your connection seems stable at present I think you are wise to leave it till you have more time.

[#14]

Quote from: jelv

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/linestats_explanation.htm has a good explanation of the stats reported by routers.

Jelv,
You've provided kind and helpful input here and to one of my topics elsewhere on line stats and their implications.  Is there merit in gathering up such tips / links and placing them in a single sticky post in the "Broadband and Router" forum so that others can gain insight before they raise individual posts seeking input from yourself, Anotherone and ReedRichards.  Might save you each repeating yourselves.  In the meantime I'm off to read this link.
Thanks,
Kevin

[#15]

Whilst that may seem like a good idea and there are some links etc already in existence, whilst someone like your self might be able to cope with quite a technical item, there will be a lot whose eyes will glaze over at the first thing that is more than straight forward do this do that, and after that they don't respond or give up, blame the ISP or whatever.
I, and I'm sure jelv already have the most important "stock" responses that I just copy and paste, but as individual cases are often different, mainly due to the complexities of their internal wiring, complex external faults, faulty equipment or interference and the nature of the responses we get, they generally have to be treated individually.
Then there will be others who see an improvement in what they had and are happy with that and don't see it important that things could be improved further, despite the fact the issue could come back to bite them in the rear at some later point. It's down to the individual.