DrAwesome's Useful ADSL Info & News

[Ignition]

Bulldog are expanding their LLU footprint considerably later in the year, going out to some major towns and cities outside of London as well as increasing availability inside London.

[Ignition]

Originally Posted by DrAwesome

To answer my own question the reason most ADSL isp's favour PPPoA over PPPoE is probably why NTL favour telling a new customer that plugging an usb cable from a cable modem is far easy to get on line than installing & using ethernet.

PPPoA is normally used for a USB connection
PPPoE is normally used for Ethernet connection

Just to correct this post none of that is accurate at all.

Using a router (Ethernet connection) the PPP connection is made FROM the router to the ISP (or more precisely BT's RAS/LAC in most cases, apart from Datastream) and you only connect to your router with Ethernet or USB (which is a transport system in its' own right and nothing to do with Ethernet or ATM). Your PC never actually 'speaks' ATM, it communicates with a modem or router which transmits PPP over ATM over ADSL (this is why the gross sync speed on an ADSL modem or router is 12.5% higher than the sold speed, at the DSL layer you lose 12.5% in error correction - not the case with DOCSIS as you are capped at IP level, not ATM level.

The reason that PPPoA is used in the UK is that BT's DSL network is ATM based, so it's more efficient to use PPPoA, as anything you send has to go over ATM anyway. Using PPPoE is doable however you lose performance as you end up doing PPPoEoA. In cases where PPPoE is used the ISP offers an Ethernet / IP network for transport rather than ATM.

NTL don't use PPP and the network is DOCSIS and then IP based, gigabit ethernet and packet over SONET links, which customers don't have to worry about, no overhead involved there.

As far as lower latency goes, with Firefly not likely - all their traffic is routed via Telefonica Germany, just right for those wanting to play on Jolt or Burstfire.

Yes - I don't just do cable modems, I also do ADSL

[Ignition]

Originally Posted by dellwear

Have you got any links that let you track how far your order has got with BT Wholesale???

Yup:

https://www.cs-server1.bt.com/hhway-...=xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Replacing xxxxx with your customer number from your phone bill and your BT phone number respectively.

[Ignition]

Originally Posted by DrAwesome

BT cut Datastream products by £1 per month from 1st June 2004.

Which means that the cost to providers for a Datastream connection will be £74.60 per year (£87.66 inc VAT).

BT are dragging there heels at upgrading datastream network, ADSL Datastream prices are getting cheaper, but is it also effecting the quality of service?

BT don't run the datastream network it's an In-span ATM handoff to ISPs, the ISPs decide how much capacity they want to buy from a particular exchange and BT supply this amount of capacity - this is a contractual agreement.

Any issues with sizes of the VPs (the connections between exchanges and the receiving ISP) are down to either the ISP undersizing the VP, or delays in BT upgrading VPs, however BT don't judge how much capacity to give any ISP from an exchange.

[Ignition]

Originally Posted by dellwear

Well thats me, I wonder if the price will come down?

I'm also wondering if Bulldog will upgrade the exchange further to accomidate their higher products(3mbps+)? Any idea Dr Awesome?

These upgrades are all being done by BT Wholesale, at this present time Bulldog still only offer SDSL and their 2 - 6Mbit products from their 35 unbundled exchanges in Central London. In all other locations they are reselling BTWholesale products.

[DrAwesome]

Information i posted way back in march this year i thought it would be a good idea to repost this again as it shows the BB speed guide table (info useful to *Cable & Adsl users)

*As NTL are soon to upgrade their cable speeds across their BB network you can work out just how fast your connection (approx) should be.

ADSL 2048/256
upload around 32kb/s
download around 250kb/s

Speed (kbps) Translated to: Speed (KBps)
128............................................... ..16
256............................................... ..32
384............................................... ..48
768............................................... ..96
1000.............................................. .125
1500.............................................. .187.5
2000.............................................. .250
3000.............................................. .375
7100.............................................. .887.5

And so on.................
The speeds above are the same factor for Upload as well.

A KiloByte = a KiloBit divided by 8

Example: 2000 Downstream is equal to 2000/8 (2000 divided by 8) Which gives you 250KBps maximum downstream.

A slower upstream (upload) speed can traded off for a faster downstream (download) speed.

DrAwesome does not suggest that you fiddle with your settings as you may be in breach of your isp BB T&C's.

[DrAwesome]

Adsl Migration Made Easyier?

Those of you that have jumped from one Adsl provider to another Adsl provider will know just how long it does/can take & the problems that can arise from jumping from Adsl isp to Adsl isp.

So far a total of 17 Adsl providers have signed up to the Migration Code of Practice which should make the process of switching Adsl isp alot easyier than it has been.

AOL
BT
Bulldog
Community Internet
Easynet
InterVivo
LCC Communications Ltd
Mailbox Internet
Netplan Internet Solutions
Nildram (Accent UK)
Spitfire
Telefonica UK
Thus (Demon Internet)
Uniworld Communications Ltd
Virgin.net
VNL (Video Networks Ltd)
Wanadoo UK plc

BTW...
The New Migration method does not cover you switching from Cable BB to Adsl

The code of practice is a voluntary measure between some, but not all, Adsl isp's lets hope it works and more Adsl Service providers join the list.

One important thing i have to add & i'm sure many of you have also thought about this when handing your hard earned cash over to pay for the activation charge, (just because an Adsl isp cannot migrate you from your present Adsl isp) why do you have to pay for an activation line test as many times as you switch provider especially when you want to stay on the same level of Adsl speed? You shouldnt need to go through the BT line test proceedure more than once... as its a waste of time & your money.

Some Adsl isp's tell customers that BT charge £50+ for activation which includes a line survey test (and they (the Adsl isp) have to pass the costs on to the customer) & that they see non of the activation money that the customer pays, when in fact its total bull, BT charge £11+ vat for line activation & line survey, the rest of the money left goes in the Adsl isp's back pocket.

[DrAwesome]

Bulldog 2&2 SoHoâ„ ¢ have launched 2mb sdsl at a wopping £160 a month
Bulldog also do Bulldog 2&2 Officeâ„ ¢ which costs £200 a month, + Activation/install for either one or the other is £250.

Bulldogs 2&2 Office & SoHoâ„ ¢ 2 Mbps, both upstream & downstream, low contention, no throttle or block any ports (I should think not for that price) atm the services are only available on Bulldogââ‚à ‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s own central London network, so if you live outside the capital then tuff.

The services are aimed at businesses (unless you are mega rich) & before i forget all prices inc vat.

[Shaun]

An intresting article on BB prices here:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi...92034925,22928,

[Stuartbe]

Just found some interesting info on the net for testing your line... Hope its helpfull

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The BT line test facility can be accessed from any BT (or WorldOnline) line by dialling 17070.



Quiet Line Test

Unplug any extention phones, extention cables, answer machines or fax (anything except the phone you will use to do the test!).

Plug a normal touch tone phone directly into the BT master socket.

Dial 17070, press option 2 (quiet line test)

You should hear 'Quiet Line Test' and then silence, there should be no pops, clicks, whistles, buzzing etc. If there is noise on the line, make sure it's not your phones connection to the socket (wiggle it about a bit) and that you are using the master socket. If you are sure its the line making the noise then dial BT (or WorldOnline) and report the fault, they should be able to sort it out. Remember that 'mis-reporting' a fault (e.g. if it turns out to be your phone, extention cord etc.) may be charged a call-out fee by BT (/WOL).

any probs? see It doesn't work? (below)



Distance From Exchange

Dial the same line test number as the quiet line test (17070). Then press option 3 (fast test) then press option 1 (to say you are authorised, don't worry about 'not being officially authorised'). The press option 2 (ring back test). Then put the phone down.

You will get called back by the test facility within about 10 seconds, one of the bits of information given will be distance from exchange (in kilometres).

*The distance result may not be accurate if you have a 'DACs' fitted. It is not 100% accurate but does serve as a guide.

any probs? see It doesn't work? (below)



It doesn't work?

You need a BT line (or WorldOnline).

You need to use a touch tone phone (don't think it works without one).

You have caller line id (CLI) blocked, if this is the case then on dialling 17070 the message will include 'there is no CLI detected for this circuit'. You can get round this by dialling a prefix before 17070, the prefix is 1470, so the full line test number will be 1470 17070.

[Stuartbe]

Here is another usefull site I have found... It explained atenuation, noise and all other conditions that can cause adsl problems... - http://www.testadsl.com/

[DrAwesome]

As some of you are already aware there are some important changes to ADSL availability from Sept 06/09/04.

• You no longer need to be within 6km of the phone exchange to receive 512k ADSL Broadband Up to 99.8% of customers connected to Broadband enabled exchanges should now be able to receive 512k ADSL

• 1Mb connections now have much wider availability Up to 96% of customers connected to Broadband enabled exchanges should now be able to receive 1Mb ADSL

This is a big improvement in ADSL Broadband availability & means that more homes & businesses should now be able to receive a minimum of 512k ADSL Broadband. Fortunately, improved availability coincides with the launch of some of the best Broadband offers yet seen, for example, 1Mb Broadband is now available from £17.99 per month* with some isp's offering free modem & connection.

(*Remember Restrictions may apply always read the T&C's before you decide to signup)

Broadband Checker has been updated with the latest availability data, so if your line was previously shown as unable to receive Broadband or you really wanted a 1Mb connection.

[poolking]

So how have they over come the distance restriction?

[Neil]

Originally Posted by poolking

So how have they over come the distance restriction?

Does it really matter?

Technology moves forward at an alarming rate, & things they couldn't achieve 2 or 3 years ago they can do now.

[Ignition]

Originally Posted by Neil

Does it really matter?

Technology moves forward at an alarming rate, & things they couldn't achieve 2 or 3 years ago they can do now.

They haven't, they just changed their criteria. Nothing to do with the technology at all!