I'm too far from my Exchange - help

[Rack]

I recently moved, and now I can only get <1Mb broadband. I wouldn't be too bothered, except I can hardly play any online games! Typical ping has gone from 30ms to 100+... I get kicked all the time.
This is using the same internal network.

I was thinking, I need every dB of signal strength I can get - every point I can increase my signal strength the better.

First point - any one know of a good quality ADSL filter to use? I can imagine that you could lose a good 3dB of your signal through a poor one. I have a box of them at home, I'll have to experiment.

2nd, I'm currently running wifi, which I imagine has it's own latencies compared to cabled. I don't want to run cables, but if I have to will it help much? I have a good signal, but that doesn't tell me what the latency is, or what improvement I will see by going for copper instead of air.

Router/modem choice? I could imagine that having one with a sensitive input and a strong output + a decent balun could make quite a difference, but I can't find anything to point me towards one or another!

Any other suggestions?

TIA

[shadowmaster]

2nd, I'm currently running wifi, which I imagine has it's own latencies compared to cabled. I don't want to run cables, but if I have to will it help much? I have a good signal, but that doesn't tell me what the latency is, or what improvement I will see by going for copper instead of air.

You could try using homeplugs- I used to have wifi but I find these are much better for gaming

[mountainmachine]

You could try using homeplugs- I used to have wifi but I find these are much better for gaming

I found changing my modem worked wonders, i went from 1.5meg to 2.3meg (i'm in a 8meg contract) by changing from a BT Voyager 105 too my new Safecomemodem/router.

Take it you've contacted BT etc about getting your line strength increased.

I'm at least 3 miles from a local exchange, and 10 miles from a major one.

[peterb]

I found changing my modem worked wonders, i went from 1.5meg to 2.3meg (i'm in a 8meg contract) by changing from a BT Voyager 105 too my new Safecomemodem/router.

Take it you've contacted BT etc about getting your line strength increased.

I'm at least 3 miles from a local exchange, and 10 miles from a major one.

It is the distance from the exchange where your line terminates that is important!

However... wI-fI probably will decrease your speeds, and more importantly add latency (low speeds don't necessarily mean high latency btw) so either run cat 5 cable (cheapest option - and best capability) or use homeplugs (there was a post today recommended devlo brand.

Secondlly - how are you connecting to the BT line? Are there any extension lines in the house? Are you connecting through them? Do you have the new NT5 split junction box where the line comes into the house? If yes, remove the faceplate and connect the router to the direct socket behind it (you don't need a filter for that, although you will need an rj11 to bt connecter adapter - but if you haven't got one of those, use a good quality filter - such as the ones BT supply They cost about &#163;6. If that improves things, then there are problems wiuth the internal house wiring. Besy solution is to replace the house telephone wiring . Best solution is to replace it, but if you can't, next best solution is to put a fuiltered faceplate on the incoming line, but that does mean that the router has to plug into the faceplate. (You can get them from Solwise) I am assuming that you have already filtered every other device connected to the phone line - extensions, skyboxes, fax machines etc, etc - with good quality filters - it only takes one duff one.

Routers do make a difference - the most sensitive used to be the BT branded ones (well they would be - BT wanted as little trouble as possible with them!) but I don't know if that is true now. Draytek are reputed to be good, and did do special firmware releases for weak signal areas, but I think they have incorporated that into the mainstream firmware. However I have no comparative information on them

So in order of priority

Ditch wi-fi
Check filters
Check extension cables
Consider a new router

Incidentally, to get any changes on the broadband aspect of your line, you have to go through your ISP - you can't contavt BT direct (they are not your retail supplier) However, if you have noisy voice calls (and BT are your telephone supplier) you can ask thenm to investigate that, and any improvements may improve ADSL - but don't make something up, because if the find no fault, you can be charged!)

[p.s.guy]

Get your self one of these Maplin > ADSL Surface Mount Box

i fitted one for a friend who was having the same ish problem as you, it worked wonders and for less than a tenner a must.....

[Workaholic]

Get your self one of these Maplin > ADSL Surface Mount Box

i fitted one for a friend who was having the same ish problem as you, it worked wonders and for less than a tenner a must.....

Actually £12.99

[Agent]

The BT ones from ADSL Splitters, Microfilters & Telecoms Bits here really are the daddy

[Zak33]

Wifi and GoodPing are two things not to try to mix!

[mrcrazy04]

Checking the ping between your machine and the router could also help you see if it's the wireless or the broadband line.
And regarding the flush mounted micro-filter, BT fitted one to the master socket in my parents house and it helped pretty significantly.
If your line keeps losing synchronisation, then if you contact your ISP, they should get someone to come and have a look at the wiring. It was re-done about 3 times by BT at my parents house! The first time they came out, they discovered all the sockets were wired in parallel, the result of us having 2 phone lines in the past, which an engineer just joined together without re-wiring.

[Instinct]

WiFi shouldn't increase your ping my much if anything over wired. It can however cause lagspikes once a minute due to Windows Searching for new networks every 60 seconds which causes the network to "freeze" for a few seconds. If you search about that in google there are many guides to turn the scanning off.

Otherwise make sure all your phones have micro filters attached and if you are still in the first 14 days of your new up to 8mb service your ISP may still be trying to find the best speed / reliability ratio for your line

Otherwise you could consider changing to a Cable service like Virgin Media because it doesn't matter how far away from the exchange you are because they use Optics rather than BT's fairly outdated Copper Wires.

Hope that Helps

[Agent]

WiFi shouldn't increase your ping my much if anything over wired.

A lot of wireless cards do the de/en-cryption in software, so it can be an issue especially when using WPA / WEP over wireless.
Wi-fi certainly does add latency over wired, but how much entirely depends on the individual setup.

[killie99]

I've got one of these NTE5 line boxes Clarity UK - BT ADSL NTE5 Master Adaptors, Microfilters, splitters, extensions and it lets you have independent lines for your telephone and broadband. To get the best out of one of these you need to wire your extensions with cat5 cable and follow this guide Guide to rewiring internal UK phone wiring

For improving/understanding your SNR have a look here ::. Kitz - adsl Line Stats .:: - lots of tips on this website on how to improve your broadband connection speed.

Hopefully this will be of some use to you.

[adam1701]

A lot of wireless cards do the de/en-cryption in software, so it can be an issue especially when using WPA / WEP over wireless.
Wi-fi certainly does add latency over wired, but how much entirely depends on the individual setup.

mine didnt ...

i get 30 ping on uk servers with wired and wireless.

i also, tried using the router on different phone sockets around the house, this made no difference to my broadband speed or ping.

[Phil_P]

It is the distance from the exchange where your line terminates that is important!

However... wI-fI probably will decrease your speeds, and more importantly add latency (low speeds don't necessarily mean high latency btw) so either run cat 5 cable (cheapest option - and best capability) or use homeplugs (there was a post today recommended devlo brand.

Secondlly - how are you connecting to the BT line? Are there any extension lines in the house? Are you connecting through them? Do you have the new NT5 split junction box where the line comes into the house? If yes, remove the faceplate and connect the router to the direct socket behind it (you don't need a filter for that, although you will need an rj11 to bt connecter adapter - but if you haven't got one of those, use a good quality filter - such as the ones BT supply They cost about £6. If that improves things, then there are problems wiuth the internal house wiring. Besy solution is to replace the house telephone wiring . Best solution is to replace it, but if you can't, next best solution is to put a fuiltered faceplate on the incoming line, but that does mean that the router has to plug into the faceplate. (You can get them from Solwise) I am assuming that you have already filtered every other device connected to the phone line - extensions, skyboxes, fax machines etc, etc - with good quality filters - it only takes one duff one.

Routers do make a difference - the most sensitive used to be the BT branded ones (well they would be - BT wanted as little trouble as possible with them!) but I don't know if that is true now. Draytek are reputed to be good, and did do special firmware releases for weak signal areas, but I think they have incorporated that into the mainstream firmware. However I have no comparative information on them

So in order of priority

Ditch wi-fi
Check filters
Check extension cables
Consider a new router

Incidentally, to get any changes on the broadband aspect of your line, you have to go through your ISP - you can't contavt BT direct (they are not your retail supplier) However, if you have noisy voice calls (and BT are your telephone supplier) you can ask thenm to investigate that, and any improvements may improve ADSL - but don't make something up, because if the find no fault, you can be charged!)

Great post Peter.

I too am in a similar situation, living about 3 miles from my local exchange. I upgraded from a fixed 2mb connection to an 8mb max and am lucky to now get 1.5-2mb. About the same time I added a further internal telephone extension socket into the mix too which may have made things a little worse.

My modem/router is currently plugged into the master socket, so I'm tempted to try one of those BT filtered faceplates to see if that helps.

I think I may try connecting directly into the "engineers" socket behind the master faceplate to see what speeds I get from that as that presumably will give me an indication as to how much my internal wiring is degrading my signal/speeds.

Also, presumably if I want to test all my individual filters, I could plug them in one at a time to the socket behind the master faceplate and compare the signal/noise/speed values from my router to identify any dodgy filters I may have.

[Agent]

mine didnt ...

i get 30 ping on uk servers with wired and wireless.

It does. In your case it was just not enough to be noticeable and pings looked the same / didn't change
The entire process of wireless over wired requires more processing (on both ends) and is much more susceptible to interference. You just can't get away from that

Single ping's also don't show packet loss, spikes or other issues like the long term stability of the connection. You have a much higher chance of having an issue over wireless due to interference compared to wired.

Going Router->Cat 5->Computer for example leaves far far less room over the wireless which is
Router->Broadcast->Picked up by wifi card in laptop

Even if these delays are only very small and not enough to affect your connection, they are still there.

[Phil_P]

Just an update...

I was originally getting ~1.2mbit and after connecting directly to the socket behind the master faceplate, my router is now connecting at 4mbit and I'm consistently getting 3.4mbit from speedtest.net - a very nice improvement and probably as much as I can reasonably expect given the distance I live from the exchange

I've ordered on of those master socket faceplate splitters to replace my current wiring hack