Worthwhile applying for 1MB at 3.5km?

After 9 months of badgering BT to get our new housing estate fed with
telephone lines that can sustain a DSL signal, I've finally got to the stage
where the online line checker tells me I can have a 512kbps service.

Given that all the cables between here and the exchange are less than two
years old - most in fact are less than 6 months old - and the physical line
length is likely to be not much more than 3.5km (I know the route, as told
to me by a BT engineer), is it worthwhile getting an ISP to submit a manual
order for a 2Mbps connection, since the 3km figure is likely to be an
average to worst-case scenario for signal attenuation and the new cables are
likely to perform better than average?

I realize that if the manual order fails, I will have to reapply for RADSL,
but another couple of weeks is nothing after 9 months...

Cheers for any advice from you learned gentlemen!

Iwan

"Iwan Davies" <iwan.davies-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)
> I realize that if the manual order fails, I will have to reapply for
> RADSL, but another couple of weeks is nothing after 9 months...

If you would prefer the faster speed than apply for the 1MB service and see
what happens - its the line quality not distance that is important.

As you say, if you fail the 1MB test (its also the same as the 2MB test)
then you will have to reapply for 512K.

Worth remembering if you fail the 1MB test now, you may be able to get it in
future (regrade) when BT relax the test limits for their faster services.

Regards
Sunil

"Iwan Davies" <iwan.davies-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> After 9 months of badgering BT to get our new housing estate fed with
> telephone lines that can sustain a DSL signal, I've finally got to the
stage
> where the online line checker tells me I can have a 512kbps service.
>
> Given that all the cables between here and the exchange are less than two
> years old - most in fact are less than 6 months old - and the physical
line
> length is likely to be not much more than 3.5km (I know the route, as told
> to me by a BT engineer), is it worthwhile getting an ISP to submit a
manual
> order for a 2Mbps connection, since the 3km figure is likely to be an
> average to worst-case scenario for signal attenuation and the new cables
are
> likely to perform better than average?
>
> I realize that if the manual order fails, I will have to reapply for
RADSL,
> but another couple of weeks is nothing after 9 months...

You've got nothing to lose, you might as well go the manual order route and
see what happens. If you fail, then there is always 512k (urrggh I know).
I've had a new line installed which is 3.8km from the exchange (BT told me),
and the checker shows 512k only for the line.

I intend placing a manual order with my ISP, Nildram for 2Mbit as I believe
my new line is borderline for >512k speeds. All the neighbours lines show up
as *should* be able to provide up to 2Mbit.

Good luck!

G


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"Sunil Sood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Iwan Davies" <iwan.davies-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)
> > I realize that if the manual order fails, I will have to reapply for
> > RADSL, but another couple of weeks is nothing after 9 months...
>
> If you would prefer the faster speed than apply for the 1MB service and
see
> what happens - its the line quality not distance that is important.
>
> As you say, if you fail the 1MB test (its also the same as the 2MB test)
> then you will have to reapply for 512K.
>
> Worth remembering if you fail the 1MB test now, you may be able to get it
in
> future (regrade) when BT relax the test limits for their faster services.

Have you any other news on this Sunil .... i.e. when, new limits etc? I
presume it will be the same time as the new limits for 512k are released,
going on the results of the MK trial?

G


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"Gari P" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)
>> Worth remembering if you fail the 1MB test now, you may be able to
>> get it in future (regrade) when BT relax the test limits for their
>> faster services.
>
> Have you any other news on this Sunil .... i.e. when, new limits etc?
> I presume it will be the same time as the new limits for 512k are
> released, going on the results of the MK trial?

BT have stated that they are going to use the data from the current 512K
"extended reach" trials to help them decide on new limits for their faster
services (especially the 1MB service)

However, expect any announcement/change to come after the revised limits for
the 512K services has been implemented.

Regards
Sunil

"Sunil Sood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Gari P" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)
> >> Worth remembering if you fail the 1MB test now, you may be able to
> >> get it in future (regrade) when BT relax the test limits for their
> >> faster services.
> >
> > Have you any other news on this Sunil .... i.e. when, new limits etc?
> > I presume it will be the same time as the new limits for 512k are
> > released, going on the results of the MK trial?
>
> BT have stated that they are going to use the data from the current 512K
> "extended reach" trials to help them decide on new limits for their faster
> services (especially the 1MB service)
>
> However, expect any announcement/change to come after the revised limits
for
> the 512K services has been implemented.
>
> Regards
> Sunil
>

Sounds promising. I am at 53.2dB (32.9SNR) on 512k, and looking to upgrade
to 1Meg.


>

On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 22:13:03 +0100, "Paul Landregan"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Sounds promising. I am at 53.2dB (32.9SNR) on 512k, and looking to upgrade
>to 1Meg.

I'm at 50dB (18db noise) and also waiting (im)patiently for the
results of the extended reach trials. I'm not quite sure when we are
expecting an announcement from BT on the subject though.

On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 09:11:28 +0100, Simon Pleasants <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

> On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 22:13:03 +0100, "Paul Landregan"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> Sounds promising. I am at 53.2dB (32.9SNR) on 512k, and looking to
>> upgrade
>> to 1Meg.
>
> I'm at 50dB (18db noise) and also waiting (im)patiently for the
> results of the extended reach trials. I'm not quite sure when we are
> expecting an announcement from BT on the subject though.

Hi,

The results may be a while off yet. As far as I know the trials haven't
got as closing date yet as we're still putting orders through.

To Iwan, there's no harm in applying for 2Mbps, if the line can't support
that speed your ISP will generally know within a week of placing the order.

--
Regards,

| Dave Tomlinson Broadband Solutions For
| Technical Support for Home & Business
| PlusNet plc @ http://www.plus.net
+ ----- My Referrals - It pays to recommend PlusNet -----

PlusNet Support Team wrote:

> To Iwan, there's no harm in applying for 2Mbps, if the line can't
> support that speed your ISP will generally know within a week of
> placing the order.
>
Cheers, Dave.

What I really meant to ask was whether people thought there was a chance
that a brand new 3.5km line would support 2Mbps, ceterus paribus, or whether
the increase in loss on a line is sudden at shorter distances and then tails
off after a while. I assumed that if the reverse was the case - i.e. loss
was minimal for the first 2 or 3 km, then the rate of increase grew steadily
over the successive 100 m lengths - then I would have a better chance with
brand new cable and a location just outside the limit.

Cheers

Iwan

On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 16:58:57 +0100, Iwan Davies
<iwan.davies-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> PlusNet Support Team wrote:
>
>> To Iwan, there's no harm in applying for 2Mbps, if the line can't
>> support that speed your ISP will generally know within a week of
>> placing the order.
>>
> Cheers, Dave.
>
> What I really meant to ask was whether people thought there was a chance
> that a brand new 3.5km line would support 2Mbps, ceterus paribus, or
> whether
> the increase in loss on a line is sudden at shorter distances and then
> tails
> off after a while. I assumed that if the reverse was the case - i.e. loss
> was minimal for the first 2 or 3 km, then the rate of increase grew
> steadily
> over the successive 100 m lengths - then I would have a better chance
> with
> brand new cable and a location just outside the limit.
>
> Cheers
>
> Iwan
>
>
>

I'm not a BT line engineer so I can't give you a definitive yes or no
regarding this, but I would say you have as good a chance as any. One of
things that can affect loss is the number of joins in the line, a new line
may well have less and so have a better chance of being within limits.

--
Regards,

| Dave Tomlinson Broadband Solutions For
| Technical Support for Home & Business
| PlusNet plc @ http://www.plus.net
+ ----- My Referrals - It pays to recommend PlusNet -----