BT iPlate - any good?

By Plarkster
in Smart Home, Network & Security

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Plarkster

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I've recently moved house and even though I'm still with the same ISP (Sky up to 8mb) and using the same router, my connection has dropped from around 4-4.5mb at the old house to around 1.5mb at the new house. Obviously I'm disappointed by this, especially as I've only moved a few minutes away. I've contacted Sky and they've checked everything their end but apparently there's nothing they can do as they say it's down to the phoneline.

I've tried connecting the router directly to the master socket and removing the bell wire (I've read this can often help) - it's been like this for a week now and unfortunately the connection is exactly the same - no improvement at all.

Would the BT iPlate be worth getting? Has anyone tried one and had a speed increase? I know one of the main things it offers is filtering out the bell wire which I've already disconnected, but some people who have also disconnected the bell wire have had a further speed increase once they've fitted the iPlate.

Any replies and suggestions would be appreciated - it's pretty gutting paying for up to 8mb and only getting 1.5mb. I'd be happy getting around 4mb like at the old house. I did consider downgrading as I can get free 2mb broadband with my Sky package but there's a 1GB a month download limit which wouldn't be any good to me as I'd keep going over it when downloading game demos on the 360 and PS3.

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https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/848432-bt-iplate-any-good/
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Salty Wagyu

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You are probably just further away from the exchange at your new house compared to your old. What does samknows.com estimate the line speed to be at at old and new house?

I can't comment much on the i-plate, I didn't bother, as like you, I removed the ring wire knowing that the i-plate does the same functionality. Having the ring wire there caused as much as 100 sync dropouts per evening on ADSL Max, once it was removed it was stable, perhaps even more stable than my fixed 2mbit line.

edit: what's your downstream noise margin (or SNR) at currently for the 1.5mbit data rate?

Edited by aarste
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Plarkster

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You are probably just further away from the exchange at your new house compared to your old. What does samknows.com estimate the line speed to be at at old and new house?

I can't comment much on the i-plate, I didn't bother, as like you, I removed the ring wire knowing that the i-plate does the same functionality. Having the ring wire there caused as much as 100 sync dropouts per evening on ADSL Max, once it was removed it was stable, perhaps even more stable than my fixed 2mbit line.

That's what Sky said but surely I can't be that much further away - as per Google maps the houses are only 0.3 miles apart and both are only 1.6 miles from the exchange listed on SamKnows, although I appreciate that this is by road and not how the cable is laid.

I can't see where to check the line speed but I'm sure I checked before and it was 3-3.5mb at both houses.

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Plarkster

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Try plugging into the Test socket on the master socket - its behind the faceplate...

If it syncs faster then you might benefit from an i-plate

That's the socket I'm using... I thought it was called the master socket though.

Its ****. I installed one and speed dropped a little bit at first and then just went back to normal. It was free so Im not moaning too much.

How long did you keep it connected for? I've read you need to have it connected for at least 3 days for the exhange to update or whatever it does to improve the speed. How did you get it for free - because you get your broadband from BT?

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Bhav

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Yeah if you're already using the test socket it'll make no difference.

I use one of the extension sockets, and the iPlate doubled my speed from ~2Mb to just under 4Mb.

Edit: I think the master socket refers to that whole box - the test socket is the one behind the faceplate.

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Plarkster

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if you're already using the test socket, then there is no way of you getting any faster (at least with current ADSL tech).
Yeah if you're already using the test socket it'll make no difference.

I use one of the extension sockets, and the iPlate doubled my speed from ~2Mb to just under 4Mb.

Edit: I think the master socket refers to that whole box - the test socket is the one behind the faceplate.

That's what I feared - I have unscrewed the faceplate and am using the socket behind. So there's nothing I can do, it's just down to BT upgrading the line at some point? :(

Experienced

shifts

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The upgrade i believe is just called in the trade as NT2000 (BT engineer told me this) Its basically just an inline filter which would theoretically give a speed upgrade but.....

Often the line has been trained to run at a speed taking into account any previous line errors. So if you install a face plate the its worth getting the line reset or if you go away for a weekend, turn off the modem.

I did just that and saw a nice increase in speed after being away for a week.

The test socket will give the same result as the nt2000 or the iplate type thing but its still worth getting the line reset

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Plarkster

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Often the line has been trained to run at a speed taking into account any previous line errors. So if you install a face plate the its worth getting the line reset or if you go away for a weekend, turn off the modem.

I did just that and saw a nice increase in speed after being away for a week.

Sounds like that is worth a try - how long does the router have to be off for, a whole weekend or would just overnight do? Do I need to unplug the phone and sky box as well?

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Salty Wagyu

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Yeah get it re-trained. Mine isn't too different from yours comparing downstream line attenuation (higher is worse), your line should be able to do 2.5 or 3mbit at most. Mine is 3mbit, the data rate translates into that (see table at the bottom of http://www.dslzoneuk.net/adslmax_explained.php)

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Grand Master

+John Teacake MVC

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That's the socket I'm using... I thought it was called the master socket though.

How long did you keep it connected for? I've read you need to have it connected for at least 3 days for the exhange to update or whatever it does to improve the speed. How did you get it for free - because you get your broadband from BT?

Yeah free from BT, Back when they were doing a deal first 1000 customers sign up and get it free or something. I found out about it on Neowin. Had it on for about a week.

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Plarkster

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Well well well - I've just phoned Sky and had a list of all the suggestions for them to try, but before I got that far they said I should be getting up to 6mb. Apparently it looked like the DLM that monitors the line had overreacted apparently. They reset my router and changed something their end and I instantly reconnected at 5.5mb!

Thanks for all the suggestions, if anything it prompted me to phone Sky again - it sometimes really depends on who you get to speak to!

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Grand Master

WelshBluebird

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Yep, that's really good for a line like that. My line back home is similar, and we get 3.5 meg at the maximum.

Hi,

One recommendation would be to phone SKY "Ask them to change your modulation to ADSL2 from ADSL2+"

ADSL2+ has slighly higher attenuation than Standard ADSL2

Sky probably won't put him on ADSL2+. They only use it for users who will see speed increases with it. Someone with a line like that probably won't see much benefit.

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hjf288

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Yep, that's really good for a line like that. My line back home is similar, and we get 3.5 meg at the maximum.

Sky probably won't put him on ADSL2+. They only use it for users who will see speed increases with it. Someone with a line like that probably won't see much benefit.

His line seems long/bad that the extended frequencies of ADSL2+ wont be used.. could even make his connection worse..

I use the ADSL Nation XTE-2005 - Replaces the front of your faceplate on your mastersocket..

xte-2005-illus.gif

High quality filter and it stops you having a microfilter dangling off your phone line

Also good if you got extensions

Grand Master

Bhav

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Well well well - I've just phoned Sky and had a list of all the suggestions for them to try, but before I got that far they said I should be getting up to 6mb. Apparently it looked like the DLM that monitors the line had overreacted apparently. They reset my router and changed something their end and I instantly reconnected at 5.5mb!

Thanks for all the suggestions, if anything it prompted me to phone Sky again - it sometimes really depends on who you get to speak to!

Damn! I have the same downstream attenuation and can only get 4Mb! Consider yourself lucky lol

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Plarkster

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Damn! I have the same downstream attenuation and can only get 4Mb! Consider yourself lucky lol

My connection has dropped about have a meg these last few days but has hopefully settled down now. Still really happy with it thought - around 4-5mb is about the best you can get in my area.

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