What profile is used for EE VDSL connections?

[steve_v]

https://kitz.co.uk/adsl/DLM.htm explains that there is a choice of three profiles for managing a VDSL line - speed, standard and stable.

What does EE use?

The reason I ask is that my line appears to be banded at 18000kbps and is not recovering (I've seen this line do 26Mbps when I was with plusnet), even though the SNRM is over 11dB and the ES is below the daily limit explained in the above link. It has been stable for over 10 days and so I was hoping it would recover by now.

[XRaySpeX]

Welcome to EE's Home Broadband Forum.

For my info, what is the daily ES limit explained in the above link? I can't find it.

If you would like help with your BB speed or connection issues, please would you carry out the following steps for starters, which will enable us to diagnose the problem and advise you further. Do not restart your router to do these tests:

1. Post your full router stats:

• For a BrightBox: login and go to Advanced Settings/ System/ DSL Status. Also post 'System Uptime' from top of System Log page.
• For a SmartHub: login and go to Advanced Settings/ Technical Log/ Information. Obscure your names & any numbers in the BB Username & also the SSIDs.

Full router stats are key to any speed & connection issues.

2. Try a wired speedtest, using an Ethernet cable supplied with the router, here http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest.html . Click on the "Results Page" button at the bottom of the graph you first see and then copy to here just the "Link to this result:" link that you see below the next main graph.

3. What does BT Wholesale Broadband Availability Checker estimate for your phone number? Post just the whole table and the line above it, blanking out your phone number. If it doesn't recognise your phone number or you don't have one, use the Address Checker, not the Postcode Checker.

[steve_v]

Hello,

Thanks for the quick reply!

ES = Errored Seconds, a count of how many seconds contain one or more errors.

This is reported by some modems - I've been watching my DrayTek Vigor 130 for the last few days and have seen less than 100 per day.

This is then used to calculate the MTBE (mean time between errors) and that is what is displayed in the table titled "NGA FTTC Line Categorisation Thresholds".

So if I am seeing 100 ES per day, my MTBE = 86400 / 100 = 864 seconds.

This is above the MTBE green threshold in the table for the Speed and Standard options but below the Stable. So if my connection is using the Speed or Standard profile, given that I don't see any disconnects, DLM should eventually remove the banding. But if the connection is set to the Stable profile then I will be in the amber range and so DLM will not make any changes, hence my original question.

I can post some router stats tomorrow.

Thanks again for your response.

Steve

[steve_v]

Here is the speed checker result - so my line is running at the low end of the expected results!

[XRaySpeX]

Thanks. Since I've been on FTTC I've seen v. few ES. At the mo' I'm getting 1 ES every 7 hours. When I was on ADSL it was about 1 ES per 3 mins.

[steve_v]

Here are some stats from the Vigor 130, where it had been running without disconnections for about 11 days:

> v s
  ---------------------- ATU-R Info (hw: annex A, f/w: annex A/B/C) -----------
   Running Mode            :      17A       State                : SHOWTIME
   DS Actual Rate          : 18000000 bps   US Actual Rate       :  4191000 bps
   DS Attainable Rate      : 22961704 bps   US Attainable Rate   :  4237632 bps
   DS Path Mode            :        Fast    US Path Mode         :        Fast
   DS Interleave Depth     :        1       US Interleave Depth  :        1
   NE Current Attenuation  :       28 dB    Cur SNR Margin       :       10  dB
   DS actual PSD           :     7. 4 dB    US actual PSD        :     7. 5  dB
   NE CRC Count            :     1466       FE CRC Count         :     1435
   NE ES Count             :     1087       FE  ES Count         :      849
   Xdsl Reset Times        :        0       Xdsl Link  Times     :        1
   ITU Version[0]          : fe004452       ITU Version[1]       : 41590000
   VDSL Firmware Version   : 05-07-09-0F-01-07   [with Vectoring support]
   Power Management Mode   : DSL_G997_PMS_L0
   Test Mode               : DISABLE
  -------------------------------- ATU-C Info ---------------------------------
   Far Current Attenuation :       36 dB    Far SNR Margin       :        6  dB
   CO ITU Version[0]       : b5004946       CO ITU Version[1]    : 544eb206

> v s counts
 [ Counters: Showtime ]
                  Near End        Far End    Note
 ElapsedTime  :   974186            974186 (seconds)
 CRC          :   1466            1435
 FEC          :   4654130            70323
 HEC          :      0               0
 CRC_P        :    241               0
 CRCP_P       :      0               0
 CVP_P        :      0               0
 NCD          :      0               0
 LCD          :      0               0
 ES           :   1087             849
 SES          :      4              27
 LOSS         :      0             626
 UAS          :      0               0
 LOFS         :      0               0

 [ Counters: 15Min ]
                  Near End        Far End    Note
 ElapsedTime  :    699             699 (seconds)
 CRC          :      0               0
 FEC          :      1               0
 HEC          :      0               0
 CRC_P        :      0               0
 CRCP_P       :      0               0
 CVP_P        :      0               0
 NCD          :      0               0
 LCD          :      0               0
 ES           :      0               0
 SES          :      0               0
 LOSS         :      0               0
 UAS          :      0               0
 LOFS         :      0               0

 [ Counters: 1DAY ]
                  Near End        Far End    Note
 ElapsedTime  :   79899            79899 (seconds)
 CRC          :     92               7
 FEC          :   4007773              17
 HEC          :      0               0
 CRC_P        :     16               0
 CRCP_P       :      0               0
 CVP_P        :      0               0
 NCD          :      0               0
 LCD          :      0               0
 ES           :     69               7
 SES          :      0               0
 LOSS         :      0               0
 UAS          :      0               0
 LOFS         :      0               0

Not sure about the FEC number - seems to have shot up in one day?

I've just changed to a HG612 modem to rule out issues with the Draytek. This also allows the use of DSLStats to generate various graphs for the stats. Will post the results once I have some, if that is useful.

The reason I am using the Draytek / HG612 is that I have a separate load balancing router to manage 2 internet connections. As far as I know, I can't run the EE Hub in bridge mode and so would have to change a lot of configuration on the router to try that out or would lose one of my internet connections, which is not practical when I am working from home.

Cheers,

Steve

[XRaySpeX]

Yes, your downstream speed is rather slow.

Locate the hidden test socket that is revealed when you remove the bottom half of the split faceplate (2 screws or press tabs) of your master socket. Only do this if you have a split faceplate. Do you have any extension sockets in the home even if unused? Are there any wires connected to back of faceplate of master socket?

Try the BT Quiet Line Test (QLT), dial 17070 Opt 2, preferably with a corded phone, in the test socket with the router disconnected. If there is any noise, report it to your landline provider as a voice fault (don't mention Broadband). Often sorting out voice faults will fix the Broadband as well.

Reboot the router & plug it into the test socket. Post the full router stats & System Uptime when plugged into test socket.

Is the issue any better?

[steve_v]

Hello.

I can do this but don't want the disconnections to upset DLM, which I assume is keeping my downstream speed low (it syncs at exactly the same speed every time I reconnect).

Presumably, I have to use a microfilter in the test socket? I do have one somewhere but haven't used these since ADSL days as the socket has the phone/modem outputs on the faceplate.

Thanks for you help so far.

Steve

[XRaySpeX]

1 or 2 discons won't do any harm. Indeed, as I suspect, the damage has already been done & the DLM is capping your speed @ 18 Meg as a result.

Yes, use a dangly filter.

[steve_v]

So I did the quiet line test through the faceplate, without the modem on, through the master socket, through the master socket with ADSL filter and then through the master socket, with filter and modem turned on. Line sounded the same in each case. There was very low level noise, which is probably the phone itself, and there was no crackling, clicking or buzzing - just seemed like white noise but very quiet (nothing you would notice when using the phone).

The router does seem to have come back with a faster upstream speed now (4716 vs 4237 before) that it is plugged into the master socket via the filter. The downstream max attainable has come down from 26000ish to 23900.

Going back to my original post, do you know what profile EE uses? From what I've read, if they can change it, that will need a DLM reset which might get my speed back again. However, if there is a problem on my line, will end up in the same situation as DLM kicks in again.

Would really help to know what DLM currently thinks of my line and if it is OK then how long before the cap is lifted. It's possible that some one-off event in the past pushed the line down to these speeds but there may be an ongoing problem. 

Here are some of the stats from the HG612, looking at the graphs shows everything running along fairly steadily.

xdslcmd info --stats
xdslcmd: ADSL driver and PHY status
Status: Showtime
Retrain Reason: 0
Last initialization procedure status: 0
Max: Upstream rate = 4759 Kbps, Downstream rate = 23900 Kbps
Bearer: 0, Upstream rate = 4716 Kbps, Downstream rate = 17998 Kbps

Link Power State: L0
Mode: VDSL2 Annex B
VDSL2 Profile: Profile 17a
TPS-TC: PTM Mode(0x0)
Trellis: U:ON /D:ON
Line Status: No Defect
Training Status: Showtime
Down Up
SNR (dB): 9.9 6.1
Attn(dB): 25.9 0.0
Pwr(dBm): 7.2 7.1
VDSL2 framing
Bearer 0
MSGc: 26 33
B: 237 147
M: 1 1
T: 34 5
R: 16 16
S: 0.4198 0.9962
L: 4840 1317
😧 1 1
I: 254 164
N: 254 164
Counters
Bearer 0
OHF: 535374 118434
OHFErr: 0 0
RS: 18193262 3402450
RSCorr: 3 0
RSUnCorr: 0 0

Bearer 0
HEC: 0 0
OCD: 0 0
LCD: 0 0
Total Cells: 66265925 0
Data Cells: 883000 0
Drop Cells: 0
Bit Errors: 0 0

ES: 0 0
SES: 0 0
UAS: 21 21
AS: 1918

Bearer 0
INP: 0.00 0.00
INPRein: 0.00 0.00
delay: 0 0
PER: 3.58 16.25
OR: 71.45 19.19
AgR: 18069.88 4735.55

Bitswap: 555/563 0/0

Total time = 32 min 19 sec
FEC: 3 0
CRC: 0 0
ES: 0 0
SES: 0 0
UAS: 21 21
LOS: 0 0
LOF: 0 0
LOM: 0 0
Latest 15 minutes time = 2 min 19 sec
FEC: 1 0
CRC: 0 0
ES: 0 0
SES: 0 0
UAS: 0 0
LOS: 0 0
LOF: 0 0
LOM: 0 0
Previous 15 minutes time = 15 min 0 sec
FEC: 0 0
CRC: 0 0
ES: 0 0
SES: 0 0
UAS: 0 0
LOS: 0 0
LOF: 0 0
LOM: 0 0
Latest 1 day time = 32 min 19 sec
FEC: 3 0
CRC: 0 0
ES: 0 0
SES: 0 0
UAS: 21 21
LOS: 0 0
LOF: 0 0
LOM: 0 0
Previous 1 day time = 0 sec
FEC: 0 0
CRC: 0 0
ES: 0 0
SES: 0 0
UAS: 0 0
LOS: 0 0
LOF: 0 0
LOM: 0 0
Since Link time = 31 min 57 sec
FEC: 3 0
CRC: 0 0
ES: 0 0
SES: 0 0
UAS: 0 0
LOS: 0 0
LOF: 0 0
LOM: 0 0
#

Regards,

Steve