Going from 384K to 768K

[dajo]

I'm very tired as I worked on this yesterday and got up before 4:00 a.m. this morning to finish it, so I'll give you the short version.

Take your DSL modem outside and hook it directly to the RJ11 port for your DSL line in the phone box for your house. Then, using another phone, call your DSL company and have them run a line test. If you can move up to the next level that means your house wiring is holding you back.

I found out that I could move from 384K to 768K, so I used a CAT5 cable to connect two bare wires to the terminal posts for the DSL line on the phone box, ran the wire through the wall, terminated it with a RJ11 terminator and now I'm on at 768K.

The first test is the modem directly into the box, then you might want to do the CAT5 test to the modem before running it through the wall. If you're good to go you can then deal with how to get it into the house.

Respond if you want me to be more specifc.

 

[bex0rs]

d00000d that's 133t

 

[Remedy]

Was it worth it?

 

[TurtleMan]

UMmm , i want to do that ... i have a sdsl , and my speed is capped at 384k both way... so you are sayin grab my dsl modem and go to the phone box and hook it up there? i don't know those RJ371 or what that is sorry, but i really would want to give it a try

 

[dajo]

Was it worth it? Definitely! 384K was nice, but 768K is blazing. I'm getting about 75kbps downloads, and web page loading is noticeably faster than when running at 384K - as in much, much faster. It takes some work, but if the modem test tells you that the phone lines leading to your house will support 768K, then it's there for you if you just put out a little effort.

Yes, take your DSL modem outside, run a power cord out there, and plug it directly into the RJ11 port on your phone box. If the DSL company can successfully bump your speed to 768K, then you know it's the wiring in your house.

Others more knowledgeable that I am about wiring have told me that running the CAT5 probably wasn't necessary, although the DSL techs suggested using CAT5. But you may be able to achieve the 768K by snipping the connections on both ends of the line to the jack you are using to remove any bad connections. By that I mean, odds are if the wiring is bad it is probably at the connections (at the phone box and at the phone jack in your house). By cutting off an inch or so at both ends and re-connecting the wire you may get a connection good enough to get 768K. If this doesn't work, and you know you should be able to get 768K from the direct modem to phone box test, then the problem is somewhere in the wiring, which is very hard to fix since it's in the walls. But re-connecting your line to the phone jack, if it works, is a lot easier than running a new dedicated line into your house, so you might want to try it first.

If you do need to compose a line, you'll need:

1) RJ11 phone terminators
2) either CAT3, CAT5, or outdoor heavy twisted pair phone wire
3) a crimping tool

I don't know about the CAT3/5 cable, but you can get the rest of this stuff at Radio Shack.

But the first step is the modem direct to the phone box. There should be a regular RJ11 phone plug in the box. Plug your modem data line into that, and use another phone to call your DSL company. If you don't know the number for your DSL company your phone company can tell you, or you can probably get it from www.dslreports.com. This test will tell you if you should even hassle with any further work.

Respond to this post if you need detailed info on crimping the RJ11 terminator. It's easy.

 

[Remedy]

Yeah but doesn't your dsl provider actually detect any extra unpermited bandwidth coming to your house and end up charging you extra? Atleast thats what i was told. The way you have yours setup that is how they set mines up. I have a Cat5 Jack in my room and a seperate phone jack in my room adjacent to the cat 5 jack. The Cat5 Jack has the Cat wire shot out my window down to the silver phonebox on the side of my house. I have a Netopia Router for my connection and the max bandwidth my line can take is 768 both ways i only have 256K SDSL right now.

 

[dajo]

For my service, the bandwidth is limited by the DSL plan you have. My plan is for 384k-1.5mbps, so the max I could possibly get is 1.5mpbs, and I'm entitled to anything up to that. I doubt anyone around here is getting 1.5mbps, though, unless they are close to the station and have very new wiring from the station to their house.

 

[Remedy]

Yeah i know you have to live like 2 to 3000ft for 1.5mbps dsl maybe 3500ft max if i remember.

 

[mylam]

that sounds pretty good
but my dsl package 385-1.5m

and i getting around 1.2m already...is there still any space to speed up like yours

 

[dajo]

Well, I was told by the DSL tech that, on my plan of 384-1.5, you either connect at 384 or 768 or 1.5mps. He said there wasn't any in-between. If you are basing your speed on speed tests, those aren't really reliable. The best way to test your speed is to download files, preferably at off peak times like 3:00 a.m., and check your download rate. Sounds like you are already connected at 1.5mps if what he said about only connecting at one the three levels is true.

But there are other factors which can slightly improve your speeds. www.dslreports.com has a "Tools" page that has a On-line tweak tester, and some nice utilities you can download that will improve your throughput. The program "Dr TCP", on that tweak testing page (towards bottom), is very good, as it allows you to set certain registry entries to improve speed. These made a noticeable difference in both the quickness with which pages display on my system as well as the displayed download rate during downloads.

 

[rootaxs]

75k? Try checking out something in your config. I got the same SDSL 768kbps line and i consistenly get 85k out of it.

btw, nice tip dya think it'll work to the max a DSL line can handle? I'm only 4,000 feet away from my CO so i know i can go higher than 768.

 

[rootaxs]

also, with regards to testing.. the best way is for you to download/upload something from your own ISP - that's the only real way of knowing if you're getting the actual line speed you signed up for. Since your ISP is only 1 hop away from you (in most cases) then that's the fastest link you actually have.