• Networking

  • How to improve my connection's stats? (SNR margin)

Greetings all,

As we know, Next month new internet plans will go into effect (some users getting it now even), and right now I'm on 2Mbit/s connection(unlimited) and here are my line's current stats:


EDIT: I have 2 lines for my house, one is for telephone only and the other( what I'm talking about) is for internet only.

I'm about 1.7KMs away from the centrale in a straight line (so probably around 2KM in real cable distance), which is why I think my Line attenuation is this high, however I think it could handle 4Mbit/s, but the problem is my SNR Margin, which is hovering around the safe level before it goes below 8 to 6 and below which might cause disconnections.

My phone cable from my house to the phone box was replaced once about 4 years ago, but I'm not sure what type of cable was used, so here's 2 pics:

https://postimg.org/image/9c36yzffh/

This is next to my modem, where the phone cable gets...I'm not sure how to say it, adapted to the other phone wire so that it can be plugged into my modem. What is the name of those 2 things used here?

Here's just a general pic of the wire:

https://postimg.org/image/ys4mofccp/

I couldn't find this type of phone wire online, but it looks to me it might be a simple parallel(untwisted) pair of wires!

Now, the wire goes from outside the room to the balcony and then down the side of the building (where I see some possible electrical wires running down as well next to it. Our previous telephone wire ran down from from the left side gap of the balcony, here's a pic:

https://postimg.org/image/5tmjvgg35/

As you can see, there's no electrical cables running along side the phone cable that's hugging the wall (and there's an adequate distance between it and the wires that might be electrical on that pipe). This wire would go down and at the bottom it would be right next to the phone box like this in pic(Red being how the old wire would get there after reaching the garage)

https://postimg.org/image/trnz5gmbx/:


My current wire, however, runs down the right side gap of the balcony, which I see has many phone and electrical wires, also an AC unit on the way, AND, from what I remember the electrician said he had it make the wire go through some room on the ground floor(Stationary)...so all this is most likely causing more noise!

So, thinking about it myself, I said I should replace this simple wire by CAT 5E, which might sound simple, but I need help figuring out how to transform the RJ-45 connection to an RJ-11 to fit in my modem

Also here's the hard part, I've noticed many posters here changed their wires on their phone boxes, but look at my building's phone box:
https://ibb.co/cbTCja

Judging from the phone cable type, I'd say the one marked in red is mine, and it would seem my untwisted wire assumption is correct unless I'm missing something here

So yea, let's assume I could get the cabling done, and I got the wire to reach the phone box, which Wires in the CAT 5E should be used to connect to the phone box (I see each line is connected by 2 wires), and wouldn't this require special tools? perhaps even a technician?

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to make everything clear as possible, and any help would be greatly appreciated.
My eyes burning, help, help.
Your DSL modem didn't got burned yet during the lighting? Golden rule - never put wires outside building, especially in Lebanon, EMI from lightning will burn everything it can.
And yes wire not telephone at all, but in some cases it wont matter. I doubt Ogero gives matching pairs and using twisted cables.
Especially if telephone box is like this: https://postimg.org/image/trnz5gmbx/
nuclearcat wroteYour DSL modem didn't got burned yet during the lighting? Golden rule - never put wires outside building, especially in Lebanon, EMI from lightning will burn everything it can.
Weird, I've had this modem for almost 6 years now and it's still perfectly working, never heard of anyone's modems being fried in the building as well(who have their wires running down the building)

If I install inside the building, iit will go through the electrical room(inside there's circuit breakers for both state electricity and private generators, so plenty of constant EMI in there I'd say
nuclearcat wroteAnd yes wire not telephone at all, but in some cases it wont matter. I doubt Ogero gives matching pairs and using twisted cables.
Especially if telephone box is like this: https://postimg.org/image/trnz5gmbx/
I didn't understand what you quite meant by this. I also forget to mention, I have one line for just telephone and another(this one) for internet

Also, here's a full res pic of the phone box https://ibb.co/cbTCja
I mean if things are installed in such shitty way, it doesnt matter what wires are.
This black cable you are using is a normal electric cable, be aware such cables has high resistance for the the phone line voltage, I recommend you switch any electric cable used for the phone with a network Cat5, use only pairs of the cable or get a proper phone copper wire
Before you go jumping to doing stuff that won't help much or at all, have an ogero tech come in and test your connection from the box and from your apartment. If it is crappy at the box, then changing the line from the box would be not be helpful and probably be mostly a waste of time and effort. OTOH, if there is a significant difference, then start taking the recommendations of the other members into consideration.
anayman_k7 wroteThis black cable you are using is a normal electric cable, be aware such cables has high resistance for the the phone line voltage, I recommend you switch any electric cable used for the phone with a network Cat5, use only pairs of the cable or get a proper phone copper wire
Do you know where I can hire a professional in Beirut to do this for me?
My phone box is not quite as messy as the ones posted in this thread, but I have no idea whatsoever with how to proceed with things so its better to hire a professional.
xazbrat wroteBefore you go jumping to doing stuff that won't help much or at all, have an ogero tech come in and test your connection from the box and from your apartment. If it is crappy at the box, then changing the line from the box would be not be helpful and probably be mostly a waste of time and effort. OTOH, if there is a significant difference, then start taking the recommendations of the other members into consideration.
Perfect advice, +1
Well I just found this screenshot of my modem's stats that I took on April 16 this year, and it seems my SNR Margin was better back then (22.5 vs 10 now), so I got a feeling people turning on ACs and maybe new equipment might be causing SNR Margin to drop due to EMI

April 16:


Could also be those exposed cables at the phone box degraded due to rusting from being out to the open like that.

I mean, hell, I didn't even know this was an electrical wire rather than a data one, so replacing it with a twisted CAT 5E cable, and letting it go through a path with much less possible EMI would help I think....as for Ogero, yea I think I should call, but last time a team was here (when I had alot of disconnections due to a very loose cable..I think from the wire-to-wire at the phone box, they said if I had anymore trouble to call an electrician :/
Try to bring UPS with modem and laptop, and hook directly filter to wires in box maybe (but temporary detach your wires to apartment), and check stats from laptop.
This will show how good are signal "in the box".
nuclearcat wroteTry to bring UPS with modem and laptop, and hook directly filter to wires in box maybe (but temporary detach your wires to apartment), and check stats from laptop.
This will show how good are signal "in the box".
Yeah--about to say something similar. Bring the modem down and bring up your line stats from the box and compare them to the ones from your apartment. In all honesty, I think changing them couldn't hurt. Try to find a shielded Cat6 cable.maybe gel filled, and you can minimize any outside interference.
nuclearcat wroteTry to bring UPS with modem and laptop, and hook directly filter to wires in box maybe (but temporary detach your wires to apartment), and check stats from laptop.
This will show how good are signal "in the box".
xazbrat wroteYeah--about to say something similar. Bring the modem down and bring up your line stats from the box and compare them to the ones from your apartment. In all honesty, I think changing them couldn't hurt. Try to find a shielded Cat6 cable.maybe gel filled, and you can minimize any outside interference.

Not sure what you meant by "hook directly filter" as I have an internet line connected directly from my modem to the phone box, but I'm guessing you both mean I should go down, and connect a modem(luckily I still have my older wired-only modem) to the phone box right next to it to see how the stats will be without the journey up to my house.

Sounds like a good idea, but I would still need some technician to help me to actually connect it to the phonebox lol

Guess I should try calling Ogero to test my line, perhaps I'll have better luck this time with Mr.Imad now in charge
The phone box is pretty messed up. As shown in this picture "https://ibb.co/cbTCja" it is so unprofessional and badly installed, they are not even wrapped with electrical tape. Are they out in the open and prone to rain? Where is the cover for the box? they must be corroded by now. Those blue and red cables are probably electrical cables installed between Ogero's punched down phone cables and the the ones going to the house. The right way to install them is to connect the punched down (thinner/colored) cables, and connect them directly to the cable going up to the house using scotchloks, they are filled with gel to prevent corrosion.

@nuclearcat, modems won't get fried from lightning, there is a ground cable especially installed to prevent such thing, like the black cable showing in this picture " http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h415/Sasukiii/phone%20box.jpg" however lightning can cause fluctuation in SNR, can be kept to bare minimum when syncing to ADSL2/2+.

As suggested, do the test directly from the phone box first, you can connect the phone cable directly to a phone junction box (that also answers your question about how to transform an RJ-45 connector to RJ-11) the junction box has an RJ-11 output. Bring your UPS, modem, laptop near Ogero's phone box and do the test.

I would still recommend changing the cable even if you don't get a significant improvement, especially if you want to rely on copper for years to come because: A- the setup is badly installed, B- the cable category isn't ideal for ADSL usage, this is a regular power cable. Don't get any cheap cable that is branded CAT5e or CAT6. I recommend a CAT6 over a CAT5e because it has more twists per inch which can further decrease noise. Get a solid cable, avoid stranded ones. There are three good brands that you can find here, 3M, D-Link and DINTEK. I got a sample of a cheap CAT6 cable, it is barely twisted and the conductors are oddly thin. For the junction box, there is a specific type that is available here, I used to have a different one which gave a bad SNR due to thin copper connectors. Also a high quality phone cable (the one connecting the junction box to the modem) can also help. I have two high quality ones, but for some reason, one give a higher (+1dB) SNR than the other.
When you do the test, disconnect the outgoing cable (the one running to your house).
Also regarding the cable, i would recommend using a cat5 shielded if you are going to suspend it outside to pass it near power sources.
H.S wroteThe phone box is pretty messed up. As shown in this picture "https://ibb.co/cbTCja" it is so unprofessional and badly installed, they are not even wrapped with electrical tape. Are they out in the open and prone to rain? Where is the cover for the box? they must be corroded by now. Those blue and red cables are probably electrical cables installed between Ogero's punched down phone cables and the the ones going to the house. The right way to install them is to connect the punched down (thinner/colored) cables, and connect them directly to the cable going up to the house using scotchloks, they are filled with gel to prevent corrosion.

@nuclearcat, modems won't get fried from lightning, there is a ground cable especially installed to prevent such thing, like the black cable showing in this picture " http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h415/Sasukiii/phone%20box.jpg" however lightning can cause fluctuation in SNR, can be kept to bare minimum when syncing to ADSL2/2+.

As suggested, do the test directly from the phone box first, you can connect the phone cable directly to a phone junction box (that also answers your question about how to transform an RJ-45 connector to RJ-11) the junction box has an RJ-11 output. Bring your UPS, modem, laptop near Ogero's phone box and do the test.

I would still recommend changing the cable even if you don't get a significant improvement, especially if you want to rely on copper for years to come because: A- the setup is badly installed, B- the cable category isn't ideal for ADSL usage, this is a regular power cable. Don't get any cheap cable that is branded CAT5e or CAT6. I recommend a CAT6 over a CAT5e because it has more twists per inch which can further decrease noise. Get a solid cable, avoid stranded ones. There are three good brands that you can find here, 3M, D-Link and DINTEK. I got a sample of a cheap CAT6 cable, it is barely twisted and the conductors are oddly thin. For the junction box, there is a specific type that is available here, I used to have a different one which gave a bad SNR due to thin copper connectors. Also a high quality phone cable (the one connecting the junction box to the modem) can also help. I have two high quality ones, but for some reason, one give a higher (+1dB) SNR than the other.
Where could we find solid cat 6 cables ? Katranji ?
Most of the electrical equipment or network shops around me don't have the solid cat6 and not the brands you mentioned , they have some cheap cat6 stranded cables
Make sure cable is solid _copper_. Because for ethernet often in Lebanon it appears aluminium/steel with copper galvanization (outer thin layer only), it works for ethernet due skin effect, but wont work for DSL.
Padre wroteWhen you do the test, disconnect the outgoing cable (the one running to your house).
Also regarding the cable, i would recommend using a cat5 shielded if you are going to suspend it outside to pass it near power sources.
I don't recommend shielded cables for external installation, whether it is mesh or foil, it'll absorb a lot of EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) from lightning which will cause a lot of SNR fluctuation. Shielded cables also require grounding to benefit from the shield. They're only necessary if installed parallel to power cables and heavy machinery.
Techlover wroteWhere could we find solid cat 6 cables ? Katranji ?
Most of the electrical equipment or network shops around me don't have the solid cat6 and not the brands you mentioned , they have some cheap cat6 stranded cables
Macrotronics has D-Link CAT6, Katranji has DINTEK, both are solid and of high quality, pure copper cables. Stranded cables aren't bad, they cost more to manufacture and are more expensive. They also have more attenuation. Solid cables are more suitable for external and permanent installation, they're less flexible and shouldn't be bent.
nuclearcat wroteMake sure cable is solid _copper_. Because for ethernet often in Lebanon it appears aluminium/steel with copper galvanization (outer thin layer only), it works for ethernet due skin effect, but wont work for DSL.
You mean pure copper, the ones mixed with other materials like Aluminium aren't pure copper. Usually good quality cables are pure copper, Solid and stranded are of a different story.
H.S wrote
Padre wroteWhen you do the test, disconnect the outgoing cable (the one running to your house).
Also regarding the cable, i would recommend using a cat5 shielded if you are going to suspend it outside to pass it near power sources.
I don't recommend shielded cables for external installation, whether it is mesh or foil, it'll absorb a lot of EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) from lightning which will cause a lot of SNR fluctuation. Shielded cables also require grounding to benefit from the shield. They're only necessary if installed parallel to power cables and heavy machinery.
Techlover wroteWhere could we find solid cat 6 cables ? Katranji ?
Most of the electrical equipment or network shops around me don't have the solid cat6 and not the brands you mentioned , they have some cheap cat6 stranded cables
Macrotronics has D-Link CAT6, Katranji has DINTEK, both are solid and of high quality, pure copper cables. Stranded cables aren't bad, they cost more to manufacture and are more expensive. They also have more attenuation. Solid cables are more suitable for external and permanent installation, they're less flexible and shouldn't be bent.
nuclearcat wroteMake sure cable is solid _copper_. Because for ethernet often in Lebanon it appears aluminium/steel with copper galvanization (outer thin layer only), it works for ethernet due skin effect, but wont work for DSL.
You mean pure copper, the ones mixed with other materials like Aluminium aren't pure copper. Usually good quality cables are pure copper, Solid and stranded are of a different story.
I looked on macrotronics website and katranji they dom't mention if it is stranded or solid , and it seems there are no 50 or 100 m packs ? Because i won't need 305 m

EDIT:never mind, i found 100 meters packs
@Techlover, You can search the model number for the specs, I already did long time ago and they are both solid. I am currently using the D-Link from Macro, it is solid and they usually come in standard 305m rolls. I still have like 50 to 60m left.