Thought I would share this with my fellow Seabreezers

Ever since we have had our ADSL2+ connection we have had crap speed, mainly due to being at the outer edge of the exchange boundary. We would be lucky to get a 2.3 mbs connection .

Recently, due driven by the desire to stream videos, I have found that there is a tweak that can be done with some ADSL modems (Netgear and Billion to name 2) that will improve your speed. We have managed a 75% speed improvement and now boast a heady connection of 4.1 mbs still a crap speed by most standards but enables us to watch video now.

The trick is in adjusting the SNR margin to trick the modem to think that the line condition is better than it is measuring, this will allow the modem to negotiate a faster speed. Takes a little trial and error to find a value that works without making your connection unstable.

My ISP was totally unresponsive when I contacted them about my speed issues which drove me to find a solution that I could do myself.

Search the internet for SNR and your modem to see if it will work for you too, good luck and enjoy...

Awesome tip.
Make sure you vote Labor, even if you hate them, so the NBN roll out doesn't get cancelled half way thru. Fibre will blow your socks off.

Froude said..

The ISPs can change the SNR from their end on all ADSL connections, regardless of your router.

The connection SNR is the baseline noise measured on the phone line. It will vary slightly with wet weather and wind etc. The data signal also creates noise on the line, the signal noise and the baseline SNR have to be kept separated to make sure the connection is stable. The ISP network calculates a speed that will keep these two noises separated by a safety factor. Changing the modems SNR margin makes the network think the baseline is better than it is therefore allowing a faster speed resulting in the gap between data and baseline being smaller.

The some ISPs may alter their network equipment to do this but they are adjusting the connection SNR just the margin. Many also apply what is called a Stability Profile to your connection which in simple terms just limits the maximum connection speed, most don't tell you they have even done it...

and yes I believe iiNet do allow some network tweaks on their naked DSL plans without warranty for the performance outcomes.