Forum Discussion
Replacing old home telephone wire?
I have VDSL internet on a 50 Mbps plan and I'm only getting 38 Mbps. After checking with my ISP and doing all the testing of my line and modem over the course of a week, I'm pretty convinced my slow ...
Nighthawk
Community Power User
Community Power UserThe NIB/Demarc usually is locked. Electricians won't touch it since it's usually Telus' property along with the wire coming in. Running a new wire from that box to the inside of the house would usually have a cost associated with it and while an electrician may be cheaper, they likely won't touch it. Even then, there is no absolute guarantee that will solve the issue either since it's such a short run. Do you have anything else besides the modem plugged into any other phone jack in the house? Alarm system included, even if not monitored.
One thing you didn't mention is whether or not you were connected wirelessly. If you are and the modem is in a bathroom (first time I've ever heard of that), the more walls and floors the wifi signal has to travel through, the more it can slow down.
What modem do you actually have? I'm guessing it isn't one of the Telus ones.
My modem is a TP Link TD W-9980. It's rated for 100 Mbps, and is only about 5 or 6 years old. I've never had a problem with it, and like I said, I tried moving the modem really close to the wall outlet and connected a short 3 feet cable, but it didn't make any difference to the speed.
There is a whole mess of wires and cables in the ceiling of the laundry/boiler room, so I am not sure which one would be the telephone line. I was thinking there might be a way of replacing the old telephone wire without ripping out the drywall. The wall plate could be removed, and the inside telephone line behind the wall plate unconnected from the terminals. Then attach a new line to the very end of the old line, and then pull both wires through from the laundry/boiler room side. Once the new wire is pulled all the way through, it can then be hooked up to the NIB box. The only problem is, if the old telephone line happens to be stapled to a stud somewhere, you wouldn't be able to pull it through (unless it's really loosely stapled, I guess).
The only other solution I can see is to move the modem into the laundry/boiler room and connect it right up to the demarc. Then run a long ethernet cable from the modem to my PC in the living room. However, this means running the ethernet cable through the laundry/boiler room doorway. I would have to drill a hole for the ethernet cable in the header near the ceiling. Not something I want to do except as a last resort.
- Nighthawk
I don't think the length of the cable will have anything to do with it.
Is your PC connected through wifi or through ethernet?
As I asked earlier, what's connected to the phone lines in the house? You didn't answer that question yet. If the internet was installed and there wasn't a VDSL POTS splitter installed to isolate the one jack for DSL only and there are other unfiltered devices connected to the phone jacks elsewhere in the house, that has the potential to create interference on the line and result in you seeing slower speeds.
I'm also wondering if it could be the modem itself. While it may support up to 100mbps on VDSL, I can't find which profiles that modem actually supports. There are several and not all modems or providers support all of them. If the modem doesn't support one of the Telus supported profiles (8b, 17, and I believe 30a?), it may drop back to ADSL2+. 35-38mbps is about the peak download speed I got on an unrestricted ADSL2+ connection years ago. Finding compatible third party VDSL modems isn't an easy task.
When you log in to your modem and look at the Basic Status section, what does it show you under the DSL section?
- DSL Modulation Type:
- Annex Type:
- Current Rate:
- Max Rate:
Thanks.
- My PC is connected to my modem via ethernet cable.
- I have an Obihai ATA device connected to the modem and PC via ethernet cable for my VOIP phone. Even without the ATA device connected there is no difference in speed.
- No other devices
- I hardly ever use wifi, except occasionally for updates on my smart phone
TP Link TD W-9980 Profiles 8a, 8b, 8c, 12a, 12b, 17a. The strange thing is, I can't find the profile specs anywhere in the user manual or on the TP Link product website. It doesn't say anything about profiles. So I don't know where this website is getting it from. https://kitz.co.uk/routers/tplink_TD-W9980_review.htm
I've always associated the higher profile number with higher speed? e.g. 17a would be up to 100 Mbps. But I could be wrong.
I notice the TP Link TD W-9980 is now End of Life: https://www.wootware.co.za/tp-link-td-w9980-n600-wireless-dual-band-gigabit-vdsl2-adsl2-modem-router.html
I also noticed this complaint about syncing speed on the TP Link forum: https://community.tp-link.com/en/home/forum/topic/102513
Here is the basic settings screen grab:
DSL Modulation type: VDSL2
Annex type A/B/L/M
Current rate: 43064 Kbps downstream 12288 upstream
Max rate: 51205 Kbps downstream 23240 Kbps upstream- Nighthawk
The link about the modem syncing at 15 instead of 50 is often just a profile issue and typically can be fixed pretty easily. In your case though, that isn't the issue.
The modem is only connected at 43mbps. The connection itself appears to be barely capable of 50mbps and most modems won't sync up at the full line speed. Devices connected to the modem won't get the full 43mbps so seeing a bit less wouldn't be unheard of. It's odd the tech could get the full 50 at the NIB. It's possible there could be an issue with the connection between the outside of the house and the phone jack but even if it was perfect, there is no guarantee you'll get the full 50. Most ISPs will assume anything within 80% of the advertised speed is acceptable. I'd mention the 43mbps connection speed to your provider and see what they recommend.
