Level of the DSL pilot tone?

Let me guess... the ISP provided the modem?

...Jim Thompson

Hello Jim,

Bingo. And when you stray away from Ma Bell's hardware I guess chances are it just might not work.

There is only one alternative, Comcast. But so far they wanted to make you also buy their cable TV or it'll become expensive. No way.

Have you checked with them lately? Some CATV companies have dropped the extra charges. Brighthouse had a surcharge if you weren't a cable customer, but they had dropped it when I got the Earthlink broadband last February. You would love the difference in your connection speed.

Hello Michael,

A couple weeks ago I looked at one of their fliers in the papers and it still had that fine print about non TV subscribers. Maybe I'll call them again whether their non TV rate is still higher than DSL. But I tend not to touch a running system. I'll be high and dry if it doesn't work.

as to what the IP address is (should start with "192").

When I got my DSL package, I panicked when the (skimpy) manual didn't show me what my router's IP address was - that's where passwords are changed, etc. - then I did the ipconfig trick, and found it to be

Good luck,

Michael

You conspiracists have been reading way too much into this. Here in PacBell/SBC/AT&T land, a very common DSL modem is/was the Westell Wirespeed B-90. This is a bridge which doesn't have an IP address. In other regions, you see newer modems that have an integrated router (e.g. Westell

There are lots of other DSL modems that will work and the phone company won't care if you use one.

Joerg, you might want to try a more service oriented ISP such as DSL Extreme, or see dslreports.com for more ideas.

I get my service from Cox Cable... total monthly tab ~$84

I deduct the $40 for Internet as a business expense. Surely you can do the same. Don't you conduct business over the 'net. Virtually ALL of my business is via the Internet.... I only leave the house to shop or go to a restaurant ;-)

...Jim Thompson

Hello Michael,

Well, now if that command only had a page mode. It blazes by on the DOS screen and all you can see is the two last ones.

Anyhow, Westell has a FAQ and one is "Does my Westell modem have an IP address?" ... "Nope."

Hello David,

Yes, that's the one.

Basically I'm happy with this modem. I just would like to be able to measure signal levels. Doing this with lab gear would be fine but other than frequency bands it's hard to come by DSL specs.

But then I'd still have to be connected via the AT&T line because it's our Missy Bell out here. Their service techs with the trucks are really nice and helpful, unlike their phone support folks on level 1 who often don't seem to have a clue.

Comcast is another option if they'd only drop the TV subscription requirement. But I am not enthused about how their last mile looks like. Workers drive off and leave the cover off the box (with us as non-subscribers putting it back on!), cables to the houses look more like an unlucky lasso throw across the bushes, all in the open for critters to gnaw on. Phone lines are nicely buried in a trench and Missy Bell guys don't leave the boxes open.

Them of us who remember DOS know that you avoid the pages flying by with...

ipconfig /all /p

dir /p

...is particularly useful when trying to find something that Windows doesn't want to show ;-)

...Jim Thompson

Hello Jim,

But I don't want cable TV, don't want to support this stuff. IMHO mankind doesn't need it :-)

Also, the way the last mile is "laid" gives me the goose pimples. Coaxes slobbered all around the neighborhood. Not buried, just on top of the dirt. Distribution boxes with hoods either off or just carelessly propped on. The phone wiring is IMHO done a lot more professional than that.

The old coax I found from former owners' cable hookup after we bought the house was gnawed through at various places. Could see the teeth marks.

Hello Jim,

I know. But with ipconfig this delivers: "Error: Unrecognized command line argument "p"

:-(

So, how do you do a broadband speed test without the ISP's tool (which gets blocked by my firewall because of virus suspicion or something)?

Harumph! It sure works with other DOS commands.

There are various sites you can go to, to test up/down speeds. I haven't done it in awhile, so I can't pull a reference off the top of my head.

...Jim Thompson

My cable feed is 18" down and comes up to ground level enclosed in what looks to be 3/4" ABS, then has something like a shrink tubing cover where it enters the splitter.

I had to re-lay my CAT5 to the swimming pool controller due to "teeth marks". Used the 1/2" black stuff that is used for bubbler distribution tubing. My electrician buddy says the underground creatures don't like to gnaw on it.

...Jim Thompson

I only get a single page, but since you get lots of stuff, try...

ipconfig /all > filename.txt

...Jim Thompson

Surely you mean "ipconfig /all | more".

( "|" is the pipe command, shift-backslash).

Ah, the obsolete knowledge I've acquired over the years... ;-)

Anyway, Joerg, you have a modem, and not a router? I think you're right, a modem probably wouldn't have such an address - it's when you are talking to a router (especially a wireless one) that you'll really want to configure it with the IP address...

Michael

Here's what I've got. Is this good/bad/average?

Downstream Rate: 1536 kbps Upstream Rate: 384 kbps Channel: Fast Current Noise Margin: 19.0 dB (Downstream), 22.0 dB (Upstream) Current Attenuation: 21.2 dB (Downstream), 9.5 dB (Upstream) Current Output Power: -1.3 dBm (Downstream), 0.9 dBm (Upstream)

Michael

I don't know that much about it first hand, only what has been seen in newsgroups or websites.

AFAIK only the downstream stats are important, particularly the Attenuation and Noise Margin. Note that Noise Margin is not the same as SNR. NM is the margin above the minimum SNR required for your ADSL modem to reliably sync with the DSLAM in the telephone exchange.

See for example .

Your line stats don't look bad, but that final negotiated downstream rate looks very slow, compared to the upstream rate.