Line Stats

Your DSL modem continueously monitors the quality of your DSL service. You can obtain line stat information from your modem to assess the quality of your line and service.

Bell is responsible for the quality of your line and it is worth noting that most of your monthly payment to NCF goes to Bell to provide DSL on your line.

How to obtain the line stats from your SpeedTouch DSL modem

1. Log into the web interface of your modem (how to log in)
2. In the left column, click on 'Broadband Connection'
3. In the left column, click on 'DSL Connection'
4. In the top-right area, click on 'Details'

Depending on your modem model and configuration, the numbers may be displayed with commas and periods in the European manner, which is the reverse of what is common in North America. For example: 1,000.12 for 'one thousand decimal 12' may be displayed as '1.000,12'.

How to obtain the line stats from your TP-Link DSL modem

Line stats on a TP-Link modem

1. Log into the web interface of your modem (how to log in)
2. Click on 'Status'
3. Click on 'Device Info'

How to interpret the line stats

Bandwidth

It is normal and good for bandwidth down to be about tens times the bandwidth up. You can confirm this number by doing a speed test.

Line Attenuation

Attenuation is a measure of how strong the signal is from the Bell office ('DSLAM'). Note that Lower is better as it indicates less attentuation.

Attenuation (dB)	Rating
0 to 40 dB	Excellent
40 to 50 dB	Good
50 to 60 dB	Fair
> 60 db	Poor

Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR or SN Margin)

Signal-to-Noise is a measure of noise on your line. Too much noise can obscure the DSL signal. Higher is better as it means you have more signal than noise.

Signal-to-Noise (dB)	Rating
> 20 dB	Excellent
10 to 20 dB	Good
6 to 10 dB	Fair
0 to 6 db	Poor

Errors

The error figures are an indication of how many packets had to be retransmitted because they contained an error and is caused by line noise. The error counts are cumulative since the time DSL sync was last obtained. To reset the error counts, do a software restart of your modem, or power cycle your modem, or disconnect your DSL line for a minute or two.

The significance of error counts is unclear and may not be significant. Some modems may misreport errors and even with errors, your service may be fine.