56k to 33.6k?

[Tobs]

my dad has a 56k modem but recently the speed has dropped down to 33.6kbps. any ideas why this has happened.??? thanx in advance

[Zen]

Before I moved to Broadband my speed was the same,the telecom engineer said it was because I shared my line with a neighbour,yet when they upgraded the line in readiness for broadband the speed moved up from 33.6 to 46.7kpbs as its very rare to obtain the full 56k on any line.So make some inquiries with your provider,I presume it,s BT as was my case.
It may be worthwhile complaining

[Zen]

You can check if your line is shared,read this item

How do I know if I have been DACS-ed?

First of all, if your phone line is from your local cable company then you are all right. Only BT are known to use DACS.

DACS in its current form is only used for standard analogue phone lines - not for ISDN, Highway, ADSL etc.

If your modem connection speed suddenly drops to 33.6 kbps, and nothing has changed in your setup, it is likely your line has been DACSed. If this happens immediately after you notice BT engineers working on a phone pole serving your property then it is even more likely.

UPDATE - you can now use the BT Broadband Availability checker to see if you have DACS. Either follow the links from the BT Broadband site or try this link to go directly to the checker. If after entering your phone number you get a note mentioning a "line sharing device" then your line is probably DACSed.

http://frank.gwc.org.uk/~ali/dacs/

[fly258]

An excellent link Zen but I would like to take issue with a couple of points.

BT will not DACS a line that has been used to access the internet recently and they DO check.

Its not a case of the BT engineer being "lazy" which results in a line being DACS'd. BT has a set of procedures which must be followed before a line can be DACS'd and the engineer carrying out the work doesn't make the final decision.

A DACS is supposed to be a temporary solution and should be removed as soon as a spare pair becomes available.

[honkytonkman]

Might just be a bad line. My dial-up was dreadful until I phoned the operator (BT) and asked them to turn up the Gain on the line. Now I get 49k most of the time.