Support for Broadband Services

Broadband services are supplied either as ADSL or, for Fibre Broadband services, as FTTC or FTTP. 

Support for ADSL Services

Required Equipment
1. ADSL microfilter/splitter or ADSL Faceplate
2. ADSL cable
3. ADSL router with power supply
4. RJ45 ethernet cable or WIFI adapter for your PC
5. BT telephone line (may be supplied by any company so long as it is a BT line)
Microfilter Setup Microfilter Setup Microfilter Setup
Microfilter ADSL Faceplate Splitter
Fitting Micro Filters
Ensuring the microfilter(s) are installed correctly is very important as failing to do so will disrupt the connection. Please see the following check points when installing microfilters:

Any item that connects to the phone line must go through a microfilter, eg. Fax Machine, Sky TV Box, Telephones, Analogue dialup modems, burglar alarms.

The best method of installing a filter is to use an ADSL Faceplate on the BT Master socket (ie the first phone socket that comes into the property - not an extension from it).

Very occassionally it may be necessary to install a second filter closer to a device if that device is causing a lot of electronic noise on the line. Some Sky boxes have been known to need this.

Microfilter Basic Setup
Connecting Up Router
1. Connect microfilter into BT wall socket.
2. Connect ADSL cable into the 'ADSL' connector on the microfilter, and then connect the other end of the ADSL cable into the 'ADSL' connector on the rear of the ADSL Router.
3. Connect the RJ45 Ethernet Cable into one of the 'LAN' ports on the rear of the ADSL Router and then the subsequent end of the RJ45 Ethernet cable into the Ethernet Card on your PC.
4. Connect the Router power supply into the rear of the router and then into the AC mains power outlet in your premises.


Router Settings

The following are the basic settings required by most routers to establish a connection:
  • VCI: 38
  • VPI: 0
  • Encapsulation: PPPoA VCMUX
  • Authentication: CHAP
  • MTU: 1492
  • Primary DNS: 195.74.102.146 
  • Secondary DNS: 195.74.102.147
Alternatively for the Primary and Secondary DNS servers you can use the Google Public DNS service in which case use 8.8.8.8 for the Primary and 8.8.4.4 for the secondary. OpenDNS also offer a public DNS service which has an optional parental filter mode to block access to many porn, gambling and similar sites.

If you have any other options or settings available try leaving them at the default and connecting. Should this fail please first check the Trouble Shooting section and, if you are still unable to connect, call our ADSL Support line on the number listed on the front page of our website.
No-NAT Configuration for IP Address Blocks
If you have a block of IP addresses on your broadband connection you can use the following as a guide to configuring your router and your PCs.
  1. You have a compatible router
  2. NAT is disabled on the router
  3. DHCP is disabled on the router
  4. Make sure the WAN and LAN IP addresses are the same and the first IP address in your range as provided in the notice of your IP allocation.
  5. Make sure that the subnet mask is also the same for both the WAN and LAN on the router. For /29 the subnet mask would be 255.255.255.248, or for /28 the subnet mask will be 255.255.255.240
  6. For all machines that connect to the router will need to be statically assigned an IP address from the allocated range. With a /29 you will have 5 usable IP addresses after the router IP. You must also ensure that the subnet mask entered statically on the PC matches the subnet mask entered into the router in point 5 above.

Using an allocated block of IP Addresses injunction with a larger internal network

If you require a number of servers on your network with real world IP addresses from yourallocated range, but still requiring a larger number of workstation on a separate internal IP range, then a second gateway will be required on your network. This can take the form of a second router or a gateway server with two network cards.

Trouble Shooting
Before proceeding with any specific fault diagnostics please conduct the following and then retest:
  1. Disconnect all items from the phone line except the ADSL router.
  2. Change the microfilter connected to the ADSL router.
  3. Ensure the router is connected to the master BT phone socket in the premises.
  4. If possible try an alternative router/modem
Once these steps have been completed then you should try one of the following: If the problem still exists please contact our ADSL support line on the number listed on the front page of our website with the results of the tests completed.


The ADSL (SYNC) light is flashing on the router:
This generally points directly to a BT line problem. If all of the general points above have been checked then please call/email the support desk for a One Shot line test.

The ADSL (SYNC) light is solid but the router is unable to logon:
The most common causes of this fault are:

  • Fault with Router configuration - try entering the router configuration again and rebooting the router.
  • Fault with BT's network configuration
  • Fault with radius configuration
  • Account suspended for non-payment
To check the BT network configuration change the Routers ADSL/PPP login details to the following:

Username: bt_test@startup_domain
Password: 123

This username will connect the user directly to BT's RAS server and eliminate EntaNet out of the equation. If the user cannot connect with this username then there is a BT fault and you will need to report this to the Support Desk.

If the user can connect to this username then you will need to test if the BT provision is setup correctly and that BT's network configuration matches the line provision. This can be done by changing the Router ADSL/PPP login details to the following:

Username: bt_test_user@adsllogin.co.uk
Password: 123

If this username will not connect then please report the fault to the Support Desk for a One Shot test to determine if there is a BT line fault or a router configuration fault.
If this username will connect, try the user's original username and password again. It has been known for new connections not to work straight out the box and require a login with a BT test account beforehand.
If the above two BT usernames connect and provide the router with an IP address then the problem lies with EntaNet, so please contact the Support Desk for assistance.

The Router is logged in and connected but user cannot get any web pages:
This type of fault is normally caused by one of the following:
  • Incorrect router configuration
  • Incorrect IP setting on PC
  • DNS Problem
  • Very poor line quality
The best way to eliminate the first two of these points is to return the network to basic settings as described below. For NO-NAT connections click here for instructions

  • Connect only 1 PC to the router and remove any other connecting devices such a switches or other workstations/servers. Also make sure that all firewall software is disabled.
  • Make sure the PC is set to obtain an IP address and DNS addresses automatically in the TCP/IP setting for the network adaptor used to connect to the router.
  • Make sure NAT and DHCP are enabled on the router.
  • Reboot the Router and then the PC.
  • After reboot check that the router has given the PC an IP address and default gateway, this can be checked by entering the command 'ipconfig' from the DOS command line. The default gateway will be the IP address of the router.
  • If the problem still remains then please continue to check the following.

    DNS Problem
    To eliminate a DNS problem please take the following steps

    Open a DOS command prompt, from Windows XP and 2000 Machines this can be done by selecting the 'run' option from the start menu, and entering 'cmd' and clicking 'ok'.
    You then need to attempt to ping our web site to test the domain name resolution, this can be done by entering the following into the DOS command prompt and pressing enter.

    ping www.ukfsn.org

    If you get the response 'Reply from 77.75.108.3' four times then your connection is working as normal. If you get a message similar to 'host not found' then please try to ping the IP address of our web server, 77.75.108.3. This can be done by entering the following into the DOS command prompt and pressing enter.

    ping 77.75.108.3

    If you get a request timed out response then there is a fundamental problem with the connection, if you have checked through points 1 and 2 mentioned above then please contact the Support Desk for further assistance.
    If you get four replies from this IP address then the connection is working but you have a DNS problem. This can be resolved by entering the following DNS servers into your TCP/IP configuration for your PC network adapter:

    Connection is running slow

The most common cause of a slow connection is that the connection may have been flooded by either a virus or too much network activity.

The best way to test the connection for slow speed and to rule out any network problems is to conduct to a BT speed test.

To run the speed test in a manner that helps us raise a fault with BT please follow this proceedure:

  • - Using your normal connection make sure you close all applications on your system. Then open your web browser and visit http://speedtester.bt.com/ and follow the prompts to run the test. Note that it may take a few attempts to get this to work. Please persevere as we cannot raise a speed issue with BT without the result. Make a note of the result
  • - If the speeds are significantly below the IP profile listed in the first test, contact our ADSL technical support line on the number listed on the front page of our website.

Cannot view certain web pages
Generally the most common cause of this issue would be the MTU setting. To correct this please ensure that the MTU value on your router is set to 1492.

If this does not resolve the problem then it will be necessary for you to change the MTU directly on your PC (DO NOT CHANGE THE MTU ON YOUR ROUTER). For windows users a tool to do this can be found at the following URL:

http://www.dslreports.com/drtcp

Download this tool and change the MTU to 1492 on the required network adapter. If this does not resolve your problem then please contact the Support Desk.

ADSL MAX Sync Rate and BRAS/IP Profile Rates

Your ADSL modem or router reports it's connection speed at the ATM layer however the speed you actually get is less than this as the TCP/IP layer (used for actual data connections such as email and web sites) sits inside it.

The actual speed you can use your ADSL MAX connection at is determined by your BRAS or IP profile which BT Wholesale's systems set automatically to reflect your sync rate. Below is a list showing the levels at which the BRAS or IP profile is set according to your sync rate. Note that the profile sets the maximum speed possible and other factors such as exchange congestion can result in a slower connection.

Sync Rate -> BRAS Profile

  • under 288K -> 160K
  • 288K -> 250k
  • 576K -> 500K
  • 1152K -> 1000K
  • 1728K -> 1500K
  • 2272K -> 2000K
  • 2848K -> 2500K
  • 3424K -> 3000K
  • 4000K -> 3500K
  • 4544K -> 4000K
  • 5120K -> 4500K
  • 5696K -> 5000K
  • 6240K -> 5500K
  • 6816K -> 6000K
  • 7392K -> 6500K
  • 7968K -> 7000K
  • 8128K -> 7150K

Note that when your line sync rate drops BT will set the new profile speed accordingly within minutes however rises in the sync rate will not cause a rise in the profile speed until the higher sync rate has been stable for at least 3 days.

All new ADSL MAX connections start with a 2Mb profile so long as the sync rate is higher than 2272K. Over the first 10 days new ADSL MAX connections are trained by BT and the profile is set during this period. It usually happens after about 72 hours however it can take the whole 10 days before the profile is set properly.