[erikt]

Hi all,

I've subscribed to Primus' triple bundle for the past couple of years, and used Bell before that, and generally gotten ~2Mbps DSL download speeds. Whenever I've asked either Primus or Bell whether I could subscribe to a higher bandwidth service, I've been told that due to the my distance from the local office, my theoretical maximum was slightly higher than 2Mbps.

Recently, for no apparent reason (I made no hardware changes), my speed dropped to around 700kbps down, so of course I called Primus. I was initially told that my theoretical maximum speed was now only 800kbps due to the distance from the office. I patiently explained to the support person that my house hadn't physically moved and that something else was the problem. A week later I was told that my "profile" was going to be updated, and lo and behold my download speed has jumped to ~4Mbps!

So, what I'd like to know is, what does it mean to have my profile changed, and if this is so easy to do, why don't they either automatically do this, or at least offer it as an option (which I would have gladly paid for years ago)?

Thanks!
ET

 

[jvincent]

The "profile" they are referring to are the settings that control the modulation scheme used for the DSL connection.

It affects things such as throughput, stability of the connection, etc.

 

[ScaryBob]

Think of the profile as the DSL modem (DSLAM) settings at their end. DSL speeds are set at the provider's central office based on things such as line quality and subscribed DSL speed.

What happened is quite common with Bell. Change providers and they will change the DSL profile and cut your speed. You did the right thing by contacting Primus. They obviously told Bell to give you the maximum possible speed.