Recently I was involved with a client who required SDSL services at it’s branch offices due to application requirements. I have been involved with numerous ADSL installations with various routers and modems, but no SDSL services until now. The client had previously ADSL services with a particular Internet Provider, so we decided to stay with the same provider and just upgrade the existing services. The first phone call went out to the provider asking if they did provide an SDSL service and what equipment we needed. I explained the client currently had Cisco 827 routers for their ADSL services, and they were hoping to keep this for the SDSL service. We were told by the ISP (Internet Service Provider) that the service we would be getting would be an SHDSL service, and the only Cisco router that supported it was a Cisco 828 Router. The call went off to our suppliers to order the 828’s and the application form was filled out and the wheels were in motion as they say.

A few weeks later the ISP called me up to notify me the first site had received it’s SHDSL service and we were ready to rock and roll. First thing I did was to look for some sample standard configs for 828’s. Unlike Cisco 827 sample configs, this seemed particularly hard to find. After a few hours of trawling through the Cisco website and google searches I managed to find one config. This config looked pretty similar to the 827 configs so I was confident in setting this up. I arrived onsite, plugged everything in and hit my first glitch. There was no line-sync/carrier detect. Typically a common issue here in Australia, it happened with my ADSL service for home too. A normal sequence of events is this: 1) Telstra inform the ISP that the ADSL service is activated, 2) You plug your ADSL modem/router in and receive no line sync, 3) You call your ISP, run through the normal level 1 tech support questions and they log a call with Telstra to check your line again 4) Your adsl service now suddenly has line sync. Off I went, called the ISP, did the usual level 1 tech support checks and then they logged a call with Telstra for me. The next day, Telstra arrived onsite, checked and tested the line and said everything was OK. The ISP called me and told me the Telstra technician plugged in his modem, got line sync and even got an IP address. There must be some resolution to this…..

I called the people in the know and logged a call with Cisco TAC (Technical Assistance Centre). The support representative that was assigned to my call was from the United States who have all sorts of broadband options so I thought I was in luck. Unfortunately I wasn’t, he mentioned to me that not many people have SHDSL services so there wasn’t that much resources for troubleshooting SHDSL services. So I was left on my own, until the ISP decided to provide some “interesting information”. They called me and told me they received the wrong information, it was really an SDSL service not an SHDSL service. And that the service was really an ADSL 1500/512 service, with it’s download crippled making it essentially a 512/512 ADSL service but it really was an SDSL service. This didn’t make sense to me, from my limited knowledge of SDSL, the definition of SDSL meant MAXIMUM bandwidth upstream and downstream. If the MAXIMUM downstream was 1500K and the maximum upstream was 512K, this would mean it was an ADSL service not an SDSL service. Still not 100% convinced this was a proper SDSL service, I decided to check with Cisco anyway on what options I had for Cisco SDSL routers. Unfortunately it seemed there were the Cisco 600 series but they were soon to be retired. Cisco recommend a Dual-ethernet router with a SDSL modem set to bridge mode since their 600series routers were soon to be obsolete. This had turned into a complete nightmare, we had sold a service to a client which might not have any proper equipment for. Out of desperation I took a Cisco 827 ADSL router down to the site, plugged her in and configured it and everything worked. Curiously I decided do a “show dsl interface atm0” on the router and the following appeared: “Speed (kbps):             0             1536             0               512”. This confirmed it was an ADSL service and not a SDSL service afterall.

What irks me was a few things:

1)       The ISP had absolutely no idea what service they were selling. At the start of this whole ordeal they claimed the service wasn’t an SDSL service but was indeed an SHDSL service. I asked whether the existing Cisco 827’s would work with the new service and they said No, definitely a Cisco 828. So now I have two opened Cisco 828’s which I probably cannot resell due to the fact that as far as I’m aware not many people offer SHDSL in the world, let alone in Australia.

2)       The ISP then told me No, it’s not an ADSL service it’s an SDSL service. SDSL as far as I’m concerned, has maximum bandwidth both upstream and downstream. What they really are selling is a crippled ADSL service. I may be wrong here, but it really does seem like it’s an ADSL service. Even the router diagnostics show the available bandwidth is 1536/512 which is Asymmetrical!

3)       Why do ISP’s treat business broadband the same as personal broadband. It’s been almost 3 weeks and I’m still waiting on the activation of one of the SDSL sites. It took the ISP almost a week to recognise they had given me the wrong information, and to admit the service wasn’t SHDSL.

At the end of the day it was a very eye opening experience. I also spoke with a few engineers after this experience and found out they too had seen this situation before with the 1536/512 crippled to a 512/512 and sold as an SDSL service. Consumers need to be aware that these services are not fully fledged SDSL services and are actually just glorified/crippled ADSL services. They need to know and understand that ADSL equipment is compatible with the SDSL service they are being sold. I can imagine a situation where the client orders an SDSL service, then contacts Cisco, orders a dual Ethernet router and a sdsl modem just to find out that all they really needed was a Cisco 827 ADSL router! Some people do actually sell an SHDSL service, but I guess the real way to find out is whether your service being ordered is less than a 1Mbps service. IF it’s a 512/512 SDSL, most likely it will be an ADSL service, if it has higher uploads then it probably will be an SHDSL service. One thing for sure, next time I’ll get the ISP to write it on paper, that way when the wrong equipment is ordered they can pay for it instead of me! Anyone want to buy some Cisco 828 SHDSL routers???