Noise Margin (AKA Signal to Noise Margin or Signal to Noise Ratio)Relative strength of the DSL signal to Noise ratio. 6dB is the lowest dB manufactures specify for modem to be able to synch. In some instances interleaving can help raise the noise margin to an acceptable level. The higher the number the better for this measurement.6dB or below is bad and will experience no synch or intermittent synch problems7dB-10dB is fair but does not leave much room for variances in conditions11dB-20dB is good with no synch problems20dB-28dB is excellent29dB or above is outstandingLine AttenuationMeasure of how much the signal has degraded between the DSLAM and the modem. Maximum signal loss recommendation is usually about 60dB. The lower the dB the better for this measurement.20dB and below is outstanding20dB-30dB is excellent30dB-40dB is very good40dB-50dB is good50dB-60dB is poor and may experience connectivity issues60dB or above is bad and will experience connectivity issuesOutput PowerHow much power modem (upstream) or DSLAM (downstream) is using. Maximum recommended is about 15dB. The lower the power the better for this measurement.