No you don't need to buy a second router as Plusnet will loan you one if needed.
Unless you raise a fault using the fault wizard then Plusnet cannot help
Finally you are confusing BT retail who supply your phone connection and BT Openreach who are supposed to fix the problems
If there is a phone problem and a broadband problem then the phone problem must be fixed first as there can't be two faults open at the same time and a phone fault always takes priority.

Quote

Unless you raise a fault using the fault wizard then Plusnet cannot help

So it seems - but it would be nice if these problems could be addressed through something other than a rigid automated system.
I don't recall plusnet being so dependent on automated fault reporting in the old days.

Quote

If there is a phone problem and a broadband problem then the phone problem must be fixed first as there can't be two faults open at the same time and a phone fault always takes priority

The phone line problem was supposedly fixed, but it seems too much a coincidence that my broadband problems began at the same time and have persisted since.
BT ( or at least, a bot on BT's website) already conceded that the line fault was due to a problem in their system.
As you must know, getting through to an informed human being at BT is extremely difficult and if the phone itself is working, it's virtually impossible to report any sort of other  line fault.
It's a long time since I've had a major broadband connection problem and I'd forgotten how frustrating it can be trying to get someone to to do anything about it.

The fault procedure involves a series of automated line tests carried out by Plusnet and unless you carry it out the fault will not be sorted
Posts split off as it has nothing to do with the original thread and moved to the correct board

I have an ongoing speed problem with PN which they are dealing with.  I raised a ticket which they responded to very promptly.  The problem isn't fully resolved yet but I was surprised to receive a call from PN this afternoon (Sunday) to check on how things were progressing.  Good service.

I agree, the title of this thread isn't really relevant to the turn the thread has taken and I'm not very comfortable continuing the discussion under it.

Quote from: Oldjim

The fault procedure involves a series of automated line tests carried out by Plusnet and unless you carry it out the fault will not be sorted

Yes I understand that.
I've been with Plusnet for years but I don't recall the test process in the past refusing to go any further unless you agree to trying a different router.
Not many of us will have spare routers lying around and who's to say that the spare router isn't faulty?
In my case  I'm 90% sure the router (Voyager 2110 with wireless currently disabled) is OK as it was working perfectly before the line fault began.
I'd be grateful if anyone can throw some light on these figures from my router:
I just ran the diagnostic test and the results state:
-------------------------------------------------------------
Test the connection to your local network
Test your Ethernet Connection: PASS
Test your Wireless Connection: DOWN

Test the connection to your ADSL service provider
Test ADSL Synchronization: PASS
Test ATM OAM F5 segment ping: FAIL
Test ATM OAM F5 end-to-end ping: FAIL

Test the connection to your Internet service provider
Test PPP server connection: PASS
Test authentication with ISP: PASS
Test the assigned IP address: PASS
Ping default gateway: PASS
----------------------------------------------------------
Broadband Line Status
Line Mode ADSL2+   Line State Show Time
Latency Type Interleave     Line Up Time 00:03:13:23
Line Coding Trellis On   Line Up Count 2

Statistics Downstream Upstream
Line Rate 3023 Kbps 440 Kbps
Noise Margin 16.7 dB 24.5 dB
Line Attenuation 43.0 dB 18.7 dB
Output Power 0.0 dBm 12.9 dBm
--------------------------------------------------
I'm not sure exactly what this means, but   mybroadbandspeed.co.uk reports my speeds as:
483 kbps (60.4kB/s) 370 kbps (46.3kB/s)

You can change the title by editing the first post - alternatively I can do it if you advise what you want I see you did 
The point where it wants a different router as I recall is where an engineer is going to be sent.
If he comes and finds that it was your router - a charge of £140 approx lands on your doormat
What does this say for current line speed https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=data_transfer_speed

Thanks, I've changed the title (took an age at my current speed   ).

Quote from: Oldjim

where an engineer is going to be sent.

In all of the (several)  past problems I've had with phone line faults and internet connectivity, I have never once had an engineer call!
I've never even managed to get through to one via BT's labyrinthine call centre.
Problems have always turned out to be located at the exchange or  somewhere between the exchange and the house.

Your link gives:
Estimated line speed:
    2.0Mb (This may vary between 1.5Mb and 5.5Mb) - Checked on 2011-02-14 02:04:24
Current line speed:
    2.5 Mb
Well that line speed is a lot faster than online speedtests have shown today (anywhere between 300Kb and 800Kb).
Previous to the phone line fault I was averaging around 5.5 Mb with few dropouts..

Even when the problem is not in your house unless the testing system identifies it, and even if it does, the engineer will attach his router and testing equipment to your test socket to try to identify the problem.
I had at least 3 or 4 visits when they were trying to fix my problem (they didn't) and eventually the source was found to be in the cabinet in the exchange as it was fixed when I moved from 20CN to 21CN
The current line speed matches your sync speed but the problem is that your default noise margin has bounced up to 15dB because of the earlier problems and won't drop for ages unless interfered with.
You will need to show that your line is stable for a few days and then one of the Digital Care Team will probably be able to get it reset to 6dB. Alternatively your line has been banded and if so that is easily fixed by a Digital Care Team member
It should be the same but can you run the BT speedtest - we really only need to see the IP profile
Just to add - your line speed has nothing to do with the speed of posting or modifying on this forum. I found it no slower when I exceeded my usage allowance and was limited to 128kbps. It is just that the forum is always bloody slow

Thanks, I think I understand.
Presumably there's no way to get the noise margin reset without going through the fault reporting wizard?

As Oldjim says it looks like the problems with your connection have caused the DLM at the exchange to increase your target noise margin to 15dB. However now that things have stabilised that should automatically reduce again to give you higher speeds, assuming your connection does not show high error rates (error rates are not shown on the stats page you posted).
Completing the fault test does help with diagnosing the problem - since you don't have a spare router to try you can opt to continue (and enter "no spare" as the reason). If the faults team feel trying an alternative router is essential I expect they would offer to lend one. They are most unlikely to request a (potentially costly) engineer visit without that being tried.

Cheers, I will try that.

Hi Bookworms,
Because of the problems you've had the line has been banded, which means that it won't sync above a certain rate. If you think the line fault has been resolved and you can plug into the test socket (if you're not in it at the moment) then I will get the banding removed and we can see what that yields.
Jojo

Hi Jojo,
I temporarily plugged the router into the test socket late last night and got these stats (via the wireless connection):
[apologies for the wonky formatting]
System Up Time 00:00:13:07
ADSL Speed (DS/US) 3023/440 Kbps

Line Mode ADSL2+   Line State Show Time
Latency Type Interleave    Line Up Time 00:00:14:07
Line Coding Trellis On   Line Up Count 2
........

Statistics Downstream Upstream
Line Rate 3023 Kbps 440 Kbps
Noise Margin 22.7 dB 25.5 dB
Line Attenuation 43.0 dB 18.6 dB

Output Power 0.0 dBm 12.8 dBm

Traffic Statistics
Tx packets/Errors Rx packets/Errors
Tx bytes/Drops Rx bytes/Drops
Ethernet 3212/0 3178/0
2482513/0 747830/0
Wireless 299/0 206/0
77190/0 33896/0
WAN 2230/0 2054/0
676848/0 2219472/0
----------------------------------------
Also, when I tested the speed via mybroadbandspeed.co.uk earlier today the downspeed was just 386 kbps (48.3kB/s)