topic Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds. in Broadband

Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

Clumpy — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 14:13:58 GMT

Hi,

Due to poor performance of the connection (18MBps on a good day) and the speed not being good enough for home working I am looking to move on. I have 6 months left on my contract so how much is the early termination fee going to be please?

Cheers

Darryl

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

jab1 — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 14:21:14 GMT

@Clumpy Who where are you moving to, and on what type of connection - if it is to another ISP who uses the BT infrastructure and is on the same connection type, you will see no improvement.

As to your ETC's, a rough idea can be determined by multiplying your current monthly price by 6.

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

Clumpy — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 14:38:40 GMT

It will be a move to full fibre, the last stretch of connection is via copper here unless we move to Virgin. I can get 10x the speed for the same money with them.

I await a qualified response as the termination fee can't be the same as the full fees. According to the PlusNet info (when you can find it on this [-Censored-] website) it will be less than the full fee.

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

jab1 — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 14:41:08 GMT

So you are moving to Virgin?

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 14:50:29 GMT

@Clumpy wrote:

I await a qualified response as the termination fee

I'm pretty sure that Plusnet support won't answer that from your request on this forum.

You'll need to phone the helpline and ask for them to email you a detailed breakdown of your early leaving charges -

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 15:06:44 GMT

@Clumpy have you had a look to see whether there are any other network providers other than Openreach and Virgin ?

Visit the Ofcom Broadband Availability Checker

put in your postcode, and select your address,

then see what is listed after "Networks in your area"

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

Clumpy — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 15:44:32 GMT

I don't have any choice as they are the only full fibre providers for my home.

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

Clumpy — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 15:45:13 GMT

I was hoping to avoid waiting for ages for them to answer, not had much luck with a speedy response in the past.

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

Clumpy — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 15:48:11 GMT

Just checked again and only Openreach and Virgin to my home. So deffo Virgin are the only option for a reasonable speed connection.

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

jab1 — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 15:53:11 GMT

What does the https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL say you should be able to get on the OpenReach network?

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 15:58:59 GMT

@Clumpy

Can you post a screenshot of what this says you can get - https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

BE CAREFUL to NOT SHOW your PHONE number (at the top of the page)

This will also help identify whether the speeds you are currently experiencing are anything like what Openreach think your line should be achieving.

EDIT: @jab1 answered quicker than me !

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

Clumpy — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 16:26:01 GMT

We are getting the expected speeds for the Openreach cables.

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

jab1 — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 17:07:01 GMT

Can you post the results please?

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

Clumpy — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 09:45:32 GMT

Here you go...

Whilst it says FTTP is available - it isn't through OpenReach

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

jab1 — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 09:50:53 GMT

@Clumpy That explains your low speeds - you are obviously a long, long way away from the street cab, with a resulting long 'final mile' of copper.

The FTTP On Demand is not the variant which most domestic users have, rather an expensive version which is only suitable for a business, and costs a lot.

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

Clumpy — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 09:52:04 GMT

Yes, I realise that. We are about 1.5 miles from the cabinet.

Therefore limited to Virgin.

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 11:22:19 GMT

@Clumpy - have you tried putting your postcode in to the top left of the Openreach Ultrafast map

to get an idea of WHEN Openreach are expecting to install FTTP in your area ?

When the map first appears, click on one of the surrounding 'grey' exchange areas to reveal the map colours indicating how close to you that Openreach are building FTTP in adjacent exchange areas.

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

Clumpy — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 11:41:50 GMT

Not happening anytime soon.

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 11:46:01 GMT

@Clumpy wrote:

Due to poor performance of the connection (18MBps on a good day) and the speed not being good enough for home working I am looking to move on.

While I acknowledge that your speeds aren't great, what home working are you doing and how is that impacted by those speeds ?

I ask because I spent 17 years doing major software engineering projects working from home initially on a MaxADSL (8Mbps) then ADSL2+ (19Mb) connection, and was able to 'tune' my broadband connection using router QoS (Quality of Service) to prioritise traffic and eliminate bufferbloat, to the extent that my connection 'felt' responsive and usable at ALL times, while at the same time being used by my family for Xbox/PC gaming, VoIP telephone calls, kids homework, Youtube, Netflix, etc - with nobody experiencing lagging or buffering.

If you're NOT using a Plusnet supplied router, then it might be worth you seeing whether your router supports any kind of QoS/SQM/Codel/CAKE traffic management, to make your connection more usable - at least until the end of your Plusnet contract period.

My guess is that if you run this test - https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat

that your "Bufferbloat Grade" result will be a "D" or worse - which will make your connection feel slower than it really is, whereas for home working using Zoom, Teams, and VoIP you should really be aiming for an absolute worst case score of "C" but ideally an "A" or "B" on a connection with the slower bandwidth yours has. An "A" or "B" score 'should' be achievable by tuning router QoS traffic management settings.

Re: Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

Clumpy — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 11:49:34 GMT

Thanks for that.

Blubberbloat 'C'

I have to transfer relatively large files as I am a PCB designer and have larger quantities of files to save/load as I work.

We also use Teams which can be laggy especially when my daughter is also using the connection for WFH.