topic Line speed degrading severely over the last few months in Broadband

Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

stpainter — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 23:47:40 GMT

Over the last few months I have noticed my downstream speed has been dropping alarmingly quickly; my contract renewed last October with an MGS of 12.7Mb, which is not great, but certainly better than the 4Mb or so that I am currently getting.

It looks like my actual line might be degrading quite badly (and it was already in bad enough shape that the connection cuts out when it rains.)

Is there a good way to bring this back up again, or if not is there a way (even for a fee) of getting the FTTP treatment that literally all my neighbours have provisioned for themselves? My next door neighbour's fibre line is literally physically connected to my home as a tether point, so I'm definitely physically in range at least.

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

MisterW — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 05:42:57 GMT

or if not is there a way (even for a fee) of getting the FTTP treatment that literally all my neighbours have provisioned for themselves?

What does the availability checker say is available ?

Go to https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL/AddressHome enter your postcode and select your address from the dropdown

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

mystreet1 — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 05:46:46 GMT

First thing to check: Is your phoneline clear? Dial 17070 (preferably from a corded phone), select option 2. Once your phone number is confirmed, there should be silence on the line except for the regular 'Quiet Line Test' message - any other noise, report a PHONE problem via: https://www.plus.net/help/report-a-problem/phone/

If the phone test passes, report a broadband problem via: https://www.plus.net/help/report-a-problem/broadband/

The above assumes you still have 'normal' landline connection - if you have a SOGEA (internet only) one, just use the second link to report a network issue.

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

jab1 — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 05:50:00 GMT

@mystreet1 Thanks for using my script without attribution, but I think @MisterW 's suggestion is better, in light of the content of the original post.

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

stpainter — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 16:40:47 GMT

@MisterW Believe me, if the availability checker said yes I'd have gone for it years ago, but sadly it's no, and my postcode is in a 'haha, you've got to be joking, right?' area for Openreach, which is why I was wondering if there's a way to pay to get a second, approximately 20m long strand of fibre run alongside the already extant fibre line attached to my home that my neighbour / landlord uses for their FTTP connection. I know private connections are possible by some means at least, because that's why everyone else around me (all members of the HOA that maintains the road I'm on) has FTTP.

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

MisterW — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 16:46:07 GMT

If there's an Openreach fibre to the neighbours then it should be available to you. Are you sure the fibre is not an Altnet supplier such as CityFibre ?

Plusnet can only supply FTTP over an Openreach Fibre network but there are other suppliers who can use the Altnets

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

stpainter — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 16:49:31 GMT

I'm certain. If I use Plusnet's availability checker and put my neighbour's house in instead of mine then 900Mb is hot to trot. My house is copper only, and extremely old, degraded copper at that.

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

jab1 — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 16:51:30 GMT

Sight of the result, obscuring your address, would be very useful.

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

MisterW — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 16:53:47 GMT

Very strange! It could just be an Openreach database error (they're not unknown🙄).

Is your and your neighbours connection overhead or underground ?

Sight of the result, obscuring your address, would be very useful.

and likewise for one of the neighbours who CAN get it

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

mystreet1 — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 16:59:22 GMT

If your neighbours fibre is physically connected to your house, you should have been contacted to ask permission to allow them to connected to your house.

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

jab1 — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 17:00:54 GMT

And the relevance of your reply above, @mystreet1 is...?

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

mystreet1 — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 17:06:11 GMT

Could the fibre connection be at full capacity?

Hence, no more lines available

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

mystreet1 — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 17:07:28 GMT

The OP will know who connected their neighbour up, OR or AltNet as @MisterW suggested

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

jab1 — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 17:11:23 GMT

@mystreet1 - reading the previous posts, the neighbour is possibly the landlord, so the OP would not have been asked for permission - not theirs to give.

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

mystreet1 — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 17:24:50 GMT

@jab1, I must apologise, I did not see that in the post.
Let's hope that they can get the BB service that they deserve and need.

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

stpainter — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 17:25:02 GMT

I know for a fact it's not a database error, this is a HOA-paid fibre rollout where they only provisioned for literally the people in the HOA, and I live in a lodge house on the property of one of the members. As such, they didn't want to pay the x-thousand or whatever it would be to allow for my home to be an endpoint, so I'm still on FTTC.

I'm nigh-on certain that the connection is overground, there's a very obvious fibre box on the telegraph pole outside my drive, with a cable coming out of it, attaching to a small spit of metal jutting from the top of my roof and then over to her house.

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

jab1 — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 17:27:55 GMT

Out of interest, what is a 'HOA'?

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

stpainter — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 17:29:35 GMT

@jab1 a homeowner's association, basically the owners of the properties have a private organisation that they all pay into that arranges for things like road maintenance etc.

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

jab1 — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 17:36:20 GMT

Thanks for the explanation, @stpainter , but if, as you say, the feed is overhead, and literally passes your home, the is little or no extra cost involved in provisioning FTTP for you.

Re: Line speed degrading severely over the last few months

stpainter — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 17:37:52 GMT

@jab1 this is what I would have assumed, but nobody appears to offer an option to actually make it happen