topic Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet? in Business

Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

chrishood — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 11:18:07 GMT

Hey All,

I'm at the end of my 24 month contract so the price has doubled now. I need to make a decision on where next and wondering if BT would be faster as PN seem to be their 'budget cousin'.

Few details:

Currently on: Unlimited Business Fibre Broadband

I get no more than 40mb/s but relatively stable

I went for Business as felt the support and uptime would be better provided

Stability has been excellent with little downtime and support seems decent with PN. Not sure BT would compare?

Cost is not an issue as prices usually within £10 a month of each other and BB is pivotal to me and my business. I would happily pay £100 a month if i could get much faster speeds.

I have attached the www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com results.

To me this looks like I can get up-to 56 Mbps rather than the current 40. So is this being restricted by PN? DHT seems very low!

On posts like this https://community.plus.net/t5/Fibre-Broadband/Will-my-Plusnet-speed-reach-the-same-speed-as-BT/td-p/1645392 it seem that it can be increased?

If I can get a speed increase to 56Mbps then I may as well stay with PN but if I can get nearly a 50% increase in speeds with BT it's worthwhile moving.

Anyone else had this experience?

Thanks!

Chris

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

jab1 — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 11:41:47 GMT

@chrishood Welcome to the forums. 'Unlimited Fibre' is the 40/10 package, where you are artificially limited to a max 40Mb/s download/10Mb/s upload. To get higher speeds, you need to be on 'Unlimited Fibre Extra' (with Plusnet, don't know what BT call their 80/20 package.

However, looking at that BT Availability report, personally I wouldn't pay the extra for a (possible) extra 16Mb/s increase in speed - but as a business only you can decide if it is worth it.

Looking at that report, you must be fairly close to the Fibre cab, but not that close - you are achieving the max speed on the 40/10 package, but not going to gain much by going to 'Fibre Extra'.

What is the result of BTW Performance Tester - the 'Additional Diagnostics' option?

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

MisterW — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 11:50:08 GMT

'Unlimited Fibre' is the 40/10 package

It is for the residential package but the Business package is up to 80/20 ( or it should be ! )

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

chrishood — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 11:50:57 GMT

Hey @jab1 - Thanks for the quick response. I didn't know there were other options available. PN do not make it clear that the speeds are restricted.

When making the product change on my account it only offers me the one option.

Business offerings seem slightly different. https://www.plus.net/business/

I am already on the "Up to 76 Mb download speed" package so this shouldn't be restricted.

So I guess the next question is if moving to the Unlimited Fibre Extra will give me those faster speeds.

Results of the test are:

Ping - 12ms

DL - 35.19

UL - 6.87

Thanks!

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

dvorak — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 11:53:49 GMT

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Fibre to Business

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

MisterW — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 11:59:26 GMT

@chrishood sight of your router stats ( helpdesk tab if youre using a PlusNet router ) would be useful to determine if your line is capable of faster speeds

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

jab1 — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 12:01:36 GMT

@chrishood Just wrote a long reply, then someone moved the topic before I got chance to post (@dvorak).

CBA to rewrite it, but basically we need a bit more info - can you post a screenshot of the 'Additional Diagnostics' tab on the BT Speedtest , as a start please?

Might be a while before I get back to you though, I'm out for the rest of this afternoon.

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

Townman — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 12:02:38 GMT

@chrishood

Answering your question needs sight of your current line stats, rather than the data speed tests which tells us what your line is doing at the moment. Your speed is governed by what your line will do, not what product you are on. All BUSINESS accounts are provisioned on 80/20 (or should be) but what you get is a matter of what your line will deliver. If there are issues on your line, what you get will be much the same irrespective of the ISP.

The first step here is to investigate the possibility of there being a fault on your line - the router stats should offer some clues.

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

chrishood — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 12:05:44 GMT

@MisterW

I am using the PN router.

Using a DrayTek Vigor 130 modem to a Ubiquiti UniFi Security Gateway

Test results above all from a hardwired CAT6 connection.

What kind of stats would be helpful?

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

chrishood — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 12:11:02 GMT

@JAB I noticed that it had been moved. Sorry for your wasted time!

Additional diagnostics attached

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

Townman — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 12:13:57 GMT

The modem's line stats, including sync speed and SNRM.

Data speeds are somewhat useless - the sync rate will tell us what the line is doing, the SNRM will indicate if the line is being managed for issues.

You could also just raise a slow line broadband error report. See the link below.

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

chrishood — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 12:55:14 GMT

Hey @Townman - Modem stats attached,

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

chrishood — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 13:01:38 GMT

To me, the fact it's showing a down speed of almost exactly 40mb looks like it's being restricted?

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

MisterW — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 13:02:52 GMT

Its a bit suspicious but that doesnt appear to be limited by a 40/10 profile. If it was , then the downstream SNR would be > 6db. TBH the Vigor modem is not the best for higher speeds but it would appear its giving the best it can given the current setup.

Are you connected directly to the master socket ? and have you tried connecting to the test socket to see if the synch speed improves ?

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

chrishood — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 13:07:26 GMT

@MisterW Isn't it weird that my downstream is exactly 40mbs though? Doesn't that look restricted to you? Otherwise surely it would show like the Upload does and have an odd max peak number?

Regarding your last sentence - you've lost me there sorry. Those stats were taken by logging into the modem directly via ethernet. What's the master/test socket? There's only one port on the Vigor other than the phone line going in & power.

I read through this forum when I joined in 2020 that the Vigor was the best for passing through a direct steam to the Unify system. Can you suggest a better modem that might handle things easier? Obviously the Secure Gateway takes care of everything else - it just needs the internet feed.

Thanks

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

MisterW — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 13:13:22 GMT

@chrishood if your downstream speed was being limited to 40 then the SNR would be higher that the 6db target.

What's the master/test socket?

I'm referring to the BT socket to which the modem is plugged. Connecting the modem to an extension socket or via an extension cable can affect the speed. Therefore the modem should always be connected dierctly to the master socket. In addtion , if their is extensions wired in the premises, thes can have an adverse effect. Connecting directly to the test socket ( behind the removeable faceplate) disconnects (well it will if wired correctly) any extension wiring.

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

Baldrick1 — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 13:27:48 GMT

@chrishood

You access the Test socket by taking the front off the Master socket. This might help: https://community.plus.net/t5/Library/Testing-From-The-Master-Socket/ba-p/1322242 Note that the front on the latest type are simply clipped on rather than secured with two screws.

If you have a filtered faceplate then you will have to use a dangly filter to connect to your hub. Also note that whilst in this mode all extensions should be dead.

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

chrishood — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 13:38:03 GMT

Thanks. That's useful,

I have a single cable going to the Dreytek then directly into the master socket. I can't use the test socket as I haven't got a filter.

I just phoned Plusnet support and they said I had a 40mb restriction on the line maybe due to a previous error and he has now cleared it. My speeds should now improve however after a modem restart it's still the same. I'll give it an hour. Let's hope. He did say it would be instant though.

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

Gandalf — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 13:43:38 GMT

Hey Chris,

I've taken a look into this for you and diagnostics aren't showing any issues, but I can see your download speed is artificially restricted to 40mbps by the automated dynamic line management (DLM) software at the cabinet (the green box in the road). I've arranged for your line to be reset, so you should hopefully see an increase within the next 3 working days.

The full DLM profile is "Downstream: 0.128M-40M with Retransmission (High). Upstream: 0.128M-20M with no error protection" which shows you're provisioned on 80/20 but the download speed is 'banded' by DLM. If you don't see much of an increase then it may be worth us arranging an Openreach engineer to take a closer look.

Let us know how it goes.

Re: Will BT BB be faster than PlusNet?

Gandalf — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 13:47:06 GMT

@chrishood wrote:
I just phoned Plusnet support and they said I had a 40mb restriction on the line maybe due to a previous error and he has now cleared it. My speeds should now improve however after a modem restart it's still the same. I'll give it an hour. Let's hope. He did say it would be instant though.

Looks like my last post crossed.

Unfortunately what the adviser's done is increase a profile which should match the sync speed of the line. As the problem is the sync speed itself, this needs a reset put through to Openreach which I've done and can take a few days.