DownStream broadband at 284 kbps

[#1]

I contacted BT yesterday around 10 pm and they closed the landline fault.

Modem/router stats at 9:35:
ADSL Link     Downstream     Upstream
Link Rate     4243 Kbps     707 Kbps
Line Attenuation     49.5 dB     31.9 dB
Noise Margin     6.2 dB     8.6 dB

BT Wholesale Broadband Performance Test Broadband Speed Test Results:
Download speed (Mbps): 1.94
Upload speed (Mbps): 0.49
Ping Latency (ms): 25.38
Repeated after a few minutes - very similar.

Further diagnostic test:

1. Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
 Download speedachieved during the test was - 1.92 Mbps
 For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 1.2 Mbps-4 Mbps.
 IP Profile for your line is - 3.74 Mbps

2. Upstream Test: -provides background information.
Upload speed achieved during the test was - 0.47Mbps
 Additional Information:
 Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 0.83 Mbps

This is considerably improved from previous results but disappointing compared with the average of  7.06 Mbps I had been getting for the whole of 2016 and 2017 (51 measurements).

On 15/12/17 the same test showed a download speed of 8.32 Mbps with a range 4 Mbps to 21 Mbps and IP profile of 8.6 Mbps, and upload speed of 0.87 Mbps with an upstream rate IP profile of 0.83 Mbps.

I have been told it may take three days for the speed to get back to normal (reference date: 4/6/18 at 11:47). so I will do further tests at least until that time is up.

[#2]

Hi @cjseymour,

I have tested your line today and unfortunately, it's still showing us that the phone fault with your landline provider is open. This may be due to the resolution request still processing on the system, however it may be worth double checking with them that they've definitely closed it all down.

As this is the case we're currently unable to progress the broadband fault further along from our side, but it may be worth trying to set the connection up in the Test Phone Socket to see if this stabilizes the connection as I can see that it is still dropping out quite frequently.

If you click here, there's a useful guide for locating and setting the connection up to the Test Phone Socket. Please let us know how this goes and if you still experience any issue please get back to us so we can progress the fault further.

[#3]

Everything in my setup has been checked over and over, including by the engineer on Monday.  The fault was cleared by BT staff with this comment on online chat (which I had to access using an alternative ISP because your line was at the time too slow to use the web interface):

"ok ive closed the landline fault. Please perform a line test again. If that link is not working please perform a speed test from the link www.speedtest.net and check the speed you're getting Arpit - 21:50"

This made an immediate difference to the download speed.which was 2.13 Mbps at 22:05 after being 0.24.  Clearly this was due to the fault status being cleared. 

You always seem to be trying to pin the blame on the poor customer's side.  From the timings of your plot (since the repair) it looks to me as though you are simply recording my router reboots that I have to do to comply with the BT wholesale speed test requirements, as well as being instructed to do so by BT to ensure that it syncs up to the correct speed.  Note that since the repair the plot is not showing the longer bursts of disconnects that show before the repair.

[#4]

Hi @cjseymour,

Please allow me to apologise if you feel like we are trying to pin the blame on you for this issue, as this is certainly not our intention. The issue from our side at the minute is that when we run test on your line the fault returns the following results:

Problem Explanation: [OD01] The Line associated with the provided Service id is currently in Fault.
Resolution/Recommendation: Refer End User to telephony provider to confirm PSTN fault open.

As this is the case I'm afraid we're unable to raise a broadband fault to Openreach for further investigation at this stage, which is what I would be wanting to do at this point if we were able to do so.

If all of the checks we've previously sent you haven't improved the broadband then the best thing I can recommend to do now, would be to contact your phone provider and advise them of this situation and ask if the fault is definitely closed down on their systems.

[#5]

Extract from online chat with BT:

Fault has been cleared by the engineer.Pradeep - 20:37

After Openreach supposedly fixed landline fault on Monday, I got this message from my broadband provider today: "Problem Explanation: [OD01] The Line associated with the provided Service id is currently in Fault.Resolution/Recommendation: Refer End User to telephony provider to confirm PSTN fault open." You - 20:37

They have asked me to "contact your phone provider and advise them of this situation and ask if the fault is definitely closed down on their systems." So when you say "Fault has been cleared by the engineer", does that mean the fault is definitely closed down on your system? You - 20:39

Yes, clear means that the fault has been fixed by the engineer and if the customer says that they still facing the same issue then we need to open it again.Pradeep - 20:39

Thank you Pradeep, I think that is all I need for now. You - 20:40

[#6]

Thanks for getting back in touch with your phone provider @cjseymour, however upon further testing of your line this morning I'm afraid that we still receive the same message confirming that the phone fault is still logged a open on their end. This may be due to the fault being in an "Unconfirmed Clear" state and if that is the case it would simply require that the fault be either confirmed or rejected as a cleared to progress it.

Although I can appreciate that you have spoken with the phone provider regarding this issue multiple times now I'm afraid there really isn't anything further we can do from our side to progress this further as a broadband fault until the phone fault has been fully cleared from the system.

However the good news is that since yesterday, discounting times when we have been testing the lines and troubleshooting has been carried out, the connection does appear to be more stable.

The fact that the connection has become more stable since the phone fault was reported to have been cleared suggests that the speed may begin to improve as well so at this stage I would recommend keeping an eye on how the broadband performs in general over the next few days and if you do run into any issues with the performance or with the connection dropping out, please run a wired speed test via www.speedtest.btwholesale.com and running further diagnostics to capture the results so we may investigate further from there, at which point the phone fault will have timed out automatically in our suppliers systems.

[#7]

Thanks for the update.  I will see how the link performs over the next few days.

Please note this is also covered by a ticket (Question #175656946) - the staff there do not seem to have been aware of this Plusnet Community Forum discussion.

[#8]

Our support teams generally don't get involved in the community forums, but I can see you've provided a link to here on your ticket for them to refer to if needs be.

Let us know how things go over the next few days.

[#9]

Reference 175656946

Tests requested by Plusnet support:

Using master test socket with separate Netgear 350-10050-01 ADSL filter (router rebooted) and phone disconnected.

BT Wholesale Broadband Performance Test
Broadband Speed Test Results
Download speed (Mbps): 2.62
Upload speed (Mbps): 0.59
Ping Latency (ms): 23.38

These results are not significantly different from results obtained earlier with the proper master socket two socket faceplate.

Further diagnostics

1. Best Effort Test: -provides background information.

    Download  Speed
    2.62 Mbps
     
0 Mbps    4 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed

 Download speedachieved during the test was - 2.62 Mbps
 For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 1.2 Mbps-4 Mbps.
 IP Profile for your line is - 4.32 Mbps

2. Upstream Test: -provides background information.

    Upload Speed
    0.59 Mbps
     
0 Mbps    0.83 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed

Upload speed achieved during the test was - 0.59Mbps
 Additional Information:
 Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 0.83 Mbps

The cable pairs that support our BT phone lines were laid down in the 1930s when much of the housing in my area was constructed.  The previous line pair was exchanged for a different one by the engineer who found it to have "issues" in addition to the nicked termination which was likely the source of noise / high resistance.  In the 1930s they did not expect these lines to provide much more than audio telephony bandwidth, which is about 3kHz. 

What sort of condition must these cables be in today, with possible deterioration of the insulation and cable sheath?  What are the real prospects of getting anything like a modern bandwidth and reliability of service from these cables?

The state of the art of telephone cables used in the 1930s is illustrated by this extract from Bell Labs Technical Journal, "Pulp Insulation for Telephone Cables", by H. G. Walker, L. S. Ford, first published: January 1933:

"Pulp insulation is a new type of insulation that has been developed to replace the well‐known spirally wrapped ribbon paper insulation in certain kinds of telephone cables. It consists of a continuous pulp sleeving formed directly on the wire by a modified paper making process. The raw material for this insulation is commercial Kraft pulp and its preparatory treatment in the beaters corresponds to that given in the regular paper making process...

These cables are designed to the same size as the ribbon paper cables which they replace and compare favorably with them in their electrical characteristics except that the mutual capacitance is slightly higher. The impairment in transmission efficiency due to the higher capacitance is, however, more than offset by the lower cable first cost.

Standardized installation practices are followed except that a softer and more lubricating type of boiling‐out compound than paraffin wax is required, particularly at low temperatures. A suitable compound has been found by adding paraffin oil to wax in varying proportions depending upon the temperature at the point of splicing..."

[#10]

I can see your complaint is with our complaints team and they'll update you as soon as we know more

[#11]

18/6/18 12:46
Download speed (Mbps): 0.88
Upload speed (Mbps): 0.56
Ping Latency (ms): 25.38 ms

Repeat:
Download speed (Mbps): 0.51
Upload speed (Mbps): 0.49
Ping Latency (ms): 103.38 ms

Further test

1. Best Effort Test: -provides background information.

    Download  Speed
    0.51 Mbps
     
0 Mbps    4 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed

 Download speedachieved during the test was - 0.51 Mbps
 For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 1.2 Mbps-4 Mbps.
 IP Profile for your line is - 4.45 Mbps

2. Upstream Test: -provides background information.

    Upload Speed
    0.49 Mbps
     
0 Mbps    0.83 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed

Upload speed achieved during the test was - 0.49Mbps
 Additional Information:
 Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 0.83 Mbps

This test was not conclusive and further testing is required.This might be useful for your
Broadband Service Provider to investigate the fault.

If you wish to carry out further tests,please click on 'Continue' button.If not,
please close the window using 'Exit' button and contact your ISP for further
assistance with these results.

TAP3 test speedtest@speedtest_domain: Did not work.  Does not appear to resolve the web address for the test, despite the router being set to obtain the DNS server address automatically, so it is not a question of Plusnet DNS servers not working with the BT speed test domain.

This has been reported as not working elsewhere (?18-07-2016)
https://community.bt.com/t5/BT-Fibre-broadband/speedtest-speedtest-domain/td-p/1643091

[#12]

Hello @cjseymour

Thanks for updating us. I have added a link to this thread to your complaint and your case handler update you as soon as we know more.

[#13]

Hi SammyM,

Thanks for the reply - in my experience of other forums, it is quite a task for admin to keep up with the activity on most busy forums and respond to users' issues, so it's good to see that staff are paying attention here.

 I see from my modem/router statistics that the line link rate has been stable at around these figures since the visit from the BT Openreach engineer on 4/6/18.

ADSL Link	Downstream	Upstream
Link Rate	5047 Kbps	735 Kbps
Line Attenuation	50.0 dB	32.1 dB
Noise Margin	3.9 dB	8.8 dB

ADSL2+ has a maximum theoretical download speed of 24 Mbps.  According to the speed versus distance graph, a line attenuation of 50 dB at 3.62 km distance should support 5.3Mbps (which is not far off the above downstream rate).  Of course the relationship between attenuation on line length depends on cable properties, age, damage etc. so while the line attenuation can be cross referenced to the router statistics, the line length is an estimate.   BT wholesale's broadband availability checker says that I should expcect ADSL2+ rates of up to 6 Mbps downstream with a range of 4 to 8.  That of course is based on their database of exchange routes to subscriber addresses and they should have the best knowledge available of line length and condition.

This link rate tells me that the line is capable of sustaining up to these rates of data, if the data frames are fully utilised, less a small amount for overheads such as synchronisation, packet headers, and error correction codes.  If the link rate is stable but the data throughput is so much lower, this tells me that there must be a bottleneck at or beyond the modem at the exchange end. 

[#14]

Hi there,

I see you already have a case handler assigned to bring this matter to a resolution,due to this, I'd recommend contacting them directly over on the complaint ticker thread here as it is important for your handler to have all up to date information and correspondence. 

There may well be other replies and advice from forums members on this topic, and by all means please feel free to discuss possible fixes with them if you so wish, however if you wish to add any more information please do direct it to you case handler. 

(I'll add this last reply to the ticket as well so it is up to date)

I hope this makes sense and you understand why I am advising to do this.

Kind Regards 

Alisdair 

[#15]

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@cjseymour wrote:

From the timings of your plot (since the repair) it looks to me as though you are simply recording my router reboots that I have to do to comply with the BT wholesale speed test requirements, as well as being instructed to do so by BT to ensure that it syncs up to the correct speed.

---

Stop rebooting your router before doing a BTWholesale speedtest.

Have you tried other speedtesters, or checking the speed of a file download?