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Declining broadband speeds

Nemo2000
Grafter
Posts: 40
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎21-12-2010

Declining broadband speeds

Over the last few weeks my broadband download speed has declined steadily by about 25% for reasons unknown.

I tried to raise a support ticket to query this, but I can no longer find the relevant part of the Plusnet website - where's it gone please?

I tried the Chat instead. It was like watching paint dry - after 15 mins the 'agent' had not even got into my account! In the end I had to go elsewhere, so I left a message asking for the answer to my query to be e-mailed to my address - nothing so far 😞 

Perhaps someone somewhere from Customer Support can pick up on this for me please and respond? Thanks !

 

29 REPLIES 29
JOLO
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,149
Fixes: 77
Registered: ‎06-08-2018

Re: Declining broadband speeds

Hi @Nemo2000,

 

Sorry to hear about your speed issues. Unfortunately there's no easy way to raise a support ticket via the website any longer though this direct link does still currently exist. Once we raise one on your account you'll be able to access if via the member centre and respond as usual. 

 

I'll provide some test results below for you, but it might be worth giving us some speed tests and indication of what your speed expectations are for the line, or what you've been able to achieve.

 

Line estimates:

 

 

Your exchange profiles:

 

 

Your line test:

 

 

The line looks to be performing fine and within limits, although the mean time between errors is low which could indicate a potential issue though we'd need all the standard internal checks completing before we took the matter any further.

 

ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
Thanks: 631
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: Declining broadband speeds

How could MTBE values over 2000 possibly be deemed low? Even an MTBE of 200 would be absolutely fine!

JOLO
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,149
Fixes: 77
Registered: ‎06-08-2018

Re: Declining broadband speeds

@ejs

 

The MTBE on a connection should always be as close to 86400 as possible. The more inconsistent and lower it is it is the more likely there's errors on the line that are happening intermittently and outside of the times that the tests are being run (which in this case shows errored seconds being 0). A MTBE of 200 would indicate every 200 seconds the line is erroring which would not be absolutely fine. 

Nemo2000
Grafter
Posts: 40
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎21-12-2010

Re: Declining broadband speeds

Thanks for the link - I've posted a question there.

 

I'm afraid all the stats mean nothing to me 🙂

ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
Thanks: 631
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: Declining broadband speeds


@JOLO wrote:

The MTBE on a connection should always be as close to 86400 as possible. The more inconsistent and lower it is it is the more likely there's errors on the line that are happening intermittently and outside of the times that the tests are being run (which in this case shows errored seconds being 0). A MTBE of 200 would indicate every 200 seconds the line is erroring which would not be absolutely fine. 


I'm sorry but this indicates that your understanding of errors on a DSL line is seriously flawed. ADSL is absolutely not aiming for there to be zero errors per day. A moderate amount of errors are completely normal and to be expected.

If what you said were the case, then you will be thinking that the MTBE on pretty much every ADSL line in the country is too low. And this is what seems to happen every time someone from Plusnet looks at an MTBE figure on these forums, so I'm beginning to suspect some training at Plusnet must be flawed.

 

OK so the retransmission on FTTC lines does tend to aim for substantially lower error rates, but this is ADSL.

JOLO
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,149
Fixes: 77
Registered: ‎06-08-2018

Re: Declining broadband speeds

@Nemo2000, Thanks for creating that ticket. I notice you've noted your router is on an extension cable, would it be possible to remove this from the equation for testing purposes. Let me know when you've done this and I'll retest. 

 

@ejs,

 

My understanding of errors on a line is indeed flawed but as it's not an exact science surely it's better to query those figures, or would you just prefer us to completely ignore their existence? Regardless of how poorly you think I've been trained having run and seen tens of thousands of ADSL line test over the past 12 years, in my opinion an MTBE of 2110 isn't ideal. In this case it's likely the extension cabling is causing a problem.

 

 

Nemo2000
Grafter
Posts: 40
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎21-12-2010

Re: Declining broadband speeds

I can remove the router from the line altogether, but that is all. If you want me to do that then let me know and I will disconnect it overnight - we're busy using it at the moment!

>>> In this case it's likely the extension cabling is causing a problem....

As my set-up has been like that since 'day 1', I'm not sure what might have happened to cause a problem after so long?

 

jab1
Legend
Posts: 16,732
Thanks: 5,295
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Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Declining broadband speeds

@Nemo2000  Sorry to jump in. @JOLO is actually asking you to remove the extension wiring from the equation, not the router.Smiley,.

FWIW - cabling of any type can degrade/fail over time so the fact that it was OK previously does not mean it still is.

John
RandallFlagg
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,915
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Registered: ‎11-01-2018

Re: Declining broadband speeds

 

Absolutely correct, @jab1 Smiley

 

Let us know how you get on without the extension cable, @Nemo2000

 

Thanks

 

Dave

Nemo2000
Grafter
Posts: 40
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎21-12-2010

Re: Declining broadband speeds

The master socket is downstairs in the hall. The router is upstairs with all the PCs, printers etc. So the extension is needed to reach the master socket - if I remove it, the router loses its DSL.....

 

If I move the router to the hall there is no mains power there, so I will need to use an extension lead, but......I then can't connect the PC (upstairs) to the router, so I can't then communicate with the web. All I can do is to arrange, as I offered to do previously, is to move the router to the hall overnight - but I would need to know that PlusNet will be then checking it during that night please.

 

MasterOfReality
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,640
Fixes: 57
Registered: ‎26-03-2018

Re: Declining broadband speeds

@Nemo2000 - we have people manning the forums until 10pm tonight, so if you give us a yell on here once you've set the router into the master socket  we will be able to run a test and report back. 

 

Thanks, 

MoR

Nemo2000
Grafter
Posts: 40
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎21-12-2010

Re: Declining broadband speeds

OK, router will be in master socket at 9:10pm 🙂

Nemo2000
Grafter
Posts: 40
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎21-12-2010

Re: Declining broadband speeds

Well, I don't know what results you got from your test last night, but in the master socket the download speed is even worse now - only 2883. 

It seems that every time I reboot or reconnect to the DSL the speed drops even more.....

Gandalf
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 26,548
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Registered: ‎21-04-2017

Re: Declining broadband speeds

Thanks for getting back to us.

Sorry to see your speeds have gone down further.

Unfortunately I don't think there's much more we can suggest as your speeds are within expectations for the quality and length of your line. We could try reporting a fault to our suppliers although it's likely an engineer may reject it.

Have you thought about upgrading to fibre? This would give you a considerable boost in speed.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet