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Had enough!

spannerjago
Dabbler
Posts: 20
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Had enough!

Swapped to PN a few months ago and completely regret it.
I haven't got the fastest line speed anyway thanks to BT and my distance from the exchange but tonights speed result was the straw that broke the camels back.
Date                  Downstream  Upstream 
24/11/09 20:51  183.06 Kbps  350.12 Kbps 
My upstream is faster than my downstream and it isn't a huge leap from dialup. Is this how we have progressed in the 15 years I've had an internet connection?
I raised a ticket over a week ago due to a problem with accessing my poker account and I still don't have a reply as to what the problem is. I know it's not my laptop or the software as I can connect on my friends network with no problem at all. Every night I can't play is costing me money. How hard is it to give me some kind of useful reply in 8 days???
Tonight as my wife moaned that she couldn't access Facebook yet again or even open her email I decided it was time to get my MAC code and leave. So I (slowly) navigate the PN website to look for the number to ring only to find that I can only get my MAC code between 9 and 5.30! Whats that all about. If I want to phone about ordering PN (which I will be advising people not to do) I can phone 24hours but to leave I have to find time when I'm at work. Thanks a bunch.
Well I will phone at some point tomorrow and then I'll give Virgin a call and get a cable connection that even at it's slowest speed should at least let me open a webpage in less time than it takes to make a cup of tea. I don't know who's to blame for the connection problems or the slow customer service responses but I know that where I work heads would be rolling if we had problems like this. It just isn't good enough.
11 REPLIES 11
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
Fixes: 21
Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Had enough!

And no-one from Comms responded to this yesterday Shocked
Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
Thanks: 600
Fixes: 169
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Had enough!

Hi there,
Sorry we didn't pick up this thread yesterday.
I've taken a quick look over your account and it seems that your speeds should now have increased back to near 1500, is that what you're seeing now?
The drop in speeds was caused by a poor connection between your router and the exchange, that in turn caused the IP profile (set by the exchange) to drop down to 500. This means you wouldn't have been able to get any speeds higher than this.
I can also see that the addition of your poker site to our traffic management system has been approved and should be updated next time we make any alterations (normally we make additions like this weekly).
Please let us know if we can help any further.
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
spannerjago
Dabbler
Posts: 20
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Had enough!

Well I have calmed down a little but still not happy about the whole situation.
I didn't get my mac code as due to the inconvenient hours and being busy at work I didn't get chance.
I am happy that support finally replied to my ticket after a little nudge and my poker application is being tested to allow it through the traffic management. Why it wasn't already I have no idea.
The speed test tonight hasn't shown any improvement:
Date                  Downstream  Upstream 
26/11/09 20:51 439.85 Kbps 355.10 Kbps
Where can I see my IP profile? The following are stats from my router, is the bandwith the same as my IP profile and if so what can I do to get my speed up to that.
Uptime: 2 days, 8:40:47
DSL Type: G.992.1 annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 448 / 1,824
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/kB]: 0.00 / 1.00
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 11.5 / 16.5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 31.5 / 49.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 19.0 / 8.0
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / ALCB
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 3 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 11 / 120,829
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 11 / 8,250
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 8 / 7,163
If I can get a steady 1500 I'll be over the moon. I'm not looking for massive speeds, just enough to surf, play poker and download the odd file. If I can get this consistently then I'll happily stay, I really don't want the hassle.
pierre_pierre
Grafter
Posts: 19,757
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Had enough!

Denzil
Grafter
Posts: 1,733
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: Had enough!

The bandwidth (more commonly known as the sync rate) Is a variable figure which represents the best speed the router can connect at. The IP profile is used to set actual download speeds, and is set by your exchange at a round number below the sync rate. Actual download speeds are usually slightly less than the IP profile, and can be much less if servers are busy on the site you are looking at. Have a look at the top thread in this section, and there is a link to a guide on speed issues which is worth a read for background information.
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
Fixes: 21
Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Had enough!

In any event that sync speed is poor for your line attenuation and SNRM (noise margin). This implies there is a lot of noise on/being picked up by your line some of which may/may not be audible.
julesandtash
Grafter
Posts: 83
Registered: ‎12-10-2009

Re: Had enough!

I'd agree with that - my attenuation is almost 10dB worse than yours at 57.8dB yet I am still holding a stable sync speed of 2848Kbps with a 6dB noise ratio
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
Fixes: 21
Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Had enough!

@spannerjago
I don't know when you last resynced the modem/router,.perhaps you could try rebooting sometime between 0900 & 1430 when noise levels should be better and you should get a better sync speed (unless you've recently done it at that time). Then post the current stats.
spannerjago
Dabbler
Posts: 20
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Had enough!

No offence guys but I don't really understand the ins and outs of BB and have little desire to find out more. Why can't it just work???
There are people less techy than me who probably don't even know they have a problem and just think the internet is always crap!
By resynching the router do you mean turning it on and off or just disconnecting the reconnecting? I have to work so it isn't possible to do this during the day so I suppose I have to wait to the weekend to do this.
I've been away for the weekend and just got back and my speeds are no better despite my profile being as expected so I have to try something. I'm only after 1500! Not like I'm asking for the moon on a stick.
spannerjago
Dabbler
Posts: 20
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Had enough!

Whey hey!!!!
Thought I'd try a discon and recon of my connection and lo and behold my next speed test shows up as a 1.3.
Rock on.
Cheers for the help guys. I will stay around here a little longer if it stays like this.
mal0z
Grafter
Posts: 3,486
Registered: ‎02-10-2008

Re: Had enough!

Unfortunately BB - although very clever technology - is not perfect. it is using telephone cables just designed for speech - to pass data at over 100,000 times faster than that.
It works on good quality, relatively short  ( 1 to 3km ) telephone lines. Any number of fsctors can reduce the speed.
Until such time as we get optical fibre circuits to the street cabinets will speed and reliabilty go up.
And radio technology in general is in some senses the same - it works most of the time, but undue interference, bad weather etc etc can effect performance. And this radio technology is using a medium only designed for audio frequencies as I said.
That's why all the advertising and contracts  says - speeds UPTO  8M