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Long line on FTTC and speeds dropping below 9Mbps

gavins
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎09-10-2012

Long line on FTTC and speeds dropping below 9Mbps

Hi all,
First time of posting after being with Plusnet since about 2004 as everything has been pretty good so far.  Unfortunately I changed over to FTTC in the hope of improving my broadband to a reasonable speed and am starting to regret it.
The new Technicolor router doesn't like my house as it has solid internal walls so can't move more than one room away - is this common?
The OpenReach engineer who did the install was great but after 5 hours gave up with a maximum connection speed of 12Mbps.  After a week the speed seemed to be dropping and it was down to 9.6Mbps - Plusnet were great and had an engineer out who checked the line over (all 1,600 metres from the cabinet) and confirmed 12Mbps was the maximum to expect.  A week has passed and the BT SpeedTest site now gives a result of 8.94Mbps with a max achievable of 9.68Mbps when connected directly to the router via cat5.
Am I expecting too much, after all the old adsl service only gave 3Mbps but if I could go back to it I would save around £10 per month.  Does anyone know if I can go back to it without incurring more costs?
Don't get me wrong, the Plusnet team has been really helpful but it is so frustrating when advertised at upto (I know, that famous phrase) 40Mbps and neighbours across the road with BT are getting 16Mbps (tested wirelessly on a mobile) and I had seriously considered moving to BT to get a homehub as no-one I know has had issues.
I know I can't check any stats on the fibre modem but there must be a way of getting some useful info somewhere.  My current line speed shows as 13 Mb in the Member Centre so why am I losing around a third of the potential performance?
Sorry if it sounds like a rant, but getting grief from the family who had assumed that they would be able to view iplayer and play xbox at the same time!
Gavin
27 REPLIES 27
KevinG
Rising Star
Posts: 998
Thanks: 7
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Registered: ‎05-11-2008

Re: Long line on FTTC and speeds dropping below 9Mbps

Can I ask what the BT Wholesale checker (using your phone number) suggests your line is capable of?
gavins
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎09-10-2012

Re: Long line on FTTC and speeds dropping below 9Mbps

The checker indicates 29.5 download and 5.5 upload based on the telephone number.  My original estimate from plusnet was for 28 down, although apparently this isn't always accurate as the line lengths are not always correct.
As you can tell, 8-9 Mbps download and ~1.8 Mbps upload don't do justice to expectations!
KevinG
Rising Star
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Registered: ‎05-11-2008

Re: Long line on FTTC and speeds dropping below 9Mbps

Yes, I would expect more than that at 1600m, but it gets a bit less predictable at those sort of distances.
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Long line on FTTC and speeds dropping below 9Mbps

Hmm. Well I've just been looking at a graph that suggests you should be able to get around 15M.. However if the BT eng has said 12Mbps is the best, your line may take a different route, be a poorer quality, or go to a different Cab than those over the road. BUT going to BT and getting a HH will make not the slightest bit of difference, if your line is limiting your speed it doesn't matter what router you have on the end or who the ISP is!
That said, if checkers suggest you should get 29.5M, the Eng said 12M and it's dropped to 9.68 then that should be investigated, clearly it's not right. I might suggest that if Plusnet's estimate was also in the 28M ballpark I wonder if you could argue a case for mis-selling, but in any event this would have been based on BTw's checker.
chrispurvey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 5,369
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎13-07-2012

Re: Long line on FTTC and speeds dropping below 9Mbps

Hi gavins,
I can see that our faults team have investigated this for you and have been informed by the engineers report that your line speed estimate is lower than first thought.
These are only estimates that are provided by our suppliers and also dependent on the quality of the line that can also impact the actual speeds you would receive, as there are instances where customers will receive higher then the estimated speed.
Unfortunately in your case it has had the adverse effect.

Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Long line on FTTC and speeds dropping below 9Mbps

However, note that speed has dropped from an initial 12M to 9.6M which is clearly not acceptable.
gavins, see if you can find out from those over the road, which cab number they are connected to, and check out which one you are served by.
KevinG
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Registered: ‎05-11-2008

Re: Long line on FTTC and speeds dropping below 9Mbps

(deleted)
Anotherone
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Long line on FTTC and speeds dropping below 9Mbps

My apologies, gavins and KevinG, posted in too much of a rush. Post now edited  Wink
gavins
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎09-10-2012

Re: Long line on FTTC and speeds dropping below 9Mbps

Chris - your support team have been great and to be fair even 12Mbps was acceptable as it did allow the family to get on with different activities, even if we were initially disappointed after the estimate of 28Mbps.  However now it's dropped further still I would like to know if it can drop any further and still be classed as acceptable.  As far as I am concerned I believe BT's infrastructure is inadequate for modern living and I don't believe they should charge the full amount if they can't provide the service.
Anotherone - afaik the neighbours run to the same cabinet as the other cabinet in the vicinity is at the other end of out estate.  Another neighbourwith BT Infinity has been disappointed with the performance and stability so at least I am better off having a stable line.
Anotherone
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Long line on FTTC and speeds dropping below 9Mbps

Put yours and the neighbours postcodes into http://fttc-check.alc.im/ and see what comes back.
Edit: typo - correct link
Jaggies
Aspiring Pro
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Registered: ‎29-06-2010

Re: Long line on FTTC and speeds dropping below 9Mbps

Quote from: Anotherone
http://fttc-check.alc.im/and

You're missing a space...
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Long line on FTTC and speeds dropping below 9Mbps

Apologies, post edited and link corrected http://fttc-check.alc.im/
gavins
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎09-10-2012

Re: Long line on FTTC and speeds dropping below 9Mbps

Both on P5 with N uplift of 3.34 which would tie in with the old speeds/sync of around 3.5-4.0Mbps
Never seen speeds of 8Mbps before which would have given the original estimate of 28Mbps at that uplift.
Can't believe that an estimate can be given and then you are told it was wrong.  Like buying a Ferrari that could do 180mph but only has first gear working.  Unfortunately you can't test drive fibre broadband at your own premises until you've signed up based on an estimate.  Based on the results, I believe there should be performance banded pricing.
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Long line on FTTC and speeds dropping below 9Mbps

I still think there's some investigating to be done if you started at 12M and your neighbours are getting 16M, that nearly double your current speed !