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Painfully slow broadband - Please help

Firecracker
Newbie
Posts: 4
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎03-10-2020

Painfully slow broadband - Please help

Hello everyone. I've been a Plusnet broadband customer for 15 years and I've encountered my first problem - any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

A couple of months ago my broadband download speed dropped to between 0.50mbps and 1.00mbps. This lasted for around 10 days until I decided to try plugging the router into the master socket. This fixed the problem and I was back to getting download speeds of around 4.00mbps which I think is normal for me. I left it plugged into the master socket for a few days and then removed it and plugged it back in as normal using a microfilter with the telephone plugged in too and all was fine for approx. 5 weeks.

Now since tuesday, it's happened again. Download speed is registering as zero on the btspeedtest, and pages are taking over a minute to load (or not at all). The broadband is also going off completely intermittently and then coming back on after a minute or so. I plugged it into the master socket again but this hasn't helped this time.

My router is a Thomson TG585 v8 which I've had from Plusnet since 2011. I swapped the ADSL cable thinking the old one may have perished and have tried a couple of different microfilters but this hasn't improved it.

One thing I have just noticed is the phone line is noisy, but when I unplug the router from the microfilter, the noise disappears. Could this be a faulty router?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

7 REPLIES 7
jab1
Legend
Posts: 16,817
Thanks: 5,339
Fixes: 248
Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Painfully slow broadband - Please help

@Firecracker Welcome to the Community. It could well be a dying router - especially as that one must be getting old.

I would also run through THIS topic, reporting back with as much detail as possible, and do a Quiet Line Test -17070 option #2 from a (preferably) corded phone - the line should be silent.

John
Firecracker
Newbie
Posts: 4
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎03-10-2020

Re: Painfully slow broadband - Please help

Hi John, Thank you for your quick reply.

Yes, I thought it could be the router - it is over 9 years old. Do you have any recommendations for a new one or do Plusnet supply replacements?

I just did the quiet line test and the line was noisy, but when I unplugged the ADSL cable it went silent.

jab1
Legend
Posts: 16,817
Thanks: 5,339
Fixes: 248
Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Painfully slow broadband - Please help

@Firecracker If you want a decent modem/router, the BT HH6 (available for ~£25 on your favourite auction site) is well thought of by those on here who know more on the subject than me.

As a cheaper possible fix - do you have a spare ADSL cable you could try?

John
Firecracker
Newbie
Posts: 4
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎03-10-2020

Re: Painfully slow broadband - Please help

Hi John, Thanks for the recommendation - will give the BT HH6 a try.

I did change the ADSL cable yesterday but it made no difference.

In you experience, could a faulty router cause noise on the phone line?

Longliner
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 586
Thanks: 294
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Registered: ‎22-10-2014

Re: Painfully slow broadband - Please help

Agree with jab1, your TG585 is long past its sell-by date and used HH6s are readily available. I bought one for a tenner last year, set it up using Baldrick's guide on this forum, and it's great. I don't know if a faulty router can affect your phone line but suggest you eliminate it as a source of problems.

jab1
Legend
Posts: 16,817
Thanks: 5,339
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Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Painfully slow broadband - Please help


@Firecracker wrote:

Hi John, Thanks for the recommendation - will give the BT HH6 a try.

I did change the ADSL cable yesterday but it made no difference.

In you experience, could a faulty router cause noise on the phone line?


In answer to your last question - yes - especially as some components could be failing and creating malfunctions/interference.

John
Firecracker
Newbie
Posts: 4
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎03-10-2020

Re: Painfully slow broadband - Please help

Thanks Jab1 & Longliner for your help. I'll order a replacement router and will report back with the results.

Many thanks