Plusnet - Why are you capping my speed? FIXED

[#1]

UPDATE
Problem solved


http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,118725.msg1030389.html#msg1030389

Hello,
Sorry if this is asked  a lot but I am finding it very difficult to find a contact email address for the support team and the search function isn't helping either...
How do I get in touch without sitting on the phone or asking flipping Jessica?!
Have tried the Broadband Fault Checker but always returns with

Quote

There's been a problem We're sorry, but you can't use the Broadband Troubleshooter to report a fault on your service. Please contact our Support Team for help.

 

All I want to do is ask why my line speed has basically halved since I joined and since I am using the standard router/modem combo, I cannot view much info about stats, unless there is a way around this ?
Thanks in advance,
Hiijinx

[#2]

Hi there,
Go to https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=wizard&page=22966&wizard_id=38 and put in your question there and click send!

[#3]

There isn't an email option
You could just raise a normal ticket here https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=wizard&page=22883&wizard_id=38 asking why the speed is low and also why the fault checker won't work
In the meantime if you provide the information requested here we may be able to help http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,96155.0.html

[#4]

Sorry to hear about the issue Hiijinx,
I've fixed the issue which was preventing a fault being raised using the online checker so you should be able to go back and do that now.
Adam

[#5]

Update
Plusnet Email 1 :  

Quote

Thank you for getting in touch, I have checked your circuit and can assure you the line is not banded in anyway but I have noticed modem sync speed with the exchange is 18Mbps. The estimated speed for your line is around 24.5Mbps. There are a large number of potential reasons for slow speeds and sometimes these are difficult to track down. Please follow the link below for the first steps towards resolving this issue: Slow Speed Help

Yet we had a stable 37mbs for months when we first joined, why should it suddenly drop when it was perfect before?
Plusnet email 2 :

Quote

I have tested your line and can see the speed via the open reach box is slower than expected, however during the test it states that the copper line (phone service) could have a suspected fault.

Phoned Telephone provider:
They reluctantly ran a test insisting that there would not be a fault as I was calling on the same line.
Found out there was a fault and put an order for BT to visit us.
BT Arrived:
Deemed the wiring in the house was fine and pinpointed the "noise" on the line was from outside, somewhere between us and the green exchange box. They returned shortly after with two readings to locate the problem spot.
Unfortunately they could not do anymore as they were not qualified to do the underground jobs.
BT Day 2:
New BT techy arrives, does the same tests and cannot find anything wrong. Checks the two junctions either side of us and everything is fine. Checks download speed direct from his gadgety thing and gets same speed.
Unable to help us any further and says it is Plusnets end.
Have run the tests you mentioned Oldjim but do not have much to report back as it will not give me any stats about line margin etc, guess because its fibre?
But here are the results anyway.

Quote

1. Best Effort Test:  -provides background information. Download Speed 19.76 Mbps 0 Mbps 20.95 Mbps Max Achievable Speed Download speedachieved during the test was - 19.76 Mbps For your connection, the acceptable range of speedsis 12 Mbps-20.95 Mbps . Additional Information: IP Profile for your line is - 20.95 Mbps 2. Upstream Test:  -provides background information. Upload Speed 5.27 Mbps 0 Mbps 10 Mbps Max Achievable Speed Upload speed achieved during the test was - 5.27Mbps Additional Information: Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 10 Mbps We were unable to identify any performance problem with your service at this time. It is possible that any problem you are currently, or had previously experienced may have been caused by traffic congestion on the Internet or by the server you were accessing responding slowly. If you continue to encounter a problem with a specific server, please contact the administrator of that server in the first instance.

And interestingly enough, plusnets "new" estimate is 19mb, it used to be 30mb .... What has changed?
Its the fact that we DID get 37mb stable for months without hitch to prove its possible, why has it gone down by so much?
Going to search forum for alternative router suggestions as I hate not being able to keep a check on it myself.
Thanks in advance,
Hiijinx

[#6]

UPDATE : Reported Fault via Fault Report Tool

Quote

GEA Test Detail Circuit ID N.A. Service ID Test Outcome Pass Test Outcome Code GTC_FTTC_SERVICE_0000 Description GEA service test completed and no fault found . Main Fault Location OK Sync Status In Sync Downstream Speed 20.0 Mbps Upstream Speed 6.0 Mbps Appointment Required N Fault Target Fix Time Fault Report Advised N NTE Power Status PowerOn Voice Line Test Result Pass Bridge Tap Not Detected Radio Frequency Ingress Not Detected Repetitive Electrical Impulse Noise Not Detected Cross Talk Not Detected Profile Name 10M-20M Downstream, Interleaving High - 3M-6M Upstream, Interleaving On Time Stamp 2013-10-06T05:15:00 Parameters MIN MAX AVG Down Stream Line Rate 17.8 Mbps 21.8 Mbps 18.7 Mbps Up Stream Line Rate 5.4 Mbps 6.0 Mbps 5.8 Mbps Up Time 30600 Sec 86400 Sec 74923 Sec Retrains 0 5 0 Current and Last 15 Minute Bin Performance Last Traffic Count(Upto 15 mins) Current Traffic Count(Upto 15 mins) Start Time Stamp 2013-10-06T14:59:06.533+01:00 2013-10-06T15:14:06.533+01:00 Ingress Code Violation 0 0 Egress Code Violation 0 38 Errored Seconds 1 0 Severely Errored Seconds 0 0 Unavailable Seconds 0 0 Summary: Line is connected and stable. Speed is acceptable for the line. Advised that he was getting 37mbps with no issues before. Will advise customer there is no more we can do as he is achieving expected speed for the line.

Quote

I have tested your line and I can see that the speed your line is achieving is the speed we would expect for your line. Unfortunately due to this, we would be able to raise a fault with our suppliers as they wouldn't accept that there is a fault on the line when the line is achieving the expected speeds for the line. I apologise that we are unable to pursue this fault any further for you.

Quote

Will advise customer there is no more we can do as he is achieving expected speed for the line.

Quote

Profile Name   10M-20M Downstream, Interleaving High - 3M-6M Upstream, Interleaving On

Why is my line set to a max of 20 profile???



Funnily enough, I checked my "speed estimate" page on plusnet a few days ago and it still listed 30mb +/- UNTIL I mentioned a problem, the next day it was 19 .... I wish I had taken a screenshot.
And I am  REALLY kicking myself for never creating a speedtest.net account to save my 37mb speed results ... all I have is the above letter with my estimate of 30mb to fight with - yet I keep getting told that 19 is what my line can achieve.
How can this change? Its the same bloody line that it was a few weeks ago!
And no one will give me my router stats which is really starting to annoy me now since I cannot look at it myself. What is my noise margin set to? I get the feeling they are purposely setting it higher than it should be to lower my speed.
Plusnet - give new customers great hope with a massive estimate on joining and let them enjoy it for a few months then cap it to hell to save bandwidth.
Thats my opinion at least.

[#7]

Your screenshot showing 31Mb is the important one, that with the fact that you previously achieved 37Mb makes the current performance unacceptable.  The speed estimate comes from a BT database - Plusnet are not throttling your connection, this is being limited by the BT FTTC profiling (possibly because of high error rates caused by a line fault).

[#8]

I can see we've found a potential copper line fault, this means that you'd need to contact your current phone provider to look into this.

[#9]

Quote from: chrispurvey

I can see we've found a potential copper line fault, this means that you'd need to contact your current phone provider to look into this.

As mentioned already above ...
Plusnet email 2 :

Quote

I have tested your line and can see the speed via the open reach box is slower than expected, however during the test it states that the copper line (phone service) could have a suspected fault.

Phoned Telephone provider:
They reluctantly ran a test insisting that there would not be a fault as I was calling on the same line.
Found out there was a fault and put an order for BT to visit us.
BT Arrived:
Deemed the wiring in the house was fine and pinpointed the "noise" on the line was from outside, somewhere between us and the green exchange box. They returned shortly after with two readings to locate the problem spot.
Unfortunately they could not do anymore as they were not qualified to do the underground jobs.
BT Day 2:
New BT techy arrives, does the same tests and cannot find anything wrong. Checks the two junctions either side of us and everything is fine. Checks download speed direct from his gadgety thing and gets same speed.
Unable to help us any further and says it is Plusnets end.
So 3 BT engineers later who say its PLUSNET at fault - where do I turn to next?

[#10]

It seems that since the fault your line has had it's profile changed by the DLM;
10M-20M Downstream, Interleaving High - 3M-6M Upstream, Interleaving On -Latest Profile Change TimeStamp : 06/10/2013 05:15:00
We'll report this back to our suppliers as it will require an engineer to get this reset.

[#11]

Thank you Chris this is much appreciated.
I noticed the change too but assumed that was Plusnet doing their tests - are their any other changes showing up on your system as the slowdown started long before the 6th of October.

[#12]

Nothing that I can see on the surface without digging deeper. Getting the line reset should resolve this for you now.

[#13]

Thank you to the kind chap on the phone who spoke to the Openreach techie that was here for 2 hours scratching his head.
Long story short, the IP profile was, for some reason reduced to a 20mb limit (presumably from when we were doing a lot of DIY around the house and constantly turned the power off).
He reset it and it showed 40mb from his machine but still only 18 from the router. After many phone calls and head scratching, turned out plusnet had to release the 20mb cap they had placed on it! Not banded ... cough cough
My line can only handle 24mb max eh ?
Thanks all,
Jinx

[#14]

Yeah, our system adjusts up once we get the notification from BT that the profile has increased their side.  We wouldn't have received it by then so someone will have lifted it by hand to bring the speed up.
Glad we finally got it sorted.