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Speed dropped from 6Mbps to 0.5Mbps for last few days

FIXED
higgsy1746
Hooked
Posts: 5
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎20-05-2020

Speed dropped from 6Mbps to 0.5Mbps for last few days

Hi,

We live at [Removed].

We don't have fibre in our post-code and there are no plans to install it any time soon (despite there being two universities within a few hundred metres and a research centre across the road), so we're on the DSL.

At start of lockdown I set up a workstation next to our internet hub and connected it by ethernet; this usually squeezes out about 5 or 6Mbps, which has been just about good enough for working for home.
We have not changed anything about our internet usage recently, but this last few days the internet speed has been barely scraping 0.5bps, which is essentially useless and incredibly frustrating.
I've done the trouble shooting, reset the router, changed the router password to cut off any leeches, etc etc, but we're still struggling to reach the minimum guaranteed access line speed of 0.5Mbps.
I've just done a speed test using https://speedtest.btwholesale.com/details and got " 0 " for both download and upload.

Can someone help please?

Moderator's note by Dick (Strat): Personal information removed from a public forum (to an area that staff can see).

7 REPLIES 7
higgsy1746
Hooked
Posts: 5
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎20-05-2020

Re: Speed dropped from 6Mbps to 0.5Mbps for last few days

I should add that it sometimes picks back up to 5 or 6 Mbps, but only for short bursts.

EmilyD
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 2,032
Thanks: 357
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Registered: ‎26-03-2018

Re: Speed dropped from 6Mbps to 0.5Mbps for last few days

Hi @higgsy1746,

 

I'm sorry that your connection speed has dropped and for any inconvenience that this is causing.  Together with our network partners at Openreach we are prioritising customers who don’t have a phone line or broadband connection, meaning there might be a delay in speed faults being fixed. In the meantime, please raise your speed fault online at faults.plus.net.

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Emily D
 Plusnet Help Team
higgsy1746
Hooked
Posts: 5
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎20-05-2020

Re: Speed dropped from 6Mbps to 0.5Mbps for last few days

Thanks for the quick reply Emily, am being passed around the houses a bit, but will try them.

Cheers
Steve

higgsy1746
Hooked
Posts: 5
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎20-05-2020

Re: Speed dropped from 6Mbps to 0.5Mbps for last few days

Fix

Took the face off the incoming port and swapped the cable from the normal port into the test port.
Massive improvement immediately, from 0-0.5 up to 9Mbps!

Did a bit of digging and experimenting and looks like it was a phone plugged in upstairs that was the problem.
Must have been interfering with the broadband at the port where the extension wires connect.
So i unplugged it and now we get 9Mbps, whereas previously our best was between 6 and 7 Mbps.
Seems the extension telephone line had been choking our broadband all this time.
So problem seems to be solved, but doesn't explain why the drop to 0.5Mbps.

We have used that phone once in 3 years.
So when I lifted the receiver today I heard we had an answerphone message; it had been there the last few days, which is around when our problem started (drop from a best of between 6 and 7Mbps down to 0.5).
Is it feasible for an answerphone message to have that significant an impact?Huh


Owain_2
Rising Star
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Registered: ‎14-08-2019

Re: Speed dropped from 6Mbps to 0.5Mbps for last few days


@higgsy1746 wrote:

Is it feasible for an answerphone message to have that significant an impact?Huh


If it's 1571 voicemail it uses an interrupted dialling tone to indicate message waiting. If the line condition is such that dialling tone on/off causes a glitch in the broadband, all those glitches (several per second, for hours on end) might get to the point where the DSL equipment considers the line unstable and throttles the speed right back?

higgsy1746
Hooked
Posts: 5
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎20-05-2020

Re: Speed dropped from 6Mbps to 0.5Mbps for last few days

Many thanks Owain, I was hoping someone would say something along those lines!
I appreciate the caveat of "might", but for peace of mind I'm going to believe that's what turned a minor (shaving 9-10Mbps down to 6-7Mbps) into a significant one (0.5 Mbps....).


Thanks again

Mustrum
Community Veteran
Posts: 3,554
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Registered: ‎13-08-2015

Re: Speed dropped from 6Mbps to 0.5Mbps for last few days

It is very unlikely that a 1571 message on your line would cause a slowdown on your broadband.

As your speeds increased in the test socket, your internal wiring is a more likely cause.

Did the extension phone have a filter? If not that is a more likely issue.