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Speed problem with old Broadband Home product

corfizz
Dabbler
Posts: 17
Registered: ‎16-01-2008

Speed problem with old Broadband Home product

I've looked at the available information but it mostly seems to concern the 8mbps services. I have an old Broadband Home ADSL product at 2000kbps, and I am noticing very low speeds, even when just browsing (about 15 seconds to load the BBC home page, for example).
On my Mac computer:

And on a wireless Windows XP laptop:

Those results have been pretty consistent, and the speed issue has been going on for a month or two now; I just never got round to doing anything about it. Actually, I did try connecting my modem to different 'phone sockets, but it didn't make any difference.
Here are the BT Speedtester results:
When I did the test last month I got 192kbps.
And here are the stats on my modem:

I know you're all going to tell me just to upgrade to Broadband Your Way. I may well do so, but I thought it might be possible somehow that there's a fault independent of my broadband product; after all, this product is still supposed to work isn't it? Also, I've been reluctant to upgrade because it seems like a hassle. But I'll see what you advise.
15 REPLIES 15
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Speed problem with old Broadband Home product

Hi there,
I certainly wouldn't tell you to upgrade to BBYW, but I would be interesteds to see how much performance differs were we to upgrade you to max?
corfizz
Dabbler
Posts: 17
Registered: ‎16-01-2008

Re: Speed problem with old Broadband Home product

Quote from: Jameseh
Hi there,
I certainly wouldn't tell you to upgrade to BBYW, but I would be interesteds to see how much performance differs were we to upgrade you to max?

It probably wouldn't be possible to know that unless I did in fact upgrade to BBYW, would it?
Does an upgrade result in any significant downtime? (I know already that there are disconnections and speed variations in the first 10 days.)
prichardson
Grafter
Posts: 1,503
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Speed problem with old Broadband Home product

Max should result in nothing more than a resync. This will depend on the equipment in the exchange.
My question is, how long has your modem been powered up and been connected, as you have as decent error count lotting up there.
corfizz
Dabbler
Posts: 17
Registered: ‎16-01-2008

Re: Speed problem with old Broadband Home product

Quote from: P
Max should result in nothing more than a resync. This will depend on the equipment in the exchange.
My question is, how long has your modem been powered up and been connected, as you have as decent error count lotting up there.

OK.
The modem's current uptime is about 9 days 6 hours. I can certainly try turning it off and on again...
No, that didn't help.
corfizz
Dabbler
Posts: 17
Registered: ‎16-01-2008

Re: Speed problem with old Broadband Home product

I'd say this is getting quite serious. Here is the history:
As you can see, the upload speed has remained fairly consistent, but today and yesterday, my download speed has dropped below the upload speed! Is the 'My broadband speed' tester fairly reliable? (Not that it really matters - I'm still noticing that the speeds are less than they should be.) Could there be a problem with my modem? Should I raise an official ticket?
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Speed problem with old Broadband Home product

Reading through this topic you seem to be confusing the need to change to BBYW and up to 8MB speed.
Your current Broadband Home ADSL product is up to 8MB - all you have to do is ask for an upgrade at http://max.plus.net
Have you checked the status of your exchange at http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/ ?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
corfizz
Dabbler
Posts: 17
Registered: ‎16-01-2008

Re: Speed problem with old Broadband Home product

Quote from: jelv
Reading through this topic you seem to be confusing the need to change to BBYW and up to 8MB speed.

You're right. I didn't realise I could upgrade to max without changing to BBYW.
However, I have noticed that I could get a lower monthly fee if I switched to BBYW. But regardless of which upgrade I go for, it will still take about 10 days to process and then have 10 days of 'teething' problems? Is that right?
Quote
Have you checked the status of your exchange at http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/ ?

Yes. It's reporting green.
Thanks for all your help so far. I expect I'll end up requesting the upgrade, in the absence of any other ideas.
pierre_pierre
Grafter
Posts: 19,757
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Speed problem with old Broadband Home product

mine was showing green, but doing a BT speadtest.bt.com I got a red status, see "Bad value for money" thread under Community suport for more info
corfizz
Dabbler
Posts: 17
Registered: ‎16-01-2008

Re: Speed problem with old Broadband Home product

Quote from: pierre_pierre
mine was showing green, but doing a BT speadtest.bt.com I got a red status, see "Bad value for money" thread under Community suport for more info

Thank you. I did another BT speedtest, but I couldn't see anything iin the results that mentioned the status of my exchange.
You're already on the up to 8mbps service, of course, and are, like many others, it seems, experiencing problems. Which is why I have little confidence that upgrading to max will have an effect. I'm waiting for someone to tell me if there are any other possibilities. (As it happens I've just removed a long extension lead from my set-up, and reset the modem, but it has made no difference.)
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Speed problem with old Broadband Home product

Corfizz,
Do you want me to place an order to upgrade you to Max?
If I place it today, it will ocmplete on Monday.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Speed problem with old Broadband Home product

corfizz
If you are not on max, long extensions etc. will not make a difference to your sync speed which will be fixed at 512K, 1M or 2M. What it may make a difference with is dropouts, errors etc.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
corfizz
Dabbler
Posts: 17
Registered: ‎16-01-2008

Re: Speed problem with old Broadband Home product

Quote from: Jameseh
Corfizz,
Do you want me to place an order to upgrade you to Max?
If I place it today, it will ocmplete on Monday.

Well, no - not yet, thanks. I'm trying to do a 'faults checker' thing. I've raised a question about it.
corfizz
Dabbler
Posts: 17
Registered: ‎16-01-2008

Re: Speed problem with old Broadband Home product

Turned out it was my modem/router. As soon as I tried connecting with an old BT USB modem, the speeds were as they should be.

Now then - it also turns out that my misunderstanding of Max and BBYW was more profound than I thought. Can I clarify, then: they're completely separate things, right? But presumably, for new customers, you only sell BBYW with Max (i.e. up to 8mbps). But since I'm on a fixed rate product, I can change either to an up to 8mbps version of my current product, or I can change to BBYW and keep the fixed rate of 2mbps. Is that correct?
Just checking; I'll decide what I'll do at a later date. I'm just glad to have the speed back to normal again for now. It's always worth keeping a spare modem. It it hadn't been in the attic I might have diagnosed this earlier!
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Speed problem with old Broadband Home product

I've seen instances where people have gone to Max and because of various problems have been moved back to a fixed rate product to get back a stable connection. If you are worried about Max, this may give you some comfort.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)