All my neighbours are offered faster internet packages

[#1]

Yes, I made this point to the agent, that what they're seeing is an average of what I've been getting (I've been with them 3 years). It's like if I've always been served 3/4 pint of beer, then that's what a pint of beer is. The agent agreed with me, but it was "well I have no way of knowing it should be better..."

I'll ask about the telephone test next time. I'm hoping to hear back from some neighbours.

[#2]

And I agree with the idea that the tech support training may be how to flip through a few intranet wizard screens then say dunno. When I wanted to escalate, the first person passed me to a sales person who was thoroughly mystified why, then passed me back to someone else in tech support.

[#3]

@jab1 

The 'new team of 13 experienced community support professionals' do not have any access to Plusnet systems or user accounts.  They act as a triage service to identify the user and the nature of the issue ... and then pass the issue to the backroom teams ... from where the community never receives feedback to increase the self help capability of this space.

@James_B advises that this is how EE and BT forum space works, so it must be a good bench mark.

To old teams from the various incarnations around here are sorely missed, even from the challenging days of new folks not being as good as those they replaced.  Would welcome any of them back today!

[#4]

@Townman I am well aware of the limits of this 'team of professionals', and am eternally grateful I will never need their 'help'.

Having experienced the BT forum space a few years back - and I doubt today's version is better - I   would strongly dispute that it is a good bench mark.

[#5]

To be completist, I managed to collar a couple of neighbours for their download speeds. Both are with NowTV, and both have the only package offered to them by NowTV. Both flats are 4 steps away from my front door in different directions.

One had a terribly slow download at 12.9 Mbps, the other significantly higher at 34.5 Mbps. At the same time as those two measurements were taken, mine was at 23 Mbps.

Not sure what to conclude. I recommended the 12.9 neighbour to check their setup (no extension cable, swap out the modem) but I think they're so fed up with NowTV they're thinking of swapping to Plusnet, lol.

Would you say the 11.5 Mbps increase is something I can leverage with the Plusnet's "tech support" (I now use quote marks) or is this too easily explained away by saying "oh well they've probably got less copper wire between them and the cabinet"?

[#6]

(I should add, I don't really know the neighbours, and I think asking them if I can get their router stats is likely to ring alarm bells from them, lol)

[#7]

Actually you have a couple of useful data points.

Let's assume that the slow one has some sort of line fault (inside their flat or outside) and the faster one is representative of what a good copper pair can achieve at that distance.

Do you have a phone (irrespective of whether you have a landline service)?

If so (or you can borrow one) plug it in and see what you hear. It may be dial tone or silent but what you are listening for is crackles.

I'm wondering about line noise. That can cause lower broadband speeds.

P.S. as you slow speed neighbour demonstrates, people think changing ISP will fix broadband issues. It very rarely does.....

[#8]

Ugh, sadly I have no idea where I'd source a landline phone from... I'll ask around

[#9]

For the comparisons to be comparable one would need to be sure all were in similar products and infrastructure.

The variability of the speeds does somewhat point to potential problems within the complex.  A phone handset would be a worth while small investment.