Answering a Plus.Net support email

[#1]

Hi support

I received an email about speed today, spent 30 minutes answering just to find out support@plus.net doesn't receive emails. So because I already spent my time , I'm pasting that email here to ensure someone will read. Topic can be deleted once someone from the support team reads this. It was an email about speed, explaining to me in the way you would try to explain to your grandma, why my connection is crappy. Answers in line:

oh Yeah, it's great, low lag, no packet losses, etc. That is for the first 4 days when I had a 5ms latency ,  I could play online very well. Right now it's the opposite :)

Since help from you guys have been very limited (apologies for honesty), I decided to do everything I can in my side to improve this. I've bought an expensive modem that is specialized in poor quality lines. It also let me set SnR which is currently at 9, but I haven't tested all possibilities yet. 9 gave me a OK ping, still far from the 5ms I had in the first 5 days. , I haven't had too much time to test but initial tests were better than the other modem. It can be much better, graph below proves it (Friday the 26 to Monday the 28 was the best connection I ever had in this line). It also let me QoS things, so I can put best effort configuration for my PS4, and therefore other people using the internet in the house won't affect me. 

Since I'm really not convinced the 4x increase in latency is not only due to the line, but due to some sort of traffic shaping in your side, I even offered to pay twice as much monthly to be put back in a lower latency pool, but it seems every time I mention something like that, or anything technical, I'm taken as an stupid customer who doesn't know what he's talking about. It is really frustrating when I spent my last 15 years working on advanced low latency networks, to be ignored by people with much lower technical knowledge than I have. One guy even told me a 25ms ping is normal and most people have that. Mate, my friends in Brazil, with the shittiest telco structure in the world have 7ms ping to their gateway. Come on.

I've joined PlusNet because the sales person guaranteed me your support was the best around, but so far, the difference in support I got from you guys vs BT, was the BT guys wouldn't understand what I was saying but you guys don't understand (or don't care) on what I mean. At least they had the decency to admit there is a problem in the line  and sent an engineer.

Proof is here that my latency was low in the first 4 days:

Notice that I got a disconnect on Monday and the latency went up 4x fold.

Of course, I've been trying to contact support, who raised a issue with the faults team, which also did not do much to sort it to be honest. Yes, obviously other people are in the house. I mostly tested by disabling the WiFi , so my wired PS4 would be the only thing using the internet. So, no this is not the problem either.

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The product you have chosen. For example if you have chosen 'up to 38Mbps' fibre then this is the maximum you would get even if your line was capable of higher speeds. (Upgrade here)

Well, it's not available at my place. If it was I would have signed without looking. Even for a bigger connection. Btw, when will that be available?  

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How near you live to the exchange The length and quality of the telephone line to your home

That's a information I've been trying to get but no one seems to understand this simple question. Feel free to answer here as this will help me calculate the best snr setting for the line.

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The time of day. In other words how busy our network and the Internet are (7-10pm being the busiest time, when speeds can reduce significantly)

I'm aware of peak time limitations. However, my big complaint is lag in my online games. That will peak at 600kbps each way, mostly running at 450kbps each way. No way your network wouldn't support that, even in the busiest of times. This is not the problem I'm facing. A faulty line is.

el

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The length and quality of any phone wiring extensions in your home

Right. I have one master socket, I made sure all the others were disconnected. There's one short cable from the modem to the filter, which also has a short cable to a telephone. I already tested a few days without the telephone. That made no difference.

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Whether you're sharing your connection with other people or devices in your home  

  * Yes, there are other people are in the house. However, I mostly tested by disabling the WiFi , so my wired PS4 would be the only thing using the internet. So, no this is not the problem either

    (*

[#2]

From what you've said the email you received was missing the bit at the bottom where it warned you that you couldn't reply to the email as support@plus.net is not monitored. Could you paste the full text of the email you received (removing personal information) so that the Plusnet staff can correct the appropriate template.

[#3]

here it is:

About your broadband speed     Hello Piero, Account username: xx When you signed up for Plusnet Broadband, we gave you an estimated line speed. Now that your broadband has been active for 14 days, we thought we'd let you know the speed as it stands today, by way of comparison.   Estimated line speed: 7Mbps to 11Mbps Current line speed: 11Mbps Estimated line speed: This is an estimation of the range of speeds you're likely to see based on the line check made when you signed up or upgraded your broadband service. This shows the maximum speeds your line is capable of; although you may have chosen to buy a product which runs at slower speeds. Current line speed: This is a measure of the actual line speed you are now receiving based on the product you have taken. Line speed is dependent on:   • The product you have chosen. For example if you have chosen 'up to 38Mbps' fibre then this is the maximum you would get even if your line was capable of higher speeds. (Upgrade here)   • How near you live to the exchange   • The length and quality of the telephone line to your home. This can be affected by poor weather as well   Other factors which can affect your speed:   • The time of day. In other words how busy our network and the Internet are (7-10pm being the busiest time, when speeds can reduce significantly)   • The length and quality of any phone wiring extensions in your home   • Whether you're sharing your connection with other people or devices in your home   More information about getting the best speeds from your broadband connection: Broadband speed guide If you think there may be a problem with the speed you're getting please use our faults checker If you've got any questions about your service our Community Forums have loads of information and help available.   Kind regards, Plusnet Customer Support www.plus.net

Plusnet plc Registered Office: The Balance, 2 Pinfold Street, Sheffield, S1 2GU Registered in England no: 3279013 VAT No: 245 7193 48 Email reference: EPN0020

[#4]

One guy even told me a 25ms ping is normal and most people have that

It is perfectly normal, a ping of 25ms is not at all an issue.

[#5]

I'm not saying the 25ms ping is the reason for my problem. HOWEVER, I still totally disagree this is perfectly normal. This was perfectly normal for like 2010? 

I've asked a lot of people around, to do tests, and the highest ping for everyone that did it was about 17ms on a crappy line like mine. Fiber people were on 5ms. Even my friends in Brazil on a similar to crappier structure than mine were on 5ms.

Also, if you see the graph I sent, in the first few days my ping was 5ms and things were great. 

PS: Before someone argue that this is a problem on the internet, this is the ping to the first plusnet hop after my router, so its really measuring the line latency.

You can do a test yourself now if you don't believe me and ping the first hop you get after a traceroute.

[#6]

Anyway, this wasn't all useless. Based on an answer above, I found that AA is a better option. I did some research and it seems they will actually compromise to fix my line,  so I 'm having a try with them. This can now be closed. Thanks PlusNet.