Barely able to open a web page as broadband speed is so slow

[#1]

Hi,
My broadband was activated yesterday, so I plugged in the router and fired up a browser.  I used BBC for most of my tests but struggled to get any further than the home page.  Each time I clicked on a link, it either timed out or took somewhere in the range of 90-120 seconds to render the page.  I tried a few speed test web sites but it was slow they couldn't run!  I finally connected Wi-Fi to my phone and ran a speed checker on there.  It came back with 0.2 mbs.  Yes, that's not 2 but 0.2 mbs.  What can you do to improve that.  I followed all of the standard advice by connecting the router to the socket where the line comes into the house, checked all of the connections and connected to my pc through the Ethernet cable.  I live in the countryside but surely I should expect more than 0.2mbs - that's hardly worth keeping a router on for?  I always understood that living in the sticks, I was never going to be streaming HD movies but I do need to work from home and I am currently really concerned that speed is actually to slow to do anything.
Please help!!

[#2]

dbroome,
A warm welcome to the forums, sorry to hear of your woe.
First an observation - if you are so depended on this line for work, it ought to be on the business service, not residential.  Business has 24x7 support.
First you need to check the basics - do you have a clear dial tone?  Is the line clear of noise?  Dial 17070 option 2.  If the answer is no, report a phone line fault using the link below.
Is the router plugged into the master socket?
Are there any phone extensions - how are they wired?
Read the speed issues thread and post back here all of the data requested and we'll take it forward from there.

[#3]

Our tests aren't showing any particular issues.
What result do you get from the BT Speedtester?
http://speedtest.btwholesale.com
Make sure to click Further Diagnostics and enter your phone number after the initial result.

[#4]

Hi,
Thanks both for your quick responses.  and thank you for my welcome.
To Towman: I have definitely plugged the router into the master socket.  I will have a look through the other speed forum and see if I can figure out what data I need to collect.  To be honest, I can't see what difference it would make having a business or residential account type.  If I can't get a faster speed than the current one then I won't be working from home at all, or have I misunderstood .. are you suggesting having a business account would give me a faster connection speed or is it just for the support?  To be honest - wouldn't that just be a 24 hour number that it was impossible to get through on (sorry for my cynicism after spending an afternoon yesterday waiting for an answer and getting nowhere)?
To Matthew Wheeler:
It was so slow that it wouldn't run Speedtester.  I tried 3 or 4 times and it kept failing due to connection time out.  I will try again though and look out for the further diagnostics.
To both:  I have read that the plusnet run tests for a 10 days or so to get a stable connection. I am hoping that will increase the speed - is that just naivety?
Thanks,
Dave

[#5]

Hi Dave,
In answer to some of your questions...
Business and residential services do have different characteristics.  I believe that the ADSL contention ratios are better on Business than Residential.  That certainly used to be the case, though one nearly never hears of contention ratios being discussed these days, hence the potential doubt.
Business support is 24x7 provided by a different support team.  Generally if you wait more than 6 minutes on the phone, then its a really bad hair day on the business desk.  Business desk support people are (in my experience) much more capable than the average residential support agent (who are usually fairly good themselves).
And finally there's the T&Cs.

Quote

Using the service 16.You may only use the service for your own personal use and enjoyment. You must always follow our acceptable use policies in the way that you use your chosen services which can be found on www.plus.net/info2/legal/aup.html. You must not use the service or allow the service to be used to make offensive, indecent, menacing, nuisance or hoax calls or to cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety. 17.You agree that any content, software or other copyright material we supply to you is for your own private use, and that you must not copy, change or publish the material or supply it to any other person or use it for any business purpose.

I have encountered the business services on two accounts (an old business service of my own) and a current client: PlusNet support has been very supportive in dealing with very poor service from BTOR on both accounts.
I hope that the data you obtain and post here will be sufficient for us to assist you.
Kevin

[#6]

Hi,
I do appreciate people are trying to help but I'm not sure I understand.  Are you saying that anyone who occasionally works from home should sign up to the Business package?  There must be tens of thousands of individuals who signed up on a residential contract and find themselves occasionally working from home? 
is there a cost difference?  My worry would be that business is more expensive and as it stands, the last thing I want to do is pay more money for a service that delivers nothing.  Just to qualify nothing .. I don't mean unable to use Netflix or download large files .. I mean can't load a basic web page!!  I only need a very basic connection speed to establish a work connection and I don't believe that is even there.  Why in the world would I consider paying more for that?  Again, I am sorry if I've misunderstood and going on to a business contract is the silver bullet I am looking for here .. but (and again, excuse my cynicism) I fear I would just pay more for the same level of service.
I will try and gather the information that is on other forum pages and see where I go from there but I am now worried that I should be considering cancelling the service if I am intending on using the service contrary to the T&C.  The irony of course is that if the connection speed doesn't improve then I won't be able to work from home at all? 
Just on my other point ... " I have read that the plusnet run tests for a 10 days or so to get a stable connection. I am hoping that will increase the speed - is that just naivety?" Will the tests help to increase the speed at all?

[#7]

Hi Dave,
I cannot say what anyone should do.  You asked about the differences.  I'm aware of the T&Cs which are not overly clear.  There is a fine line between running a business and using the service to work from home on an occasional basis.  Both use and dependence are the factors you need to consider
As I said, I'm not sure what the state of play is on contention ratios: business use might historically have been equated with heavy usage which would skew the contention ratios.  However given the heavy domestic usage from TV on demand etc., such considerations are now 'right out of the window'.
Your stats will give us something to look at.
Kevin

[#8]

Hi Kevin,
Thanks for your comments, I do appreciate your help.  I'm sure you see the irony in this .. .as a "business" user (because I choose to work home from home once a week) I should be considered partly on my heavy usage ... when I can barley open a web page!!!  How in the world am I going to get near to heavy usage when I can't open a link from a basic BBC web page?
:-0

[#9]

Hi Townman,
Is this the link that you refer to where it will get me to gather the necessary data ..(see below)"
Again, as helpful as people are being, I fear I won't have a hope in running a video on youtube or opening pages from the links included.  I will at least try and do the speedtest thing but as I have said before, I tried something similar on Monday and it timed out a few times.
I know I am getting frustrated but this is so frustrating.  I have a broadband service but am having to go over to a friends to work at his house on Monday and I don't even have a good enough service to investigate the bad service.  The more I think about this, the more frustrated I feel ;-(
dave
Having problems with your connection speeds?
So that Community members and staff can assist you please check the following and include the requested information in any new topics posted.  Please help us so we can help you.
•Using Wifi? – If you are, we need to first of all find out if the issue is due to the connection between the exchange and your router or your router and your devices. For example the connection may be fine and you may need to investigate a problem with your  wireless connectivity The simplest way to do this is to connect a PC or other compatible device straight to your router using a network cable. Please then compare your speeds to that of using WiFi before going through the next steps.
•Router stats - noise margin, speed and attenuation (upstream and downstream) - only available for ADSL not FTTC
• If you have a Plusnet supplied router thislink will give them. Alternatively put your router in
here for guidance
•Result of a BT speedtest http://www.speedtest.btwh...ceTesterWS/diagnostics.do but only for IP profiles. If you want a full speed check use this http://speedtest.btwholesale.com/ and then Further    diagnostics for the IP profiles. Please connect to the test socket if you can, this helps us rule out problems with cabling and sockets in your home.

This video explains exactly what to do http://www.youtube.com/wa...p;feature=player_embedded
to test socket with one of the new BT VDSL Interstitial faceplate http://www.coolwebhome.co.uk/faceplate/ or see our own post here: https://portal.plus.net/s...master-socket-guide.shtml

• Current Line Speed from here  (Please note that there is not an equivalent for Madasafish customers[/color])

"

[#10]

Hi Dave,
That is the link.
For the moment, just post the router stats and the current speed please - again, links below will find what you need.

Edit: having just answered a different thread ... Can you please confirm that you have a dial tone and a noise free line (noise can be intermittent and needs to be checked regularly).
Kevin

[#11]

Hi,  I just had a quick look through the speed stats message for what information I will be needing to gather.  I am a fairly technical person and work with PC's as part of my job, mainly on development.  But how in the world do you expect the average customer to understand ... "•Router stats - noise margin, speed and attenuation (upstream and downstream) - only available for ADSL not FTTC" ?  Wow!

[#12]

Dave,
Errr yes, when one gets into this space it is rather technical.  However it is what it is and self help does need some knowledge.  I'm not responsible for the existing text.
As for "ADSL not FTTC" that relates to the act that for FTTC, BT have locked down their modem so that a user cannot obtain useful information on the performance of the service ... and have objective evidence with which to raise fault reports.
Any how, if you can get the information to us, we can see exactly what is happening on your ADSL line.
Kevin