Chronically slow download speeds - but even slower customer service.

[#1]

Started suffering from chronically slow download speeds in the middle of last week. Raised the fault with Plus Net on Friday but so far the only response I've received is that it has been passed to the relevant team.  Seems I have spent longer messing about swapping and re-syncing modems, changing filters etc. as requested than they have at actually investigating the problem. Tried phoning to move the issue along but gave up after 30 minutes of queuing.  So much for the vaunted customer service.

Its almost as though the download speed is being capped.  The modem is reporting upstream of 1275/1276 kbps and downstream of 283/20492 kbps.  Download speed has been consistent at around 0.2 Mbps whenever I have managed to test the connection in the past few days (without it timing out). Tried three different modems, re-syncing, different filters etc but the speed remains the same.

Any suggestions? 

Probably the most frustrating thing is the lack of communication or acknowledgement.  You do want Plus Net asks you to do with regards checking the hardware etc but they fail to keep up their end of the bargain of investigating further. I appreciate faults happen and can take time to identify and solve but it seems as though you are just being ignored. And breathe...

Now having typed all this the connection will probably time out - again!

[#2]

We have been experiencing the same type of problem. Basically very slow or zero broadband speed for the last ten days or so, enormously long wait times to get through by phone, long waits to get through on the internet chat and then absolutely no action or response from Plusnet.  This is not what we signed up for.

[#3]

Sounds familiar. I would not be as annoyed if they actually gave an update now and again rather than what reads to be an automated response. Given the complexity of the technology nowadays it may take sometime to identify an issue but not keeping your customer up to date is just unprofessional.  It gives the impression they are not doing anything and hoping you'll either give up or the issue will resolve it self.  Makes TalkTalk appear professional in comparison...

I wonder if they'll offer any sort of compensation for the lack of service.  Paying for a service and not receiving it = money back in my book.

[#4 · Accepted solution]

@PeedOrf

Your line has been disconnecting a lot recently:

 This has caused the DLM to 'band' your line to try and increase the stability, which doesn't seem to have worked.

Testing your line is showing:

	Upstream DSL Link Information	Downstream DSL Link Information
Loop Loss:	8.6	16.5
SNR Margin:	6.0	29.8
Errored Seconds:	0	0
HEC Errors:	0
Cell Count:	47329	5406
Speed:	1272	283

Profile Info:

WBC 160K - 288K Medium delay (INP 6dB Downstream, UC Low delay (INP 0) 6dB Upstream (ADSL2+)

Removing the banding while the line is still dropping out so often won't make a difference as it'll simply get put back on automatically.

When I run a full test on your line I'm getting the following:

Problem Explanation: [NF03] The Copper Line test has failed. MFL :- (CE)
Resolution/Recommendation: BTW cannot progress this fault as the root cause is the PSTN failure. Please report to your Copper Line Service Provider.

As we're not your phone provider, we cannot progress this I'm afraid. Please contact your phone provider, ask them to test the line (don't mention broadband) and they should detect the issue and be able to get this resolved.

[#5]

@andystillman2

I can see you've had a response on your fault today and your complaint ticket too.

[#6]

Thanks Chris. What you've posted makes sense about it being capped to try and get the best performance - I'll ask for the line to be tested.  The landline is really only used for broadband so it losing connection hasn't been noticed. At least making progress now.

[#7]

Hi Chris
You are right. I have had two calls this morning - one to organise an engineer to come out and one to explain and apologise. This is Plusnet at its best, a good recovery but it took a lot of effort to get it moving in the right direction.

[#8]

BT have tested the line and state there are no faults to be found and it must be an internal fault in the property.   The only problem with this is that there are no extensions or other wiring - only the BT master socket into which the microfilter, router, and phone are plugged into.  I've changed the microfilter for another one as a precaution and disconnected the phone.  I've re-synced the router as well. Can anybody tell me if the SNR and attenuation in below are acceptable?

The line is still DML banded.

[#9]

As the line is banded, the SNR is much higher than normal as you're synced at the top end of the band. Having such a high SNR margin should really make your line more stable, however as it's still dropping so often there's obviously something amiss.

I've just looked at your account and can see you reported a fault, but then clicked 'close' so this has closed off. If you run through https://faults.plus.net again and let us know when you've done so we'll get this moved on again.

[#10]

And so this drags on...

BT Openreach identified a High Resistance fault and have switched us onto a completely new line from the exchange. They have tested the line and said it is clear. Plus Net seem to think there is a fault. I have swapped the microfilter for another one and completely disconnected the phone now.

PlusNet have asked me to check the service after doing this. Without knowing how the DLM works or how to reset it, there is no way I can test after each of these changes to see if they have had any effect because the line is still capped...

[#11]

This is now resolved - turned out BT Openreach had left the fault open so that when Plus Net checked it looked like the land line was faulty.  Received a phone call from Plus Net on Sunday morning saying this and that they would reset the DLM cap. So far so good. 

The main problem seemed to be that line fault was intermittent so that it did not always show up when BT tested the line.  Either that or they weren't testing the line fully.  

Feedback for Plus Net - customer service needs to be easier to access and have a quicker response time.  The quickest way I found to get a response was to use online chat first thing in the morning on a weekday.