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Exchange upgraded to ADSL2+ Can i get any faster?

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markb5000
Grafter
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Registered: ‎13-10-2015

Exchange upgraded to ADSL2+ Can i get any faster?

Pleasantly surprised to see my broadband has received a much needed boost and after investigating it seems my exchange has now been upgraded to 21CN ADSL2+. As a result i'm able to received 12mbps down and 1mbps currently which is fantastic considering how long i've been on 20CN but its got me wondering if i can go faster. I may be wrong but doesnt 21CN support up to 24mbps down and 2.5mbps up? Unfortunately i'm on an EOL line direct to the exchange so there are no FTTP or FTTC options so just looking to make best with what i have. Mainly interested in increasing my upload as that has always been the limiting factor in my experience. Can anything more be done or am i stuck with these speeds for the foreseeable future?

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corringham
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Re: Exchange upgraded to ADSL2+ Can i get any faster?

Fix

ADSL2+ supports uploads of up to 1.2Mbps, but You'd be lucky to get that. There is Annexe M which trades some of your download speed for increased upload - up to 2.5Mbps - but again you'd be lucky to get that.

Plusnet used to offer Annexe M on Business lines, but I can't find any mention of that recently. I've just moved to a business line and I need more upload speed. I'm not sure that even Annexe M is enough or worth the extra cost though.

There are rumours that some EO lines are being upgraded to FTTP, but I have not seen that myself. I think it will take decades for EO lines to be upgraded if it ever happens. BT seem to be concentrating on FTTP in major cities, so if you are in a city you may get lucky. Rural EO lines are likely to need BDUK money for any improvement.

BTW if you were in a Market A area (i.e. Plusnet non-low-cost area) you may find your bill gets reduced as Plusnet seem to treat ADSL2+ areas as Market B (i.e. low cost) now.

bmc
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Re: Exchange upgraded to ADSL2+ Can i get any faster?

@markb5000

Try your phone number in the following to see if there are any plans for your EO line.

https://www.homeandbusiness.openreach.co.uk/fibre-broadband/when-can-i-get-fibre?utm_source=Openreac...

 

Brian

Baldrick1
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Re: Exchange upgraded to ADSL2+ Can i get any faster?

You'll be stuck until things get upgraded again. Some EO lines are being upgraded. One course of action would be to complain to your local council, most have a small department dedicated to high speed internet rollout as it helps the local economy, also your MP etc. to see if you can get pressure applied.

To expand on @corringham's post related to Market areas, the updated list came out earlier this year. If you are paying the high cost area surcharge then see if your exchange is now in Market area A here:  https://community.plus.net/t5/Everything-else/New-Market-Area-Classifications-Check-if-you-re-now-in.... I have read of at least one exchange where Plusnet had not actioned the regrading and consequently refunded the difference.

 

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markb5000
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Registered: ‎13-10-2015

Re: Exchange upgraded to ADSL2+ Can i get any faster?

ADSL2+ supports uploads of up to 1.2Mbps, but You'd be lucky to get that. There is Annexe M which trades some of your download speed for increased upload - up to 2.5Mbps - but again you'd be lucky to get that.

Thanks for confirming. Annexe M is the one i'm thinking of. I used to have a business line with BT many many years ago and remember the upload being pretty decent there but that was when i lived in a built up city area.

There are rumours that some EO lines are being upgraded to FTTP, but I have not seen that myself. I think it will take decades for EO lines to be upgraded if it ever happens. BT seem to be concentrating on FTTP in major cities, so if you are in a city you may get lucky. Rural EO lines are likely to need BDUK money for any improvement.

Same thought pattern verging on never going to happen but then again i never expected ADSL2+ in my rural area so you never know. I did speak to a BT official earlier this year though and he said fibre would never come to rural EO lines due to the practicality of it all ie costs and no infrastructure.

BTW if you were in a Market A area (i.e. Plusnet non-low-cost area) you may find your bill gets reduced as Plusnet seem to treat ADSL2+ areas as Market B (i.e. low cost) now.

Received an email in July relating to bills being reduced just thought i was one of the lucky ones. Explains a lot really because around about the same time i had to switch the modem setting to LLC (wouldnt connect over VC-MUX anymore).

corringham
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Re: Exchange upgraded to ADSL2+ Can i get any faster?

The upgrade to ADSL2+ is about BT cutting costs by ditching old 20CN equipment - it isn't happening to give customers better broadband, that is just a welcome side-effect. All 20CN exchanges are due to be upgraded, although I'm not sure what the completion date is as it keeps changing. There aren't very many left now.

I've had similar discussions with OpenReach, BT Wholesale, and BT Business, where eventually the senior network planner confirmed that my EO line would be upgraded "never, ever, ever". They even refused to quote for a leased line as they said the local aggregation point was 11 miles away.

4G is the best hope for most people with EO lines - and that will allow BT to quietly forget about those lines altogether.

bmc
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Re: Exchange upgraded to ADSL2+ Can i get any faster?

@corringham

Many EO lines are being upgraded but it all depends on how many EO lines are in a local "cluster" and if there is a local BDUK project. A handful makes little sense but a group could attract funding.

 

In the past it was often done by installing a new cabinet and re-routing phone lines (not easily done apparently) nut nowadays it could just as easily be FTTP.

 

Brian

corringham
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Re: Exchange upgraded to ADSL2+ Can i get any faster?

Yes, if they reroute lines they do them a bundle at a time. BT had planned to do that as part of our local BDUK rollout of FTTC (originally all the lines at the exchange were EO), but Fastershire, our BDUK body, vetoed that as it was likely some people in the bundle wouldn't get 30Mbps which is the minimum speed Fastershire would fund. The centre of the village got 2 FTTC cabinets, outside the village we got nothing.

What we are left with is something like 10 groups of around a dozen properties which are stuck on EO lines, and in groups that are too small to be viable for any form of alternative funding (particularly as there is nowhere to provide backhaul from).

We were included in the next phase of the Fastershire rollout being done by Gigaclear, but after 2 years and no progress that plan has now gone away, so we're now just left waiting for a new plan to appear from somewhere. 

OskarPapa
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Re: Exchange upgraded to ADSL2+ Can i get any faster?

Hi @markb5000,

 

Thanks for your post.

 

Having checked your line estimates at www.dslchecker.bt.com I can see that if you're receiving 12mbps, you're receiving 4mbps more than the actual line estimates of 4-8mbps. I've had a look to see if there are any tweaks to the line I can make but at the moment there aren't and so we're not really able to do anything at all with regards your speeds.

 

I'm sorry that this isn't the answer you're looking for. Please let us know if you need anything else at all.