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Internet Speeds dropped from 70mb to 1mb ' Sheffield BTw fault ' since Thursday!

Justin7
Grafter
Posts: 215
Registered: ‎28-10-2012

Internet Speeds dropped from 70mb to 1mb ' Sheffield BTw fault ' since Thursday!

Last week internet speeds dropped at peak time down to a couple of mb.
Following on from logging call online and talking to helpdesk I was waiting for an "engineer visit" since Thursday, agreeing to pay charges for engineer time if the problem was caused by internal reasons. Knowing (and proving) that the fault was not here I happily agreed to a visit. Since then I have seen on the net its not just me:
Bt forums http://community.bt.com/t5/BT-Infinity/Infinity-2-slow-speeds-during-peak-hours/td-p/1077266/page/16
BT Faults  http://btbusiness.custhelp.com/app/service_status
but BT do not communicate what the faults are exactly and seem to take plenty of time over fixing them.
Needless to say being unable to get streaming working properly and gaming made impossible these last few evenings and weekend I was not too happy,
Kudos to PlusNet helpdesk - quick response to another post I made on the forum last week and the nice chap on the phone was very helpful and knowledgeable, despite being really busy (it took over an hour to get through to them). PlusNet have done their bit but now in the hands of BTw....
I understand this is not really PlusNet's fault but should they not hold BTw accountable to fixing these issues a bit quicker, 4 days and counting?
 
A refund to affected customers would be nice but I doubt this will happen. All I want is for the fault to be fixed sooner.
Does anyone know if BTw have an agreed timescale to fix these issues, especially if it turns out they are caused by their mis configuration and not the weather / wire theft ?!
Anyway thought I'd share the experience.  Roll_eyes
Anyone else being affected by this ongoing trouble ?    Smiley
99 REPLIES 99
AndyH
Grafter
Posts: 6,824
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎27-10-2012

Re: Internet Speeds dropped from 70mb to 1mb ' Sheffield BTw fault ' since Thursday!

Which exchange are you connected to?
Peak time slow downs can take a while for BTw to fix. For some reason, they seem to let it become a problem rather than putting in extra capacity before it escalates.
Having said that, I think there has been some issues with BTw's 21CN network over the past week. Looking at the ping monitor for my exchange's BRAS, there have been a number outages or periods of packet loss. I don't think pre-planned maintenance was the cause here.
One of the digital care team at PN might be able to shed some light on things. But you might struggle to get a detailed explanation behind the problem.
Justin7
Grafter
Posts: 215
Registered: ‎28-10-2012

Re: Internet Speeds dropped from 70mb to 1mb ' Sheffield BTw fault ' since Thursday!

Thanks for your reply.
The problem only started last week, things were fast in the evenings until this so it seems unlikely to be capacity as it was very sudden and dramatic change.  I'm connected to the Mosbrough exchange.
AndyH
Grafter
Posts: 6,824
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Registered: ‎27-10-2012

Re: Internet Speeds dropped from 70mb to 1mb ' Sheffield BTw fault ' since Thursday!

Do you have a static IP address? If you do, it might be worth setting up a TBB Ping Monitor - http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping/monitors.html
If other ISP end users who use BTw's network and are on the same exchange are also affected, then it is a waste of time for an Openreach engineer coming out. Having said that, they still do send them out on a wild goose chase.
I was looking at the AAISP Congestion Page (http://clueless.aa.net.uk/congestion.cgi) and didn't see any issues for your exchange on there.
Capacity does seem to have been reduced at the exchange level and potentially beyond. Whether this is due to some kind of hardware fault or just too many users for the current exchange links remains to be seen.
Hopefully PN can get some answers on where the fault is, what is causing it and when it's due to be fixed.
Justin7
Grafter
Posts: 215
Registered: ‎28-10-2012

Re: Internet Speeds dropped from 70mb to 1mb ' Sheffield BTw fault ' since Thursday!

No reply from plus net yet, btw fault website still showing same info as at weekend.
Hopefully an update soon.....
bobpullen
Community Gaffer
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Re: Internet Speeds dropped from 70mb to 1mb ' Sheffield BTw fault ' since Thursday!

Quote from: Justin7
Anyone else being affected by this ongoing trouble ?    Smiley

Yes, me Cry


Here's the latest:
Quote
Ref No: IMT45312/13
Status: UPDATE 3
Incident Title: 21CN MULTI-SERVICE : MOSBOROUGH - SHEFFIELD : DEGRADED SERVICE
Fault Location: SHEFFIELD ELDON HSE 1ST FLR TRS (SF)
Summary: Degraded service to broadband end users caused by a low level packet loss at peak times only.
Technical Detail: Link between EES at Mosborough NE 799198 port 1/2/10 & EEA at Sheffield NE 189880 port 1/1/8,Degraded service.  The outbound port utilisation is hitting 100 which is resulting in packet loss.
112/999 service affected: NONE
Likely fault cause:
Matters Beyond Our Reasonable Control?: MBORC not applicable
Compiled: 16/11/13 18:10
RESTORATION DETAILS ------------------------------------------------------------
Incident Update: Fault diagnosis is ongoing.
Restoration method:
Current Situation: Service has not yet been restored. Degraded service to broadband end users caused by a low level packet loss at peak times only. The Capacity team has been engaged and will address the capacity issue during normal business hours.  Next update will be at 18/11 at 12:00.
TIMESCALES ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Reported At [Date Time]          : 16/11/13 14:20
Incident Start [Date/Time]      : 16/11/13 14:16
Date/Time of Next Update        : 18/11/13 12:00
Predicted End [Date/Time]        : 18/11/13 16:45
Actual End [Date/Time]          :
Closed on System [Date Time]    :
Duration                        : 2 days 02 hours 29 minutes

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵

AndyH
Grafter
Posts: 6,824
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Registered: ‎27-10-2012

Re: Internet Speeds dropped from 70mb to 1mb ' Sheffield BTw fault ' since Thursday!

Hi Bob
Thanks for the update.
What does the outbound port utilisation is hitting 100 mean? It's fully saturated?
Justin7
Grafter
Posts: 215
Registered: ‎28-10-2012

Re: Internet Speeds dropped from 70mb to 1mb ' Sheffield BTw fault ' since Thursday!

I have found much more latency, as well as sudden lack of throughput bandwidth on the download stream.
chrispurvey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 5,369
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Registered: ‎13-07-2012

Re: Internet Speeds dropped from 70mb to 1mb ' Sheffield BTw fault ' since Thursday!

Quote from: AndyH
What does the outbound port utilisation is hitting 100 mean? It's fully saturated?

Yes.
We've escalated this and are still waiting on an update.

Justin7
Grafter
Posts: 215
Registered: ‎28-10-2012

Re: Internet Speeds dropped from 70mb to 1mb ' Sheffield BTw fault ' since Thursday!

Thanks Chris, hopefully this gets resolved soon!
pnuser
Grafter
Posts: 43
Registered: ‎31-03-2008

Re: Internet Speeds dropped from 70mb to 1mb ' Sheffield BTw fault ' since Thursday!

Quote from: Bob
Quote from: Justin7
Anyone else being affected by this ongoing trouble ?    Smiley

Yes, me Cry

and here .. first time back on forums for SOOOOO many many many months.
Always a happy customer (I am sure we could be quicker) but always steady reliable service
UNTIL This weekend
now it is treacle .. a wee bit of respite this morning but since coming on at 4.15 pm this afternoon the service has deteriorated again
A shout to others in our locality suggests that this is quite widespread..
But plusnet are my go to guys Smiley
- pages not loading
- pages loading very very slowly
-
I have tried to look for any of the BB monitor things (which I do not understand) but cannot get any pages to load !!
I tried to phone plusnet but the phone line says 30 minute wait - sorry but cannot tie up the phone line that long
hoping that someone might be able to suggest things that I can use to check that will load and will inform my situation so I can respond accordingly
thanks
managed to get a BB tester to load - not good  Cry
Justin7
Grafter
Posts: 215
Registered: ‎28-10-2012

Re: Internet Speeds dropped from 70mb to 1mb ' Sheffield BTw fault ' since Thursday!

Hey pnuser.
Broadband speeds terrible this evening, can barely surf, forget about gaming or streaming! 
Angry
I am hoping the good folk at plusnet can motivate BTw to fix things soon.
pnuser
Grafter
Posts: 43
Registered: ‎31-03-2008

Re: Internet Speeds dropped from 70mb to 1mb ' Sheffield BTw fault ' since Thursday!

ha ha ... living in semi rural scotland .. we don't expect gaming, or streaming.
just want to do some basic emails, read a pdf, and other boring stuff ...
aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh
Far too used to a basic boring stable reliable service  Tongue
Justin7
Grafter
Posts: 215
Registered: ‎28-10-2012

Re: Internet Speeds dropped from 70mb to 1mb ' Sheffield BTw fault ' since Thursday!

Blimey, how do you cope?!
I guess these first world problems are quite a good reminder how lucky we are!
AndyH
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Posts: 6,824
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎27-10-2012

Re: Internet Speeds dropped from 70mb to 1mb ' Sheffield BTw fault ' since Thursday!

It's interesting AAISP's Congestion Page hasn't picked up this problem. There is packet loss of around 5% on average on Bob's graph during peak hours.
As for fixing the capacity issue, I guess they have to either put in more capacity or figure out if there is a link running at lower speeds than normal.