Line far worse than my neighbour - same cable on same pole

[#1]

I know where mine is - further away from our house than the exchange and in the opposite direction!

[#2]

Ok, I have been round next door with my router and got some startling results.
These are using my Netgear DG834GT
next doors line.
                                  Downstream      Upstream
Connection speed    4416kbps            448kps
SNR                                8.9db                23.0db
Attenuation                    50.0db                29.0db
Now that I was very happy with. No wonder they never moan about their connection.
Then I went back home and plugged router back into my line, probably 5 mins between the two lots of figures. Here are the stats on my line
                                  Downstream      Upstream
Connection speed    2528kbps          448kps
SNR                                8.3db                12.0db
Attenuation                    60.0db                31.5db
There are no cabinets along our road, the line is all on poles, comes out of the ground on first pole next to dual carriageway. As such, its easy to see where the cables run. Mine and neighbours drop wire  go into the same joint to main cable on the same pole.
The whole row of houses and the pub is only about 200 metres end to end.
Surely 10db difference in attenuation between neighbours on the same pole should be enough to make BT come and take a look on the pole.
James, once I am on your connection is this something you would be willing to raise with BT openreach?

[#3]

Right - Technically we can raise a fault with BT as an end user poor performance fault.
However, we will be charged £144+VAT for the pleasure and we would have to pass the charge onto you.  Your line will be performed within BTs specified limits which unfortunately means our hands are tied.
I'd love to be able to get it fixed free of charge for you but unfortunately we wouldn't be able to.

[#4]

It would very unfortunate if some of the local yobs used that old old black box at the top of the pole as a target for air gun practice!
Barring such an 'unhappy' accident, I don't see a lot else you or Plusnet could do.

[#5]

Great, I was rather afraid that was what you would say.
I just find it maddening that BT can get away with that kind of service. There is obviously a fault on their network but they want me to pay for them to fix it.
Its a sign of the times when the only way it looks like I can get it resolved is commit criminal damage
With service like that its no surprise that mobile broadband is taking off. If there was a 3G mast near me I would cancel anything that uses BT and just run a 3G dongle and mobile phone. Unfortunately at the current time that would be cutting off my nose to spite my face as the best I would have is GRPS speeds.
Maybe when I next see an openreach engineer in the area I should offer him £50 cash to fix it instead. It defininitely sounds like a case of  a 'when is a fault not a fault?' scenario.
I kind of wish I hadn't started the discussion as I'll now just got to bed maddened and dwell on it all night 
Just as an aside for James, if I did bite the bullet and pay BTs fee, do you think that they'd guarantee to match next doors speed or is there a stong chance they'd take my money, drink a few cups of tea and then say that what I'm getting now is all the line can supply?

[#6]

Quote from: julesandtash

Maybe when I next see an openreach engineer in the area I should offer him £50 cash to fix it instead. It defininitely sounds like a case of  a 'when is a fault not a fault?' scenario.

A distinct possibility, especially with nice tea and expensive biscuits
B,

[#7]

Quote

Just as an aside for James, if I did bite the bullet and pay BTs fee, do you think that they'd guarantee to match next doors speed or is there a stong chance they'd take my money, drink a few cups of tea and then say that what I'm getting now is all the line can supply?

Possibly, but make sure you get it in writing!

[#8]

The line is getting very noisey at night too, Last night the router lost synch and then reconnected at an attrocious 2144kbps 
Maybe I should just offer to pay half the neighbours broadband cost and share theirs. Its not even as if they are a heavy user so most of the time their connection is idle.

[#9]

are you definite that the speech line is not effected? if it is, you can report it to your phone supplier, dont mention the broadband and that should fix it

[#10]

Good point. Do you ever hear any background noises on the line when it is wet or windy? (Test using 17070 option 2 - you should hear nothing) If so ring your voice supplier when it is doing it, make sure you speak to an operator and ask them if they can hear it and as Peter says, don't mention the broadband.

[#11]

I dont actually notice any but then again I haven't tried using it at 3 in the morning when the router re-synced.
I could probably cause there to be some noise on there when calling BT though. I still like the sound of the local ASBOs using the pole junction box for target practice, even a few holes in the box should let the water in nicely and corrode everything making loads of noise.

[#12]

I have a very similar situation to Jules. My download speed struggles to get to 2200 but my neighbour, also a Plusnet customer, achieves c7000. We are about 1800 metres from the exchange, our wires come from the same post and yet tere is this huges difference. Plusnet has carried out tests but no solution is available from BT. Unlike some of the other repondents, I am not technical enough to understand the language but to my mind it's quite simple - same setup, same exchange, etc., etc. Its NOT good enough and in any other sphere would not be accepted.
Peter Copping

[#13]

Pete,
Depressing isn't it. I keep trying to be rational and tell myself that 2meg isn't that bad and that there are plenty of people worse off than me but I still feel this rage rising that I am not getting what my line could support. Its not that I'm too far away from the exchange, that would be my own fault, rather that my line is poor which is not.
I get a feeling of total disempowerment where big players like BT are quick to dismiss issues with their netork at the cost of customer satisfaction.
I feel like I want to climb up the pole and rip the cable out myself so someone has to take notice - problem is that I am bound to get caught.
Now that I am a fully signed up plusnet customer I have raised a ticket to ask if they will investigate. Even if I have to pay BT to fix it then I'll bite the bullet,on the proviso that they get me the same attenuation as next door. I'm not going to pay up front. If they want paying they'd better fix it first.
Its just so frsutrating that BT can get away with it.
No one seems to care about rural customers. It seems to be a case of punishment for living somewhere nice. As there are only around 800 customers on my whole exchange I bet BT wouldn't be that quick to respond if the whole thing went down.
If only Virgin media extended their cables another 12 miles then I could have super fast broadband without relying on BTs antique infrastructure.

[#14]

julesandtash,
It is frustrating that BT is allowed to get away with such bullying tactics and threats of £144 + vat with no guarantee of movement. For the past several weeks, I've been through the same hoops time and time again. Plusnet has done tests several times, even reporting that  "my line is a better quality than my neighbours" (also a Plusnet customer), but he gets c7000kbps as against my struggling 2/2200. In time one gets worn down in frustration!!
Peter Copping.

[#15]

Its good to hear that Plusnet are trying to help even if BT are being a pain.
I've not heard anything from Plusnet yet despite submitting the ticket over 24hrs ago. I appreciate that fault finding takes time but I though someone would have updated it that its been noted and updating me of what, if anything, they can do. Hopefully I will get a reply tomorrow.
I dont think its fair that BT can charge without any guarantee of improvement. Surely they could afford to work on a 'no-win no-fee' scheme. If they insist that I pay without any guarantee of improvement then it looks like I'll be on an IP profile of 2000 for the foreseeable future