Off-peak speeds of 10Mb+ drop to around 0.2Mb in peak hours

[#1]

What's going on at PlusNet, through the day I have perfectly acceptable speeds of between 10Mb to 11Mb - but as soon as it turns 4pm, they drop to about 0.2Mb for the rest of the evening, making it unusable!
This started around Friday last week (7th June) when I believe there were problems with one of the gateways (AG-004 I think) according to the service status. The problem continued over the weekend, in particular Sunday evening when it again dropped to 0.2Mb. At that time, I checked my router and it was synced to the exchange at around...
DownStream Connection Speed 13471 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed         854 kbps
All seemed well there, so I rebooted it a couple of times to see if I could connect to a different gateway - no change! So then I ran the BT speed test and got these results after doing the advanced test...
1. Best Effort Test:  - provides background information.
 Download speed achieved during the test was - 0.26 Mbps
 For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 4 Mbps-21 Mbps.
 IP Profile for your line is - 11.99 Mbps

2. Upstream Test:  - provides background information.
Upload speed achieved during the test was - 0.04Mbps
 Additional Information:
 Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 0.83 Mbps
So, the BT profile seems about right. Maybe the PlusNet profile is being reduced?
The problem went away for a few days after I rebooted the router again on Monday morning (in off-peak hours), but the problems just returned again on Wednesday, literally as soon as it turned 4pm (which is the end of my off-peak hours as I'm still on the legacy product).
I've not yet run the BT speed test again today, but just tried the Namesco one here...
http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/results.php?t=1371050541&v=19865690
(again, around 0.2Mb, which is pretty unusable, the speediest.net one won't even load it's so slow!)
Here's my router stats at this moment...

So, what gives here - why, as soon as the clock turns 4pm and I enter peak hours, does my speed keep dropping to 0.2Mb?

[#2]

What exchange are you on?

[#3]

Nothing to do with that Jaggies
@MacOS10, you're still on Broadband Plus and have used more than 10GB during peak time this month - 10GB is the limit on BB+, as per http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/products/archive/broadband_plus_archive.shtml#usageAllowance
Definitely worth upgrading (and I do mean upgrade, either of our newer account types will give you a much better experience in spite of the extended peak time hours).

[#4]

Thanks for the reply, I'm connected to the Manchester Moss Side exchange, all showing as green ticks under the service status (not that that is conclusive!)
Just run the BT Wholesale speed test again, and similar results to Sunday's peak hours test...
1. Best Effort Test:  - provides background information.
Download speed achieved during the test was - 0.24 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 4 Mbps-21 Mbps.
IP Profile for your line is - 11.88 Mbps
2. Upstream Test:  -provides background information.
Upload speed achieved during the test was - 0.05Mbps
Additional Information:
Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 0.83 Mbps

[#5]

See Matt's reply above. Problem solved?

[#6]

Quote from: Matt

and have used more than 10GB during peak time this month

Really?!! Don't think it's that, besides it started on Friday when I definitely must have been within the 10Gb - according to the Member Centre, I've used 11Gb peak this month. OK, I suppose we'll find out tomorrow when my billing period starts on the 13th of the month.

Quote from: Matt

Definitely worth upgrading (and I do mean upgrade, either of our newer account types will give you a much better experience in spite of the extended peak time hours).

I've held off upgrading for a few reasons...
1. I have a custom domain registered under my "Broadband Plus Up to 8Mb" account - would I lose this, along with my hosted website, if I upgraded package? I've not been able to get a clear, absolutely definite "Yes" to this question in the past, as I know the new packages don't offer web hosting or custom domains.
2. I was made redundant last month, so I don't want to sign up for any 12 month contracts or anything - are the new packages still on a rolling monthly contract?
3. Being out of work, I'm relying on my website and custom .co.uk domain to help with job hunting - it's absolutely important that nothing goes wrong with this, hence my reluctance to change anything at the moment.
Right, we'll see if your theory is correct after tomorrow evening hopefully, and I'll keep a closer eye on my monthly allowance from now. BTW: why wasn't I notified by email/telephone or via the Member Centre that I'd exceeded any allowance - I wasn't aware of the 10Gb allowance anyway, but surely an automated email should have been sent to inform me that peak hour speeds would be reduced?
Thanks for the help so far - will post back tomorrow evening to see if you're correct.

[#7]

Hi there,
1) Legacy components are kept when an account change takes place, including any domains/hosting
2) Not by default, I believe they're more expensive per month if you don't want to take a contract. The contract free option is there though.
Re the automated email, I don't believe these are sent on BB+ just because it's that old - it was made before we were able to do any of that sort of thing on an automated basis.
Hope that helps.

[#8]

Thanks, Matt!
One other question, there's another possible scenario that could happen in the next few months - If I can't get another job in this area I may have to move back to my parents and give the flat up as it's only rented, though I hope it doesn't come to that. But if if did, and I'd already changed to one of the new products, would I be able to take my account with me to my parents (their telephone line has never had internet enabled on it ever, but their neighbours have Broadband so it's available in the area).
Just trying to think of all possibilities at the moment. I think I'll leave things as they are for now, and just keep a closer eye on the monthly allowance now that I know it's 10Gb a month. Thanks.

[#9]

You'd be able to take your services with you, you'd probably be better taking our deferred fee options for the cost of a house move.The house move process is explained here.