Slow and degrading broadband

[#1]

Hi

I am frustrated customer who suffers from a slow (and degrading) broadband speed (sub 3MBp/s), this is not a fault and is correct according to my IP profile (which is continually being lowered). At busy periods the speed sometimes drops to 1.3mb or lower, making even a standard definition video impossible to watch (let alone HD or multiple devices). However, this seems to be specific to the 6 houses under my postcode [Removed] (a small close of another road, see map below), the houses at the bottom of the road (approx. 25m away) have IP profiles of 4 and 5MB. This is a suburban area (4 miles from a city centre) and the houses were all built at a similar time and have the same type of telecom infrastructure. Why is my postcode a cold spot of 3 MB, while I am surrounded by postcodes which are substantially higher than mine?

In addition, this current ip profile however is much lower than when I originally joined Plusnet. In the introductory email (5th May 2015) I was informed the following ’Your estimated broadband speed is 5 Mbps, (This may vary between 3Mb and 7.5Mb)’. On 6^th June 2015 I was informed by Plusnet that ‘Estimated line speed: 5Mbps, Current line speed: 3.5Mbps’. However, I never received these current or estimated speeds, in January when my speed was approximately 2.3MB I complained and after a fruitless line fault check (there is no fault) the Plusnet representative reset my IP profile, to 4 MB. This was just about acceptable, however, each month there is a slow degradation of the line speed, which is now down to sub 3MB (and much slower much of the time). Also, I am confused as when I re-signed up in May the confirmation email said I should receive speeds of 1-5MB (a very wide range!) but a considerable drop on what I was initially promised. It appears that as time goes on, the service rather than improving continues to degrade and drop.

What I require from Plusnet is either a consistent broadband Ip profile of at least 4MB p/s, something which is less than I was initially promised. If Plusnet is not able to do this then I wish to be upgraded to Fibre 38, however, this should be at the price offered to new customers under you current deal.

Information & maps from www.samknows.com

EMWOLLA (Wolaton, NG8 1GR) (21CN WBC, ADSL Max, FTTC available in some areas)

NG8 2P?          5.0       (1,525m from the exchange)

NG8 2P?          4.0       (1,487m)

[Removed]         3.0       (1,436m) My postcode

NG8 2P?         5.5       (1,442m)

NG8 2N?          4.5       (1,394m)

NG8 2N?          5.5       (1,394m)

NG8 2N?         6.0       (1,127m)

NG8 2P?         5.5       (1,442m)

NG8 2Q?         6.0       (1,550m)

NG8 2G?         5.5       (1,592m)

BT Wholesale speedtest results 23/10/2016

Download speedachieved during the test was - 2.89 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 1.2 Mbps-4 Mbps.
IP Profile for your line is - 3 Mbps

Upload speed achieved during the test was - 0.76Mbps
Additional Information:
Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 0.83 Mbps

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): Personal information removed from a public forum to an area that staff can see plus made it harder to guess OP's Postcode from remaining information

[#2]

What I require from Plusnet is either a consistent broadband Ip profile of at least 4MB p/s, something which is less than I was initially promised.

I'm afraid that's not something we, nor any ISP can guarantee. Your line estimates are currently between 2 and 6Mb/s and your line is performing within these.

In addition to this, during the first 10 days of service the DLM works out the line rates and creates an FTR (Fault Threshold Rate) which if your line connects below this speed it allows a fault to be reported.

Your FTR is

Fault Threshold Rate (KBPS):

3200

Your line is currently connected at:

	Upstream DSL Link Information	Downstream DSL Link Information
Loop Loss:	29.8	43.0
SNR Margin:	5.4	6.1
Errored Seconds:	3	0
HEC Errors:	0
Cell Count:	17324	47472
Speed:	924	3406

If Plusnet is not able to do this then I wish to be upgraded to Fibre 38, however, this should be at the price offered to new customers under you current deal.

If you did wish to change to fibre, you'd need to get in touch with our customer options team however they may not be able to offer that specific deal.

Estimates:

ADSL Products	Downstream Line Rate(Mbps)		Upstream Line Rate(Mbps)		Downstream Range(Mbps)	Availability Date		Left in Jumper
WBC ADSL 2+	Up to 3.5		--		2 to 6	Available	--	--
WBC ADSL 2+ Annex M	Up to 3.5		Up to 0.5		2 to 6	Available	--	--

[#3]

Thanks Chris for getting back to me, however, you only answer one aspect of my post. Can you explain why every post code surrounding mine has a significantly higher broadband - I mean 25m away gets 5MB, I get 3MB? If you can't answer this, then who can I approach? How can I have the line profile increased?

You state that the Fault threshold is 3200 kbps, while my speed is 2900, are you suggesting that I raise a fault? If so this just seems to be a fools errand, there is no actual fault, just a very poor broadband speed caused by the IP profile being lowered. All this would do would trigger an engineer to check the line and report back that there is no fault, just as happened before.

I must say that with Plusnet I have found that people would rather provide excuses, or fob off paying customer off, rather than trying to find solutions, something which a customer orientated company would do. I await an answer on how to to increase the IP profile, before I contact your customer service, However, I do feel that you gave me false information when I initially joined and I am prepared to go to Ofcom because of this.

[#4]

Can you explain why every post code surrounding mine has a significantly higher broadband - I mean 25m away gets 5MB, I get 3MB? If you can't answer this, then who can I approach? How can I have the line profile increased?

Different line, different routing, there can be a few reasons. Each line has it's on characteristics and traits.

The line profile is a product of the sync speed (the raw speed your router connects to the exchange at), only by the sync speed increasing will the profile increase.

You state that the Fault threshold is 3200 kbps, while my speed is 2900, are you suggesting that I raise a fault?

The FTR is based on the sync speed, not the speed you see on speedtests. Your sync speed is 3406 so it's above the 3200 FTR.

What's the phone line like? Is there any noise when you pick up a handset and dial 17070 running the quiet line test?

[#5]

Thanks again for replying Chris. In regards to your comments over the line, I checked the pole that my house and all the houses in my post code are connected, it also connects to houses which according to samknows receive broadband speeds of 4Mb and 5mb (two other postcodes). So I can't understand how my particular house can routed/wired differently to the extent that I get a 40% reduction. Please note that the low speed is for all of my postcode (6 houses, the majority of which are on Virgin fibre) rather than a specific household. The phone line sounds fine, doing a quiet test there was only the faintest of static with my ear pressed to it.

Second, you say that the line profile is a product of sync speed and increases as the sync speed increases. When I complained about my speed previously (117681291) after being told there was no fault the Plusnet rep did do this for me

'I have reset your line speed profiling to allow your connection speed to increase again however, you might need to reboot your router for the change to take effect. Please could you monitor the connection and let us know if any problems persist.'

I rebooted the router and hey presto my Ip speed changed from 2.3mbps to 4.2mbps. Since then every month my broadband speed has got slower and slower, until the point I have to complain again. Quite simply why can't someone reset my speed profiling and therefore improve the speed (to nearly what I was initially promised).

[#6]

I am still awaiting a response to my last message (posted on Tuesday morning), I am not sure why I was asked a question if no one can be bother to respond to my answer. This is rather symptomatic of Plusnet.

If anyone can be bothered to reply to the outstanding queries can someone please also tell me what my Minimum Guaranteed Access Line Speed (MGALS) is please?

[#7]

---

@Chris wrote:

Your line is currently connected at:

	Upstream DSL Link Information	Downstream DSL Link Information
Loop Loss:	29.8	43.0
SNR Margin:	5.4	6.1
Errored Seconds:	3	0
HEC Errors:	0
Cell Count:	17324	47472
Speed:	924	3406

---

The downstream speed is fairly poor for the attenuation. The SNR margin is not higher than normal, so there's nothing that can be improved by resetting anything.

Do you have a test socket that you can try connecting your modem to?

[#8]

I took the plate off and plugged the modem in to the test socket and the speed increased to 3.45MB (it did not change using wifi or hard wiring the laptop to the modem with an rj45 cable). However, as soon as I reconnected the plate and plugged the back in the speed has fallen to 2.73MB (it had been stable at 2.89MB since Sunday), great!

Would buying a new face plate and fitting it make any difference (one extension line runs from the master)? However, even 3.45MB if I could actually get it (with a phone plugged in as well!) is way below the 5MB I was initially promised. How did the reset work last time, but you say it wont this time? Why not try and see? it can't make my poor service any worse, it might make it much better and resolve my problems. Finally, can you please tell me my MGALS (and how it was calculated), as I fear the only solution may well be to leave for a company that does what it promises.

[#9]

I'm not Plusnet staff so can't tell you your MGALS, these are community forums where anyone can help anyone else (mostly with the self-help tasks).

There are two possible things that could be reset. Firstly there's an automated system that monitors line stability called Dynamic Line Management (DLM). If the line is unstable, the DLM makes changes to increase stability, usually by increasing the SNR Margin, which results in a lower speed. The default SNR Margin is 6, so there's nothing to reset in that regard.

The other thing that could be manually set, or reset, is Plusnet's copy of your IP Profile, your current line speed. This number is based entirely on the speed your modem connects at, it does not control the speed your modem connects at, and usually updates automatically, although sometimes it used to fail to update automatically, and required staff to manually set it to the correct value.

It's possible that the previous time, the DLM may have increased your SNR margin, so resetting that would have temporarily increased your speed.

Regarding the test socket, it's generally better to look at figures reported by your modem/router rather than rely on speed tests.

Extension wiring can cause problems and reduce broadband speeds. This can often be improved by disconnecting the bell wire and/or getting a filtered faceplate (which often go between the test socket and the removable lower front plate).

[#10]

Thank EJS for your help and explanations. However, I am still left with a broadband which is slowing down drip by drip. I was told I should get 5MB, I never have, the speed at time means that only web browsing is possible (it is 2016 and I live in a city 1.4km from an exchange). Neighbours who are connected to the same mast (but different post code) get speeds of 5MB. I thought that coming on the forums (as is suggested by Plusnet) might help, but it hasn't. So if Plusnet can't or won't help me then they should release me & I will get fibre elsewhere, hence my request for the MGALS, or offer me the same deal they offer to new customer (18 months at £5), either will be acceptable. Anything to get me off this terrible broadband.

[#11]

The MGALS (Minimum Guaranteed Access Line Speed) is based on the bottom 10th percentile of customers within a speed range, the highest value of this is the MGALS.

As your estimates are 2-6Mb/s, this means your MGALS is 1.4Mb/s. As you're synced at 4.6Mb/s this is well above the MGALS and within the estimates of your line.

offer me the same deal they offer to new customer (18 months at £5),

If you wanted to discuss deals, discounts or contracts you'd need to call our customer options team 0800 013 2632

I do understand the frustration of a slow speed, however your line is performing as we advised you it would do.