Slower Fibre speeds than originally guaranteed and about half the speeds the line is capable of

[#1]

Hi Guys.

I have had to move back in with my parents due to financial needs (thanks cost of living crisis). When my parents originally moved in to this house they were getting 80/20 vdsl speeds, which is ideal because the green connection box is literally 20 meters away from their house.

However, after buffering and constant disconnections when I moved back in. I done a line check... 15mbps downstream 8mbps upstream - I have worked in a broadband tech department before and I could almost instantly tell something was wrong.

The BT wholesale website shows our phone number as being capable of 80/20 (which I already knew)  but talk talk refused to send anyone out. 

So... we switched to PlusNet - originally PlusNet were guaranteeing a minimum speed of 51mbps (for some reason this changed to 41mbps during the signup process but my parents did not alert me) but come the takeover date, no dice (I expected this) 15down 8up still. So we finally get an engineer out (after the help text messages said line tests were fine).

The engineer showed, I used to work with him. He explained it as clear as day, the cabinet was set to ADSL so wired completely incorrectly, so he re wired it, reset the WLM and tested that he was getting 80/20 at the cabinet and with no doubts I would get that too. So I done a test, 42 down 13 upload - was happier with this and for months I have dealt with it but I feel there is something wrong. today the connection has been up and down and up and down going each time giving different line speeds. Something is clearly wrong.

The annoying thing is, PlusNet are providing the minimum speeds guaranteed (which I think should be a lot higher for our line) but my line is clearly capable of 80mbps, I have seen it before and BT have also confirmed this.

How do I get PlusNet to send an engineer out to get us what the line is capable of? or are they going to fight like talk talk did because they are giving us the minimum they guaranteed?

As you can see by the attachments, my download line profile speed has been capped to some degree but the upload has been set to the full 20 - I've also attached what BT says the line is capable of - note the 51mbps download threshold which is identical to what PlusNet originally guaranteed me as a minimum

[#2]

@elbanko44 

If you are only 20 metres from the cabinet, you should be getting far more than even 51mbps down.

For reference, we are 50 metres from "our" cabinet and sync at the maximum 80/20.

Have you tried looking at the Hub's "Technical Log"? (Hub) Home > Advanced Settings

This is what mine says:

DSL uptime:31 Days 6 Hrs 36 Mins

Data rate:20 Mbps / 79.999 Mbps     (The speeed that the hub is syncing with the cabinet at)

Maximum data rate:35.478 Mbps / 104.676 Mbps  (The maximum speed the line can support if it wasn't being         capped to the contract speed)

Noise margin:16.1 / 11.6   (Should be at least 3dB or 6dB, depending upon which type of cabinet you are on)

Line attenuation:2.2 / 4.6

Signal attenuation:2.2 / 4.6

Your's should be broadly similar I would expect?

[#3]

Thank you for your response @Mr_Paul 

DSL uptime:0 Days 15 Hrs 47 Mins

Data rate:16.215 Mbps / 44 Mbps

Maximum data rate:16.215 Mbps / 46.050 Mbps

Noise margin:6.0 / 6.5

Line attenuation:9.5 / 15.1

Signal attenuation:9.5 / 18.9

This is what I have currently. you can step outside the house and look to your left and as clear as day see the cabinet, i have lived at a house not far from here that was connected to the exact same cabinet but over a longer distance and was getting the full 80/20 - I should be more than capable but every broadband provider only seem to care about getting you the minimum they guarantee, they don't seem to care otherwise. I would almost bet my life on their being some form of issue in the line somewhere based on the speeds that im getting and the rather dodgy up and down service that it seems to be

[#4]

Have you tried a Quiet Line Test, (dial 17070 option 2) with a wired phone plugged in to the master phone socket?

Apart from the regular announcement, there should be absolutely no noise at all.

[#5]

This is something i've been needing to try but we don't have a phone anymore and none of our friends/family do anymore, the joys of the mobile age!

I'm going to need to bite the bullet and get a cheap phone from amazon and see if i can test for noise

[#6]

No dial tone at all @Mr_Paul!! that would pretty much explain it i reckon, plus net text service has found a fault so seems to be in hand! i will feedback here if we get anywhere with the internet speeds! fingers crossed

[#7]

Line was fixed - now have dial tone, tried the quiet line test and no noise that i can make out at all so the phone line seems to be fine, was hoping resetting the router would increase the line speed after phone line came back but nothing, still siting at 43mbps as my highest speed.

Running out of options and plus net still willl not send anyone out to address the issue

[#8]

I think that you now have to wait for the DLM in the cabinet to work out what speed your line can support now that it is working properly.

This could take up to 10 to 14 days, and you should notice fairly regular, (daily?) automatic resets if you monitor the hub's GUI.

During this period, it is very important that you do not try to force it - such as by re-powering or resetting the router.

[#9]

been about 8 days since the fix and its been sat at 45.9 sync speed for that time, don't think the DLM is gonna reset any further. Probably at a dead end and just have to accept that no broadband provider really cares about delivering what a line is capable of! hide under the minimum speed guarantee

[#10]

@elbanko44 

Has your hub remained synced for the entire 8 day period, (check your hub's GUI)?

If it has, you could try giving PN a call and explaining the history - they might be able to arrange a forced DLM reset.

[#11]

Yeah been in sync the entire time - have seen very slight speed fluctuations but talking like 0.01mbps.

Will give them a call tomorrow and see if we can get a DLM reset, don't think it will do much, im certain there's a problem in the line somewhere

[#12]

Which speed has been fluctuating specifically?

If your hub has been in sync, ("DSL uptime") for the entire period then the sync speed, ("Data rate"),, will remain the same throughout.

The "Maximum data rate" will vary slightly almost constantly - that is normal, even on a good line.

[#13]

@elbanko44 What does the BTW report say now - that one from earlier certainly shows only ~46Mb/s to the test socket?

[#14]

It shows the same - it basically only shows what I get in the speed test I take before the results.

[#15]

OK, in that case, I suspect there is a fault in the  BT/OR network somewhere  - as you say, with your attenuation, you should be getting near on the full 80/20.