Slower speed since lost pro-addon

[#1]

Hi there,

I have an unlimited fibre account and I'm struggling to get speeds above 17mbps. I've been a customer with Plusnet since 2014 or so, and it's always been slow - I live in a somewhat rural area - but before I renewed my package in August, I'd get a consistent 23mbps. This was painful but tolerable. 17mbps is pretty difficult with the various things in the house from various devices streaming to working from home.

The only thing that's changed (in years) is that I lost the Pro add-on when it was recently discontinued. I'm wondering whether there was some prioritisation on that service that meant I clawed back those extra few mbps. Is that the difference it made for my £5 a month? I'd happily carry on paying it if so. I spoke to someone on the phone just now ([CSA Removed], thanks), and he thought the Pro add-on would've made no difference.

I realise there's likely little to be done, but I'd be grateful for any advice at all. I don't know whether it's just psychological, but dropping down below 20mbps is hard to take and I'm left wondering whether it's time to look into a 4G modem.

Thanks for reading.

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): CSA name(s) removed (to an area staff can see) as per Forum rules.

[#2]

What are the expectations for your connection? Post a screen shot of the output from https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL ,, obscuring your phone number.

[#3]

Hey John,

Thanks for your reply. Yeah, I'm not expecting miracles, and I'm within the guaranteed speed. I'm pretty sure there's nothing to be done, it's just very frustrating that my already slow connection has got slower, particularly after ten years of being the same. I would have hoped it'd have improved over that time! Those few mbps does seem to make a difference.

Anyway, here's that output.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

 Exchange GULLANE is served by Cabinet 7

Featured Products	Downstream Line Rate(Mbps)		Upstream Line Rate (Mbps)		Downstream Handback Threshold(Mbps)	WBC FTTC Availability Date	WBC SOGEA Availability Date	Left in Jumper
	High	Low	High	Low
VDSL Range A (Clean)	25.5	16.5	4.3	2.7	15	Available	Available	--
VDSL Range B (Impacted)	25	15	4.2	2.4	11.1	Available	Available	--

Featured Products	Downstream Line Rate(Mbps)	Upstream Line Rate (Mbps)	Downstream Range (Mbps)	Availability Date	FTTP Install Process
FTTP on Demand	330	50	--	Available	--

ADSL Products	Downstream Line Rate (Mbps)	Upstream Line Rate (Mbps)	Downstream Range(Mbps)	ADSL Availability Date	Left in Jumper
WBC ADSL 2+	Up to 3	--	2 to 6	Available	Yes
WBC ADSL2+ Annex M	Up to 3	Up to 0.5	2 to 6	Available	Yes
ADSL Max	Up to 2.5	--	1.5 to 5	Available	--
WBC Fixed Rate	1	--	--	Available	Yes
Fixed Rate	1	--	--	Available	--

SOADSL Products	Downstream Line Rate (Mbps)	Upstream Line Rate (Mbps)	Downstream Range(Mbps)	WBC SOADSL Availability Date	Left in Jumper
WBC SOADSL 2+	Up to 3	--	2 to 6	--	Yes
SOADSL Max	Up to 2.5	--	2 to 6	--	--
SOADSL Fixed Rate	Up to 1	--	1.5 to 5	--	Yes

Observed Speeds	VDSL
Max Observed Downstream Speed	20.39
Max Observed Upstream Speed	4.82
Observed Date	2022-07-21

Other Offerings	Availability Date
VDSL Multicast	Available
ADSL Multicast	Available

Premise Environment	Status
Bridge Tap	N
VRI	N
NTE FacePlate	N
Last Test Date	17-09-2022

Exchange Product Restrictions	Status
FTTP Priority Exchange	N
WLR Withdrawal	N
SOADSL Restriction	Y

[#4]

@purplebadger Can't see anything in there to suggest an issue, to be honest. Could you post your Help Desk - if you are using a PN Hub? Obscure your username, though.

[#5]

@purplebadger 

Have you tried a factory reset on your hub to see if that helps? Push a paperclip or similar in the reset hole. Keep the switch closed for about 30 seconds.

Unfortunately with FTTC the more people that are connected to the local infrastructure, the more the crosstalk increases, resulting in slower not faster speed with time.

The Pro Add On could have helped but an alternative is to replace your Plusnet hub with a third party ADSL/VDSL modem/router with a built in QoS function, see https://www.howtogeek.com/75660/the-beginners-guide-to-qos-on-your-router/. This feature is not available on Plusnet hubs.

At the end of the day you can't use your bandwidth twice, so if you speed one stream up, the others have to go slower.

[#6]

@Baldrick1 @jab1 Thanks again for replying, both.

I don't use a Plusnet hub. I have a Draytek Vigor 130 modem plugged into a Netgate SG3100 which runs pfSense. That does have QoS, but I don't have it configured. Wifi is via a pair of Unifi UAP-AC-Pros, one upstairs and one downstairs. Wifi isn't a factor though - I've run various tests from wired and wireless clients, and the results are very consistent. It's been this set up for over a year, so it seems odd that I've lost these 5Mbps somewhere, and hence my wondering about the Pro add-on. I'll take your word for it that wouldn't be the reason though.

I'll have a look at the firmware versions on the modem and the router.

It seems like there's nothing to be done, which is very disappointing, but it's been like this for years (which makes it worse, to be honest; I feel like I'm going backwards). There's a local provider of wireless broadband that I might look into, but at £50 for 35Mbps, it's not exactly cheap: https://lothianbroadband.com/broadband/wireless-broadband. It doesn't use a phone line, which means if we want one of those (and Mrs Purplebadger says we do), we have to pay for that as well. I might also look into a 4G modem - I see there are some unlimited deals from Three.

Again, I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

[#7]

Hi @purplebadger,

I've taken a look into this for you and our tests are showing your modem's in sync at ~20mbps so I agree this wouldn't have anything to do with the Pro Addon, it's just likely the speed drop coincided with the removal of the addon. 

The tests are also showing a profile mismatch so I've done a DLM reset in the hope that improves your speed. Unfortunately I think I've made it worse for you though. Retesting your line is showing your speed has dropped 3mbps further. 

The speed may pick up however over the next day or so. In the meantime, do you still have the Hub One we've sent a fair few years ago? If not I'd be happy to send you a Hub Two, that'd check if your own modem's causing the slowdown.