Speed much lower than estmated speed..

[#1]

@ Adam :
Had the engineer visit.... Been good and bad...
Good things:
-  Phone fault is sorted...
Bad things:
- Broadband issue remains at square one...
The engineer initially went into that mysterious room in the office with me. There was a huge DP box in there. He couldnt understand where the U/G feed is foing into the DP box. So had few calls to his senior and heard saying he may need an U/G assist.
Anyway after the phone calls he said he need to sort the dial tone first before dealing with the fibre. He went to the cabinet initially. Then he found out the phone was disconnected at the exchange for whatever reason . He went there physically and sorted it and the dial tone is back..
Then we came back to the original issue of slow broadband speed. He did a line check at my master socket and it was all green ticks on his device. He said he wanted to do the sync test again at data extension socket inspite of that being done already by previous engineer.
He got a sync speed between 16 & 17 Mbps. He said that speed ACCEPTABLE... I reminded him those speed tests were done by engineers before and they were going to find why its so low when the estimate was 34 Mbps.  And he didnt go back to the DP to look for any cause for low speeds.
He rang someone [i presume SMC] and reported back to me thats within 'parameters' and said around 50% of estimated speed is acceptable in his opinion and as far he is concerned the test has passed!!!!
So why did he come all the way if he was to pass an opinion that 50% of estimated speed is ACCEPTABLE rather than checking why it is so low? I said I am not happy that it hasnt progressed any further and he suggested I let PN know of the same and you guys will have his notes available by midday...  

[#2]

BTW test after the engineer left:
1. Download speed : 16.49 Mbps
IP Profile : 17.37
2. Upstream speed : 1.16
IP Profile: 20 Mbps

[#3]

Thanks for the update,
I'm sorry to hear about your disappointment. We won't be party to the full notes until a little later this afternoon but I'll make sure either myself or Dan chases that up as soon as we can. Without wanting to jump to conclusions it could be more of a case of some progress has been made than that the engineer should have fixed the fault but didn't.
I'll get some clarification as soon as we can before getting back to you.
Adam

[#4]

Reply on member centre:  
" The engineer asserts that all tests are passing and that sadly, because of the length of the span of copper between the premises and the fibre cabinet, no remedial action could be taken to improve the current connection speed. Latest tests confirm a stable, error free circuit with a connection speed of 17.9mbps downstream and 1.3mbps up. Please get back to us if you require any further assistance. Apologies for any inconvenience caused "
Now this is just ridiculous....
9/2/13 - A sensible engineer visited. Did line tests, tested sync speeds and realised the issue was somewhere in the copper route from the fibre. He called for a U/G assist and they together traced the route to an office building to which they couldnt get access on a weekend.

13/2/13 - Another engineer visits and he rectifies a new phone fault. Regarding the original issue of low fibre speed all he does is a line test and sync speed test.
He then passed an opinion that 17 Mbps sync is acceptable even though the estimate is 34 Mbps.
Why didnt he pursue the good work already started by the engineer on Saturday?
Why did he come all the way if he was to just check sync speed which everyone know was lower than estimate?
PS; more details in my reply number 120...

[#5]

This is embarrassing 

[#6]

It certainly should be! Obviously only BTOR and Plusnet have access to the engineers' fault logs, so we don't know exactly what the test results have been. But it does seem strange that one BTOR engineer can test the line, pronounce it faulty but not be able to fix it due to an access problem. And the next engineer checks the line, looks at the DP, can't trace the right line, requests specialist underground assistance, doesn't get it, so then pronounces the line acceptable.
I'm wondering, does Plusnet have access to the VDSL modem line stats? BTOR must have access to them. They would probably throw some light on whether there really is something wrong with the line. Are they accessible (other than by the OP replacing the BTOR VDSL modem with an unlocked one)?
dick:quote

[#7]

The most important thing to monitor initially is the sync speed which can't be done directly with the BT modem, BUT the IP Profile for the line can be by running the BT Speedtest and proceeding to the Diagnostic test after the first result. The IP Profile for the Line should be monitored regularly to establish what the line is doing. (FYI FTTC sync speed = 1.033x Profile).

[#8]

This sounds familiar. I have had a fault open with Plusnet since the 27th Dec. I am only recieving 23Mb, with a estimate of 47.8Mb down. To cut a long story short, after 6 engineers, the line passes its tests each time, however there is a length of cable which is under  0.5 guage (Its 0.3), which three seperate engineers have stated needs replacing as this is very likely the cause of the slow speeds. However I have now been informed that this cable is not going to be replaced. So im getting less than 50% of my estimtae, but apparently that is acceptable. Im afraid it is not acceptable.

[#9]

Hi,
I'm really sorry to hear that you are getting such low speeds in comparison to your estimates. I've just been in touch with with the escalation owner regarding this and he is going to provide me with a further update by the end of the day today.
We are pushing to get the faulty part of the cable replaced and we will continue working towards that goal for you. I really do appreciate your patience whilst we get further information on this.

[#10]

Thanks Chris, appreciate the heads up.

[#11]

So this is my latest update to the ticket:-
Thanks for getting back to us, I am afraid that in this case Openreach would not replace the cabling as it is not financially viable and that the line is working within limits and not under degradation. I understand that this is frustrating however the accounts are priced on usage allowance and not speeds as speeds can never be guaranteed.
As my colleague has previously advised we are unable to investigate this issue further.
Can someone please point me to what, under the terms and conditions I signed up to, what constitutes acceptable working limits (Honest question), and as to not being under degredation, id suggest if three engineers are telling me that this length of cable is causing my speed problems, I would certainly say that it is degrading my service. I signed up for the speed quoted and the fact that I thought that Plusnet would sort any problems I had. If I was more interested in the usuage allowance, I would have gone for a different provider who offered unlimited usuage (Before Plusnet offered), and they certainly would have been cheaper than Plusnet. If speeds can never be guaranteed, then why are you using them as a selling point, with a +/- 1Mb estimate to them no less!  Im interested to see the terms and conditions of acceptable service, because I dont feel that I am receiving a acceptable service when it is still less than 50% that I signed up for.

[#12]

Hi,
Leave this with me, I've been in touch with our suppliers who are awaiting further information regarding the cable work from BT Openreach.
I'm looking to have a further update by 3pm. I'll let you know when I have further information for you.

[#13]

Many thanks Chris, I do appreciate all yours and colleagues help, and I apologise for what seems like whingeing, but I am just tired of how easy Bt seem to try and brush off problems when it does not suit them.

[#14]

Quite right. You can drive a bus through BTw's "acceptable limits" and it's nothing more than an excuse not to repair/replace faulty cable in many instances. It should be noted that you should ensure you don't have an obvious line fault that should be repaired as a "Phone" fault - ie noise on the line, problems with incoming/outgoing calls etc. Line faults will affect your broadband.

[#15]

Hi Anotherone,
There does not appear to be a fault per se with the line. It passes all tests on the engineers JDSU, however they all point to this stretch of line as being unsuitable, and that it is very probale the cause in the slowdown in speeds. One engineer said that he couldnt believe that it was actually 20 pair cable untill he got up close to inspect it. He said it was so old and thin, and that it should have been replaced a long time ago! But as everything with BT always seems to be, a major fight for them to accept responsibillity.