Switched to Plusnet Extra but no change in Line speed!

[#1]

Hi Matt,
Prior to migration in Feb 2008, Pipex aka Tiscali told me that it was doubtful that my line could support even 2Mbps, which of course was utter rubbish and which, amongst other things, prompted me to switch to Plusnet.
After Plusnet sent me the new Thomson router in June my IP profile settled down at a fairly constant 5500kbps, and my actual speed was in the 5100 to 5200kbps range most of the time. Since upgrading to Plusnet Extra, I have achieved 7299kbps actual download speed (via BT Speedtester) on 15th October and 7199kbps as recently as 2nd November. A few minutes ago I actually managed to get 6454kbps on the current IP profile of 6500 which is very good as it stands. I just do not understand why 7199kbps and 7299kbps were possible before but apparently not now?
I appreciate that local conditions can have a bearing on linespeed but at the moment with no wireless card in this PC I am stuck with ethernet connection although I have toyed with the idea of a wireless adaptor so that I can see if that makes a difference. I also have a set of XF-1e microfilters which are supposed to be the bees knees as far as microfilters go. Likewise I am wondering whether to get a BT accelerator faceplate.
The main concern is knowing why I cannot get the same higher speeds now as I could as recently as one week ago when nothing at all has changed about my system in the meantime, save for upgrading the router firmware which has had no apparent impact up or down. Is the lower IP profile anything at all to do with the recent BT outages, all of which have featured my 01205 area code in the accompanying fault reports?
As for ADSL2+, I was assured by your colleague Joanne Pilson (earlier in this thread) that she had done this personally on 12th October 2010, and performed maintenance on the account to reflect the change.  Immediately afterwards my profile fell to 4500kbps but within a couple of days I achieved that 7299kbps on 15th October which is the best recorded figure so far.
Most recent BT Speedtest at 3:39pm on 09/11/10 (First one since raising a fault query)

Spruance

[#2]

I only hope that new customers tempted to join Plusnet by the current TV campaign aren't finding the same trouble, or maybe you're getting so many new customers that you can't cope with the demand?
Nail on the head 

[#3]

Quote from: Spruance

I appreciate that local conditions can have a bearing on linespeed but at the moment with no wireless card in this PC I am stuck with ethernet connection although I have toyed with the idea of a wireless adaptor so that I can see if that makes a difference. I also have a set of XF-1e microfilters which are supposed to be the bees knees as far as microfilters go. Likewise I am wondering whether to get a BT accelerator faceplate.

I suggest forgetting about download speed measurements for the moment, the important issue is to sort out why your sync speed is much lower than it should be. How you connect to the router (wired or wireless) has no bearing on the sync speed, but it might affect speed test results. Your Thomson TG585v7 router confirms it is connected using ADSL2+ (DSL Type: G.992.5 annex A). However with an attenuation of 29dB your sync speed should be at least 14000kbps (source Kitz calculator). Once that is sorted out your IP Profile and hence download speeds will increase to match.
Trying a different microfilter should have been one of the checks you were asked to do when raising the speed fault report - did you complete that? Have you also done a test with the router (only) plugged into the test socket exposed by removing the master socket faceplate (you need to use a filter)? That test (should) eliminate your internal wiring as an issue and any extension sockets should be dead. If that makes no difference trying a different router is very desirable, after that only a fault outside your property is left.

Quote from: Spruance

The main concern is knowing why I cannot get the same higher speeds now as I could as recently as one week ago when nothing at all has changed about my system in the meantime, save for upgrading the router firmware which has had no apparent impact up or down. Is the lower IP profile anything at all to do with the recent BT outages, all of which have featured my 01205 area code in the accompanying fault reports?

That firmware upgrade means your router has the latest firmware, one less "difference" to worry about. The recent major service outages shouldn't have affected your sync speed and hence IP Profile. In fact unless your broadband actually stopped working it's most unlikely that your line was affected.
David

[#4]

Neil3045: Yes that thought had occurred to me but surely a company such as Plusnet would have added extra capacity before launching the campaign to attract more custom as failing to do so would be economic suicide. So as far as that goes I will give Plusnet the benefit of the doubt.
Thanks for your advice David, but what I find most frustrating is that no-one seems to have grasped that I have enjoyed higher speeds than now in the three or four weeks since upgrading to Plusnet Extra. If there was a fault with my microfilters, how did they manage to deliver 7199kbps on 15th October and 7299kbps on 2nd November? On the other hand, yes I do have a spare set that I could use, so it might be worth a shot. I don't recall this being one of the options I was asked to try, but that doesn't mean that I wasn't.
As regards my connection socket that is a little complicated and although I have covered it on previous threads I will explain the situation again for greater clarity.
I first went online at home, on dial-up with Freeserve, in February of 2001. I didn't want this to disrupt my telephone service so paid I BT to install a separate line running into the back bedroom. In February of 2003 I decided to migrate to ADSL with Pipex (initially at 500kbps which seemed a lot then!). I didn't need the second line any more but when the BT engineer called I asked if it was possible to keep the same (wiring) arrangement as before with the socket in the back bedroom. He said that 'officially' this wasn't on but he also said that the cable running from the pole to my house needed replacing as it was over 20 years old and might cause problems on ADSL. Thus he replaced the cable and split the line at the point that it reaches the house (at the eaves) so that one half goes to tthe main telephone socket downstairs, and the other half connects to the socket in the back bedroom. This has been the arrangement ever since, so no I do not connect via an extension from the main socket but via a split line arrangement as indicated.
As already mentioned a little earlier, I chose not to have a wireless card fitted in my current PC as I have always been satisfied with an ethernet connection and it's more secure anyway. If I transfer the router from its current location to the main socket downstairs I will be offline for the duration that it is there, unless I either buy sufficient length of ethernet cable to reach from downstairs, which I guess would be around  40 feet (12 metres) or invest in a USB wireless adaptor for the PC. I undertook the main socket procedure in June of this year, under protest, and after several days offline the verdict was that the line was fine but that my old BT1800HG router was faulty. I'm not gong through all that again and if that means Plusnet cannot continue with the investigation then that''s that..
So could someone please offer a reasonable explanation as to why on two separate occasions (both prior to the firmware upgrade) since switching to ADSL2+ (and probably more if I had been checking every day) I have had in excess of 7000kbps downstream, whereas now it is that much less. 
Spruance

[#5]

I suspect what the engineer has done is not to split the line at the eaves but to utilise a spare pare of wires in one of the cables. The arrangement should be
Overhead line -> 'Splitter box' -> one pair of wires -> socket 1 -> second pair of wires in same cable -> splitter box -> socket 2
If he hasn't done it like that he needs his hand slapping.
Is one of the sockets a modern one with a removable lower half? If so that will be the master - when the lower half is removed to expose the test socket (it should have wires connected to the faceplate) the other socket should stop working.

[#6]

It's over seven years ago now jelv so I'm not sure what he actually did, just what he told me he was going to do. Yes the socket downstairs certainly has the removable lower section and test socket within. I connected to that in June when I had router-specific problems. As for this rendering the other (upstairs) socket inoperable, no that wasn't the case. At the time I was able to still go online upstairs via an ADSL modem plugged in upstais, whilst at the same time the old BT router was plugged into the test socket downstairs. I was told this was not possible, except that it was!
On the Plusnet ticket front, I've had a message this evening to say that Plusnet have requested that their wholesale supplier (so presumably BT) turn on interleaving on my line as they say that this should improve things. They say it could take between 24 hours and five days before I notice any difference though so time will tell.
In the meantime, I am finally coming around to the idea of maybe installing a PCI wireless card in my Dell Studio PC. Ironically I very nearly bought a PC with pre-installed wireless card last year but changed my mind at the last minute. That was a Dell 1505 Wireless-N Network PCIe, so I guess that would be what I would get if I ordered this separately from Dell. Would that be ok to use with a Thomson 585 v7 router or doesn't it make any difference?
The wireless card would mean that I could use the main socket downstairs and which might make all of the difference, so it's probably worth a try as I believe that USB wireless adaptors are a complete waste of time and price-wise there's not a lot in it.
Spruance

[#7]

Does the upstairs socket have a removable lower half? If so does taking that off disable downstairs.
If this isn't the case the sockets are not wired up correctly which is going to make things more problematical.
Can you post the router stats from each socket with all other telephone equipment disconnected and then from the test socket inside the downstairs socket.

[#8]

"Does the upstairs socket have a removable lower half?" - No it doesn't, as I found out in June when I took the front off expecting to see the test socket, before realising that that would be on the one downstairs. Since it was originally an entirely separate incoming line, I guess that the engineer must have swapped the sockets over in 2003 but I honestly cannot remember now.
I can post the router stats for the upstairs socket with the other telephone equipment disabled but I cannot do the same for downstairs - at the moment - because of the lack of a wireless card and the fact that carting the whole PC set up downstairs - where there isn't room to put it anyway - is a complete non-starter.
So, firstly router stats for upstairs socket with other telephone equipment turned off:-
Link Information

Uptime: 0 days, 7:35:08
DSL Type: G.992.5 annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 444 / 9,364
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/kB]: 0.00 / 0.00
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.5 / 0.0
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 14.5 / 29.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 30.0 / 3.0
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / IFTN
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 22 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 2 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 27 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 5,874,633
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 450
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 412

and now with the telephones turned back on...
Link Information

Uptime: 0 days, 7:38:17
DSL Type: G.992.5 annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 444 / 9,364
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/kB]: 0.00 / 0.00
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.5 / 0.0
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 14.5 / 29.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 30.0 / 2.5
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / IFTN
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 22 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 2 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 27 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 5,913,606
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 453
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 415
The telephone equipment in question is a Panasonic KX-TG6412 twin handset arrangement purchased in February of this year.
Spruance

[#9]

Hi Spruance,
I've just called you to talk through some suggestions. Let me know if you're going to be home later and I'll try you again.
Jojo

[#10]

Sorry I missed the call Jojo.
Anyway, just a short update to say that with the arrival of my USB Wireless adaptor late yesterday afternoon, I am now wirelessly connected to my Thomson 585v7 router which is connected to the test socket within the main socket downstairs. I have just spoken to PN Support and having carried out some interim checks they say that the actual available linespeed is around the 11Mbps mark which if proven by subsequent checks would tend to indicate a wiring problem with the upstairs subsidiary socket which I normally connect to.
So, things are looking up!
Spruance

[#11]

Hi Spruance,
I've just had a look and the BT profile is now 10000 so I've matched ours to the same. If you disconnect then reconnect via your router homepage you should see the difference.
Jojo

[#12]

Thanks Jojo.
Yes I noticed that via the BT Speedtest site a few minutes ago. The various tests - on different sites - that I have done this afternoon are all coming in at arounds 9500kbps download, so I guess that means that my upstairs line socket is definitely past its sell by date.
It looks like my router has found a new home downstairs, but will the line speed be the same when it is connected via the front plate of the master socket or are these higher speeds just because it is in the test socket?
Spruance

[#13]

You need to take a note of the router stats while connected to the test socket then try via the front plate and compare the router stats. You will need to look particularly at the sync speed and noise margin before and after.

[#14]

Ok thanks Jelv. I'll do that. 

[#15]

I have just had a couple of calls with PN Support who advised me that my line is in good shape and synching at over 11Mbps which is basically as good as I am likely to get for my location. That was in the test socket however, so I made a point of asking if I could expect the same when I reverted back to the front plate, and the PN guy said he would give me time to swap the connections over and then re-test. Unfortunately it now transpires that this is where the fault lies as on the front plate the synch immediately dropped to 6275 from 11446 previously and actual downstream speed was down to around 5400kbps as against 9400kbps this time yesterday (on the test socket). Until this problem can be rectified, I have been advised to plug back into the test socket but will this slight aberration impact on my line's credentials as perceived by the BT exchange?
As already mentioned the drop in synch and actual linespeed was immediate, but whilst the router has now recovered to 440 / 11,371 (Up / Down) the speed tests are still down around the 5350kbps mark. Does something need to be tweaked in order that the system 'knows' all is well again? If so I would be very grateful if this could be done.
As for the frontplate problem I am effectively in between a rock and a hard place because it has no bearing on my telephone service and thus I am told that BT would charge if Openreach has to come out. to correct the issue. The PN Support guy says that I need either an NT5 socket or an SSFP socket (??) and best to get an independent to do the work or be hit by a hefty fee from BT Openreach.
To be honest I feel that BT do have an obligation here as my master socket was fitted in November 1993 - seventeen years ago - and since they are presumably not designed to last forever, surely it should be due for replacement by now, or would BT simply argue that they are under no obligation as it doesn't affect my (BT provided) telephone service?
If anyone has any alternative suggestions it would be appreciated.
Spruance