Very slow ADSL download speed compared to IP profile - ie, less than 2Mbps

[#1]

I’m writing on behalf of my elderly mother who despite her 88 years is a keen web surfer and game player which keeps her mind ticking over and exercises her hands and fingers.  On a recent visit she told me that downloading seemed to be a lot slower than usual.

Having taken all of the normal advice steps of, for example, resetting/repositioning the router and checking the speed at the main BT socket I have discovered that the download speed is currently always less than 2Mbps and the upload speed is typically around 0.3Mbps.  Although she uses wifi I remember her getting well over 6Mbps download speed in the past and there has been no equipment change.

Yesterday’s BT Wholesale test showed 1.99Mbps (today 1.6Mbps) download speed and 0.37Mbps upload speed against an IP Profile of 8.26Mbps download speed and 0.45Mbps upload speed.

“The acceptable range of (download) speeds” for her connection is shown as “4Mbps – 21Mbps”.

My apologies but I don’t have her all of her router stats at hand but I remember in the past when Chris Parr helped me with a problem he was able somehow to pull details from the Plusnet system.  Hopefully though my description above gives a good idea of what is happening.

I would be very grateful indeed if someone could please pick up this post and offer further advice and hopefully address the issue remotely if perhaps the solution can be found via the exchange equipment.

Many thanks in advance for any help to solve her problem.

[#2 · Accepted solution]

A replacement router appears to have improved the situation but time will tell no doubt.

Fingers remain crossed :O)

[#3]

Hi BBS,

Welcome to the forums.

If there are any further issues, try following the speed issues trouble shooter (link below) and please publish a FULL set of router stats (again see the links below).  Also check the phone line for noise.

Please perform a quiet line test - dial 17070 select option 2 using a corded phone plugged into the test socket behind the face plate of the master socket. It should be silent. A noisy phone line (or no dial tone) will have a marked adverse impact on the performance of broadband.

If the line is noisy or there is no dial tone, then a PHONE LINE fault needs to be raised with your phone provider. If this is PlusNet, you can report a fault on line using the button below.

[#4]

Many thanks indeed for your reply which is much appreciated.

I'll certainly bear in mind all of your advice should the problem re-occur and include the requested information in any further posts.

Again, many thanks.