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Where does it get throttled?

Innovations
Grafter
Posts: 126
Registered: ‎06-08-2007

Where does it get throttled?

I've been having some speed problems. Plus have been helping and got BT out. However I still don't understand how all this works.
I was getting 1.5 MBps. The BT engineer got 5.3 off his box. BT Wholesale reported that was 'throughput'. They upped my IP profile to 4.7. Nothing happened at the time but a week and a half later I got 4+ Mbps. It's back down to 2 again.
What I asked was how could this happen. Here is Plusnet's response:
There are two things we might refer to when we discuss your connection speed- your sync rate (the physical speed of the line) and your actual throughput (which is how fast things seem to you). The engineer would check the sync rate, which is unaffected by profiles or traffic management measures and is purely a measure of the physical quality of the line.
Prior to the engineer attending the sync rate on your line was 1.7mbps. In addition to the remote changes the engineer requested he also had you moved to a new, better connection point at the exchange, bringing your sync rate up considerably. After that it took a few days for your the systems managing your line to be confident enough to update your profiled speeds, but I can see based on the speed test you ran today that everything is now in order and your connection is running at its expected speed again.

The point is BT were getting 5.3. The IP Profile has been set at 4.7 for days so what are the "profiles or traffic management measures " being referred to?
Who is giving the engineer 5.3 but only giving me 1.5/2/4?
Do I have to pay more? Will I get 5.3 if I move to BT?
7 REPLIES 7
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Where does it get throttled?

Quote from: Innovations
Do I have to pay more?

No
Quote from: Innovations
Will I get 5.3 if I move to BT?

No
Either you are making a speed test measurement and got a freak bad result of something has gone wrong again.  I cannot tell because you don't make it clear what numbers you are quoting.
Innovations
Grafter
Posts: 126
Registered: ‎06-08-2007

Re: Where does it get throttled?

I'm quoting a lot of numbers.
My speeds come from
PlusNet Speed checker
broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk
www.speedtester.bt.com (also gives IP profile)
The other speeds were what the engineer told me and what he relayed from BT Wholesale who could see my logons as well as the engineers. You don't necessaily have to worry about those because in due course my speeds shot up.
What is relevant is my set-up was hitting 3 before the line went. It hit 4 today (and was 3.75 just now - which, by the way, is just fine) . The engineer made a few changes but I don't think they made a material difference. It still leaves the question why I was left on 1.5 for a week and a half. What was slowing me down because it wasn't BT's IP Profile.?
And then the remaining question is why am I now getting 3.5 rather than 4.5?
There is something throttling me that wasn't throttling the BT engineer. The Plusnet response I quoted refers to other elements - what are they?
Bear in mind BT Wholesale's suggestion at the time: "There are problems with Plusnet's network". Apparently they don't normally say things like that.
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Where does it get throttled?

So what is the result from a BT speed test now - including the IP profile
Innovations
Grafter
Posts: 126
Registered: ‎06-08-2007

Re: Where does it get throttled?

Hi Jim
Last I looked it was around 3.5 off a profile of 4.7.
As I said, that's quite a good speed as far as I'm concerned.
What I'm trying to find out is how the raw speeds are compromised - I guess I'm thinking it must be due to Plusnet somewhere. This should be of interest to all customers, so they can work out why things don't happen as they might expect. The BT Engineer spent some time talking to BT Wholesale and they couldn't come up with a quick answer as to why my two modems were giving slower speeds.
The cabinet was showing 9, and that is about 500m away. When that gets fibre, I would hope I'm not mysteriously going to be left on 80% or 25% of the potential of the line because of some 'traffic management' component.
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Where does it get throttled?

I imagine that the BT Engineer was getting 5.3 Mbps as the sync rate from his modem.  On ADSL2+ your IP profile will be 87.5% of your sync rate which is 4.64 kbps.  So I would guess that you are currently getting  the same sync rate that the engineer measured.  Plusnet maintain their own IP Profile (throttle) which is meant to be the same as the BT one but lags behind the BT profile by up to 24 hours.  You can see your Plusnet IP Profile here https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=data_transfer_speed
Any speed test that you run is going to fall short of this figure but if it is consistently a long way below your Plusnet IP Profile, either all the time or at certain times of day, then you have a problem which might be down to a problem with Plusnet's network.  But bear in mind that if your router drops the connection and reconnects whilst there is noise on the line then it could sync at a lower speed than now, causing an immediate reduction in the throttle applied by BT.  that is why you must keep track of the router sync rate and both IP Profiles when you have speed issues.   
Innovations
Grafter
Posts: 126
Registered: ‎06-08-2007

Re: Where does it get throttled?

How do I get my modem sync rate?
I suspect my modem is not ADSL2+. I never bothered to change it because I'm 2+ miles from the exchange, so I assumed I wouldn't get any speed improvement. Could this be a factor?
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Where does it get throttled?