<SOLVED> Speed Estimate has halved

[#1]

When I signed up for PlusNet I was given a speed estimate of 14Mb. I saw the sync speed rise to 14Mb+ after 2-3 weeks' use, with the router wired as continuously on. Then I had a problem with wireless which kept rebooting the router, and the speed dropped to about 9Mb while I tried to track that down. Subsequently I read that overnight disconnections should not affect speed, so I rearranged my power wiring so the router would be off when I turned off overnight. Recently I saw my sync speed had dropped to 6,648 kb.
So I concluded the overnight switch offs might be having an effect and re-arranged my wiring again, and waited for it to go back up. After 4.5 days it has not budged at all. I have just had a loss of sync which lasted a minute or so, and wondered whether that might indicate a change, but no. My upload S/N has risen by about 1.5dB, and the down S/N has fallen by the same amount, but the speed remains the same.
While reading about Dynamic Line Management I found a link to my maximum speed, which took me to my line speed estimate in the Member Centre. It was still dated 30th November, the day of the test, but it now reads only 7Mb! It has been retrospectively halved. Someone is trying to rewrite history here!
What does this mean?

[#2]

HI kjpetrie,
I think the test may be using current maximums. At the moment your line is banded between 3328Kbps - 6656Kbps so that is why you're seeing the maximum 6648k on your router. Can you tell me how your connection is set up. Do you use extension cables/sockets? If you could plug into the test socket I'd be happy to get the banding removed.
Jojo

[#3]

How long would I have to stay plugged in to the test socket? I'm rather busy at the moment and can't afford to be without my extensions.

[#4]

Quote from: kjpetrie

How long would I have to stay plugged in to the test socket? I'm rather busy at the moment and can't afford to be without my extensions.

Bear in mind that the extensions may well be the cause of the banding, so if I remove it and the line is rebanded you will have to start all over again.
Jojo

[#5]

Thanks,
I'm not quite clear what the purpose of going on the test socket is, as I obviously won't want to use it that way long term. If the banding comes back on for no apparent reason then presumably that would mean it's all my line and wiring can handle and I'll have to accept it.
It's just that I had a problem with the router rebooting the other week and it's after that the speed dropped so I wondered whether that's the cause. If it's likely it might be worth taking the banding off once to see what happens.
Naturally, I just like the idea of everything running to peak performance whether that's with or without the banding. The speed isn't critical whereas having working phone connections is.
I'm not complaining. I've come from a £9.99 512kbs contract with my previous ISP to a £6.45 6.6Mbs service. It's just I did see it go all the way up to 14 Mb before I kept triggering the router reboots and it'd be nice if it to see it up there again.
It must be a tedious having to lift people's banding all the time. I presume it's there to stop the DLM repeatedly trying unsustainable speeds and causing disconnections, but I can't quite see why it can't be made a little more flexible, so it doesn't  reduce the speed permanently if something goes wrong temporarily.

[#6]

Quote from: kjpetrie

I'm not quite clear what the purpose of going on the test socket is, as I obviously won't want to use it that way long term.

Using the test socket disconnects all internal wiring which may or may not be the cause of connection issues.
If the 'test socket' test isn't performed and a BT engineer finds a fault on internal wiring a £140+ charge can be imposed.

[#7]

Yes, I understand that, when I'm trying to diagnose a fault. At present I have no reason to suspect a fault, however.

[#8]

Hi kjpetrie,
The thing is with the test socket is we can totally rule out any internal wiring issues. You said you had a problem with the router rebooting, did you find the cause of that. Has it stopped happening?
Jojo

[#9]

I stopped trying to diagnose the router rebooting issue because it was killing my speed and I don't need to access the Internet from wireless, only LAN from wireless and Internet from my desktop. We tried replacing the router but that made no difference. It appears to be related to RFI from neighbours' wi-fi but I'm not really sure. The router doesn't reboot unless I try to access the Internet from my laptop, and I can work through a remote desktop to my main machine if I really need to do that.
Would that have been likely to have caused the banding?
Otherwise, if it is just that with my internal wiring the quality comes down to a point where the banding is appropriate then I will have to accept it. After all, that is how I'm going to use it.
I like the idea of DLM, but not of banding, which seems to defeat the object of it. There are many causes for multiple disconnections in a short time, ranging from a thunderstorm, to electricians working in the house, or a customer trying to diagnose a fault in their internal wiring by trying different combinations of connections, to a small child discovering the pretty flashing light display if they reboot the modem, to a conscientious customer who turns everything off when not in use and accesses the computer for several short periods a day. None of these is related to line quality but will result in progressively lower bands being applied from which the system will never recover of its own accord, whereas DLM was designed to do so. It seems all you are achieving is customer dissatisfaction and extra work.
Do you want to do some tests? I could connect to the test socket temporarily, for an hour or so, but I can't afford to be without my phones or desktop machine for longer than that. If so, we need to arrange a time.
If not, please try lifting the banding so we can see what happens.

[#10]

Thanks for lifting the banding. I'm now getting download speeds of 14.67 Mb/s and upload of 370 kb/s, so I'll leave well alone and see what happens.