Banding (again)

[#1]

@Gandalf you and I talked at great length about banding and connection speeds from mid 2019 - March 2020.  This thread refers https://community.plus.net/t5/Fibre-Broadband/Banding/m-p/1713059#M107693

This culminated in the discovery that somehow my connection setting had been switched from your usual standard/speed to stable.  This stable setting had resulted in my line being banded at 20Mbps

You kindly switched the setting back to standard/speed which took effect 5/3/20.  Since then, speeds have been better with occasional adjustments but 27.4 seeming to be the optimum banding level - the connection going for periods of up to 3 months at this banding level with no problems.  The switch to standard/speed definitely helped.

Over a period of 4 nights from 1/1/21 to 5/1/21, however, my banding dropped back to 20 and has stayed there

Would it therefore be possible for you to check that my connection has not been set to stable once again and, if so, switch it back to standard/speed?  Let me know if you need more details and/or if I need to raise a ticket for this.

Thanks,

Stuart

[#2]

Sorry just realised I posted this in ADSL not Fibre.  Can't see any way to delete so won't duplicate in fibre unless I don't get an answer

[#3]

I reported this earlier for being on the wrong board, @Junkman  - I'll give it another shove.😉

[#4]

Moderators Note
This topic has been moved from ADSL Broadband to Fibre Broadband.

[#5]

@Gandalf any answer before I raise a ticket?

[#6]

Hi Stuart, apologies for the delay and long time no see. It was certainly one of the longest faults I've dealt with

I can confirm you're provisioned on the standard/speed profile.

Our tests are showing your speed's banded at a sync rate of 20mbps. If I remember correctly (and having just double checked this from the ticket 197244627, I do) while the current estimated speed range for your line is between 25mbps and 40mbps, engineers deem the minimum speed for your line to be 20mbps.

I can arrange for a DLM reset to be remove the banding but I fear that may cause your connection to start dropping again. Let me know if you'd want me to though.

[#7]

@Gandalf thanks for getting back to me.  Yes it's been a while hope all good with you. 

Without going into too much detail, starting 1/1/21 my sync speed dropped from 27.4 to 25 to 22.4 to 20 over the course of 5 nights.

In the 6 months prior to that my sync speed was 27.4 for 3 weeks, 30 for 7 weeks, 25 for 4 weeks and 27.4 for 12 weeks. So I've had stability 25 and above for 6 months. Therefore don't understand the DLM behaviour 1/1 - 5/1

So, yes please to a DLM reset.

Thanks,

Stuart

[#8]

No problem, I've added to the DLM reset tracker so your line should be reset within 4 working days. 

Let us know if there are any further issues afterwards.

[#9]

@Gandalf DLM reset last night thanks.  Sync speed now 33 (this will drop I know). IP profile 30.67 but download speed on cabled BTW test only 17.6 despite rebooting router twice.  You should be able to see that as I followed the test through further diagnostics.  Am I missing something here?

[#10]

@Gandalf just to add I have had a trawl back through my extra long ticket and this has happened before.  Something to do with my 'account profile' setting

[#11]

I've changed the connection profile on your account now

Can you reboot your router and retest your speed?

[#12]

Thanks that did the trick.  Router still synced at 33 with no dropouts over last 48 hours (other than the reboot this morning).  Will leave this thread open for a few days just in case

[#13]

@Gandalf sorry but I think I need your input again.  After 6 months of stability some chronic issues on my line since Tuesday.  Possibly heat related I guess. I raised a ticket - #216361295 - and I now think your colleagues are in the process of switching my connection back from standard/speed to stable.  As we know from experience, this tanks my connection speed. Should not be the course of action after 6 months of complete stability on standard/speed

Little if any dropouts in 6 months as I said.  A series of them on Tuesday took my sync rate down to only 7.2 and DL speed to just over 6.  A router reboot took the sync rate back to the 27.4 it has been at since January, but DL remained at 6.  Further dropouts took sync rate back down to about 20, another router reboot took it back to 27.4 but DL is stuck at 6

Obvious issues with latency on the line too.  I have attached 4 files covering the last 4 days with no difference in usage each day.  The event times are obvious and I think this is a different problem.

Having just signed up for another 18 months with Plusnet, I would really appreciate your help in getting this sorted properly. 

Thanks, Stuart

[#14]

Hi @Junkman

thanks a lot for reaching out, and I'm sorry to hear that you're having problems with your line again. @Gandalf is currently out of office, so I've taken a look into the line myself. what wired speeds are you getting today? the reason I'm asking is that tests on my side appear to show that the line is syncing at 22.4Mbps, as it has been doing for the last 30 days. There doesn't appear to be any issues with either phone or broadband service, though I am seeing some disconnections.

I'll pop a visual radius graph below, as these may tie into the times where you've been rebooting your router. There were some problems with the line on Tuesday, where the sync speed dropped to 21.5Mbps, though these have since recovered. This may have been caused by engineering work at the cabinet, though we can't be 100% sure.

My KBD tests are picking up on some electrical interference, which although doesn't have a detrimental impact on your line, it can be attributed to fluctuating sync speeds.We kindly ask that you situate your router as far away as possible from other electrical equipment you may have nearby.

I've also cancelled the order to increase the stability profile on your line.

KBD

GEA Test Detail Circuit ID NA Service ID
Test Outcome	Pass
Test Outcome Code	GTC_FTTC_SERVICE_0000
Description	GEA service test completed and no fault found .
Main Fault Location	OK
Sync Status	In Sync
Downstream Speed	27.4 Mbps
Upstream Speed	7.9 Mbps
Appointment Required	N
Fault Report Advised	N
NTE Power Status	PowerOn
Voice Line Test Result	Pass
Radio Frequency Ingress	Not Detected
Repetitive Electrical Impulse Noise	Not Detected
Cross Talk	Not Detected
Estimated Line Length In Metres	1098.4
Upstream Rate Assessment	Very Good
Downstream Rate Assessment	Reasonable
Interference Pattern	Regular Interference Observed Daily
Service Impact	No Impact Observed
Interference Duration Longest Occurrence	;00:00to23:45
Interference Location	Customer Premise
Interference Observed In Days	14
Home Wiring Problem	Not Detected
Downstream Policing Discard Rate	0.0
Customer Traffic Level	Upstream and Downstream traffic detected
Technology	VDSL
Current 15Min Bin Retrains	0
Last 15Min Bin Retrains	0
DP Type	External
Profile Name	0.128M-27.4M Downstream, Retransmission Low - 0.128M-10M Upstream, Retransmission Low
Time Stamp	2021-07-10T15:45:00

0.0

Parameters	MIN	MAX	AVG
Down Stream Line Rate	6.9 Mbps	27.3 Mbps	26.7 Mbps
Up Stream Line Rate	7.0 Mbps	8.2 Mbps	7.7 Mbps
Up Time	2.0 Sec	900.0 Sec	892.9 Sec
Retrains	0.0	3.0

[#15]

Thanks for getting straight back to me @adam945 .  And thanks very much for stopping that profile change.  My sync speed has been 27.4 since early February and usually translates to a download speed close to 26.   I attach a screenshot of a BTW test taken at 1558.  Download speed 6.29.  I ran it through to further diagnostics and my IP profile is 26.49

This has happened before and is usually a connection profile issue - but there is definitely something else going on this time.  The screenshot 1907 (Monday) I attached on my previous post show you how the line latency and packet loss normally behaves (and has done since early Feb) and how it has behaved on Tues, Weds and yesterday.  The red bands are dropouts, only 2 or 3 of which have been me rebooting my router.  Still the same today.  Definitely a different problem.

Appreciate your further advice.

Stuart.

Edited to add that my router is showing a sync speed of 27.4 too