Download speeds have dropped back below 1 Mbps

[#1]

@20min_wait_zz

Re Congestion, take a look at the attached graph, there is a significant drop in speed tests during the evening, while the rate attainable is ok (this is the one used by the isp to show your connection is within there estimated speeds I believe), the snr is ok.

I have been on plusnet vdsl since September, but the speed-tests have only been started recently (all the other data comes from the router's snmp output) and this dip in speed happens every evening.

Either there is interference, but a recent GEA was ok and the snr is OK or it is congestion,

As I far know the isp's do not base their degradation of service on speed-tests.

The fttc cabinet was recently upgraded to add another 128 lines using new bit bolted on the side.

In a nutshell, line appears ok, interference not there, so what is left?

Radio Frequency Ingress Not Detected
Repetitive Electrical Impulse Noise Not Detected
Cross Talk Not Detected
Estimated Line Length In Metres 1523.4
Upstream Rate Assessment Very Good
Downstream Rate Assessment Very Good
Interference Pattern Not Detected

[#2]

@dws1900, thanks your screenshot shows exactly what my speed tests show. I've attached a graph of last 24 hours at 15 minute intervals. I've added this to my open ticket, so Plusnet can see why I'm getting miffed. Last night's actual speed throughput at 5Mbps was good!!.

The blips in your charts just after 07:00 I assume are due to me removing the faceplate (which is new) from the master socket so I can connect direct into test socket. 

[#3]

@20min_wait_zz

Re the blips on my charts, snr etc, no idea. Often the snr is not smooth, but averages to around 3dB.

Output power does vary occasionally, no idea why, and no one else seems to know on other more 'expert' boards.

The other day the snr dropped to 1db, but still worked ok.

No cables were disturbed/changed during this process, and re the extension I think you mentioned, I installed a CW1308 extension after I used the plusnet cable for the initial 10 days, no increase in attenuation of speeds. (the original adsl2 extension didn't work at all)

If it is congestion, well its down to the isp or Openreach to sort it out.

Even if we had fttp there will still be congestion on parts of the network, or possible slow servers.

An analogy is wizzing up the M3 (or other motorway) then hitting the M25,  slow, (ever wondered why there are now four lanes and no emergency lane on the motorways around cities in the UK, no one thought it out!!)

[#4]

Also annoyed that Plusnet support has added details about my ongoing issue on here which is misleading people away from what I'm after.

Sorry to hear you feel we're misleading people about the fault you're experiencing.

From what I can see we've just stated facts received from our suppliers.

What I want to know from all the geeks and telecoms experts out there is what should I be asking Plusnet to do to resolve my problem?

That's fair. We're just trying to assist over here too. 

If at any point you'd prefer us not to engage on here, please feel free let us know.

Download Speed test performed about 22:30 on BT wholesale site with a wired connection just came back with 5.81 Mbps (max achievable 20.62 Mbps). This is actually good for this time of day compared to what I've seen over last few days, can nearly watch All 4 without buffering.

Do you check your speed just with the BT wholesale speedtester? Or do you use any others? I'm asking because the wholesale one isn't all too reliable nowadays. If you haven't used another one, I'd recommend this one.

From the info I've found on Kitz, my cabinet (P50 on Medway Exchange) has 517 'properties passed' which I assume is the number of copper connections, but a FTTC cab only has maximum of 384 ports (6 x 64), does this mean lots of people still just have ADSL or use Virgin? I guess the FTTC cab that serves P50 must be utilising nearly all the ports - Would Plusnet know this info? 

Datasheet I found on MA5603T shows they have upto 4 (2x2) GE or 10GE upstream connections - Would Plusnet know what this cabinet has? 4 x GE connections back to exchange would only cope with 200 ports running at 20 Mbps before maxing out? (My FTTC cab went online in 2013 so was it designed to cater for the demands of 2018?)

Unfortunately i don't believe this information is visible to us.

Do businesses and residential properties share the same FTTC cabs?

Yes.

I live on a fairly new development of 60 houses (built in 2012), we're about 1500m from the cabinet, I was told by engineer that our brand new cables are patched into the really old existing cables - would this be true? Could there be issues here causing my problems (ie, a patch panel of some sort) ?

If an engineer said that I'd have no reason not to believe it.

OK so I've contacted our suppliers quality assurance team to check the SVLAN you're on for congestion. They've advised that the VLAN is running way below the threshold. 

They've also pointed out to me that we're seeing a very high amount of usage flowing through your connection. Are you running the speed tests when no devices are using the bandwidth?

With that in mind, if you're still experiencing issues then the next step would be to progress the fault with our suppliers is to arrange a 3rd engineer visit.

I've raised an escalation with our suppliers though so when/if the appointment is booked they'll escalate this accordingly with Openreach to make sure the engineer that goes out completes all the quality gates.

Quality gates such as renew the NTE and drop wire, change the D & E side as well perform a lift & shift at the cabinet.

If you can update your support ticket with your availability one of my team will book the appointment in for you.

[#5 · Accepted solution]

OK, think I've found root cause. Will monitor for a day or two to confirm. Big thanks to @Gandalf (Plusnet Help Team) whose comment on my post has pointed me in the right direction "very high amount of usage flowing through your connection" Checked on my account and check my data usage... nearly 200Gb on days I'm seeing poor connection times. I'm thinking, Netflix doesn't use that much - what could be causing that? iCloud Photos, that's what - looked at my daughters PC and the network is showing that it's using 20Mbps....All my bandwidth!!! Needless to say it's been disabled - assume it's stuck in some sort of loop My one question to Plusnet - Why has no one looked at my data usage before and suggested it as an issue? The days I said I didn't have an issue, my usage was down at 20Gb - maybe one for a knowledge base somewhere

[#6]

@20min_wait_zz

Hopefully you have a solution to the issue. 

Re the ICloud Photos, afaik Apple give 5Gb free, the extra you have to buy, so I would suggest you login to icloud and see whats being stored. Maybe its continuously trying to backup to  icloud.

Another way is to use QOS on the router and slow it right down (this depends on how sophisticated the router is)

As for my dips, usually in the evening I am not doing much on the internet at that time, and tonights dip has not started yet, I wonder why, hum perhaps it's all the kids are out mugging people for trick or treat.

Still suspect there is a congestion issue, but will watch it for a while before raising a ticket.

[#7]

OK, think I've found root cause. Will monitor for a day or two to confirm. Big thanks to @Gandalf (Plusnet Help Team) whose comment on my post has pointed me in the right direction "very high amount of usage flowing through your connection" Checked on my account and check my data usage... nearly 200Gb on days I'm seeing poor connection times. I'm thinking, Netflix doesn't use that much - what could be causing that? iCloud Photos, that's what - looked at my daughters PC and the network is showing that it's using 20Mbps....All my bandwidth!!! Needless to say it's been disabled - assume it's stuck in some sort of loop 

Glad to hear we've found the likely cause of the problem

Why has no one looked at my data usage before and suggested it as an issue? The days I said I didn't have an issue, my usage was down at 20Gb - maybe one for a knowledge base somewhere

Unfortunately I can only put it down as agent error. We have a knowledge base of articles on all our processes. The article for a speed fault that our faults agents should know/follow says to check the usage as well as all the other diagnostics.

I'll pass feedback on for the appropriate people you've interacted with regarding the fault.

Apologies for the inconvenience and frustration this has caused.

Let us know if you need any further assistance.