Fault Caused by Openreach

[#1]

Could I possibly ask whether a staff member might check that the faults team are following up on my ticket # 180702717 please?

It appears that Openreach have done some work on the cabinet today and messed up my connection in the process.

I've attached various pictures and screenshots to the ticket to aid in convincing Openreach that it is their problem (since I know they will need to be convinced) but I don't know whether the faults team will automatically be made aware of those.

The CSC Analyst dealing with the issue will not be in again until Monday, I am told, so I am concerned that this could drag on when Openreach should and could really be out fixing it tomorrow morning (having created the problem in the early hours of this morning.)

Thank you in advance for any little push you may be able to give this in the right direction.

[#2]

*cough*

Hello?

[#3]

Hi @InterZoom

I have taken a look at the ticket for you. With regards to the Agent not being in again until Monday, I assume this was for them to contact you back and update you on the status of the fault. I can see that this has already been passed over to Openreach at the moment.

I have updated your ticket for you as well regarding some account specific details https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=view_question&id=180702717

[#4]

Thank you, @deank . I really appreciate that.

Clearly the faults team are well on it, and hopefully all will quickly be resolved.

I'll let you know.

(Edited to replace name with mention format.)

[#5]

Thank you so much to the PlusNet customer services and faults teams for getting this blip resolved so quickly and efficiently.

An extremely good Openreach engineer came to fix the problem this afternoon.

They get messed about and frustrated by BT call centre processes themselves, just to get their job done -- it isn't only consumers on the receiving end of that.

He persisted, however, and didn't leave until the connection was restored to a full 80/20 sync at over 8dB downstream SNR margin, and a 5ms ping to ntp.plus.net (which is all as it should be).

So PlusNet's 'suppliers' can be amazing; and PlusNet can be amazing in working with them and holding them to account as well. For which I am most grateful.

A good job, well done, by all concerned.

[#6]

And yet...

Hmm...

[#7]

Hi @InterZoom 

You are still syncing at 80/20 which is a good start. 

Is this poor throughput speed able to be replicated across multiple devices and browsers? 

I know it's basic, but have you tried alternate LAn cables etc? 

Thanks 

[#8]

Yes. I've also added some results from a straightforward curl download to the support ticket.

It's definitely a PlusNet (or BT) issue. The following two TBB speed tests from this evening were done using two different routers and ethernet cables. You can see that there is now a consistent divergence between the single- and multiple-threaded downloads:

This, by contrast, is a wireless speed test from back in May this year:

So, looks like not quite fixed yet, unfortunately...

[#9]

Hi @InterZoom thanks for the info. I have queried this with our suppliers and it looks like to continue to investigate the low throughput they want to send another engineer. I have updated your fault ticket if you could reply and let us know once you have done so, so that we can pick it up for you. 

[#10]

Somewhat improved today (and from earlier this morning, in fact,) but still not what I'd expect from a full 80/20 sync on an absolutely clean line...

Figures from curl and Aria2 confirm the picture: hanging on by fingernails to reach 70Mbps as a sustained average download throughput, both single- and multi-threaded.

So there must be network and/or capacity issues somewhere...

Won't be losing sleep over it... but at the same time: please fix!

[#11]

Hi @LaurenB I think we posted at the same time, however I have now checked the ticket.

Whilst I appreciate that you are just passing on the dire warnings about internal wiring and charges for me missing an appointment(!) that Openreach brandish at you, it is Openreach themselves who say they want to send an engineer... In my estimation, they don't need to, since they have already established that the line is now fine. That included a JDSU throughput test which confirmed zero errors.  

Perhaps there is a continuing problem with the DSLAM at the cabinet (in which case it may or may not be helpful to have premises access for diagnosis) but, in all probability, the issue lies elsewhere: and those higher-level network problems tend to be more troublesome to sort out (and have cost implications if it's a question of capacity). I've had the experience before of Openreach sending endless engineers only to confirm that there is no problem, when the real problem has been that they can't test for the real problem.

Maybe, as a first step, you could detail what changes have been made (by either PlusNet or Openreach) to improve the throughput today, as documented above?

Would you also be able to post GEA test results into the ticket for reference, please?

I do greatly appreciate you continuing to follow this up with your suppliers. I don't want to appear awkward or unhelpful myself. But I also don't really want to get into a cycle of unnecessary engineer visits which don't achieve anything except threats of charges. Your ticket update states expressly that there is a charge if no fault is found, and since Openreach have now fixed the physical fault which was causing the sync speed reduction and packet loss, that could well be their (unrebuttable) conclusion.

I know that PlusNet ends up in a difficult position with these things. You want to help your customer, but Openreach's attitude is, "Well, we've done our bit and have fixed it as far as we're concerned; so if your customer reckons there's still a problem, OK, but they'd better be able to put their money where their mouth is: risk is on them!"

Any engineer visit would have to be purely a matter of good faith on both sides, without caveats; especially if I am putting myself out to accommodate it when I don't believe it is technically useful or necessary to resolve the remaining issue.

[#12]

Hi @InterZoom,

Sorry to hear that you're still experiencing problems with your connection following the engineer visit.

I've had a further look into this for you and have run another GEA test so that I can send you the results for your reference. My response contains some account specific information so I've added this to the open fault ticket on your account. You can view this here.

[#13]

Hi @EmilyD

Many thanks for the GEA data and supremely helpful approach re. OR charges. I can see from your explanation why they want to come out again, but I have replied to the fault ticket, so this is just to let you know that.

A quick test shows that throughput is still topping out at about 70Mbps, despite perfect line conditions. So that's a puzzle.

However, it is peak time and there is no disparity between single and multiple threads. Also, the world will not end.

I'm sure the bottom of it will be got to!

[#14]

Just relax, for those of us who are the majority who only achieve <40/10, you are in BB heaven.

That said, as I'm not a sad gamer, 40/10 is more than sufficient. And at £5.00 per month, a bargain.

[#15]

Rest assured, @tijara33

I had 40/20 here until that unusual PN product was withdrawn. It gave me the upstream speed I wanted without ever having to concern myself with the downstream because there was just so much headroom.

But now I'm paying 40 quid a month for that upstream...

Gamers (of which I am not one, and who may well be happy,) can often benefit from lower latency on ADSL2+, interestingly enough. Heaven, these days, is a highly personal concept!