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Fibre Extra - Huge speed drop and dropouts.

Msc
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎29-10-2018

Fibre Extra - Huge speed drop and dropouts.

This has been a problem for at least a few weeks now. The dropouts have become much less common over the last few days, but my speed has dropped. I’m unable to do a wired connection test with the devices I currently have. Can someone please test my line and see what’s wrong? I’ve tried a few speed test websites and the download speed stays at around 23mbps.

I am confident in this not being a device problem, as I have tested the speed on three different devices.

I had a similar problem last year which is in my post history.

 

9 REPLIES 9
Gandalf
Community Gaffer
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Re: Fibre Extra - Huge speed drop and dropouts.

Hi there.

I'm sorry to see you're experiencing connection problems.

Our tests are still showing the same fault somewhere on the line as from the back end of last year. It looks like Openreach wanted us to arrange another engineer visit with yourself but due to agent/human error we escalated the fault ticket 184023141 back to you instead of leaving it in our queue to pick up and book the appointment. Sad

I've raised a new fault ticket: https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=view_question&id=192379993 requesting your availability for another engineer visit. Could you reply to that ticket online, letting us know over here once you've done this? We'll then get it picked up as soon as we can and book the engineer in.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Ballz
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Re: Fibre Extra - Huge speed drop and dropouts.

They wont do anything, this ISP has gone way downhill lately.

 

I have just cancelled my contract for exactly the same thing. Solid 70-72 meg down, 19999 up for years, dropped to 55/13 in a single day and they say no fault. My estimated speed is only 46 now, not the minimum 60 they guaranteed. Its a joke. Anyone knows there's either a port fault or DLM has down rated my line. Easier to say there's no fault, exactly what BT would have said.

Gandalf
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Re: Fibre Extra - Huge speed drop and dropouts.

@Ballz Sorry to see your speeds have dropped. For clarification your minimum guaranteed speed doesn't change for the duration of your contract, however the estimated speed range/expectations of your line may change. As we're no longer able to provide your minimum guaranteed speed, we've allowed you to leave without any termination fees if you choose.

I've tested your line and I can see no speed restrictions on the line as per the DLM profile: "0.128M-80M Downstream 4dB, Retransmission High - 0.128M-20M Upstream, Error Protection Off"

While we'd love to investigate further, as our testing isn't showing any definitive external causes the only way we can progress the fault with Openreach is by arranging an engineer visit to investigate further.

Ultimately as your speeds are within the current expectations of your line, it's very possible that the outcome of an engineer visit would be that the engineer signs the job off as right when tested and the appointment deemed to be chargeable which we'd ideally want to try to avoid.

Possible causes for the drop in line expectations may be due to cross-talk at the cabinet which is basically interference from other connections as other people in the neighourhood move onto fibre. There's not much we can do about that as it would require a new cabinet built or the existing one expanded which we've no influence over.

For visibility here's a copy of our testing if you're interested:

GEA Test Detail
Circuit ID NA Service ID [redacted]
 
 
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 53.2 Mbps
Upstream Speed 13.5 Mbps
Appointment Required N
Fault Report Advised N
NTE Power Status PowerOn
Voice Line Test Result Pass
Bridge Tap Not Detected
Radio Frequency Ingress Not Detected
Repetitive Electrical Impulse Noise Not Detected
Cross Talk Not Detected
Estimated Line Length In Metres 668.6
Upstream Rate Assessment Good
Downstream Rate Assessment Very Good
Interference Pattern Not Detected
Service Impact No Impact Observed
Home Wiring Problem Not Detected
Technology VDSL
Profile Name 0.128M-80M Downstream 4dB, Retransmission High - 0.128M-20M Upstream, Error Protection Off
Time Stamp 2019-07-10T22:45:00
Parameters MIN MAX AVG
Down Stream Line Rate 55.4 Mbps 68.2 Mbps 60.3 Mbps
Up Stream Line Rate 13.3 Mbps 18.2 Mbps 15.4 Mbps
Up Time 819.0 Sec 900.0 Sec 899.4 Sec
Retrains 0.0 1.0 0.0
Current and Last 15 Minute Bin Performance
Parameters Last Traffic Count(Upto 15 mins) Current Traffic Count(Upto 15 mins)
Start Time Stamp 2019-07-23T21:16:14Z 2019-07-23T21:31:14Z
Ingress Code Violation 2 0
Egress Code Violation 0 0
Errored Seconds 0 0
Severely Errored Seconds 0 0
Unavailable Seconds 0 0

Again we'd love to help to get your speeds back up however based on the above I really don't see how we'd do that. That's not to say we're passing the buck or blaming our suppliers, it's a pragmatic and objective view of the situation. Sad If you do decide to leave Plusnet then I wish you all the best with your new provider. 

Moderator's note by Dick (Strat): Typo corrected.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Ballz
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Re: Fibre Extra - Huge speed drop and dropouts.

I understand lines will change over time.

What I dont understand is why people keep telling me about this "within estimate rubbish"

My line has been pretty stable until around 5 months ago, it took a nose dive to roughly the same as now. Before this it always sync'd at 68-72 meg downstream and 19999 upstream. Even with previous ISP's. Now around 5 months back it took a dive and over the coming weeks slowly worked itself back to roughly where i was at. 

When I renewed my contract 11 days ago i was happily sat at 71 downstream and 18.8 upstream. Not too far away from my normal.

Then a few days later it dives again. Not just a little bit, from 71 meg downstream to 55 meg, and the upstream dropped from 18.8 to 13.3. 

This is pretty obviously not normal, something happened. The attenuation and noise margins have changed and every single time I reboot the router it connects at roughly the same 55/13 speeds. 

Either DLM has noticed a huge amount of noise and adjusted the line or something similar has happened to the last time when an engineer fixed the battery contact fault on the line.

I just find it annoying that you cannot even request a DLM reset from BT to see what the line retrains at. I'm pretty certain it will return to my original stats.

Gandalf
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Re: Fibre Extra - Huge speed drop and dropouts.

Thanks for getting back to us.

What I dont understand is why people keep telling me about this "within estimate rubbish"

You can view your current speed estimates at http://dslchecker.bt.com. Since line tests aren't finding a definitive external cause the only way to progress a fault would be with an engineer visit. Not sure that'd be a good idea based on the information provided in DSL Checker as there'd be a relatively good chance the engineer will find no fault. 

My line has been pretty stable until around 5 months ago, it took a nose dive to roughly the same as now. Before this it always sync'd at 68-72 meg downstream and 19999 upstream. Even with previous ISP's. Now around 5 months back it took a dive and over the coming weeks slowly worked itself back to roughly where i was at. 

When I renewed my contract 11 days ago i was happily sat at 71 downstream and 18.8 upstream. Not too far away from my normal.

Then a few days later it dives again. Not just a little bit, from 71 meg downstream to 55 meg, and the upstream dropped from 18.8 to 13.3. 

This is pretty obviously not normal, something happened. The attenuation and noise margins have changed and every single time I reboot the router it connects at roughly the same 55/13 speeds. 

Either DLM has noticed a huge amount of noise and adjusted the line or something similar has happened to the last time when an engineer fixed the battery contact fault on the line.

Do you hear any noise on your line when you plug a home phone handset into the master socket and dial 17070? If you do then this would likely be the underlying cause and we'd be able to arrange an engineer based on this.

I just find it annoying that you cannot even request a DLM reset from BT to see what the line retrains at. 

There's no banding on the line though so a DLM reset wouldn't benefit you. Because there's no banding on the line, we can't request a remote DLM reset as ultimately if we tried, it'd likely be rejected due to the line being on an open profile.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Ballz
Dabbler
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Registered: ‎07-08-2018

Re: Fibre Extra - Huge speed drop and dropouts.

If there is no banding then why does it always connect in the 55 meg area, with about 4.5db of snr. It always used to sync at 3db. I expect it to slowly go back up. If it does this proves its DLM. Its not really the downstream that bothers me, its losing a quarter of my upload. I work remotely on dedicated servers and my upload times are much bigger than normal, this is where im noticing it. 

The quiet line test is quiet, if I'm being picky there's a very low volume hum in the background but no crackles etc.

Gandalf
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Re: Fibre Extra - Huge speed drop and dropouts.

Thanks for getting back to us.

The profile "0.128M-80M Downstream 4dB, Retransmission High - 0.128M-20M Upstream, Error Protection Off" proves there is no banding as per 0.128M-80M Downstream and 0.128M-20M Upstream.

It seems your router is just physically in sync at the line speeds it's at. With regards to not being on a 3dB profile it's possible this was as a result of the battery contact fault you've had, we can't arrange a DLM reset to specifically reset the SNR. Remote DLM resets can only be requested if the sync rate is restricted by a DLM banding on our testing.

Ultimately if this is caused by DLM then I'd expect your speeds to increase again given time, we just can't influence that.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Msc
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎29-10-2018

Re: Fibre Extra - Huge speed drop and dropouts.

Hi. Original thread poster here. Someone did come and replace a connector and told me the line had improved from 20 megabits to 50 megabits, which sounded better. I don’t think it has made a difference at all, and my internet is still dropping out all the time. I was told that there is nothing wrong with my phone line, so I don’t know what else to do.

LaurenB
Plusnet Help Team
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Re: Fibre Extra - Huge speed drop and dropouts.

Hi @Msc, I've tested your line this evening and a fault is still being detected and can see there's still a high number of drops.

 

We'll need another engineer to investigate this further and have updated your fault ticket, if you let us know once you have replied with your availability we'll pick this up for you.

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Lauren Barry
 Plusnet Help Team