IP Profile steadily reducing.

[#1]

My IP Profile has been slowly dropping since the Engineer visit reset me 2 months or so ago. Small drops periodically. Does this indicate a deterioration on my line, within my equipment, or cabinet/network issues, perhaps capacity?

Logic suggests that if a connection holds an IP value for weeks, it could hold that "forever" without any changes, so something must have. Are there capacity issues on the network or perhaps in my cabinet that would cause IP profile to be lowered?

I still have reasonable speed but it irks slowing down. (It shouldn't, I know, even a slow barman can get you well drunk, it just takes a tad longer!!).

[#2]

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@danludlow wrote:

My IP Profile has been slowly dropping since the Engineer visit reset me 2 months or so ago. Small drops periodically. Does this indicate a deterioration on my line, within my equipment, or cabinet/network issues, perhaps capacity?

It could be several things but you missed one possibility - crosstalk. Basically the signals from one telephone cable can interfere with those immediately adjacent to it. This is especially likely in the early months after a cabinet install since the first few customers have a clear run as it were. Eventually things kind of settle down.

Now it's by no means a linear slow down. Nor is it easily predictable. That's because not all the lines that could have fibre broadband will actually have it enabled - lines aren't even routed through the new cabinet unless someone takes the service. It also depends which lines take the service since they don't all take the same path after leaving the cabinet (obviously they split to go to different streets). What this all means is that it's pot luck which lines are affected and how badly. It also means that crosstalk can strike anyone at any time. It's more likely with a new cabinet but you could have been enjoying a great connection for several years then one of your neighbours finally decides to sign up and you lose 10%.

But that doesn't mean it is crosstalk. That's just another possibility.

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[#3]

Hi there,

Checks aren't revealing any obvious issues with the connection at all. It's not something we could quantify but It may be that increased uptake on the same cabinet your line connects to has caused the slight drop in speeds.

[#4]

My line gradually looses speed after a while when with Sky I phoned them and the next day OR reset the DLM and speed jumped up  this happened twice.

I've had this same drop with PN but PN will not action OR, I've to wait and get a drop below the lowest estimate for my line then report back to them.

Sky are not frightened of OR but PN appear to be.

[#5]

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@dnpark38 wrote:

Sky are not frightened of OR but PN appear to be.

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It's not a case of fear. PN and Sky operate different types of network.

The traffic is delivered from your router to the exchange by OR. PN (like most ISPs) resells the BT Wholesale service. That means they rely on BT Wholesale to carry the traffic from your exchange to their service. 

Sky is an LLUO (Local Loop Unbundling Operator). They don't use BTw. They take the traffic off at your exchange and make their own arrangements for the rest of the journey.

Now this bit I'm not entirely sure about but I think it goes like this:

• Sky have a relationship with BTo and that relationship includes Sky being allowed to ask BTo to adjust the DLM.
• PN have a relationship with BTw and that relationship does not allow PN to ask BTw to ask BTo to adjust the DLM.

I wasn't aware that Sky could ask BTo to adjust the DLM but it makes sense given what an LLUO is trying to achieve.

As for why BTw choose not to allow their customers to ask for a DLM adjustment I don't know. With ADSL BTw runs the DLM and is more cooperative I believe. Maybe BTo just aren't keen on it and LLUOs were just more inclined to get arsey about it whereas BTw couldn't be bothered.

Either way it's not PN's fault. PN is not a customer of OR so is restricted to what BTw allows.

[#6]

Thanks might well be different from the exchange into networks but it's the same fiber wire to my cabinet and then the copper to my home.

So what ever effects the DLM or speed to drop is the same for Sky and PN.

Glad to read Sky have a better relationship in getting OR to do things.

Each time I rang Sky I was given an appointment straight away by the Sky technical guy himself and could choose which part of day to suit me, so Sky have control over OR.

Shortly after the OR guy had left Sky rang me regarding what the OR guy had reported back to see if I was happy and told me if I was not satisfied to phone back and they would sent OR out again, was given his desk phone number.

[#7]

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@dnpark38 wrote:

Glad to read Sky have a better relationship in getting OR to do things.

Yeah. The flipside of that though is it's expensive to set up a network like that (Sky got theirs originally by buying a company called EasyNet). It's also a complex endeavour to maintain backhaul at several thousand telephone exchanges. Even now I don't think Sky or Talk Talk have a presence at every exchange in the country.

BTw is what made universal broadband in the UK a possibility and what made it cheap (maybe too cheap but that's another story). A large part of its appeal is down to the fact that it's easy to use. Think of it as the difference between buying a manual car and an automatic. With the latter you're losing finer control in exchange for an easier experience that requires less skill.

[#8]

Yeah and we're all reliant on DLM doing a grand job............ don't get me started. All I did was take the supply off a modem and OR (Plusnet) immediately took me down from 78Mb to 67.4 where I've been sat for getting on the last 2 weeks now. So much for the Chat talk 'it'll correct itself after 72 hours - forgot to ask which year though'.

My speedtests are always now just below 66mb, restrained by the great system. Interesting about Sky though. Maybe I should think about moving if they can do such things. I've never understood why Plusnet cannot do the same. Surely OR don't send a person out, travelling many many miles, just to do a reset. If they do, it really is old tech that is well past its use by date. Modern stuff would be networked, i.e. click! Job done.

[#9]

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@idonno wrote:

Yeah and we're all reliant on DLM doing a grand job............ don't get me started.

Well OR do have a difficult job..but they seem to make it more difficult than it needs to be. I've had dealings with them over installing leased lines. They rarely stick to a schedule and it's nearly impossible to get anything other than a canned response out of them. And they don't respond to pressure either.

You just have to wait until suddenly they contact you and cheerily inform you that they are done.

[#10]

Today my Profile remains at yesterday's level, which was a slight drop after many weeks at the same level. Last night at 01.00 my speed tests were returning about 32-35Mbps Down, normally they's be at about their fastest at this time. This morning,  line speeds are back to Normal Down (45Mbps) and Up (10.6Mbps) so I assume there was network maintenance somewhere during the night.

I still find it difficult to visualise Broadband as effectively radio signals down that last bit of copper, if I can mange to, I can accept the wavering performance.