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IP profile creeps inexorably downwards.

michael9974
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Registered: ‎28-01-2020

IP profile creeps inexorably downwards.

Since moving to Plusnet "up to 80Mbps" broadband I seem to have been going through cycles where my IP profile creeps downward until it I get fed up and report a fault, at which point the Openreach guy comes round, fails to find anything and it gets reset to the sort of speed the line can support. I'm reluctant to keep reporting faults as eventually they're going to say no fault found and there's a risk I'll end up being charged. Is there any way of getting my IP profile restored without going through this? Currently it's sitting at 45Mbps, would like it set back to the 70Mbps or so that the line should support. If it stays at this speed I might as well go back to the "up to 40Mbps" service and save myself some money! Upload seeds are fine btw - 20Mbps.

26 REPLIES 26
Strat
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Re: IP profile creeps inexorably downwards.

Moderators Note
This topic has been moved from ADSL Broadband to Fibre Broadband.
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Iamveryfedup
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Re: IP profile creeps inexorably downwards.

I am having exactly then same problem. I am paying for a minimum of 34mb and regularly it is less than 30mb! Again, Open reach find no faults and I just get p .....D off with running checks that always show them same results that there are no problems but something causes it and  it is then ok for a few days then returns to to VARIABLE AND LESS THAN 30mb. Are all providers then same?

idonno
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Re: IP profile creeps inexorably downwards.


@michael9974 wrote: Since moving to Plusnet "up to 80Mbps" broadband I seem to have been going through cycles where my IP profile creeps downward until it I get fed up and report a fault, at which point the Openreach guy comes round, fails to find anything and it gets reset to the sort of speed the line can support.Currently it's sitting at 45Mbps, would like it set back to the 70Mbps or so that the line should support.

Are you getting your 'guaranteed' minimum speed? What does it say here and note the handback value (Downstream Handback Threshold(Mbps). If you find that you are not getting that value and you have no internal wiring or router problems then OR have to sort it i.e. the line gets handed back to OR. Unfortunately, if there is still a fault, as bRAS is an automated system, it will reset your line lower even after someone has reset it higher. Of course, if  the speed is low for which the line will support, it will automatically reset it higher.

 

Over the years I've had a couple of times where my speeds have drifted downwards. Everytime its been an OR problem, be it outside wiring or in the cabinet. Last time, it took them 4 attempts to nail it. One thing I always do though is try another modem / router before getting in touch with the ISP. Another fav that hits speed is the router being tuned off and then back on too often. The fact you have had OR attend sounds as if these have been ruled out as being the source of your problem.

 

But do carry on complaining. A solid connection is, after all, what we all pay for.

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michael9974
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Re: IP profile creeps inexorably downwards.

Thanks for that info, the BBAC info gives a handback threshold of 44.4, and when I first posted the actual IP profile was 45.14 so just above (a suspicious person would think they're trying the minimum they can get away with to minimise load on the network). The line is supposed to be able to support 72 and has run at that for several weeks after OR have visited before gradually reducing. The router is rarely switched off, unfortunately I don't have any spares lying around to try! I guess it's time to register another fault.

RandallFlagg
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Re: IP profile creeps inexorably downwards.

 

Hi @michael9974

 

I agree that your sync speed is much lower than I'd expect here, so would genuinely recommend raising a fault so that we can ask our suppliers to take a look at this for you.

 

@Iamveryfedup - same story - you're in sync lower than we'd expect, so please raise a fault and we'll escalate this for you.

 

Thanks

 

Dave

 

michael9974
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Re: IP profile creeps inexorably downwards.

Thanks, fault raised 198484980.

plusnettony
Plusnet Staff
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Re: IP profile creeps inexorably downwards.

Thanks for logging the fault. On my diagnostic test I saw that the line was banded. I've asked that our supplier removes this for you. We should have more later in the week. If this fails to improve, let us know and we'll probably need an engineer. We'd need to give it about 3 working days.

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 Tony T
 Plusnet Help Team
michael9974
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Re: IP profile creeps inexorably downwards.

So it's been a few days and there's been a slight improvement - the IP profile reported by the BT Wholesale line test is now 55Mbps, the router is reporting a sync speed of 60Mbps and I'm getting download speeds of around 50Mbps. This is however some way from the 70Mbps or so that I'd expect the line to be capable of, and which I used to see. Curiously the upload sync speed which used to be a consistent 20Mbps is now down to around 18. Looking at Plusnet's test results I can't see anything wrong with the line. Have OR left some banding on limiting me to 55?

RandallFlagg
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Registered: ‎11-01-2018

Re: IP profile creeps inexorably downwards.

 

Hi @michael9974

 

It's likely that the IP profile is still resetting following the unbanding of the line. Even if the speeds don't improve (which I expect that they will), you're still well within the estimates for your line and I do not feel that raising a request for an engineer would necessarily yield positive results.

 

My advice would be to continue to monitor this and our faults team will be in touch in due course with the next course of action.

 

Best wishes

 

Dave

michael9974
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Re: IP profile creeps inexorably downwards.

So, I've given this a month or so for things to settle, and lo and behold after things initially being sorted out my speed is creeping down again. From the router logs:

09 Feb 63221 (banding removed from line, speed improving just as Plusnet says it will)

11 Feb 67672

13 Feb 70299

15 Feb 71610

16 Feb 68219 (going down - is this a hiccup?)

17 Feb 64850 (apparently not...)

19 Feb 65242 (yay! It's gone up!)

22 Feb 63748 (spoke too soon...)

26 Feb 61257

02 Mar 57363

04 Mar 52512

and the BTW performance test this morning gives me a speed of 40.27Mbps with an IP profile of 48.43. Looking at the router logs something seems to be going on at around 01:00 in the morning that causes the line to drop and then resync at a lower speed. We're all in bed at that time so I can't imagine it's caused by anything we're doing. The original fault has been closed, is this something I need to raise a new fault on?

Mads
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Re: IP profile creeps inexorably downwards.

Hey @michael9974,

Thanks for reaching out to us here and apologies for the delayed response.

I'm sorry you've continued having trouble with the speed of your service and I apologise for the inconvenience this causes you.

On testing you service today your are currently syncing at 52.5mbps down and 18.3mbps up, there is no banding on the profile currently with the profile presented as:

 

" 0.128M-80M Downstream, Retransmission High - 0.128M-20M Upstream, Error Protection Off"

 

At this point you are within estimates and above the MGS for your line, we can arrange an engineer appointment to try and get that speed nudged up again but the appointment may not yield the results you wish for - if you'd like to go ahead with this option please raise a fault here. It may be worth monitoring the service for now and seeing how you get on - either way please get back to us here and let us know which route you'd like to go down.

 

Thanks.

michael9974
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Re: IP profile creeps inexorably downwards.

Thanks for getting back to me. At the moment as you say the speed is just about within the specs (but not sufficiently that it was worth paying extra for an "up to 80Mbps" service - something I'll look into when my contract is up for renewal). I guess I have to just monitor it for now and raise a fault when it gets lower. I would really like to understand why it keeps getting wound down though - historically the line has run fine at 70Mbps or so for long periods so clearly either something is wrong or it's being deliberately throttled. The router logs are pretty vague - do you have any more detailed diagnostics from your end that might indicate what's going on?

dws1900
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Re: IP profile creeps inexorably downwards.

@Mads 

 

Re your reply to @michael9974 , I am curious as to the significance of this

Retransmission High

Please can you explain what it means.

Thanks

 

michael9974
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Registered: ‎28-01-2020

Re: IP profile creeps inexorably downwards.

And it continues - last night at 01:00 the line dropped for no identifiable reason, came up and has resynced at 46.901Mbps. Prior to that it had been up for 9 days so it seems reasonable to assume that this is not due to instability or problems at the higher speeds. As this is just above the 44Mbps handback threshold I'm guessing OR still won't do anything about it. Speed test is currently giving me about 20Mbps but that must be caused by a separate problem as it's so much less than the sync speed. Frustrating!