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Last Week Sudden Reduction in Speed - plus also sudden incredibly slow download in early evenings

bathsheba
Dabbler
Posts: 14
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎20-03-2019

Last Week Sudden Reduction in Speed - plus also sudden incredibly slow download in early evenings

FTTC:

10 metre dropline to pole, +200m to end of road cabinet, +400m to fibre cabinet, +600 m to exchange.

Usual:  51Mbps down, 6Mbps up              Recent:  35Mbps down   7Mbps up

Ethernet cable from PC to router.

(My suspicion is some combination of line problem plus also change in profile - my line seems to think its upload capacity has increased at the same time that download has decreased)

 

Background:   I moved from BT a few years back after my downloads had dropped from low 50s to mid 30s and BT were unable to do anything about it over several months despite engineer visits.     Assuming the same infrastructure, I moved to Plusnet simply to avoid prolonging paying BT for a poor service (Yes, I do know now!).    I was surprised when my line speed immediately started to increase again and went back to low 50s.

 

Roll on a few years.    In the last week I have been suddenly hit by dreadful speeds (1-2Mbps) around 6 pm in the evenings.

The first evening this happened, I turned the router off/on and it went up to 35.     Another slow event last night and i phoned the support desk.   Although specifying I am on a direct ethernet cable from PC to router, I was advised to change to 5Ghz channel.    I was also advised 35 is the profile for my line, so not a problem.

 

Whereas I can understand the internet might be under load in the early evenings 1MBps is no good, and I suspect there must be some connection to the profile change.

 

Can anyone help restoring my line to its past glory ?

Any chance I have been swapped onto an inferior connection at the exchange, or at one of the cabinets?

Looking at the figures below, from dim memory I managed 3db in the past, and no more than 6db, also the attenuation figures look a lot higher than they were - I will have to look for any old reports to compare...

Also, I am almost certain it never used to be 20MBps upload potential.

 

 

1. Product name:Plusnet Hub

2. Serial number: 

3. Firmware version:Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.263 Last updated 12/04/19

4. Board version:Plusnet Hub One

5. DSL uptime:1 days, 17:08:17

6. Data rate:7025 / 38171

7. Maximum data rate:7036 / 47641

8. Noise margin:6.2 / 9.3

9. Line attenuation:29.0 / 19.2

10. Signal attenuation:28.8 / 17.8

11. Data sent/received:7.1 GB / 169.9 GB

12. Broadband username: 

13. 2.4 GHz Wireless network/SSID: 

14. 2.4 GHz Wireless connections:Enabled (802.11 b/g/n (up to 144 Mb/s))

15. 2.4 GHz Wireless security:WPA2

16. 2.4 GHz Wireless channel:Automatic (Smart Wireless)

17. 5 GHz Wireless network/SSID: 

18. 5 GHz Wireless connections:Enabled (802.11 a/n/ac (up to 1300 Mb/s))

19. 5 GHz Wireless security:WPA2

20. 5 GHz Wireless channel:Automatic (Smart Wireless)

21. Firewall:Default

22. MAC Address: 

23. Modulation:G.993.2 Annex B

24. Software variant:AA

25. Boot loader:1.0.0

 

Then, From speedtest.btwholesale.com:

 

Performance Test Results Report
Basic Performance Test -
Time Stamp Latency Download Upload
Sunday 16 May 2021 | 8:45:26 7 Ms 35.62 Mbps 6.56 Mbps


Advanced Performance Test -
Download Test
Download speed achieved during the test was 35.62 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 25.86-36.95 Mbps
Your DSL Connection Rate: 0 Mbps(DOWN-STREAM),0 Mbps(UP-STREAM)
For your connection, the maximum achievable download speed is 36.95 Mbps
IP Profile for your line is 36.95 Mbps

Upload Test
Upload speed achieved during the test was 6.56 Mbps
For your connection, the maximum achievable upload speed is 20 Mbps
IP Profile for your line is 20 Mbps

Summary Advanced Performance Test -
Result Message
We were unable to identify any performance problem with your service at this time.It is possible that any
problems you have experienced may have been caused by traffic congestion or by a server responding
slowly. Please visit the Speed Test Guidance if you are unable to understand the test results.

 

 

Thanks in advance..

Barry

5 REPLIES 5
Gandalf
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 26,563
Thanks: 10,265
Fixes: 1,599
Registered: ‎21-04-2017

Re: Last Week Sudden Reduction in Speed - plus also sudden incredibly slow download in early even...

Hi Barry,

I've had a look into this for you and line tests are showing your speeds below where they should be but aren't showing any causes. If your router's plugged into the master telephone socket, or even better to the test socket explained Here I'm afraid that this is something which would need to be investigated by an Openreach engineer. 

Looking through the history I can see a couple of months ago we tested your line and the tests showed "Impairment in copper joint detected most likely in local network." so there does definitely appear to be a line problem. Unsure why we didn't book an engineer with you at that stage though. 

I suspect when you moved to us a DLM reset was automatically done upon completion of the order as is standard which artificially boosted your speed up but as there seems to be an underlying issue your speed's declined again.

If you'd want to go ahead with an engineer visit I'd recommend raising a fault at faults.plus.net and post back afterwards so we can make sure that's picked up for you as soon as we can.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
bathsheba
Dabbler
Posts: 14
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎20-03-2019

Re: Last Week Sudden Reduction in Speed - plus also sudden incredibly slow download in early even...

Hi Gandalf,

 

Thank you for the response.    I am currently running out of the test socket, and a few minutes ago performed a quiet line test, which "sounded" good (i.e. no sound).

 

Further information:  there is no network or wiring inside the house, only a Openreach Mk4 socket.

 

Some further clarification from me: this line with Plusnet has been running ok at 50ish down for a few years now.    The problems around one month ago were not 'speed' problems as such.     The service had become unusable because of repeated and frequent lengthy connection drops - these were not one minute resets, but connection would be down for part hours and then redrop within minutes of coming back up - but the line would still run quickly.   I went through a sequence of steps to isolate the problem - which left me with the notion that the faceplate was not the source.    I abandoned the SmartHub6 I was previously using for some many years, and also bought a new phone, so it could have been either of these two.    I reverted to Plusnet router, but did not nail it down further between the two.   

 

To pick up on your comment that :

(a month or so ago) "we tested your line and the tests showed "Impairment in copper joint detected most likely in local network." so there does definitely appear to be a line problem"

This is reassuring to hear, but not quite what I was told at the time.   What I thought I heard was that there was a "problem probably my end" - that is why I started swapping out stuff.     But obviously I did not get into resoldering joints, and yet the speed went back up to 50ish and stayed there for a few weeks until last week, solely on the back of new phone and router.

If I had heard the words 'impairment in copper joint' I would have been more tempted to insist on the engineer, so it was caution on my part that avoided that call.

 

So, given the above, I am still not sure why there should be a sudden change last week, but I will now log the fault as per your suggestion.

Thanks again for your help.

 

Barry

 

 

 

BD
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,359
Fixes: 86
Registered: ‎24-04-2017

Re: Last Week Sudden Reduction in Speed - plus also sudden incredibly slow download in early even...

Hi Barry, thanks for getting back to us and confirming you've raised the fault on the account.

If you're already operating out of the test socket and the line is sounding clear then there's no further internal checks we'd advise and it looks like we'll need to progress this fault for an engineer appointment.

I've looked into the speed issues you've been having further and have replied on your fault ticket which requires your attention which can be seen here.
(You may need to be logged into the member center prior to clicking the ticket link in order to add a comment.)

Please feel free to give us a nudge on here once you've replied to the ticket and we'll happily pick this up and progress this further for you.

bathsheba
Dabbler
Posts: 14
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎20-03-2019

Re: Last Week Sudden Reduction in Speed - plus also sudden incredibly slow download in early even...

Hi BD,

Ticket updated.    Any day/time except May 25th.

Thanks & regards

 

Barry

BD
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,359
Fixes: 86
Registered: ‎24-04-2017

Re: Last Week Sudden Reduction in Speed - plus also sudden incredibly slow download in early even...

Hi Barry, thanks for getting back to me and confirming you've updated the fault ticket. I've looked to progress this fault further for you and have updated the ticket regarding the engineer appointment which can be seen here

I hope this helps and please let us know how the visit goes.