Looks like my line has now been banded

[#1]

The DLM has been aggressively reducing my sync speeds and now It seems the line has been banded because no matter which socket and ADSL cable I use, the sync speed is always a neat 35(000) Mbps and well below estimate.

I now have the plusnet Hub One connected to the test socket ready for a member of staff to investigate and maybe initiate a DLM reset and/or an engineer's visit.

[#2]

Hi @jclau,

I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing this issue with your services. I've tested your line this afternoon and I've discovered a potential fault with the phone line upon testing in one system, though this doesn't replicate when running a phone line test specifically.

As this is the case, before we go any further, please can you confirm if you've noticed any issues with your phone line from your end of things or if this issue seems to be solely on the broadband side of the service? As you've already plugged the router into the test socket in the property, I imagine you'll have already carried out the rest of the troubleshooting steps, but if not then please also make sure you've run through these to ensure the issue isn't located internally. For reference the broadband troubleshooting steps can be found here and the phone troubleshooting steps can be found here.

[#3]

@TheMightyAJ Thank you very much for your prompt reply. I also had this issue with my previous ISP  and I believe it is to do with the underground telephone cable being zapped along its way to my street past an electric substation behind my house.

I did observe lots of FEC errors when monitoring my line using an HG612 modem but this did not affect browsing the internet and downloading files, even when the DL sync rate was around 50Mb. So I wish the DLM had not intervened but I guess there must have been occasional massive error spikes for it to reduce the speeds.

Unless a small length of the old cable (laid in 1983) that passes the substation is cut and replaced by a better shielded one, I will surely always have this issue. But whilst hoping for the cable to be replaced one day, I would be happy for the time being to have an engineer try improving my line, such as changing the master socket, moving my line to another port etc.

[#4]

Hi @jclau,

Thanks for getting back in touch to clarify this with us. I've raised a ticket on your account regarding this issue which can be viewed here.

Please let us know once you've had the chance to read the ticket and respond so that we can pick this back up as soon as possible.

[#5]

Hi @TheMightyAJ 

I confirm I have read the ticket. 

I am available any time Please reserve and advise me of  the next available slot.

[#6]

Unfortunately we can't book an engineer visit directly from over our Community Forums.

Are you able to reply to the support ticket with the requested information?

Feel free to nudge us over here when you've done so and we'll be happy to pick this up as soon as we can.

[#7]

I have now responded by pasting my last post above in the "Additional Information" section. 

[#8]

Hi @jclau,

Thank you for adding your availability to the ticket. I've booked your engineer visit for the next available slot in your area. Please see the ticket here for details of the appointment date and time.

[#9]

@EmilyD Noted and thank you.

[#10]

Yesterday two engineers called and immediately proceeded to change the master socket. They then tested the line and agreed the speed was on the low side. They then spent a couple of hours changing the connectors on all the joints of the cable running all the way from the fibre cabinet to my house. It was a fantastic job but unfortunately there was no great improvement. Although the sync rate went up to 55Mb, the throughput speed was a lot lower at around 38Mb. The UL speed was also worse.

However, they found out that my line was on a low speed circuit (76Mb rather than 80Mb) and there was a lot of REIN (electrical noise) in my street. I think they have reported the matter to the relevant department and another engineer will soon be coming with the necessary equipment to check the area around the houses in my street.

Meanwhile can a member of staff please make a formal request to BT to move my line to a faster circuit? May I also have another GEA test? Thanks.

[#11]

Hi @jclau,

I'm sorry to hear that you're still experiencing problems with your connection following the engineer visit. I've tested your line and the test indicates that your line is no longer banded and is syncing at 55.2mbps, which is within the line's estimates of 44 - 61.9mbps. However, there are a high number of performance errors on the line:

GEA Test Detail
Circuit ID	NA	Service ID	BBEUXXXXXXX

Test Outcome	Fail
Test Outcome Code	GTC_FTTC_SERVICE_1113
Description	Downstream ES and SES have exceeded threshold from real time check. Continue submitting trouble report
Main Fault Location	CI
Sync Status	In Sync
Downstream Speed	55.2 Mbps
Upstream Speed	9.2 Mbps
Appointment Required	N
Fault Report Advised	Y
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	601.7
Upstream Rate Assessment	Low
Downstream Rate Assessment	Reasonable
Interference Pattern	Not Detected
Service Impact	No Impact Observed
Home Wiring Problem	Not Detected
Downstream Policing Discard Rate	0.0
Customer Traffic Level	Upstream and Downstream Traffic Detected
Technology	VDSL
Profile Name	0.128M-80M Downstream, Error Protection Off - 0.128M-20M Upstream, Error Protection Off
Time Stamp	2019-01-29T16:00:00

Parameters	MIN	MAX	AVG
Down Stream Line Rate	55.1 Mbps	55.1 Mbps	55.1 Mbps
Up Stream Line Rate	9.1 Mbps	9.1 Mbps	9.1 Mbps
Up Time	900.0 Sec	900.0 Sec	900.0 Sec
Retrains	0.0	0.0	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	2019-01-30T12:47:31.808+00:00	2019-01-30T13:02:31.808+00:00
Ingress Code Violation	0	13
Egress Code Violation	0	0
Errored Seconds	797	8
Severely Errored Seconds	0	0
Unavailable Seconds	0	0

We'll need to arrange another engineer visit so that this may be investigated further. Please can you reply to the ticket here with your availability? If you get back in touch on here once you've done this, we'll pick this back up and get your engineer booked for the earliest available suitable appointment.

[#12]

@EmilyD I have replied to ticket. Thank you.

[#13]

Hi jclau, I've just picked this up and have added an update to the account for you: https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=view_question&id=186851154

Adam

[#14]

Update: An engineer has called today and did some tests but soon left after he confirmed he could not find any faults. When pressed about the slow speed and high number of errors observed, he advised to await the REIN investigation before taking things further.

[#15]

Hi @jclau, although the engineer notes mention REIN, I've been unable to find a reference for the case where they'll be investigating this further. I've chased this up with our suppliers and they've been unable to find a case reference but have advised they'll escalate this and provide us an update next week (Although please note this may just be a case of advising us a review date for the case once they have located or raised this)