Internet speed getting slower over time and now below minimum guaranteed

[#1]

not sure if i am allowed to join in on this post or not. if i give my details as they are similar and you deem i am not, please create a new post or tell me to do so.

i have been with plusnet since Sept 2018. from what i remember, my line was supposed to be capable of speeds up to 44mb on an unlimited fibre (i know, only to the cabinet) connection. i could only get 31.5mb, even though i am only 1.1km (cable route) from my local exchange. my router stays connected for up to 75 days at a time, so assume there are no serious errors occurring. it has rebooted, however 7 times in the 11months since joining. the reboots all ended up around the same download speed of 31mb but the last 3 reboots have seen speed drops by 1.5 mb each time, so i am now on just under 27mb, even though there was no indication of any problems and the router was connected for 66days. also, when checking my ip address, i find that the last reboot has connected me to an exchange over 100 miles away in Kent, whereas previously i was in either my local exchange or one within about 16miles. i raised a ticket which said Plusnet would check things and keep me informed. i have heard nothing from them. i did upload 3 speed test files as asked, done through the BT site and have commented with the uploads but still nothing. i have to say i am not best pleased and the 'award winning customer service' seems a bit lacking, to say the least. my router is only 2 feet from the single, self-filtered BT socket in the house and i have tried the master socket only check. that made no difference and there have been no changes in my property.

any suggestions would be welcome

many TIA

[#2]

Moderators Note
Post split to its own topic for clarity

[#3]

Hi @prettygrim49 

I've tested your line today and I can see your router in sync at a line speed of 27mbps with no drops in your broadband connection over the past 68 days apart from yesterday at around 4pm, which I suspect was due to troubleshooting.

Based on the straight transfer order we placed to takeover your line, this shouldn't have made any physical engineering changes to your service, so my guess would be that you were on a 3dB signal to noise ratio(SNR) target previously. 

Upon completion of a transfer order it's common for a DLM(Dynamic Line Management) reset to be carried out which would move you back to a 6dB target thereby lowering your sync speed.

As your sync speed is now falling under the estimates/expectations of your line, I suspect that the 3dB target was simply artificially increasing your speeds to where they were with your current provider.

As you've tried the master socket, for the next step we'd need to arrange an engineer visit to investigate this further. Can you reply to your fault ticket with your availability for an engineer appointment?

Once you've done that post back here and we'll get it picked up as soon as we can.

[#4]

hi. i am sorry for the confusion i have caused. i didn't read the heading where i first posted. is it possible to remove the part where it says 'and now below minimum guaranteed' please?

i know my line is still above the minimum of 24.7mb. what i want to know is why the download speed has dropped by 4.5mb in total, dropping 1,5mb after each of the last 3 reboots, when up to 23rd May my download speed was between 30mb and 31.5mb. what has caused the speed to drop when i had no issues up to 23rd May? there were no sudden multi reboots, no issues with the landline, as far as i know, no issues with any electrical equipment failing and no new pieces of electrical equipment have been added. as i said previously, i have only one BT socket in the house which is a self-filtered model supplied and fitted by BT about 1 year ago.

i would also like to know why i am connected to an exchange over 100 miles from my local exchange.

could you look into the issues i mentioned and then get back to me about the engineer, please, as this has to be an issue with either BT or Plusnet equipment or settings. something has changed around the 23rd May but i have no idea what.

many TIA

[#5]

@prettygrim49 I can pretty much guarantee you are not connected to an exchange over 100 miles away.

Checking my IP says I'm in Richmond upon Thames but I'm actually in Sheffield as is my exchange.

IP location is a very inexact science.

[#6]

Thanks for getting back to us @prettygrim49 

I'm afraid there's very little more we can advise or do remotely that I haven't done already.

As your speeds are below where we'd expect them to be the only way we're going to be able to progress the fault is by arranging an engineer visit to investigate further.

[#7]

itnx for the info.

all i can say is what i can see. up to the reboota couple of days ago, i was always showing as being connected to an exchange just 15ish miles away. since the last reboot, i started off showing as being connected to an exchange in Sheffield, then as usually happens when i'm watching things, the router rebooted immediately again and then it's showing i'm connected to Minster on Sea, Kent!:

Your IP address is 51.6.58.140 in Minster-on-sea, Kent, United Kingdom (ME12)

info drawn from whatismyip shows me as being in Clacton on Sea, ip address is the same at 51.6.58.140

when i checked 2 other sites, it tells me address is Leeds. this is getting confusing.

however, it still doesn't tell me why my speed has dropped by 1.5mb x 3 reboots (4.5mb in total). something is amiss. i'm quite happy to get an engineer out, but as BT don't want to do anything that it should to ensure fibre broadband is as it needs to be, i can see the 'we cant find anything wrong' statement coming. remember as well, i'm a pensioner, so money is tight. i cant afford to waste it unless someone admits to the fault and repairs it. also, it doesn't mean i am stupid though and know when something isn't how it should be. is it any wonder why people have started dropping this type of broadband and going over to 5g instead?

[#8]

@prettygrim49 

As @Strat says, the IP address location web sites that you will find on line are meaningless. The last time I checked mine I tried 3 different databases and got 3 answers nowhere near each other and none within 50 miles of me. Apart from this as you're on a fibre service your broadband will be coming from a green street cabinet probably within 1km of your home.

One problem that we are all suffering from is crosstalk caused by the cross coupling of signals between your and neighbours cables between your home and the street cabinet. This is getting worse due to more people taking up broadband and increased traffic from neighbours streaming data. My sync speed has reduced from around 83 to 74 Mbps over the years that I have had VDSL broadband. FTTC is a bodge to get people on faster broadband quickly and sooner or later will be changed to FTTP.

[#9]

Thanks for getting back to us.

Dynamic IPs are assigned from a very small pool that are specific to your location, however some websites can show the IP locations to be completely wrong due to their geolocation database simply being out of date.

As your speeds are below expectations if the engineer finds no fault and your speeds don't change then we will likely just simply arrange another engineer to investigate further.

[#10]

i have to say, it's nice to have someone else actually what, basically, everyone, including BT already knows, that FTTC was a money saving exercise, agreed by members of a government who seem to have little knowledge and even less interest in the services that people are paying a lot of money for but not getting! the problem for me is, i'm getting no younger and by the time fibre broadband proper is as it should be, i'll be in the ground! however, as i said previously, with 5G wireless Internet just around the corner, that is going to be a whole bunch of nails into the BT coffin. shame, but in my opinion, nothing short of what is deserved. something else i find very frustrating is that unless you're lucky enough to be in an area that something like Virgin is available, it makes no difference at all which ISP you are with because they all have to use the poor equipment and cabling from BT. that is something that should be made clear to all prospective customers, that really changing providers is at best going to improve or not customer service but the actual internet connection, speed, reliability etc will be just as troublesome as it was before! this shows to me the disgusting way UK customers are not just treated but actually thought of! pretty damn poor!

[#11]

tnx for further response, Gandalf. i obviously hope the engineer finds whatever the fault is quickly. however, if it isn't found, that another engineer is sent here. something that is a bit vexing is that my mate opposite me hasn't had any issues with his broadband and gets a pretty constant 32mb. always the way. he doesn't use it much so gets good, consistent speeds, i rely on it a lot (i'm disabled with chronic lung disease and arthritis of the spine) and it's a complete pain in the rear end!!

[#12]

No problem @prettygrim49 we'll do our best to get this fixed, we'd just need you to update your fault ticket 192646274 with the requested information. Nudge us here once you've responded and we'll get it picked up.

[#13]

i've replied to the ticket, requesting an engineer visit 🙂

[#14]

Thanks, I've just added a reply to ticket 192646274 for you

[#15]

appreciate the help guys. just hope this gets sorted out pretty quick