Recent consistent drop in speed
Here. It's interesting that the maximum expected speed is 62.12 Mbps since in use I've certainly seen considerably higher figures when downloading. But even with 62.12 as a maximum, my currect 52-ish speed represents a noticeable drop.
I don't have speed records saved before last month, but this, from the site I've used regularly might be of interest:
Well, this is interesting. When I did that BT speed test I first rebooted my modem as directed; and as I said, it made no difference.
I just tried turning the modem completely off, leaving it for ten minutes or so, then powering it up again. After a few minutes to let it settle down, this was the result:
Which is not quite where it used to be, and doesn't match the official Plusnet up-to-the-modem figure of 64.2Mbps as reported by Ben, but does represent a considerable change. I wonder though where the reduction is happening, given a direct wire connection from the modem to a wall box and thence to my PC. Could it be the length of the cable from the modem to the wall socket? But that hasn't changed at all. Perhaps a certain dropping off is to be expected.
Many thanks to everyone for thoughts and advice.
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Hi Bert,
Looks like your line speed dropped to around 50mbps on the 10th May at 3am and a profile our end along with it. From what I can see when the line speed recovered at 2am on the 12th, the profile on our end increased a tad later at 4am.
Since then because your connection hadn't dropped your download speed was capped at the previous line speed.
Unsure why your speed's dropped from 70mbps, that'd be a different issue but as you're within the estimated speed target for your line there's not much we can do in the way of further investigation with Openreach.
I hope this helps though.
@BertCoules wrote:
Anoush, thanks for that. I don't quite understand one thing. You say,
Since then because your connection hadn't dropped your download speed was capped at the previous line speed.
But if this cap was imposed on the basis of a previous line speed, presumably the 50mbps of 10th - 12th May, why is it still in place if the speed subsequently increased? Can it not be adjusted?
No problem Bert, the cap wasn't in place though as it did adjust/increase at 4am on the 12th, but as your connection hadn't dropped since then, your download speed was still restricted. It's unfortunately due to the way our systems work.
It's a cliché but a reboot of the router should always be the first port of call when troubleshooting issues :)
@BertCoules wrote:
I noticed that something very similar has happened before. On the 13th of July 2019, following a power cut here, I reported a marked drop in speed. On that occasion, you said:
Can't really compare this to two years ago because your sync speed isn't the same as per Ben's testing and your own router stats, your router is not in sync at 67mbps, it's sync'ing at 64mbps. You'll never get a throughput of exactly your sync speed, you'll always get a little less due to overheads of the connection.
@BertCoules wrote:Anoush, thanks.
...your router is not in sync at 67mbps, it's sync'ing at 64mbps.
What has caused the change?
That would be nigh upon impossible to say. Speeds change over time due to the way the infrastructure or wiring work. As you're within the estimated speed range for your line, Openreach wouldn't investigate further. If you want to rule out an internal wiring issue, try plugging your router into the test socket explained Here.
I still don't follow about capping. If there was no speed restriction imposed two years ago, why is my download speed restricted now? Has there been a fundamental change of policy?
No change in policy at all. In fact this has been in place for as long as I've worked here (around 7 years)
There's the speed which is your router physically sync's at with the cabinet we've no control over.
There's also BT's IP profile which is typically 90 to 96% of the sync speed we likewise have no influence over.
There's also what's known as the connection profile on our own systems should always match the IP profile/sync speed and in some instances if it's lower than this then your download speed (throughput) is capped.
In this case, your router's sync speed and the profiles along with it dropped to 50mbps on the 10th May, we can't see the why. The sync speed and the profiles along with it increased on the 12th May.
However as your connection hadn't dropped when your sync speed/profiles increased, your download speed (throughput) was capped at the old rate of the 10th May, like what happened in 2019 but the difference here is that speeds are different.
The connection profile was set too low back then. But it isn’t now because it had auto adjusted to the correct level at 4am. Your router just needed a reboot.
If you look at the sync speed on your router stats you’ll see it’s at 64mbps which is the same level as the connection profile and in turn your throughput is fine as you’ll never get exactly what your sync speed is. 