Transferred from Vodafone to Plusnet

[#1]

Hi there

Having been with vodafone for 18 months with my speeds being capped on both upload and download, despite having a stable line. I have transferred to Plusnet in the hope the line would be reset but it appears the line is still capped. Is it possible the DLM could be reset on our line please to see if we can get better speeds?

Many thanks in advance.

[#2]

Good morning @Blunty

Thanks a lot for reaching out. the line isn't capped, would you mind providing me with an explanation as to why you think it is?

Tests on my end this morning appear to show that the line is operating within estimated speeds. A BT Availability Check shows that the line will achieve speeds between 35-54Mbps, a KBD test this morning shows that the line is syncing at 41.9 Mbps.

As you were made aware when you signed up, speeds can fluctuate within the first 10 working days of the service going live, which yours did on Thursday this week.

Check out the Profile Name on the test below, which shows that the download speed is not banded. I'd hang fire for around 2 weeks to see how the line performs, we'll be happy to run further tests once the line has stabilised. 

KBD

GEA Test Detail
Circuit ID	NA	Service ID

Test Outcome	Pass
Test Outcome Code	GTC_FTTC_SERVICE_0000
Description	GEA service test completed and no fault found .
Main Fault Location	OK
Sync Status	In Sync
Downstream Speed	41.9 Mbps
Upstream Speed	7.2 Mbps
Appointment Required	N
Fault Report Advised	N
NTE Power Status	PowerOn
Voice Line Test Result	Pass
Radio Frequency Ingress	Not Detected
Repetitive Electrical Impulse Noise	Not Detected
Cross Talk	Not Detected
Estimated Line Length In Metres	778.4
Upstream Rate Assessment	Reasonable
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
Current 15Min Bin Retrains	0
Last 15Min Bin Retrains	0
DP Type	External
Profile Name	0.128M-80M Downstream, Retransmission Low - 0.128M-7.2M Upstream, Error Protection Off
Time Stamp	2021-08-12T19:00:00

Parameters	MIN	MAX	AVG
Down Stream Line Rate	41.9 Mbps	42.1 Mbps	42.1 Mbps
Up Stream Line Rate	7.1 Mbps	7.1 Mbps	7.1 Mbps
Up Time	862.0 Sec	900.0 Sec	899.7 Sec
Retrains	0.0	1.0	0.0

[#3]

@Blunty  Your speed is 'capped' by your distance from the FTTC street cabinet. There's nothing you can do about this regardless of which ISP you go to, apart from transferring to FTTP when/if it becomes available in your area.

You are paying for Fibre Extra but you will never get any significant advantage enjoyed by the average user of the extra speed. If I were you I would investigating downgrading to the 40/10 fibre service and save some money.

[#4]

0.128M-7.2M Upstream, Error Protection Off

It's unusual to see the Upstream capped ...

[#5]

That's true. It won't improve the download speed bu I wonder if this comes under the rule that says Plusnet can request a DLM reset on a banded line. @adam945  any comment?

[#6]

Hi @Baldrick1

I wouldn't say it's any cause for concern just yet, as the line has only recently gone live, if any further issues are reported after the stabilisation period though, we can always look into a DLM reset. As you've pointed out though, this wouldn't be affecting the download speed.

[#7]

@adam945 

The question was: can you request a DLM reset on a banded download rate?

Alternatively are you saying that this mystical 'stabilisation period', which I have assumed was time for the DLM to adjust the SNR to get the best speed/error compromise for the line, can also trigger a DLM reset?

Or is  this a way of kicking this potential download speed limitation into the long grass in the hope that the OP will live with it?

[#8]

Absolutely not @Baldrick1. This prearticular line only went live on Thuesday, so we'd expect speeds and even the current profile to fluctuate, as advised in our T&Cs

The question was: can you request a DLM reset on a banded download rate?

Yes we can, but would only do so in certain circumstances, i.e if no line issues are detected, BT's Availability Checker clearly shows that the line is capable of higher speeds, and an RRT clearly shows that the line is being banded, then yes. If the download sync speed is way below that outlined on the profile however, we'd assume that there's an underlying fault instead, which would then be passed onto Openreach.

[#9]

@adam945 

Thanks for the clarification.

[#10]

Hi Adam

As a background when I first started with vodafone we had some issues during the first few days with our mesh WiFi in the house which caused some disconnections of the broadband which I believe has caused error correction to be applied to the download side and some kind of cap on the upload side. This remained the entire time we were with vodafone and appears to have carried on the same when we have transferred to plusnet. Before we had the problem with the mesh the download was around 50mbs.

I looked this morning and the line hasn’t changed or disconnected in the last 10 days and still shows a noise margin of 6db on the download and 7.4db on the upload.

I appreciate we are not talking massive potential changes here but I would like the line reset to see if the speeds could be improved to the best they can be, if that is possible.

Kind regards
Blunty

[#11]

Hi @Blunty, thanks for getting back to us.
When looking over your connection currently I can see it indeed looks like there's a banding occuring on your upload currently as seen below:

Current profile:   Profile Name0.128M-80M Downstream, Retransmission Low - 0.128M-7.2M Upstream, Error Protection Off

Downstream Speed: 41.9 Mbps

Upstream Speed: 7.2 Mbps

It's clear then there looks to be a banding in place. Although we've only previously requested download profile changes in the past, I've put through a request to unband the upload speed profile. This should hopefully be picked up and actioned within the following 72 working hours. Should you still be seeing the banding in place come Friday then please elt us know as we'll happily chase this up further for you.