Unlimited Fibre Extra upstream speed

[#1]

I’m a long-time Unlimited Fibre Extra user – originally signed up not for enhanced download speed (we get less than 50Mbps) but for better upload when the different contracts delivered about 1.5 and 10 Mbps respectively.

Recently noticed a problem with slow uploads.

First looked in www.dslchecker.bt.com which as well as giving the ratings for the line also reports observed VDSL values as:

Max Observed Downstream Speed (Mbps)           51.71                                                                    

Max Upstream Observed Speed (Mbps) 2.69                                                                       

Observed Date  2019-04-26

Then tried http://www.speedtest.btwholesale.com/:

Download Speed (Mbps): 40.00

Upload Speed (Mbps) : 2.44

Ping Latency (ms): 9

This is broadly in line with https://www.speedtest.net/result/8223714707.

Have also done the additional BT diagnostic test, which flagged downstream as red at 39Mbps but upstream as green on 2! (attached)

Something is not right – these were all tests from a PC with Ethernet connection to router. I should probably have dropped back to the regular fibre contract before now, but want to get the upstream sorted first. Has some sort of a cap been placed on the upstream?

[#2]

Hi @MaloLight,

I'm sorry that your upload speed is poor and for any inconvenience that this is causing. I've tested your line and the download is currently syncing at 48.1mbps, which is slightly below the line's estimates of 48.4 - 67.7mbps. Your upload is currently syncing at 0.6mbps, which is significantly below the line's estimates of 9.3- 16.1mbps. The test hasn't picked up the cause of this:

GEA Test Detail
Circuit ID	NA	Service ID	BBEUXXXXXXXXX

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	48.1 Mbps
Upstream Speed	0.6 Mbps
Appointment Required	N
Fault Report Advised	N
NTE Power Status	PowerOn
Voice Line Test Result	Pass
Bridge Tap	Not Detected
Repetitive Electrical Impulse Noise	Not Detected
Estimated Line Length In Metres	692.5
Upstream Rate Assessment	Low
Downstream Rate Assessment	Very Good
Interference Pattern	Regular Interference Observed on Week Days
Service Impact	Retrains Observed
Interference Duration Longest Occurrence	From 10:00 to 10:15
Interference Location	Unknown
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 3dB, Retransmission High - 0.128M-20M Upstream, Error Protection Off
Time Stamp	2019-04-18T19:00:00

Parameters	MIN	MAX	AVG
Down Stream Line Rate	48.9 Mbps	59.5 Mbps	51.7 Mbps
Up Stream Line Rate	0.5 Mbps	13.0 Mbps	2.2 Mbps
Up Time	532.0 Sec	900.0 Sec	899.1 Sec
Retrains	0.0	11.0	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	2019-05-01T09:58:50Z	2019-05-01T10:13:50Z
Ingress Code Violation	0	0
Egress Code Violation	0	0
Errored Seconds	0	0
Severely Errored Seconds	0	0
Unavailable Seconds	0	0

As the line is unbanded and the test hasn't picked up the cause of the poor sync speeds, we'll need to do some troubleshooting to try and get to the bottom of what's causing this. I'd recommend starting with basic checks here. If these checks don't resolve the problem, the next step would be to connect your router directly to the test socket, which is under the faceplate of your master socket and seeing if the connection stabilises This rules out internal wiring, face plates and extension sockets as being the cause. Please see the following guide for instructions on how to connect to the test socket. https://community.plus.net/t5/Library/Testing-From-The-Master-Socket/ba-p/1322242

Please let us know if your speed doesn't improve when connected to the test socket.

[#3]

Thanks for the response. Went to investigate plugging into the master socket after doing the basic tests - and need some further advice because we seem to have a non-standard installation, with two master sockets.

The phone line comes into the house in the loft and there is a master socket there (NTE5 type, I think) – see “master socket1” image. However I think it may be acting as nothing more than a junction box. When I take off the faceplate and plug a phone (or microfilter plus phone) into the test socket there’s no dial tone (internal image attached if that helps).

There is however a cable which emerges and runs through the house to a room downstairs where it enters a Mk3 SSFP master socket. If this SSFP socket is in practice the master socket then the fibre modem and router are already plugged directly into it.

However the socket may be the problem. I found it loose at the back of a shelf unit – it’s not mounted on the wall. Strangely there aren’t any screws holding the faceplate in place and it didn’t seem to be tightly fitting. I pushed the faceplate so that it was more snug and found on a speedtest that I could get 40Mbps downstream and 10Mbps upstream, which was encouraging.

But that performance seems to be very erratic - it’s often been about 30Mbps download and 0.2Mbps upload today as I’ve been investigating (sometimes with upload failing entirely). In the absence of screws I did try to stick the whole unit temporarily together with tape but if anything that seemed to make things worse rather than better.

If the issue is with the “master socket 2” does that mean this has to be referred to Openreach? Is that something that you do?

(You’ll also see in the attached “master socket2” image that there’s an orange wire sticking out between the intermediate and back plates. It may not matter but it doesn’t inspire confidence….)

[#4]

@MaloLight,

As we're the phone provider we would look into this for you. I've created a ticket on your account if you can take a look and reply for me. 

Based on the information you've provided I think it's quite clear that this newer socket is causing some problem here and I think we need to look at that before anything else.