Unlimited Fibre higher than BT wholesale estimated speeds - can/should I upgrade?

[#1]

Hi, 

I moved into a rented property around a month ago and signed up for a Plusnet connection. At the time of signing up, there was no active line to the house due to the landlord having done some refurbishment and somehow totally managing to remove the master socket in the process! Hence the BT checker at the time gave an estimate of 16-25 Mbps, which I imagine wasn't the most accurate due to the lack of any active connection. This also meant that the best package I could apply for during the time was Fibre Unlimited. 

Anyway managed to get a new connection to the flat sorted. Fast forward to today, and the actual speeds I'm getting are significantly higher than BT wholesale's estimates - around ~37 Mbps. Earlier today I also got an email from Plusnet saying that "When you signed up for Plusnet Broadband, we gave you an estimated line speed range. Now that your broadband has been up and running for 14 days, we wanted to let you know your line speed as it stands today, as a comparison. Your current line speed is 37Mbps".

This prompted me to check whether it'd be possible to get higher speeds by upgrading package to Unlimited Fibre Extra. I've seen other posts where people posted the stats from their Plusnet Hub, so here's what I see on mine - 

4. Board version: Plusnet Hub One
5. DSL uptime: 5 days, 07:54:44
6. Data rate: 9999 / 39950
7. Maximum data rate: 29904 / 95148
8. Noise margin: 23.1 / 21.8
9. Line attenuation: 18.0 / 15.3
10. Signal attenuation: 17.4 / 15.3
11. Data sent/received: 7.2 GB / 76.3 GB

The current data rate of ~39Mbps seems broadly consistent with what I'm getting right now, but the main point of interest here is the figure of 95148 it's showing under maximum data rate. 

So my question is this - if this is the max rate that the router is indicating, is this something that I'd actually be likely to get? Would my current speed of ~37 be purely because it's essentially being limited by the Fibre Unlimited package? I'm more than happy to pay the extra cost for Extra even if I can get an improvement of even 10-15 Mbps, but just looking for advice whether given the details it seems like upgrading would provide a benefit or would my speeds remain mostly as they are and the maximum data rate shown here is a red herring? Note that the BT wholesale checker still shows my speed as 16-25 Mbps even if I enter my actual new Plusnet phone number rather than just the address like I was doing earlier. 

[#2]

definately with that ammount of spare snr and the max attainable rate you will easily get the full whack

heres my stats similar in attenuation but yours is better

4. Board version:	Plusnet Hub One
5. DSL uptime:	6 days, 16:33:47
6. Data rate:	20000 / 79995
7. Maximum data rate:	29671 / 84102
8. Noise margin:	12.5 / 7.0
9. Line attenuation:	17.7 / 14.4
10. Signal attenuation:	17.5 / 14.4

[#3]

You can confirm this via http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/adslchecker.welcome When theres no line to the property, they do a "paper" calculation from the distribution point that you are connected to. Sometimes its too high and in others its completely wrong.

If the checker does come back with the 80/20 speeds, then it should be only £4 extra a month for the higher speed package.

[#4]

Thanks for the reply. I did check the wholesale page after the new connection went live but it still seems to be stuck on the old numbers, i.e 16-25 which is primarily why I'm confused whether upgrading in this case would actually help. 

 https://i.imgur.com/Lq5MonO.png

[#5]

The dsl checker is regularly updated, even on existing lines. So you might have to wait a month. Hopefully a PN staff member can check your line stats

[#6 · Accepted solution]

Hi there.

Our tests are showing what you're seeing that your line is in sync at the maximum you can achieve for your Unlimited Fibre 40/10 package.

Based on your router stats and the estimated line length of 444metres from the cabinet, I'd too expect your line to achieve a lot more than 40mbps if you decide to upgrade to the 80/20(Unlimited Fibre Extra) product.

I've raised what's called a TAGs query with our suppliers to investigate this as a potential records issue, though I'm not confident that this is something which we can influence, but I'll let you know when I hear back.

If we're not able revise your speed estimates, it's a bit of a tricky one as your minimum guaranteed access line speed will stay at 14mbps, because it's based on the estimates of your line as opposed to current stats, so should you not receive any higher speeds you'd still be subject to the new contract.

That said, the estimates are just estimates, and as a product change from 40/10 to 80/10 80/20 takes a 1 working day, you'd have plenty of time within your cooling off period of 14 days to revert back to your previous package at no penalty.

I hope this helps.

[#7]

@Gandalf you hopefully mean 40/10 and 80/20; not 80/10

[#8]

Yep. Now where's my coffee mug?

[#9]

Looks like our suppliers closed the TAGs query deeming that the estimates are correct.

Based on the info above, I'd personally would go for the upgrade if you're wanting faster speeds.

Feel free to let us know within the 14 day cooling off period if you'd like to revert back.

[#10]

Had to fight like hell with a number of your colleagues to convince them to upgrade me despite BT wholesale's inaccurate estimated speeds, but totally worth it now. Thank you so so much for your help

https://www.speedtest.net/android/4363740906.png

[#11]

Had to fight like hell with a number of your colleagues to convince them to upgrade me despite BT wholesale's inaccurate estimated speeds

Sorry about that. I had to battle the system too in order to allow it to happen.

but totally worth it now. Thank you so so much for your help

https://www.speedtest.net/android/4363740906.png

Glad to see your speeds have vastly improved! No problems at all, feel free to let me know if you need any further help. 

[#12]

Great "Outside the box" thinking @Gandalf.  Job well done