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Very slow broadband since "upgrade" to fibre - *UPDATE* "oversubscribed" exchange

crevice1984
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎18-02-2014

Very slow broadband since "upgrade" to fibre - *UPDATE* "oversubscribed" exchange

***All speed tests performed on BT wholesale site via wired connection AND smartphone with speedtest.net app for comparison***

Ok so a bit of history on this one.

Long term PN customer, recently "upgraded" to FTTC fibre from ADSL2 around 3 weeks ago.

Speed on ADSL2 was a happy, steady, reliable 14-15mbs with no reduction in speed even at "peak" times.

Then came the "upgrade" to FTTC fibre.

Initially upon first installation one monday lunchtime, I was receiving a whopping 35mbs, impressive. The estimated line speed according to PN should have been 40mbs but I was happy enough.

Then by 6pm the speed dropped to between LESS THAN 1mbs (yes you read that correctly!) and 10mbs, fluctuating all night.

This happened again the following evening, but seemed to remain at 5mb until very late (11pm)

I contacted plusnet who assured me of this magical 10 day learning window whereby the line would stabilise and all would be fine.

Well it wasnt fine. It hasnt stabilised. Every day I wake up with around 32mbs, I come home at lunchtime with 32mbs, but upon returning after work at 6pm  BANG 5mbs again, all evening, every evening. This is still happening 3 weeks later and despite a two engineer visits the problem persists. (The engineers came during the day and reported normal line speed typically).

Coincidentally (?) a week after fibre went live we lost our landline, no dial tone or anything. We have never lost our landline. The broadband clung on for dear life for around half a day until that disappeared too. PN arranged an engineer who decided the line fault was internal, replacing all my internal wiring. The landline returned, as did the broadband, albeit stuck at 5mbs

On top of this, despite 2 or 3 long phone calls and a long-running open ticket on the case, PN have now stopped responding to the open ticket. 

So to summarise: 

- 3 weeks on fibre
- 3 weeks of 32mbs in the day, 5mbs in the evening.
- As I go to work during the day (like most people) I'm stuck with the ridiculously slow 5mbs
- Subsequently (coincidentally?) lost my landline for 3 days 
- PN have stopped corresponding with me regarding this issue
- I'm very annoyed that i'm worse off than on my old ADSL2 package.

Rant over, please sort this out PN.Ticked_off

Edit: I have attached BTwholesale results because who doesnt like looking at a red performance bar indicating how unacceptable something is. Screenshot 35 is a right laugh. 

16 REPLIES 16
crevice1984
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎18-02-2014

Re: Very slow broadband since "upgrade" to fibre

D/L now less than 3mbs this evening, thats a 90% drop in speed compared to daytime speeds.

Screenshot (45).png

spc268
Newbie
Posts: 2
Registered: ‎21-07-2017

Re: Very slow broadband since "upgrade" to fibre

Hi,

 

I am experiencing something similar. I just received confirmation of fibre broadband available and guarantee minimum 25Mbps. Sadly, I am only getting 2Mbps.

 

Can anyone help?

 

 

 

MauriceC
Resting Legend
Posts: 4,085
Thanks: 929
Fixes: 17
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Very slow broadband since "upgrade" to fibre

One question.  Have you run the 'Further diagnostics' test via the speedchecker when the problem occurs?  This makes test data available to BT and Plusnet to help in diagnosing the cause.

 

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

crevice1984
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎18-02-2014

Re: Very slow broadband since "upgrade" to fibre

Yes Maurice when available (see screenshots in the original post), but often upon pressing "further diagnostics" I receive an error saying there was a problem sending results to the server and to contact my ISP:

"The Performance Tester is currently unable to run a speed test for your broadband connection. Please try again shortly, however if this problem persists, raise the issue with your service provider."

It returned to normal speed at half past midnight last night, it's almost unusable all evening. I can't stay up til gone midnight every night to watch netflix, play games or whatever.

I wouldn't mind if during busy periods speed reduced say by 10%, but 90% is simply unacceptable.

I am considering cancelling my contract and returning to ADSL which was always a steady 14 or 15mb all day, every day.

By the way, I've heard nothing from Plusnet since Wednesday, which was the call centre operative simply making a note of our conversation on the open ticket that same evening.

Very, very poor service.

crevice1984
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎18-02-2014

Re: Very slow broadband since "upgrade" to fibre

Please Plusnet, just give me a sign. A phone call, and update on the open ticket, or a simple reply to this thread such as "we're looking into it"? Surely that's not too much to ask.

Its been 3 days and no correspondence.

 

"We'll do you proud"...? Currently I cant see you doing anything.

crevice1984
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎18-02-2014

Re: Very slow broadband since "upgrade" to fibre

I have just sourced a second, brand new router (BT hub 5) from a work colleague just to rule a faulty router out.

Speed test results are identical for both routers.

Speed fine til 3pm today, after which it has taken a nose-dive again (see below). This will steadily decline to 2mbs until midnight. The "downstream" figure on both routers is a constant 34.99mbs regardless of time of day.

Still cannot run "further diagnostics" on BT wholesale site as I'm repeatedly receiving an error after the initial test.

Screenshot (48).png

crevice1984
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎18-02-2014

Re: Very slow broadband since "upgrade" to fibre

Wow finally a voicemail from plusnet.

 

Allegedly the exchange is "oversubscribed" by 21% and there's nothing which BT can do until mid October: Dialogue taken from the open ticket:

"As per my voice mail, I am sorry your fault is still ongoing. I have reviewed your fault with our supplier and they have confirmed that your exchange capacity is oversubscribed by 21%. They expect this to be resolved by 13 October. This is a long time to wait so I have requested their complex faults team investigate further. I am sorry for the inconvenience caused."

I have to wait 3 months for a fix! 

I shall advise either a return to ADSL or a discounted monthly bill until fixed.


Gandalf
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 26,563
Thanks: 10,265
Fixes: 1,599
Registered: ‎21-04-2017

Re: Very slow broadband since "upgrade" to fibre

Hi there,

 

Sorry to hear you're having speed problems. I've had a look over the fault report and I can see our suppliers have arranged for your service to be moved to a cooler VP which isn't suffering from overutilisation.

 

It looks like that's been done. Are you still having speed issues?

 

Anoush

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
crevice1984
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎18-02-2014

Re: Very slow broadband since "upgrade" to fibre

Hi Anoush,

 

I have tested the speed several times this evening and sadly there has been no improvement, see below:

Screenshot (51).pngScreenshot (53).pngScreenshot (54).png

 

It may be unrelated but I still cannot properly perform "further diagnostics" either, for some reason I keep receiving the same message despite trying 2 different browsers. Further diagnostics worked fine until about a week ago. I thought it might be worth mentioning.

This is so frustrating!

Terranova667
Pro
Posts: 1,511
Thanks: 125
Fixes: 5
Registered: ‎19-02-2014

Re: Very slow broadband since "upgrade" to fibre

The BTW tester has been acting up Lately I had to repeat the test about 3-4 times before further Diagnostics would work. 

Have you re-booted the Router Since you moved to the Cooler VP Speeds don't always update automatically.

crevice1984
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎18-02-2014

Re: Very slow broadband since "upgrade" to fibre

Hi terranova no I haven't, I'll give that ago shortly.
crevice1984
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎18-02-2014

Re: Very slow broadband since "upgrade" to fibre

Restarted my router (ever hopeful) but sadly no increase in speed:

 


Screenshot (55).png

 

I'm eagerly awaiting an update as I'm getting fed up now Sad

MatthewWheeler
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 8,896
Thanks: 1,506
Fixes: 480
Registered: ‎01-01-2012

Re: Very slow broadband since "upgrade" to fibre

Sorry to hear the speeds haven't improved.

We've passed that back to our suppliers so they can investigate further.

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Matthew Wheeler
 Plusnet Help Team
crevice1984
Dabbler
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎18-02-2014

Re: Very slow broadband since "upgrade" to fibre

Hello Anoush and Matthew.

I've been monitoring the speed since 6pm today and I know its too early to be sure, but I'm now receiving 35-37mbs down and 1.8mbs up. Much better Smiley

I will continue to monitor throughout the evening. On a side note, is there any way to improve the upload speed?

Many thanks.