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Very strange slow speed issue.

FIXED
losimagic
Grafter
Posts: 27
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎10-07-2015

Very strange slow speed issue.

Hi,

A week ago, our phoneline died. We couldn't make calls, but could receive them, and our FTTC speed dropped from 23Mbps to 10.

An engineer came yesterday, confirmed there was a fault, fixed it and we had voice back, but my speeds were still at 10mbps. 
Reset everything, talked to plusnet and they said there was still a fault, so they would forward it back to Openreach.

The engineer wanted me to let him know how things went, so I text him what had happened and he said that was very strange, as he was seeing a sync rate of 33Mbps.

He came back, and using the cable that comes out of my wall, his plugged it into his box of tricks and showed me that he was seeing speeds of 37Mbps, so everything up to and including my cable was good - so perhaps it was my hardware.

He said that if I talk to plusnet, let them know he's fixed the fault, and is very happy with both internal and external wiring.

My setup was openreach modem -> Asus RT-N66U. 
I dug out my old technicolour router from plusnet and tried that in place of the Asus - still 10Mbps, so from that I assumed that unless both routers were broken, which is very unlikely, it must be the Openreach modem. I ordered a Draytek Vigor 130 and plugged that in this afternoon. 

10Mbps.

I tried every combination.
Openreach -> asus, Openreach -> Technicolour, Draytek -> asus and Draytrek -> technicolour. 

10Mbps, whether I tested via my regular wired desktop PC or wirelessly with android/ios.
I even replaced the cable from the phone socket to the modem, and the ethernet between the modem and router.

This is a diagram of what I've tried and the speeds achieved - https://i.imgur.com/4oaT9lM.jpg

Got back on the phone to Plusnet, and at first, they couldn't see a fault, and saw it syncing at 33Mbps, then a few moments later "that's strange, now there's a 'major service outage' for the area". Phone is working perfectly, and we still have the 10Mbps.
She wasn't able to tell when that 'major service outage' started, or what area it covered. I don't see it on the bt fault site.

So, another engineer visit has been booked for tomorrow.


It feels like I'm being capped to 10mbps as the results are ALWAYS 10mbps, give or take 0.5mbps.

BT speed test results - https://i.imgur.com/1Oylq9O.jpg


Does anyone have any idea what this strange problem might be?

Thank you for taking the time to read all this Smiley

7 REPLIES 7
RichardB
Seasoned Champion
Posts: 1,038
Thanks: 385
Fixes: 39
Registered: ‎19-11-2008

Re: Very strange slow speed issue.

Hi @losimagic 

It looks like a Plusnet profile issue. Do you have a Static IP?

What does

https://www.plus.net/member-centre/broadband

report for the current line speed?

Regards

Richard

 

 

 

losimagic
Grafter
Posts: 27
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎10-07-2015

Re: Very strange slow speed issue.

Hi @RichardB , thanks for the reply.
Yes, it felt like that, and I mentioned it on the phone. 

On that page, it says - 

  • Product: Unlimited Fibre (Without Phone)
  • Estimated Download Range: 16 - 29Mbps
  • Estimated Upload Range: 4 - 6Mbps
  • Minimum Guaranteed Speed: 15Mbps
  • Current Line Speed (Download): 10.5Mbps

edit: and yes, I do have a static IP

RichardB
Seasoned Champion
Posts: 1,038
Thanks: 385
Fixes: 39
Registered: ‎19-11-2008

Re: Very strange slow speed issue.

Fix

Yep that is a stuck Plusnet profile.

Sadly, you need to get back onto Plusnet.

Some of the Plusnet advisors do not know about the Plusnet profile because  it does not affect the majority of the user base.

The Plusnet profile should only affect those with a static IP.

 

 

losimagic
Grafter
Posts: 27
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎10-07-2015

Re: Very strange slow speed issue.

Ok, thank you. If I say "Plusnet Profile" and static IP, should that jog their memories, or are there any other key phrases to mention?

Hopefully I can speak to someone before the engineer turns up!!

Thanks a lot for your help @RichardB 

losimagic
Grafter
Posts: 27
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎10-07-2015

Re: Very strange slow speed issue.

Good morning @RichardB ,

Spoke to plusnet a little while ago, mentioned the stuck profile and static IP, and luckily Joe who I spoke to understood straight away. He removed my static IP and my speeds instantly went up to 26! Going to monitor it for a bit, then perhaps put the static back on.
All I couldn't do was cancel the engineer (well I could, but I'd have been charged!) Will have to apologise to him and explain what happened.


Thanks for your help Smiley

RichardB
Seasoned Champion
Posts: 1,038
Thanks: 385
Fixes: 39
Registered: ‎19-11-2008

Re: Very strange slow speed issue.

Hi @losimagic,
There is no way PN could win a dispute over an openreach charge.
Plusnet booked the engineer and the issue was due to a PN internal issue.
Openreach may still charge Plusnet. Keep an eye on communication from PN.
If PN attempt to pass a charge on, raise a complaint and dispute it.

I no longer use a static IP. I use a free domain from afraid.org and use DD client on my OpenWRT router.
The IP address changes appear to propagate immediately.

Reagrds
Richard

losimagic
Grafter
Posts: 27
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎10-07-2015

Re: Very strange slow speed issue.

Hi @RichardB 
Thanks for the advice, I did think that, but hopefully they won't try it! 
I'll definitely keep an eye on my bill though, thank you Smiley

That's a great idea - I use Tomato, so I'm sure there's an option for it in there. I'll investigate! Should ensure that something like this doesn't happen again!

Thanks again Smiley