help with broadband speed

[#1]

@Baldrick1 - thanks for the line length article. from the street cabinat i am at most 50m as the crow flies, but probably this counts as 100m of cable travel. assume GEA reported distance is a calculated estimate. i have seen several weeks back sync rates of 70+, download speeds of 65-70Mbps and SNR 3db. this ties in well with the article. 

for now ill see if theres significant positive change over the next couple of weeks; assuming i can sort the vdsl connection dropping, which seems to be every couple of days. hoping the detailed draytek syslog ive just enabled provides some insights. 

[#2]

---

@timbrooke1962 wrote:

@Baldrick1 - thanks for the line length article. from the street cabinat i am at most 50m as the crow flies, but probably this counts as 100m of cable travel. assume GEA reported distance is a calculated estimate. i have seen several weeks back sync rates of 70+, download speeds of 65-70Mbps and SNR 3db. this ties in well with the article.

This is very interesting. If you've previously synced at 70+ Mbps  then as you say, there can't be over 600m plus of cable to the street cabinet. On the other hand if it's less than 100m one might expect you to be syncing at over 80Mbps in the past.

Assuming that the line length is calculated from the measured attenuation this could be an indication that Openreach, or one of their contractors (who it has been alleged have previously done such things) have swapped your decent cable to a flaky one in order to sort out another subscriber's problem. If so this puts you and Plusnet in a very difficult position as your speed exceeds the minimum.

Do you know when your property was built? I ask because back in the 1960s there was a copper shortage and aluminium cored telephone cable was installed by BT. This suffers from higher attenuation and can cause all sorts of speed problems.

[#3]

@Baldrick1 - thanks again, the property was built in the 1950s. whats the easy way i can tell what sorted of cable is used to feed the property?

is it possible to access any records to show any work that may have been recently carried out?

using speedtest archived results, i can trace back and at this stage it looks like the degradation started to occur around Oct 3rd onwards. 

[#4]

I'm sorry I can't help with that one. Hopefully some-one will come along and advise.

[#5]

 

is it possible to access any records to show any work that may have been recently carried out?

I'm afraid it's not possible for us to see any info of that kind I'm afraid.

We can raise this with our suppliers so they can investigate further however as the speeds are currently within estimates they may well pass it back as no fault found

[#6]

@MatthewWheeler- thank you, lets see if the speeds improve, say over next two weeks. after that id like to come back and ask for more help. 

[#7]

@timbrooke1962,

Let us know when you're ready and we'll help in any way we can. 

[#8]

Hi,

it's now been over 1 month since original post. I think I need help again please.

in summary the line has been stable, in that it doesn't drop or cause a vdsl reboot. However as per op, I am though continuing to see lower speeds and some media app buffering. there has been no changes to internal or external kit, devices, wiring etc.

The SNR margin remains constant at 8db (down) and 5db (up). Sync rate has been constant at 54997 Kbps (see todays router DSL status attached). Router reboots does not change this. 

Can someone please check if I am now banded?

regards

[#9]

Your sync speeds are the same, so not sure how you think you cold be banded?

If things are buffering then it could be down to congestion, either on your local network, or at the exchange. Are you testing via a wired connection, with nothing else using the bandwidth?

[#10]

@Mustrum - thanks for reply. the sync speeds were, during first 4 weeks of fibre plus service, much higher, at 66+kbps. Since then (when this post originally created) sync has been reduced and not changed at 54kbps. hence the request for a banding check - any help appreciated?

re buffering & testing, local nework, cat 6 wired, no other media services running, draytek 2862 router. 

[#11]

hi,

can someone please check to see if i have now become banded? 

my download sync rate over the past several months has stuck at 54kbps. For the first few weeks of fibre extra they were much higher. i would at least like to get the download speeds i am paying for and previously used to get, almost 70kbps, back in Sept 18.

thanks in advance. 

[#12]

Hi @timbrooke1962

I've tested your line and can see the following;

Estimated line speed: 49Mbps to 70Mbps

Minimum guaranteed access line speed: 42Mbps

Current Sync Speed: 52.5 Mbps 

Profile: 0.128M-55M 

You do indeed seem to be banded to a <55Mbps connection , however, your sync speed is not even reaching the high rate of this profile, yet you are within your estimates and above you MGAL. 

Before we send off information to our supplier to see if we can get this upped (remotely or via an SFI vist) we need to see if your line can reach the max that the banding allows at the moment, as if it does not, there could well be something more substantial preventing this for happening. 

1) Please plug your router into the test socket with no other devices connected to your phone line. A guide on how to locate your test socket can be found here (i would also advise on disabling the Wireless signal or turning off all wireless devices whilst you test this).

2) Disconnect and reconnect the cable that goes from the DSL port on the router to your microfilter/master socket making sure it is a snug fit.

3) Also, please make sure there is no damage to the cables. Connect the device via Ethernet to the router.

Please can you let us know if the full 55Mbps profile speed, we can then progress this accordingly. 

Thanks,

MoR

[#13]

Hi @MasterOfReality

Thank you. 

I've just run the tests as requested. I've also upgraded to the latest Draytek firmware version just released last week. 

The down sync rate reported by the Draytek is 54997 and has been exactly the same for months. see attached.

Appreciate if you can progress this as suggested to get  this upped. Please let me know if any more info may be needed.

Thanks

[#14]

Hi @timbrooke1962, thank you for getting back to us and providing the screenshot. I've requested we unbanned the connection remotely to which we should see happen over the next 24-72 hours. By all means if you haven't seen a change come Thursday morning please do get back to us and we'll happily look into this further for you. - Benj

[#15]

hi @BD thankyou, ill keep an eye on it and post back within next couple of days.