Sync speed good - throughput bad

[#1]

Hey

I've called and have a BT engineer booked for Thursday - but I'm not entirely sure it's needed.

Our line dropped a couple of times last night and throughput speeds have dropped from 36mb to 14mb. The line however is still syncing at 41mbps...

I was using an unlocked HG612 but I've now connected the line directly to my DSL-AC68U and that too is syncing at 41mbps but getting a throughput of 14mb... Is it possible that somewhere on Plusnet's side my line is being banded? Wrong IPprofile? 

It would be great if someone could check as the engineer visit is going to cause some headaches with childcare arrangements that i'd rather avoid.

Plusnet ID is Dickij03

Many Thanks

Josh

[#2]

Line stats for info

[#3]

@dickij Welcome to the forums. Your stats indicate you are getting 41Mbps down/6.9 up, which looking at the line attenuation appears to be a little low on the downstream.

However, sight of the 'Additional Diagnostics' report from BTW Performance Tester  would be a help in determining where the problem lies.

[#4]

Thanks for the reply. I've done the test, attached. Maybe the IP profile isn't the issue.

I'm not surprised we don't sync any higher to be honest. The estate was fitted with aluminium in the 60s - and although in the last ten years fresh copper has been laid down they seem to only swap you on problematic sections... So I can't guarantee there isn't any Aluminium on my connection to the cab.

It seems my IP profile is 38 - which aligns with my previous throughput speeds of 34-36mbps... 

My line seems to suffer with this problem 2-4 times a year - and it's always 14mbps it drops to... Coincidence I'm not sure - but something is wrong... I've even ran the speedtest built into the router, eliminating my internal network as a problem, and that too reports 14mbps 😕 

[#5]

Aaaarghh - Aluminium. 😐

Looking at that performance test report and your other screenshot says to me there is something wrong somewhere, but to be honest I think you may have to wait for one of the Help Team to pick this up and run some internal checks.

Sorry I can't think of any other suggestions at the moment.

[#6]

Data speed reports indicate USABLE speed - given the fairly good sync rate here (and the low SNRM) I would suspect that the line is very stable but has a high transmission failure rate.  What is the phone line like?

Broadband is not going to work well if the "phone" line is not working properly.

Please perform a quiet line test - dial 17070 select option 2 using a corded phone plugged into the test socket behind the face plate of the master socket. It should be silent. A noisy phone line (or no dial tone) will have a marked adverse impact on the performance of broadband.

If the line is noisy or there is no dial tone, then a PHONE LINE fault needs to be raised with your phone provider. If this is PlusNet, you can report a fault on line using the button below.  From the Q&A list, choose the one which matches the problem, 'open' the 'section' and click the trouble-shooter link.  NB: If you receive a failure message (rather than a log-in prompt) then log-in to the user portal in a different browser tab and attempt to use the trouble-shooter again.

• Phone Faults

[#7]

Unfortunantly I can't test the landline - we haven't had a landline phone for 10+ years 😕 

I should add that the DSL-AC68U has the ability to override SNRM target - I've tried it at 6db and got a sync of 33mbps - throughput still capped at 14mbps so I disabled the override and back to 41mbps sync and 14mbps throughput 

[#8]

Can you borrow one?  For £7 or so from Argos they are invaluable diagnostic tools, for they can very quickly point to a source of problems which are not so easy to diagnose remotely.

[#9]

@dickij  The first thing I would do is remove the Asus DSL-AC68U from the line and put the HG612 back. The AC68U is probably the worst VDSL2 modem/router ever. The modem chip in It doesn't get on well with Openreach DLM and can lead to generally poor performance, disconnections and reduced speeds. 

Have you paid Plusnet for a static IP address? If so you may be restricted by the  Current Line Speed profile, you can check this on the Broadband tab in your member centre account.  Plusnet can give you a static IP without your knowledge under some circumstances so it is worth checking. The profile is supposed to track the BT IP profile but can get stuck.

[#10]

Agreed on the AC68U being naff as a modem - I've just got it hooked up for now to confirm the HG612 wasn't the issue and it's easier to check line stats.

I've checked the member section and it states

Current Status: You are now using a static IP address.

Which is unsurprising because I'm sure I requested one about ten years ago when it was of use to me. Would still prefer to have one though as it comes in handy!

[#11]

@dickij So you are on a Static IP, what does the Current Line Speed tell you?

[#12]

Odd!  Where do you see that?

I have a fixed IP address (had one for as long as I can remember when they were free) but nowhere in my portal account can I see "Current Status" nor for that matter anywhere to manage the option.

What does the broadband page report your current speed to be?

[#13]

• Product: Unlimited Fibre
• Estimated Download Range: 20 - 32Mbps
• Estimated Upload Range: 4 - 6Mbps
• Minimum Guaranteed Speed: 18.2Mbps
• Current Line Speed (Download): 14.4Mbps

14... maybe it is stuck?

@Townman Static IP is under broadband and then at the bottom under Help and Settings. You can't do much there though other than confirm you have one and what it is. 

[#14]

Certainly looks like a stuck profile (good call on the fixed IP angle) - this will need a kick from the Plusnet guys around here @Gandalf @LaurenB @TheMightyAJ 

Oddly I do not see fixed IP status!

[#15]

Thanks for your help guys - hopefully they can resolve this as it's painful working from home at the moment