WiFi Broadband speed dropped - Help please

[#1]

Hopefully someone here can help me out.

I joined Plusnet in Sep last year as my local area had just got superfast and they had the best deals going at the time. I was very happy my download speed beforehand maxed out at around 14 Mbps and Plusnet estimated between 67Mb and 80Mb with a guarantee of 59.5Mbs. My master socket is on the windowsill in the kitchen so all my readings (bar one) are done over Wifi.

I saw an immediate jump up to 42Mbs and was promised that over a few weeks that would improve. I clocked it at 66.5 a few weeks later and 72 the following week and then never bothered to check it again.

In April I had some issues with the line disconnecting all the time and in May, after running some tests Plusnet sent me out a new modem. I swapped the old one out and went on holiday for a fortnight and when I came back the line was stable. I never actually checked the download speed at this time.

Then about a month back things stated to go slow and I thought I'd check my speed again. 25th of the 7th down to 25.4Mbps on the 26th I was down to 16.7 Mbps.  So I checked all the lines. Disconnected the modem, rebooted etc etc. I made it up to 29Mbps on the 6th of Aug. So again I checked all the lines. Disconnected the modem, rebooted etc etc.

I have run the speed test 3 times this morning. 28.5, 31.6 and 21.9.

I did physically connect my laptop to the modem and check the wired speed. That gives me 56.4Mbs.

Below are the results from the BT Checker.

If anyone can help I'd be greatful.

Featured Products	Downstream Line Rate(Mbps)		Upstream Line Rate(Mbps)		Downstream Handback Threshold(Mbps)	WBC FTTC Availability Date	WBC SOGEA Availability Date	Left in Jumper
	High	Low	High	Low
VDSL Range A (Clean)	76.4	54.5	20	13.9	46.4	Available	Available	--
VDSL Range B (Impacted)	62.5	39.8	17.4	9.3	30.8	Available	Available	--

[#2]

Hi @Jamesw1976,

I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing problems with your speed. I've tested your line and it's not picked up the cause of the problem from this side however it shows that your line is currently syncing at 59.9mbps, which is only just above the minimum guaranteed speed and is below the estimates for the line, so this does definitely suggest that there's an issue.

A Test Detail
Circuit ID	NA	Service ID	BBEUXXXXXXXX

Test Outcome	Pass
Test Outcome Code	GTC_FTTC_SERVICE_0000
Description	GEA service test completed and no fault found .
Main Fault Location	OK
Sync Status	In Sync
Downstream Speed	59.9 Mbps
Upstream Speed	14.3 Mbps
Appointment Required	N
Fault Report Advised	N
NTE Power Status	PowerOn
Voice Line Test Result	Pass
Bridge Tap	Not Detected
Radio Frequency Ingress	Not Detected
Repetitive Electrical Impulse Noise	Not Detected
Cross Talk	Not Detected
Estimated Line Length In Metres	596.8
Upstream Rate Assessment	Reasonable
Downstream Rate Assessment	Good
Interference Pattern	Not Detected
Service Impact	No Impact Observed
Home Wiring Problem	Not Detected
Downstream Policing Discard Rate	0.0
Customer Traffic Level	Upstream and Downstream Traffic Detected
Technology	VDSL
Profile Name	0.128M-60M Downstream, Retransmission Low - 0.128M-15M Upstream, Retransmission High
Time Stamp	2018-08-03T16:15:00

Parameters	MIN	MAX	AVG
Down Stream Line Rate	59.9 Mbps	59.9 Mbps	59.9 Mbps
Up Stream Line Rate	14.9 Mbps	14.9 Mbps	14.9 Mbps
Up Time	804.0 Sec	900.0 Sec	899.8 Sec
Retrains	0.0	1.0	0.0

Current and Last 15 Minute Bin Performance
Parameters	Last Traffic Count(Upto 15 mins)	Current Traffic Count(Upto 15 mins)
Start Time Stamp	2018-08-16T14:44:03Z	2018-08-16T14:59:03Z
Ingress Code Violation	0	0
Egress Code Violation	0	0
Errored Seconds	0	0
Severely Errored Seconds	0	0
Unavailable Seconds	0	0

Please can you run through our troubleshooting guides here and let us know how you get on. If the troubleshooting checks don't resolve the issue, please report it here and let us know when you've completed it - we'd then be able to investigate it further for you.

[#3]

@EmilyD  The fact that the GEA test shows that the line is on a banded profile of 60Mbps down and 15Mbps up and is not showing other faults is the first thing that needs addressing. Get a DLM reset request sent to your supplier ASAP.

@Jamesw1976 Forget the troubleshooting, it's a waste of your time. The line is capped at the above speeds The fact that the support people seem unable to interpret the test results is somewhat worrying. A DLM reset should increase your speeds. It may not help with regards to WiFi, there are no guarantees for wireless speeds at all.

[#4]

I've arranged a DLM reset now, it should be completed within a few days but can take slightly longer due to the process being a trial.

[#5]

I have had the same issues where the speed has been very poor. Support insist on it being a problem with my internal wiring. However today things are slightly better.

The test by @EmilyD shows the same "no issues". 

What a DLM reset? 

[#6]

Thanks for that Gandalf. Also thanks for the other comments.

I’m currently completely distracted preparing for fifteen 5 year olds imminent arrival for a birthday party this weekend.

I promise to let you know how things go.

[#7]

A recent GEA test shows that the line is on a banded profile of 74Mbps down giving a connection speed around 60Mbps. Could I request a DLM reset ? Thanks.....

[#8]

I wonder why this DLM reset isn't being done or offered when people report a drop in speed? The go to for support is to send out an engineer and assume the problem is at the customer's house! And discourage you with the fact it'll cost £65 if there's a internal wiring problem. 

If this was DLM reset was done for me back in April maybe I would have got the Fibre Extra speed I signed up for instead of having to downgrade to the other plan. 

[#9]

@thearmydee, apologies that I've not picked up your PM yet. I generally run through PM's at the end of my shift. I can see my colleague Adam has updated your fault ticket 180701017. A DLM reset is where the automatic settings on the line are reset manually.

We can only request one to be done remotely if the speeds are restricted by DLM (Dynamic Line Management) at the exchange and there's no obvious sign of a fault.

In your case your line isn't banded so a DLM reset wouldn't be of any value.

@Jamesw1976, no problems, keep us posted and happy birthday to them too!

@Champnet, a GEA test is showing a potential line fault "Voice fault suspected - contact Voice CP to progress copper issue" so we'll need to get that rectified before we can look into a DLM reset. That said, your speeds may improve as a result of the fault being fixed. 

A direct line test is showing "Loop (Rectified)" which is essentially a short circuit somewhere and we'll need to arrange an engineer visit to further investigate as the fault location is coming up as CA (Customer Apparatus). To determine where the issue may lie, would you be able to unplug your equipment from the master socket and remove the faceplate if possible revealing the test socket behind it. 

Once you've done that we can retest your line and see if the fault is still present, narrowing down the location to either your equipment or something outside.

Alternatively if being without a broadband connection would be inconvenient, do you have a home phone you can check for a dial tone or noise? It may also be worth trying a different modem and/or router.

[#10]

Thanks @Gandalf  I need to get a non digital phone....

Could a mod move this to a new thread as i’ve Hijacked another’s 

[#11]

No problems.

It's going to be difficult to do a move as my post above contains a reply to both you and the OP.

I'd start a new thread with a link back to this one? Unless the OP doesn't mind you continuing to post here.

[#12]

Just worked out what “contact Voice CP” means, CP is Plusnet so I’ll get on to them Monday morning.

[#13]

I’ve already tested your phone line after running the GEA test and it was coming up back as Loop (Rectified). Calling into us will likely result in the same outcome. Ideally we’d need to rule out your equipment to be the cause of the problem before we go ahead with an engineer visit.

[#14]

@Jamesw1976

You seem to have two issues. Although your line is synced lower than it should be, there's unlikely to be any real world difference between 60 & 70mbps. So although the DLM reset may improve synced speeds & speeds with the laptop directly connected to the modem, it's not going to help WiFi.

What modem/router do you have? I'm assuming that by modem you mean an Openreach box separate to the router? In which case the test you did by connecting directly to it proves that the issue is with the router/WiFi. Next step would be to connect your laptop directly to the router & see what speeds you get then. If still low it suggests a problem with the router. If the same-ish as the modem then your issue is purely WiFi.

If your router is dual band then it may help to split them if they're currently sharing a a single SSID. I know the Hub One does this by default but don't know what other routers Plusnet have supplied previously.

[#15]

Thanks, overnight we had a power cut, unusual in this part of the Country.

connection rate (all Ethernet) has increased to 70Mbps whilst the download speed remains at 60Mbps.

I’ll connect the modem to the master socket.