evidence plusnet are throttling

[#1]

so since the lockdown, and before tbh speeds crash during peak times, but not always just say 2-3 times a week, and its always during peak hours, as soon as midnight comes full speeds return, i have garthered evidence for btwholesale speed check, the one plusnet recommend and all points to throttling, i have sent speed terst after speed test, i even moved router bought a shielded cable and master reset/rebooted god knows how many times, this was tonights speed test, taken at 6:30, 9:15 and then 1220, you notice the the last one at 1220 speeds magically reappear, so im not getting minimum speeds required, but plusnet said, and heres where is points to throttling, we have suspended the speed guarantee,hmmm, but yet they still advertise that guarantee on their website. they have, so will pass all information to ofcom for them to investigate after i have send a formal which letter of complaint, im paying full price for half a service

[#2]

@welsh_andy 

So this is a deliberate and wilful act to deprive you of the contracted speed? Can you explain to we sceptical folk why they do this?

Also can you explain why this slow down is not caused by increased usage and lack of capacity on the Openreach infrastructure, which cannot currently be addressed due to Covid 19 caused resource limitations? I’m sure that Ofcom will also be interested in this ‘evidence’.

[#3]

Plusnet have told me point blank it's not capacity, this I asked many a time and get same answer, but it tends to come after a heavy download, example yesterday did a 45gb download for cod update, as expected speeds go through the floor, this isn't isolated case either and not just be a thing of late, if they had said, we are at capacity I would have accepted this, the speed guarantee had been suspended, but yet still advertised on website.
I have been in discussion for a while with support using the wizard thing, have sent loads of speed tests, but still haven't told me what's happening, the lowered speeds are always roughly the same too. but everytime after 12 it's fine, that is classic throttle, I've experienced enough of it over last 20yrs. but under ofcom rules if your not getting advertised speeds, that is breach of contract, i have just drafted a formal letter given Plusnet 14days to resolve this or release me of the contract. So I can go elsewhere.
From what I'm reading on forums I'm not the only one. I couldn't watch the ps5 reveal last night which really miffed me. Had to wait till after 12.

[#4]

@welsh_andy 

So who is the ‘they’ that do not have a capacity issue, Plusnet or Openreach? If it’s Plusnet and not Openreach then the problem will just transfer to another ISP unless you have a cable option.

To you increased speed after midnight is evidence of deliberate throttling. To me it indicates that most folks have gone to bed and are no longer using bandwidth.

You still haven’t explained why Plusnet should indulge in this deliberate act of upsetting customers when there isn’t a capacity issue. Why is just you and a few others affected and not all of us? Mind you I confess that I don’t go in for 45 GB downloads at known busy times, do you think that you are being deliberately punished for this? I don’t suppose that you tried a speed test on the same machine and at the same time that all this data was being processed and that limitations in your device are in play?

Good luck with your ultimatum to Plusnet! I can see you complaining to Ofcom about being pursued  by Plusnet’s debt collectors for failing to pay cancellation charges coming over the horizon.

I suspect that you would get on better engaging with Plusnet staffers who will hopefully come along, pick this up  and try to help you instead of sabre rattling.

[#5]

Sabre rattling lol. O have been engaging with Plusnet for months, has it got me anywhere? As for you're gone to bed idea. That's laughable, so I guess everyone goes to bed at same time? If capacity subsides then bandwidth will improve but speeds stay the same, but your missing one important point.

Plusnet have categorically denied there is a capacity issue! So you're basically saying they are lying to me, you can't have it both ways.

So it's either Plusnet are lying to a customer or they are traffic shaping. Which one is it?

[#6]

I've been having speed issues since the lockdown and have had my line tested for faults 3 times since as I'm not getting the minimum broadband speeds as promised by Plusnet.  I too thought that either Plusnet or BT were throttling my speed. which they both deny. I have recently changed my mind as i remember that Residential lines have a contention ratio of 50/1 and business lines have a contention ratio of 20/1. In the past residential customers didn't hammer their broadband so much because most people were either at work or school most of the time.  Now people are working from home, schooling at home, watching box sets and films more or playing online games more. this means that with up to 50 households using the line at once, speeds are bound to drop. the solution, if lockdown continues or more people work and school from home, is for ISP's to reduce the contention ratios on their residential lines to the same as business lines (20/1).

[#7]

See this is a more informed reply, I get what you're saying, as I said above if it's capacity then fine, but at least be honest about it. It's one or other for sure, if Plusnet didn't say categorically it's not capacity, then only left me with one conclusion, is traffic shaping.

[#8]

No I’m not accusing Plusnet of lying, I was asking if the question of whether there’s a capacity issue was directed at Plusnet or at the general infrastructure, which would have had to be directed at Openreach . There have been past instances where Openreach have denied there being a hot SVLAN when it turned out eventually that there was. Plusnet can only pass on the information that they have been given. I have no idea whether this would result in shaping on that part of the infrastructure, which is beyond the control of Plusnet.

Being both parts of the BT empire I suspect that Plusnet are not good at pressing Openreach on this sort of issue .

[#9]

Look it just comes down to either they lying to me about capacity or its traffic shaping. It only comes down to those 2 things after trying the normal practical things.
We have to agree to disagree
What irks more I'd customer service has gone through the floor, I have to work through the human malware, but my service doesn't suffer, neither should Plusnets .

Luckily I have only a few months to go

[#10]

Superuser citation

This topic has been cited by one of the Superusers; the purpose of which is to provide a note for information which might help to focus continued discussion (but might not result in a staff response).

 Looking at the info provided, it does appear more likely to be a "Hot SVLAN" as @Baldrick1  says.

Not surprising given the significant rise in traffic since lockdown.  Not always easy to get Openreach to admit this fact though.

I've this thread to the guys who did a lot of work identifying Hot SVLAN about eighteen months back - let's give them a chance to take a look. 

Given the current resources if it is a  Network issue it may take some time to resolve.

[#11]

@welsh_andy  what you are describing sounds very much like a BT exchange or backhaul capacity problem, or less likely your line is suffering packet loss due to increased line noise during the evening.

If I were you, setup a ThinkBroadband Broadband Quality Monitor and then compare your graphs to the examples shown in the ThinkBroadband BQM FAQ 

If your graph shows the green base latency rising in the evening then that indicates a BT capacity problem, whereas if you see a lot of red along the top then your line is suffering packet loss somewhere.  If you have other competing traffic from your home network, then that may be seen in raised yellow or blue latency.

In addition, if you really want to monitor everything to gather evidence, then consider getting a free SamKnows Whitebox

In the unlikely event that Plusnet's servers did hit their max capacity, then the subsequent throttling would affect everyone and not just you - and this forum would be full of people complaining (which there isn't).

Another reason to think this is not Plusnet, the hardware that they used to use for traffic shaping was removed at the end of June 2017.  There are other reasons that this is unlikely to be Plusnet with you being on FTTC, but I can't be bothered to explain all the details right now as your problem isn't Plusnet throttling.

For what it's worth, I use many speed test methods, and for me the BT Wholesale Speedtest is completely useless for measuring speed, and only ever shows a small fraction of the speed my connection is actually transferring.  All that test is useful for is getting the official BT "IP profile" figures.

I would try using DSLReports Speed Test  as I find that consistently accurate and the test also measures your connection BufferBloat which is another useful connection health indication to know and optimise.

[#12]

That's interesting, I will try those checkers as Plusnet only said use the bt wholesale one.
Cheers

[#13]

Plusnet say that because the timestamped BT test results are sent directly to them, so they can see what you see and know that the test came from your line,  whereas results from any other checker isn't verified to be your connection.

[#14]

Oh I see. Thanks for help been helpful and provided some answers to my questions

[#15]

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@mundiz wrote: I've been having speed issues since the lockdown and have had my line tested for faults 3 times since as I'm not getting the minimum broadband speeds as promised by Plusnet.  I too thought that either Plusnet or BT were throttling my speed. which they both deny.

Strange really, being with another ISP, I've experienced no slow down whatsoever over this lockdown and we do cane it. But rather than just run tests @welsh_andy really needs to get into the router stats and see what it is currently syncing at the time -  such as.

		Receive Direction	Send Direction
Max. DSLAM throughput	kbit/s	80000	20000
Min. DSLAM throughput	kbit/s	128	128
Attainable throughput	kbit/s	78970	23996
Current throughput	kbit/s	77878	19999

Once you've got that info I'd go here  and see what BT's own checker says what you should be receiving and the hand back minimum speed etc.

I'd then run some speed tests on the various websites. I'd also start to swap router etc (its the reason I have a cheap known good spare). As mentioned, if it is external, it could be anything. From my own experience with PN, speed was never really an issue at any time of day. If the speed was dropping (as your is) invariably a line fault was discovered. Last one that I had repaired with PN took OR 4 days to find. Do remember DLM isn't a static line management tool. If your line has a dodgy connection it will adapt the line speed accordingly - more than several times a day if necessary - which is why knowing what the line is syncing at when you run tests is important info.