New Phone Line

[#1]

Hi,

What is the process and cost associated with ordering a new phoneline? (I am existing customer)

I want to see if this will improve my broadband speeds as I should be capable of receiving up to 42mbps but my current line can only achieve speeds of up to 23mpbs.

I am receiving (just about) the minimum speed guarantee of 20mbps and no fault can be found on the existing line, so wondered if a brand new line would allow me to receive better speeds.

Thanks

Mark

[#2]

Thanks for your post @markroxxy123 

You'd need to setup a new account selecting the option to install a new line which would incur an installation fee of £49.99. There's no guarantee this would improve your speeds as there could be numerous causes for the slow speeds, including how far you are away from the cabinet (the green box in the road) along with the distance and quality of the cabling.

Also a new line installation order is subject to the infrastructure supporting it, for example there may not be any more available lines in Openreach's cabling so it could go to a survey first.

[#3]

Apologies for not replying sooner.

Can you advise how far I am from my nearest cabinet? The BT Wholesale speed checker indicates my line can only support speeds up to 20.6mbps (my guaranteed minimum speed is 22.7mb). This would indicate I am around 1.5km from the cabinet based on studies of speeds vs distance from cabinet.

Kind regards

Mark

[#4 · Accepted solution]

I found the attached table on thinkbroadband.com

It would indicate that to achieve 24mbps (government definition of superfast broadband) you need to be 1km or less from the cabinet and to achieve 30mbp (ofcom) you need to be less than 800m from the cabinet.

I have found that I am approximately 1.1km from the cabinet so the speed limit of 20.6mbps set by BT Wholesale https://speedtest.btwholesale.com/ seems to match up with the attached table.

The information given at https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/ seems inaccurate, as to receive over 40mbps, I would need to be 400m or less from the cabinet. I am presuming the checker website uses as the 'crow flies' when working out speeds (which in my case would be 400m), but we know lines do not travel this way.

The broadband checker website information is used by ISPs to work out potential speeds they offer, which is why they are misleading, but only because the data provided by BT Wholesale is false.

I think Openreach and Government websites also mislead as they appear to presume if a property is connected to a FFTC enabled cabinet it can obtain superfast broadband, when as the attached table shows, this is not true, particularly as many people will be more than 1km from their nearest cabinet.

Perhaps ISPs could provide estimates based on line length rather than average speeds in the area?

This would mean consumers getting a more honest and accurate expectation of speeds. In my case the minimum guaranteed speed of 22.7mbps is clearly not attainable as the maximum speed possible is 20.6mbps, meaning Plusnet have made a promise that is impossible to meet! (unless they physically move the cabinet closer to my house!)

[#5]

Hi @markroxxy123

Sorry to hear that. I can see that you've already checked estimated speeds for your line as per your posts.

Together with our network partners at Openreach we will try to provide you with the best speeds possible. If you feel this is not the case, please raise your speed fault online at faults.plus.net
 

[#6]

Thanks for the reply.

It would be interesting to know how plusnet come up with its estimates and guaranteed speeds if these are above the maximum speed achievable?

I have raised a fault previously and the conclusion is that their is no fault on my line, so it’s just a simple case of plusnet promising the impossible!