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Private Internet Access now unuseable after years of being fine

JeremyP99
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Registered: ‎08-09-2016

Private Internet Access now unuseable after years of being fine

About three days ago I suddenly started getting terrible speeds when connected to the PIA VPN. Didn't matter where I connected to, essentially the internet became unusable. Talking to their support, and sending them copies of WinMtr output when connected and none connected, their response is

 

"This indicates that 13% of your data is being dropped before it even leaves your house. This indicates one of a few possible things, either your ISP is limiting your connection while you are connected to PIA, your ISP connection may have a lot of "noise" on the line or your router is experiencing issues.

 
You may need to have your ISP check your signal quality being delivered to your home."
 
I've attached the email with the WinMTR output - please sort this out as I need VPN.
 
 
7 REPLIES 7
Baldrick1
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Re: Private Internet Access now unuseable after years of being fine

Would it not make sense for you to check out your speed by going through the standard tests without using the VPN and demonstrate that you have a problem before demanding that Plusnet jump?

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JeremyP99
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Re: Private Internet Access now unuseable after years of being fine

Did you read the attachment? 

Baldrick1
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Re: Private Internet Access now unuseable after years of being fine

@JeremyP99 

Yes I read through and found no reference to your download speed.

The thing is that Plusnet guarantee a minimum speed. If you cannot achieve that speed when you are directly connected to the test socket and test via an Ethernet cable then a fault is logged and hopefully a solution is found.

There is no guarantee that there will be no losses.

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JeremyP99
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Re: Private Internet Access now unuseable after years of being fine

Would have thought that the winmtr loss column would indicate just how bad the download is now when using PIA. So bad I can't use it. No response from Plusnet here. I tried a few things - SFC /scannow found errors but made no difference, so I still lhave no idea why my VPN after years of working really well has ground to a halt on PlusNet. 

Orwell
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Re: Private Internet Access now unuseable after years of being fine

Dear JeremyP99,

 

Thank you for the prompt reply, and I am sorry to note the inconvenience.

Upon testing the services, I identified no known external faults and a stable connection speed of 38.2mbps against the advertised minimum of 30.9mbps.

 


So that you can view the test results, I have created this online thread: https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=view_question&id=201586718

Our contractual obligation to connection speed is specific to Ethernet, which is the cable supplied with the router. The above test results therefore show that we are meeting our contract promise.

Although we cannot guarantee a minimum WIFI speed due to external factors beyond our control, some of our customers have found value in stabilising the signal by changing the router channel and splitting the bandwidth, as covered in this video tutorial:
https://youtu.be/b8CDfkR4wZU

 

For the most accurate speed reading, we recommend using speedtest.net via Ethernet.

 

To rule out any potential fault causes, I recommend following these guides: -

 

1) https://youtu.be/g8ToZWI98VY

2) http://youtu.be/UMP0BOwSHKI

 

If you have any further questions, please reply via the online portal thread.

 

Best Wishes

-  Ken

 

 

 Ken Bryant
 Plusnet Help Team
Orwell
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Re: Private Internet Access now unuseable after years of being fine

Hi JeremyP99,

 

Further to my earlier message, the correct online portal thread link is: https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=view_question&id=201586718

 

Best Wishes,

- Ken

 

 

 Ken Bryant
 Plusnet Help Team
bobpullen
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Re: Private Internet Access now unuseable after years of being fine

So, looking at your attachment...

The WINMTR traces outside of the VPN tunnel look perfectly fine and show no unexpected loss.

Only when you are on the VPN do you experience issues. The WINMTR whilst on the VPN shows:-

winmtr.png

And PIA say:-

"This indicates that 13% of your data is being dropped before it even leaves your house."

I'm not sure I agree with this.

The trace shows loss from the first hop of the VPN tunnel. Your traffic has already left your house before it even gets to this point.

Do you have access to another Internet connection? e.g. could you tether your machine to your mobile phone I wonder and see if your symptoms are the same? Would help narrow the cause of the problem.

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
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