Sync Speed Reduction after 2 years Stable

[#1]

Good morning,

Still on rural FTTC here unfortunately.  Close to a km from the cabinet but, since Openreach changed the target SNR from 6 to 3 in my area, my connection has been synced @c. 39Mbps giving me a download speed around 38.  Rock solid for at least 2 years with the occasional overnight adjustment and the odd dropout.

Then 3 dropouts in 24 hours last Friday, which seems to have resulted in the target SNR being set back to 6 and consequently my sync speed dropping to 34.

I have tried reboots and another router but SNR is stubbornly stuck at 6.  I have contacted Plusnet but they say they can't see anything wrong with the line.

Anyone have any ideas how I can resolve this?  Do I just wait or should I push for a DLM reset?

(also just noticed a large increase latency this morning which is a new thing).

Any ideas will be much appreciated.

Thanks, Stuart

[#2]

@Junkman 

The first thing to do is nothing.
Constant reboots may be interpreted as line drops and can make things worse. Leave it switched on for at least a week and with a bit of luck the DLM will do it’s thing and automatically reduce the SNR back to 3dB.

A DLM reset returns the SNR to the default, which is 6dB

[#3]

@Baldrick1 thanks much appreciated. The router swaps Plusnet had me do would likely be seen as drops too, so Saturday was a right mess DLM-wise.

If the DLM default is 6dB, do I have any options if it hasn't reverted to 3 by, say, this time next week? Any other way it can be returned to 3 when it has been stable at that for more than 2 years?

[#4]

Anyone help me with this?  Just need to know if there's anything I can ask Plusnet to do in order to get my target SNR back to 3 and thus my sync speed back up to where it has been solidly for more than 2 years (up to last Friday).

[#5]

@Junkman 

Is it still at 6 dB?

Is the speed higher than your contractual minimum guaranteed speed? 
If it’s above the MGALS Plusnet are unlikely to be able to do anything. 

[#6]

Thanks@Baldrick1 .  Yes still stuck at 6 and the speed I'm now getting (33MBbps) is definitely higher than guaranteed. 

Interestingly this has happened 2 weeks after I took out a new contract with Plusnet.  So stable at 3dB and 38Mbps for the whole of an 18 month contract and now this problem.  I'm sure that's just a coincidence but......

Annoying if Plusnet can't do anything when it's obvious that the line is/was capable of the higher speed.  When you're down at these sorts of speeds every little counts! 

[#7]

@Junkman 

Be patient, there’s still a chance that it will start improving.

Be assured that there’s no plot to limit your speed after you’ve renewed your contract.

[#8]

Spoke to Plusnet again yesterday.  They did a DLM reset for me which changed nothing and, as you suggested @Baldrick1 , they were unable to do anything else as there is no fault showing on my line.  But can anyone tell me what this might be (see attachment)?  A massive increase in latency last night between 8pm and 10pm when we were not using the internet at all.  (The DLM reset is the dropout at 12 noon)

[#9]

Same again last night

[#10]

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@Junkman wrote:

Anyone help me with this?  Just need to know if there's anything I can ask Plusnet to do in order to get my target SNR back to 3 and thus my sync speed back up to where it has been solidly for more than 2 years (up to last Friday).

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Good luck with that!

This reminded me of the situation I found myself in when I was still on ADSL 2+ (now on 40/10 FTTC). After several happy years on 3dB SNRM I ended up - after a difficult period - speed capped on ADSL with no discernable explanation. Very frustrating.

In the end it was this that eventually prompted me to give up on ADSL and embrace FTTC.

[#11]

And again today.  Starting earlier and this time with significant packet loss. Speedtest.net says my download speed at 9.45pm is 0.64 and my latency is 358.  On an FTTC connection.  But the Plusnet bot says there is nothing wrong with the line.  Please see the attachment showing latency and packet loss via Think Broadband.  No idea what to to do now so would appreciate it if anyone can HELP!

@Gandalf are you still around?

[#12]

Have you had any issue outside of 7pm-10pm 29th, 30th April and 1st May?

[#13]

@Townman the 1st May occurrence was more like 4pm to midnight.  As well as those 3 days, if I look back just at April, it occurred 7pm -10 pm on 3/4, 8am-10am on 12/4 and 6am-11am on 16/4.  It has happened occasionally before that, but just for brief periods 10pm ish.  Why do you ask?

Of course I still have the initial issue as well.  Switching routers has ruled out my kit and since the cabinet only serves our small village I think it is highly unlikely to be congestion.

I've attached a screenshot showing the performance c 8pm on 1st May.  Using the same speedtester the download was back to 30+ after the latency issues had passed

[#14]

"Why do you ask?"

Elsewhere there have been reports of slowness around those times.  Could be related to heavy internet usage - possibly some big sports fixture?  Who knows, personally football leaves me cold.

Keep a watch and please post more TBBQBMs of anything which looks odd - those you have posted have been helpful.

[#15]

@Townman if it was football I'd know 'cos I am a fan, and some of those times I posted weren't football (or any other event) times.  And as I said, small village (30 houses) with its own cabinet.  Many residents 'getting on a bit' who don't use the internet much.  So I don't think it's congestion, unless of course that can happen on the feed to the exchange rather than from it.