ADSL broad speed

[#1]

It is with regret that I’m having to turn to the Community for help, but I can’t get an answer from Customer Services. We live in the depths of Somerset and the nearest cabinet is about 2-3kms away. No fibre, so it’s all copper from the cabinet. Back in March we were getting average speeds of 2-3mps, which was not enough to watch Netflix or catch-up with out constant buffering. I raised a query and was sent a new router and a new socket was installed by Openreach. This result in a steady 7-8mps for about six weeks. We then went away on holiday for a fortnight and I stupidly turned off the router. When we got back and I turned it on again, we were back to 2-3mps. I have been on to customer services, who arranged for another Openreach visit when the front plate on the socket was changed again, I am told all the line tests are OK. However, there do seem to be occasions when the internet connection drops out briefly.

I am now told that I can’t expect more, unless I upgrade to fibre to the cabinet, which I am told will give me slightly faster and more reliable speeds, cost more and result in a new contract, minimum 18 months.

I am not  keen on a new 18 month contract, as we are meant to be getting fttp this autumn/winter and I want to be able to move provider if necessary. Why can no one tell me why I was able to have 7-8mps earlier this year and now can only have 2-3mps? I have asked and all the folk I talk to avoid the question. Why can’t they put me back to the faster speed? Or should I just cancel my Netflix contract and forget catch-up.

[#2]

@richardmontagu Welcome to the forums. One step at at time - Can you post the result of this link: BT Broadband , obscuring your phone number please, as a screen shot?

[#3]

Screenshot attached

[#4]

Sorry been away all day. That is unfortunately not very helpful. If you are using the plusnet Hub1 or 2, can you post the stats o, please - path to them as below:-

For the Hub One -

Navigate from the Home Screen to Troubleshooting > Helpdesk

For the Hub Two -

Navigate from the Home Screen to Advanced Settings > Technical Log > Information

It may also be a good idea to report the results of a Quiet Line Test - dial 17070 option 2 from a (preferably corded) phone. After the confirmation of your phone number, there should be total silence apart from the regular 'Quiet Line Test' announcement.

[#5]

Hi John,

No need to apologise I appreciate the help your giving me. I have attached the statistics from my Hub One and can confirm that the Quiet Line Test was totally silent. Not done on a corded 'phone, as we no longer have one.

[#6]

Thanks for that Hub Help Desk tab, Richard - it confirms my fears - there is a problem on your FTTC connection somewhere. The quickest way to start Plusnet investigating is to report a BB fault via this link; Report your broadband problem | Help | Plusnet . Let us know the response. If it comes back with 'no fault found', it is lying - both your DSL uptime and D/S noise margin are showing there is one.

[#7]

John,

You're a star. Many thanks for all your expertise. I don't think you're an Aspiring Legend, I think you've become one! I'll get on to it and let you know the outcome.

Richard

[#8]

@richardmontagu 

If you have the latest BT master socket with a clip on front filter section it is worth unclipping it to expose the test socket located in the back box. Plug a filter in here and recheck your line stats. These filters can be intermittently troublesome, especially if not fitted on a dead flat surface.

[#9]

Thanks for the suggestion, I have tried it and it has made no difference to the spped.

[#10]

Here are the stats with the router plugged into the test socket. I'm afraid they are pretty meaningless to me, but as I said earlier - no difference to the speed.

[#11]

It's the usual BOT response that the line is performing well, send REFRESH. Then unable to restart your connection, so I do it and as you will see from the rest of the thread, there is no difference. I've now got to the point where I should text ADVISOR and speak to a human, do I mention your comments about DSL uptime and D/S noise margin, or should there be another approach?

[#12]

@richardmontagu 

 The test socket results show a much lower SNR indicating that the line should be capable for much faster speeds in this configuration. The question now is why it hasn’t picked up. Leave it like this and try powering down the hub, leave it off for 10 minutes then reconnect.

[#13]

Hi Richard,

I'm really sorry to see you're struggling with your speed. I've tested your line today and the tests are showing your speed is limited to max 4mbps by the exchange equipment, which is likely caused by the drops. 

I've reset your line to try to remove this limitation within 24 hours, but if your connection continues to drop or if there's an underlying issue, then it's likely your speed will slow down again automatically.

So I'd like to arrange another Openreach engineer to take a closer look for you. If you're happy to go ahead, when would you be available for an engineer visit? As you probably know by now, the engineers are available weekday timeslots (and occasionally Saturday's) of 8am to 1pm, or 1pm to 6pm. 

[#14]

We are retired, so are available at most times, especially this week and Monday & Tuesday of next week. May I turn this back to you to book an appointment within the next five working days at a time that suits an engineer's availability? Many thanks.

Richard

[#15]

Cool. No problem, I've arranged another Openreach engineer visit for Friday 08.07.2022 between 8am and 1pm to investigate further. I've also escalated this with our suppliers helpdesk who have emailed the "Patch Lead" to request a senior engineer attend. Hopefully they're able to get to the bottom of the problem for you.

I've created a new support ticket on your account Here which we'll use to follow up after the visit, but feel free to post back here to let me know how it goes.