IP Profile speed drop

[#1]

Hi,

I am not that technical, but I see my IP Profile maximum speed has dropped over the past few months to 38.67 Mbps from 52.55 back in March this year. I phoned Plusnet Support, but they just confirmed that the download speed of 37.12 Mbps was above the minimum  of 36 Mbps specified for Fibre Extra. There was nothing they could see wrong with my connection.

I am using Ethernet to connect to a BT Home Hub 5 and to the master socket nearby. I have tried a router reset.

Is this just something to accept, or can anything more be done to improve this download speed please?

[#2]

Hi @Nontecky,

I'm sorry to hear this has happened. I've had a look over the line settings and it seems you're on a lower profile than you should be. I've raised a request to get this shifted back up to the right profile for you and made a note of this on your account. Once I've received an update (should be in the next 3-5 working days or so) I'll be back in touch to let you know, but if you any further queries or issues that you'd like to raise in the meantime then please don't hesitate to get back in touch and we'll be happy to help out.

[#3]

Hi TheMightyAJ,

Thank you for the reply and looking into the issue.

It begs the question why I didn't get that help when I phoned Plusnet? I called twice over the past couple of weeks and was simply told there is nothing to be done as my download speed was above the minimum.

Let's hope you have more knowledge than they did?

[#4 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Nontecky

Looking at the previous advisers test results, the banding on the line wasn't restricting your sync speed which likely explains why they didn't request your line to be reset. I've added your line details onto the tracker this morning for Alex, and I'd expect you should hopefully see an increase within the next few days. 

Let us know how it goes.

[#5]

Hi Alex,

I have just checked my download speed and it is much improved, see attached screenshot.

So whatever you have done, I thank you. I don't underdstand why this reset could not have been done by the advisors at Plusnet when I phoned,

Will the speed I see today change over the next week or so, to "settle down"?

[#6]

Hi @Nontecky 

I'm glad to see your speed's a lot better. I believe I've already explained the likely reason the other advisers didn't do this, because the banding wasn't restricting your sync speed previously before Alex tested your line

It's hard to say if your speed will change so I'd recommend keeping an eye on it

[#7]

Hi Anoush,

As I mentioned in my original post, I am not very technical. I don't know what "banding" is?

I did have an Openreach engineer visit on 23rd January this year for a similar speed drop, which went below the minimum. He simply did a reset, and said he didn't know why Plusnet did not do that for me.

On my recent calls to Plusnet, I did ask for a reset (following the Openreach engineer's comments). The Plusnet advisors told me that they could not do that.

That is why I signed up for this Plusnet Community, to seek more help and advice.

So for future reference, are you 2nd level support and able to do this, when the call centre advisor could not?

[#8]

Hi @Nontecky 

No problem I’ll try to explain

Banding is a speed restriction or cap placed by automated software on your line. Previously there was banding but the physical speed your router gets from the cabinet wasn’t reaching the level that the cap was at so there wouldn’t have been any benefit to reset your line. 

When Alex tested your line he saw that your speed was hitting the cap so he was able to request a reset. 

All our technical support advisers have the ability to request this whether you phone us or post here. The circumstances were just different. 

The type of line reset an engineer can carry out is different and they’re able to do this regardless of the situation unlike the way we request one remotely. 

Let us know if you’d like any further advice.  

[#9]

Just to say thank you for getting the issue resolved. I have monitored my line speed over the past two weeks and it has sabilised, see attached screenshot.

[#10]

I'm really glad to hear that this is the case! If there are any further issues, just give us a shout and we'll be more than happy to help

[#11]

Hi,

I am back again to report that my download speed has dropped again over the past few weeks. I am on Unlimited Fibre Extra and was getting in excess of 50Mbps with a max of 61Mbps. It has now dropped to 38Mbps, see attached files.

I have contacted Plusnet on the phone and was told that the speed I am getting is above the minimum, but without explanation why it has dropped so much.

Can anyone help please?

I have done all the usual checks within the house. The PC is attached by Ethernet to the router which is connected directly to the BT socket. I have tried turning off/on the router (BT Home Hub 5).

[#12]

Sorry, don't know how to post more than one screenshot, so here is the other one.

[#13]

Hiya @Nontecky, thanks for getting in touch. 

I'm really sorry to hear that you've seen a drop in speed and I'd like to do what I can to help with this for you!

I have tested your line and whilst no faults are being detected (and your speed is above your minimum guaranteed), it does look like the line is banded at 44mb so I have sent off a request to have this lifted for you. Please allow 3 working days for this to be actioned by our suppliers. 

Checking over the connection, there have been some occasional drops occur which could have caused this to happen. Once the banding is lifted, we will then monitor to see how things go. I have created a fault ticket here: https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=view_question&id=222998503

Let me know how things go! 

[#14]

Hi Lauren,

Thank you for the reply.

I was not aware that the connection had been dropping. Do you know how often and what time of day this was happening?

I live in a semi-rural area, with the line underground to our boundry, then via a pole to the main road and then the copper connection goes to cabinet about half a mile away.

I have had the profile set at 55Mps for about six months now.

[#15]

Thanks for getting back to me! 

The line is looking more stable this last week or so, but there is a period where there was a few drops occur and this is around the time the speed started to drop further. 

I have popped a graph to show the connection (and drops) over the last 30 days for you: