Leaving PlusNet due to low speeds.

[#1]

Yes, I realise that. We are about 1.5 miles from the cabinet. 

Therefore limited to Virgin.

[#2]

@Clumpy  - have you tried putting your postcode in to the top left of the Openreach Ultrafast map

to get an idea of WHEN Openreach are expecting to install FTTP in your area ?

When the map first appears, click on one of the surrounding 'grey' exchange areas to reveal the map colours indicating how close to you that Openreach are building FTTP in adjacent exchange areas.

[#3]

Not happening anytime soon.

[#4]

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@Clumpy wrote:

Due to poor performance of the connection (18MBps on a good day) and the speed not being good enough for home working I am looking to move on.

While I acknowledge that your speeds aren't great, what home working are you doing and how is that impacted by those speeds ?

I ask because I spent 17 years doing major software engineering projects working from home initially on a MaxADSL (8Mbps) then ADSL2+ (19Mb) connection, and was able to 'tune' my broadband connection using router QoS (Quality of Service) to prioritise traffic and eliminate bufferbloat, to the extent that my connection 'felt' responsive and usable at ALL times, while at the same time being used by my family for Xbox/PC gaming, VoIP telephone calls, kids homework, Youtube, Netflix, etc - with nobody experiencing lagging or buffering.

If you're NOT using a Plusnet supplied router, then it might be worth you seeing whether your router supports any kind of QoS/SQM/Codel/CAKE traffic management, to make your connection more usable - at least until the end of your Plusnet contract period.

My guess is that if you run this test - https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat 

that your "Bufferbloat Grade" result will be a "D" or worse - which will make your connection feel slower than it really is, whereas for home working using Zoom, Teams, and VoIP you should really be aiming for an absolute worst case score of "C" but ideally an "A" or "B" on a connection with the slower bandwidth yours has.  An "A" or "B" score 'should' be achievable by tuning router QoS traffic management settings.

[#5]

Thanks for that.

Blubberbloat 'C'

I have to transfer relatively large files as I am a PCB designer and have larger quantities of files to save/load as I work. 

We also use Teams which can be laggy especially when my daughter is also using the connection for WFH.

[#6]

I also used to be an electronics engineer and worked every day with PCB designers, and appreciate that uploading PCB files on a connection with a 2Mbps upload speed could get tiresome, and can understand why you are looking for more bandwidth !

You 'should' be able to tune out the Teams lag, at the speeds you have, with router QoS.

You are a bit stuck between a rock and a hard place, in choosing between putting up with a slow connection, or going to Virgin who have been consistently rated as the worst ISP in the UK -

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.virginmedia.com 

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/1859810/Sky-Virgin-Media-worst-UK-broadband-... 

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/telecoms-and-pay-tv-compl... 

https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/virgin-media/virgin-media-broadband 

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/review/isp/virgin-media/?category=17 

Does your employer pay for your broadband connection ? - I'm wondering if there would be a possibility of them paying for a second FTTC connection, and then you using a "load balancing" router (with 2 WAN ports) to effectively double your available bandwidth with your data streams simultaneously shared across two broadband connections ?

If multiple lines were to be a possibility, it might be worth going a stage further and investigating "line bonding", which aggregates more than one line, to appear as a single connection with the combined bandwidth of all the connections - this is something that A&A can provide.

[#7]

Hi,

I will have a look at QoS.

I pay for my connection. I can't entertain paying for two connections, and I can't see this being possible as we only have one cable coming into the house?

Looks like I will have to take the Virgin cable gamble. 

I really would like to know how much my termination of contract charge will be without having to go through the palaver of a phone call.....

[#8]

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@Clumpy wrote:

... I can't see this being possible as we only have one cable coming into the house?

As a technical note for anyone else reading this (because I appreciate that you don't want the extra cost),  the existing FTTC drop wire to your house will have typically two or four PAIRS of copper wires within that cable.  Therefore to physically provide a second FTTC connection would involve fitting a second master socket next to the existing one and extending one of the 'spare' copper pairs to the new socket, and similarly at the other end of the cable the same pair would be connected to the telegraph pole termination block. No additional external cable installation required.

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@Clumpy wrote:

I will have a look at QoS.

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What router do you have ?

If it's any variant of Plusnet 'hub' - then those don't support QoS.

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@Clumpy wrote:

Looks like I will have to take the Virgin cable gamble. 

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Yep !

Perhaps you could get Virgin installed (as it would involve installing a new cable), and run both broadband accounts side by side for a month or two.  If the Virgin service is as terrible as some reviews say, then you could cancel and fall back on your still active Plusnet FTTC line,  otherwise if you're really happy with your new Virgin service then you'd be able to cancel your remaining Plusnet contract - but with a month or two shorter wasted cost of early leaving charges.

Another thought, if running both connections,  you could be using the new Virgin cable, whereas your daughter WFH could continue using the Plusnet FTTC for a while ?.

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@Clumpy wrote:

I really would like to know how much my termination of contract charge will be without having to go through the palaver of a phone call.....

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Is there any clue to your early termination charges, etc in you Member Centre ?

https://www.plus.net/member-centre/account 

I can't check what my account says as an example (because I left Plusnet last year),  but I'm sure there was an indication (when still in contract) what the early termination fees were, although I recall that they were hidden in a sub-section named something like "My Orders" ?

.

[#9]

Just to reinforce what @Anonymous said about drop wires, my FTTC installation last week (alongside my existing BT POTS/ADSL line) used  a spare pair in the existing drop wire. The engineer confirmed the drop wire had four pairs in it.

The new cable he ran to my new (additional) master socket was also 4-core and he joined three pairs up to all the spare pairs in the drop wire to "future-proof" it. As he said coming down from his ladder; hopefully no-one will need to ever go up there again!"

Wait till FTTP arrives I replied. Got a laugh anyway! 🤣

[#10]

Too late to edit my previous post, but just to clarify that the new cable on my house (to the new master socket) was FOUR-PAIR not four-core!

I meant to ask what spec it was, e.g. was it actually Cat5e or Cat6 or just good old phone cable?

[#11]

looking at that...

Perhaps I'm being thick. Where does that say that FTTP is available, and not through OR?

'FTTP on demand' is a product from BT. The customer pays for the install.

[#12]

FTTP on demand means that a new fibre, specially for you, is run from the nearest FTTC cabinet to your premises.

You pay for the cost of that which can potentially be tens of thousands of pounds! Get a quote.... 

If Virgin cable is available that will almost certainly be more cost-effective than any such solution or line bonding/balancing.

[#13]

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@greygit1 wrote:

looking at that...

Perhaps I'm being thick. Where does that say that FTTP is available, and not through OR?

@greygit1 

The Ofcom checker says that the network providers in @Clumpy 's area are Openreach and Virgin,

it also says that "Ultrafast" is available, BUT as the BTW checker says FTTP isn't available, then that leaves Virgin.

In many areas, Virgin ultrafast broadband is supplied through a combination of optical fibre and coaxial cable - usually buried in pavements with a termination point outside each house under a small inspection cover.

So to answer your question, in this case FTTP isn't available from BT or Virgin, but Virgin can supply "Ultrafast" probably over fibre and coax.

[#14]

I missed your Ofcom link. Possibly because Ofcom sometimes get things a bit wrong.

[#15]

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@HPsauce wrote:

FTTP on demand means that a new fibre, specially for you, is run from the nearest FTTC cabinet to your premises.

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Unlikely from the cabinet, but cost implications are on point. Also likely that you'll be sharing at some point so not dedicated.