Slow FTTC connection, is it possible to get my line reprofiled?

[#1]

Hi all,

I've had VDSL2 for 6 years or so. Originally I'd would get ~60Mbps, but now I only get ~30Mbps. During this time I've had BT, Sky and Plus.NET as my ISPs. The gradual drop has been so slow that I've always just sucked it up, but now it has hit 30Mbps I thought it was about time to try and sort it. The Plus.NET website still suggests I should be getting ~66Mbps.

Nothing significant in my house has changed, I have tried serveral routers to see if that would help the problem, I'm curently using a Billion BiPAC 8900AX2400. 

The only real change is the number of powerline adapters in my house. These have grown over time. After reading I think this is possibly a cause of interference on the VDSL line. My router used to show an extremely high number of "RS Correctable Errors" each day (in the many millions), but after enabling the "Lower PLC-to-VDSL interference Mode" on my powerline adapters a few days ago I've now seen this error count drop to just a few thousand errors each day.

Long story short. I'm not a VDSL expert, but I believe it might be possilbe for you to trigger some sort of line reprofiling to see if my line can sync at a higher rate? I'm hopeful this may result in a speed boost now I've potentially reduced intereference from the powerline adapters.

Even a 10Mbps boost would be a win for me as I work from home.

Any help you can provide would be extremely appreciated. The details you require are below.

All the best,

Andy.

• Using Wifi? I'm not conecting via WiFi, my PC is using ethernet straight to the router.
• Router Stats
  • Downstream
    • SNR Margin (dB) 12.0
    • Speed (Kbps) 32399
    • Attenuation (db) 27.3
  • Upstream
    • SNR Margin (dB) 6.0
    • Speed (Kbps) 7484
    • Attenuation (db) 0.0
• Router
  • Billion BiPAC 8900AX2400
• BT Speed Tests
  • Ping 10 Ms
  • Download 26.55 Mbps
  • Download IP Profile 30.01 Mbps
  • Upload 6.31 Mpbs
  • Upload IP Profile 20 Mbps

[#2]

Hey folks, I just wanted to bump this request. Is it something that can be handled on these forums or should I log some kind of support ticket? Thanks!

[#3]

@CharlieBeatnik Welcome to the forums. From the information you have provided, it looks like you have a BT network problem.

First things first - check your phone line for noise - dial 17070 and select option 2, there should be no noise on the line after your number is confirmed, other than the regular 'Quiet Line Test' message - if there is, report a PHONE fault via: https://www.plus.net/help/report-a-problem/phone/ . If the phone test is clear, report a broadband problem via:https://www.plus.net/help/report-a-problem/broadband/

In either case, please report the result.

[#4]

Thanks @jab1, appreciate the welcome.

Line Noise

Test is really quiet as far as I can tell, no obvious noise or interference

Reporting a Broadband Problem

I've done this, but I hope I won't get passed around. I've struggled to make traction on this issue going through automated channels and the fact this this problem hasn't just started happening.

As further reference, here is the BT Broadband data, you can see I'm below the Downstream Handback Threshold.

[#5]

If you reported this earlier, what have been the responses? It is very clear there is an issue within the BT network, so it should have been addressed at these earlier stages.

If you completed the auto-bot test close to, or after 8PM, you will not get a response until after 8AM tomorrow, but you certainly should get one.

Note, I am not around tomorrow, but other Community members may chip in - if they don't, I will pick up on Thursday morning.

[#6]

Thanks John, just to clarify, when I last escalated this I was with Sky Broadband and got nothing but a shurg of the shoulders, one of the main reasons I left.

Let's see what response I get tomorrow, many thanks again for your support.

[#7]

If there is a problem, it will get sorted - the follow-ups from the auto-reports are usually swift and effecient, but if you have further concerns, post back.

It is a little unfair to compare the two companies, though.

[#8]

Hey @CharlieBeatnik,

Thanks for reaching out to us and I'm very sorry to hear about your speed issues recently. I've had a look into this today and discovered an underlying phone fault on the line, which I've raised for further investigation now. I've logged a support ticket on your account concerning this, which can be accessed here.

[#9]

Thanks @TheMightyAJ. Would it be possible to understand more of the details of the underlying phone fault you have discovered? I ask because during my time at Sky Broadband a fault was supposedly found by Sky, but the Openreach Engineer has no details when they arrived.

Understand more about what you've discovered would really help my understand the sitaution.

Thank you again for looking into this case.

[#10]

So whilst I was out today it seems an Openreach engineer has visited, couldn’t access our property and has now DISCONNECTED both phone and internet.

This is utterly unacceptable. As I mentioned before I work from home and rely on my internet connection.

Phone support were unhelpful suggesting an engineer might be able to visit on MONDAY.

How can I get my line reinstated tomorrow?

[#11]

How do you know all this? did he leave a message?

[#12]

Yep, card through the door. No phone line or internet now.

[#13]

Did the card give any reason for your current situation, or was it merely a 'sorry, couldn't gain access' message?

Personally, I would doubt a phone fault would result in a total disconnection of both services.

[#14]

“We need to access your premises to complete the work. Please contact your Communications Provider to arrange a new appointment”.

Absolute madness. To be clear, whilst slow the connection has been super reliable for the last 12 months. Both phone (no dial tone) and internet now not working are clearly a direct result of whatever Openreach did today.

[#15]

As I am not aware of the full facts around this situation, I can't really comment further, BUT - if you used the bots to report the issue, as I suggested, there would have been a response - what was it? That may give a clue as to what has happened.

As an aside, were you advised that an engineer had been booked?