No longer getting minimum speeds

[#1]

Hi,
My connection speed has dropped from about 36 down and 9 up -- to 26 down and 4 up. I am a long term customer (8+ years). I am no longer getting the minimum speed and it's getting to the point where we can no longer watch 2 simultaneous video streams in the house. I have checked all my kit here. Do I need to contact customer services to put the 30 day notice in effect or will posting here suffice?

Thanks for any help.

[#2]

Hi stewp

It's not clear what you are wanting to do here. Are you wanting to get your issue fixed or are you just trying to leave?

If you are wanting to get it fixed then giving us some more info would be a good start and then there are plenty of people round here who can advise you what to do next.

If you are just trying to leave, then the advice may differ depending on if you are currently in contract or not, and if you are wanting to just cancel your line or move elsewhere.  If moving elsewhere then there is a good chance that your slow speeds will stay with you without fixing your issue though.

[#3]

Hi,

Preferably fixed, as there would be less hassle. But the minimum guaranteed speed is quoted at 30 and I didn't want to spend months with no resolution when it is impacting us negatively. I've been putting up with it for a while, just hoping it would get better, but it's frustrating when we now can't watch 2 simultaneous prime streams without buffering and quality swapping to SD.

Sorry if the first message seemed abrupt, it wasn't my intention.

Thanks for any help,
Stewp

[#4]

No problem stewp.  Unless it's been reported to Plusnet, then they aren't going to be able to do too much to help you get the minimum guaranteed speed.  There is plenty both within your home and on the Openreach network that could be causing this, so the first thing that needs to happen is to narrow it down to where about this is happening.

Plusnet have some tools that may indicate that there is a fault external to you (though not guaranteed that it will).  There is plenty that you can try as well to determine if it is caused by your equipment or internal wiring.

A staffer may spot this and run these tests, but in the meantime this is good place for you to start: https://www.plus.net/help/broadband/connection-troubleshooting/

For other community members to be able to help, it would be helpful if you could post the results from here (hiding your phone number), and the stats from your hub.  If you are using a Plusnet Hub 1 then these are on the helpdesk page (hiding your username on here).  If you don't have a Hub 1 and don't know how to get your stats, then if you post the make and model then I'm sure someone around here will be able to guide you to where to find them.

[#5]

Thanks for the reply. I have contacted them directly.

Apparently there's a restriction on my line, they will look to removing it. I'm perplexed as to why there's a restriction even though I don't get advertised speeds (up to 66 mb). Anyway, I will follow up with them directly.

Thanks,
Stewp

[#6]

No problem.  The restriction would likely be due to Openreaches DLM (Dynamic Line Management).  This monitors each line at the cabinet and tries to keep the line stable.  If it sees lots of uncorrected errors or disconnects it will apply various measures to try and make it more stable.  Many (or most and maybe all!) of these could slow your sync speed (the speed your hub is connected to the cabinet at) down.  Plusnet are likely resetting that to remove those restrictions.  Depending on what caused them in the first place, and if that is still present, DLM might restrict the line again in the future, though an engineer might have also been sent out (now or previously) and fixed that.

If it does return at any point in the future it is definitely worth running through the troubleshooting I linked to and then raising a fault if needed.  If Plusnet are simply requesting a DLM reset and it returns then the next step might be to get an engineer out to you to check it out. 

I hope Plusnets involvement clears it all up for you.

[#7]

Really sorry for the inconvenience caused here @stewp

Yeah the line profile is currently what we call "banded". The current profile is Downstream: 0.128M-27.4M with Retransmission (Low). Upstream: 0.128M-10M with no error protection

Looks like my colleague has sent off a request to get Openreach to un-band it.

Give us a shout if around 3-4 days if the speeds have not improved.