Plusnet ‘Unlimited Fibre’ speeds not as fast as expected

[#1]

@Madeleyite  Non technical advise....
A nice cup of tea and a plate of biscuits might encourage the engineer to go the extra mile....

[#2]

Thank you.

I have filled out the additional support form.

I have replied to the ticket with 3 time slots.

Hopefully will get a better outcome next time.

[#3]

Cheers for getting back to me @Madeleyite 

I've had a look at the availability of Qube engineers. As the earliest we have showing is a week today and because we've arranged a Qube engineer previously and the fault isn't resolved, I've booked an Openreach engineer.

I've confirmed the appointment details on to the ticket ref 220936029.

I hope this OK but let me know as soon as possible, if you need to re-arrange the visit for a different timeslot. 

Let us know how it goes. 

[#4]

@Gandalf @Townman @MisterW - Update to thank you for your efforts: -

Openreach engineer came today and identified the problem as being too many junctions. Even before the BT master socket (MS) there were two junctions, with the MS being the third. The extension that I installed had two junctions, one from the MS back plate and then another before it got to the wall socket where I plugged in my ‘Hub One’ (H1). That’s 5 junctions with the H1 being plugged in at the end.

The engineer first of all established that there was no loss over the extension I installed (phew), the speed being 32 Mbps at both ends. He bypassed all these junctions by installing a new cable direct from the first incomer inside the property to a new filtered faceplate MS, where I needed the H1. He then “reset the internet speed” (his words, so don’t ask me what that means). The result is amazing. I am now getting 37 Mbps download and 9.29 Mbps upload, which is what I expected so I am happy again. He said that the speed will take some days to settle down but it is a promising start knowing that I now have a direct line to the new MS and I no longer need additional ADSL filter. Hopefully the line will now be stable but I'll post again in a week or so to confirm.

He was here over 3 hours and I commend Openreach and his efforts. There’s a lesson there for Qube who were here for 5 minutes and did nothing.

Initial test after installation: -

[#5]

@Madeleyite  that's a good result😀  Sounds like you got a really good engineer.

He then “reset the internet speed” (his words, so don’t ask me what that means)

I can explain that. When a line has been performing poorly due to external noise or poor connections, then the exchange can reduce the maximum speed available in an attempt to stabilise the line, its called 'banding'. What the engineer would have done, is to remove any banding that may have been applied.

Your downstream speed is now achieving the maximum 40Mb and has a good noise margin, which should mean it will be stable at 40Mb now.

[#6]

Good result - somewhat sounds as though the internal wiring was a bit of a mess!  It is for issues such as this that tests with the router connected to a proper test socket (it being a true master and the first in the property) is so essential.

Great news that you are now sorted.

[#7]

Thanks for the detailed update @Madeleyite 

Awesome, I’m really glad to see the engineer’s efforts here have tidied things up, modernising the setup and seems to be paying off so far with improved speeds. 

If you’d like to leave your thanks for the engineer, I’d highly recommend filling out the form Here to let Openreach know as I’m sure they’ll appreciate it a lot.

Fingers crossed your line remains stable at this level, but let us know how it goes.

[#8]

I completed the form to thank the engineer. It was filled with praise and commendation.

I'll report back in a week or so to update on line stability.

I assume that, if there is instability after this then it must be external to the property since all internal wiring is now new.

Thank you all again.

[#9]

Cheers and sounds like a plan!

It’s likely that any further issues will be external now, but hopefully there aren’t.

[#10 · Accepted solution]

It is now 7 days since Openreach installed the new phone line and I am pleased to report that everything seems stable so I will call this thread ended. Thank you all.

I have one remaining issue to do with 5GHz Wi-Fi dropping out occasionaly but I will raise that as a separate issue.