Unlimited Fibre Extra download reduced from 52Mbps to 40Mbps

[#1]

Hello,

It's time to renew my broadband contract and I checked what download speed I'm getting nowadays. Was shocked to see it is only 37.9Mbps on the Unlimited Fibre Extra package with a guaranteed minimum download speed of 44Mbps.

Looking back through some old emails, I found a previous thread where I could see that I was getting 49Mbps downstream and 10Mbps upstream, with a connection rate of 52Mbps when I first upgraded in 2018.

https://community.plus.net/t5/Fibre-Broadband/Upgraded-to-Fibre-Extra-almost-no-increase-in-speed/m-...

Back then my line was capable of 58Mbps/14Mbps. Now I'm told that my estimated speed is 36 to 37Mbps with a minimum guaranteed 29Mbps. A Cube Engineer has visited this morning to fit an NTE5c and this has made no difference as yet.

[#2]

From the conversation between the Cube Engineer and yourselves this morning, I heard that my line is 680m in length with no banding in place.

I've attached a photo from when BT Openreach tested the line in 2018.

[#3]

From the photo you've attached it looks like they are connected at 49.83mbps.  That decrease  over the time is likely down to crosstalk, which is basically interference from other lines in the same bundle of cables between your cabinet and wherever they split into single lines (on a pole or in a pavement chamber).  There isn't a great deal you can do about that, though some modems cope with it better than others.

[#4]

Thanks for the reply. That photo is 3 years old. Currently connected at 41Mbps with the same modem (Netgear DM200)

[#5]

@milesr3 

The problem is that with working from home there many more broadband users these days, causing the increase in crosstalk. I can remember when I could get 76Mbps download, now it is down to about 64.

I would question whether it is worth you paying the extra for Fibre Extra, you will get virtually no benefit from the extra cost.

Roll on the arrival of FTTP before this 20th century bodge called broadband clogs up completely.

[#6]

Thanks for your reply. Yes - exactly - I see no point in renewing with Fibre Extra when I was barely over 40Mbps before and now looking at getting 37Mbps.

[#7]

The BT Openreach engineer visited yesterday and found that my broadband had been capped. This was evident from the 9.99Mbps upstream connection speed. The cap was removed and now my broadband is connected at 47.46Mbps downstream and 12.84Mbps upstream. Speedtest returns 44Mbps downstream and 12Mbps upstream. This is the minimum guaranteed speed I was given when I first upgraded to unlimited fibre extra.

So, when was the cap applied to my broadband and why have I been paying for an unlimited fibre extra service for the last 18+ months and only receiving unlimited fibre service (37Mbps downstream and 9 Mbps) upstream?

[#8]

Hiya @milesr3, thanks for getting back to us. I am sorry for the issues with your speed but pleased to hear this is now resolved.

The line is usually banded by DLM and this usually occurs if there has been a fault with the service or if some intermittency has been detected.

I have had a quick view over your account and ran some checks but from this I'm not able to determine the point the cap was applied. If you are having issues with your speed we do rely on you letting us know so that we can investigate this and resolve it for you.

Please get back to us if you have any further queries in the meantime.

[#9]

Thanks for the reply. What is DLM? The line was connected for 50+ days before I started re-starting the router, on instruction from Plusnet tech support. I don't think there has been any intermittency.

[#10]

Thanks for getting back to me. DLM is Dynamic Line Management and in short, it essentially monitors the line and amends the profile or bands the speed if it is sees necessary. So if there is a fault on the line or instability, it will reduce the speed in an attempt to stabilise the line.