New modem, new (separate) router - speedtest doesn't change despite new DSL connection speed

[#1]

Hi all.
Long time PlusNet user, been on FTTC fibre for a while now. I have had some niggling speed issues for almost a year, and I've finally gotten some spare time to make a few changes:

New modem (after seeing recommendations) - TP Link TD-W9970

New router (Amazon sale) - Asus RT-AX68U

These were both installed just before New Years Day (the long weekend).

I pay for the "up to 80 Mb" aka "Unlimited Fibre Extra" package and around a year ago I was getting speeds of just over 60Mbps reported by Speedtest. Something changed last year, and it dropped to around 42-43Mbps. (I've just lived with it for many months, as I had other issues to deal with first).

Modem is plugged into BT master socket (to eliminate any home wiring concerns) with a brand new microfilter. Modem is configured in bridge mode. Modem LAN1 port is connected via ethernet into WAN port of router.

I've checked the modem logs, and the "DSL Training" entries appear to have stopped on Jan 11th, with the last entry being 

"DSL Link Up us/ds 13629/67923 kbps Type PTM Annex B"

(Modem Status page screenshot attached)

My PC and laptop are both connected via ethernet (Cat 6) to the router, and running a speed test on either still results in an answer around the 44Mbps mark. This is also backed up by the speed test built into the Asus router (also Ookla).

The "your broadband service" page on my Plusnet Member Centre has been updated in the last couple of weeks (since the new hardware) to say "Current Line Speed (Download) 55.6Mbps. (Screenshot attached)

As far as I can tell, the new modem is connecting at a higher speed... but this doesn't appear to be reflected on my home LAN. Any ideas? 
Thanks

[#2]

Hey @FTTC_User

Thanks for getting in touch, I've just tried to locate your Plusnet account through your community profile, but have not been able to do so. If you'd like to send me a PM with the account username, I'll have a look to see if there's anything on our end that's causing this issue.

[#3]

Thanks for the private message @FTTC_User

I'm really sorry to see you're having speed issues. 

I've picked this up on Adam's behalf as he's not in the office at the moment. 

Having looked into this, I agree there's definitely something not right. From what I can see the IP profile of your line looks to be around 55.6mbps which is below where we'd expect, as it generally should be 90 to 96% of a sync speed.

In this case, it's about 82% which means that your throughput (what you see on a speed test) will suffer.

The throughput itself is about right for the IP profile as there's Retransmission High enabled on your line by automated dynamic line management (or DLM for short) software the at the cabinet (green box in the road). When this happens, it can cause a lower throughput as retransmission is effectively a form of error correction.

If we can investigate the IP profile and see if we can get that up to where I'd expect it should be, you should see your throughput rise along with it. Our tests are showing what's known as a BRAS profile mismatch, which is promising, so I've raised a fault with our suppliers to investigate, but I suspect it may come to arranging an engineer visit as these sort of issues in my experience generally can't be resolved remotely.

I've created a support ticket on your account Here and we'll provide an update as soon as we know more, which should be within 1 to 2 working days, but feel free to post back here to let me know how it goes.

[#4]

Thank you @Gandalf for your swift response and help.

I'll await the respective teams/engineers to conduct their investigations. 

[#5]

Thanks for getting back to me @FTTC_User

No problem, let me know if there's anything else you'd need help with in the meantime. 

[#6]

Hi @FTTC_User

Looks like we've got to arrange an engineer for Openreach to take a closer look.

Could you reply to the ticket I've logged on your account Here with when you'll be available for a visit?

If you can post back once you've responded, I'll make sure we book the engineer as soon as we can.

[#7]

Hi @Gandalf 
Apologies, I responded to the ticket pretty much straight away, but I am only just responding to this thread.

Thanks

[#8]

Hiya @FTTC_User, I'm sorry for the delay in picking this up. It looks like our team have since booked in the engineer for you.

Let us know how things go and just get back to us should you have any further queries in the meantime.

[#9]

Hello again.
Open Reach engineer visited a couple of days ago, spent a while running various tests (30-45 min) and couldn't find any fault on the socket, or anything else within my property boundary.

We ran a speed test (again via ethernet) just before he left, and the speed has gone up slightly from 43 mbps to 52.7 mbps.
The modem is still reporting connection at 68 mbps.

Is there anything else that can be done to nudge the speed closer to the 60 mbps I was receiving before (around 12 months ago)?

Many thanks 🙂

[#10]

Thanks a ;lot for getting back to us @FTTC_Use

In all honesty, I'm leaning towards this being an issue with your router / modem. Checking the line this afternoon has found that the line is syncing at 64.1 Mbps and an RRT is showing no line issues. do you have alternate routers / modems that you can troubleshoot with? Or even use different Ethernet cables to connect the two?

I can see that there's a Plusnet Hub One listed on the account, are you able to plug that in and find the data rate on your Hub One Manager?

KBD

GEA Test Detail
Circuit ID	NA	Service ID

Test Outcome	Pass
Test Outcome Code	GTC_FTTC_SERVICE_0000
Description	GEA service test completed and no fault found .
Main Fault Location	OK
Sync Status	In Sync
Downstream Speed	64.1 Mbps
Upstream Speed	13.7 Mbps
Appointment Required	N
Fault Report Advised	N
NTE Power Status	PowerOn
Voice Line Test Result	Pass
Radio Frequency Ingress	Not Detected
Repetitive Electrical Impulse Noise	Not Detected
Cross Talk	Not Detected
Estimated Line Length In Metres	506.2
Upstream Rate Assessment	Low
Downstream Rate Assessment	Good
Interference Pattern	Regular Interference Observed Daily
Service Impact	No Impact Observed
Interference Duration Longest Occurrence	From00:15to13:15
Interference Location	Customer Premise
Interference Observed In Days	2
Home Wiring Problem	Not Detected
Technology	VDSL
Current 15Min Bin Retrains	0
Last 15Min Bin Retrains	0
DP Type	External
Profile Name	0.128M-80M Downstream 3dB, Retransmission High - 0.128M-20M Upstream, Error Protection Off
Time Stamp	2022-01-28T00:30:00

Parameters	MIN	MAX	AVG
Down Stream Line Rate	67.7 Mbps	67.7 Mbps	67.7 Mbps
Up Stream Line Rate	13.6 Mbps	13.6 Mbps	13.6 Mbps
Up Time	900.0 Sec	900.0 Sec	900.0 Sec
Retrains	0.0	0.0	0.0

[#11]

Good morning @adam945  

I got some time to mess around today, did a bit of troubleshooting, and the first thing I did was to disconnect my router, and use the modem only, but this time not in bridge mode. I noticed there were *TWO* connections configured (which was in my first screenshot in my first post, but nobody picked up on this) - one VDSL, and one ADSL. I think that must have been causing some issues. (Highlighted below)

The ADSL connection was deleted from the config.

When I set it to VDSL only, and disabled bridge mode, I ran another speed test (ethernet) and got 58.82 mbps.

Re-enabled bridge mode, reconnected my router, and the speed test built into the router is also 58.88 mpbs.

This is definitely a lot closer to the speeds I was receiving around a year ago.

Is this now the speed test result you'd expect to see for a modem that is connected/synced at ~68 mpbs? Or is there still more troubleshooting to be performed?
Thanks

[#12]

Thanks a lot for getting back to us @FTTC_User

In terms of troubleshooting, I'll leave this for other community members to provide support, as the devices you're using (the router and the modem) are from third party suppliers. They may be able to provide additional; support with these.

In terms of the service provided by Plusnet, your screenshot shows that the line is syncing extremely close to the maximum data rate, so fluctuations in your throughput speed are likely caused by issues / settings on your third party equipment. Let us know if your sync speed does drop though and we'll be more than happy to investigate.

Do you have some kind of WIFI analyser than you use to test the wireless environment? This definitely helps when deciding which wireless channels to connect your devices to.

[#13]

Thanks @adam945 

I'll be grateful if anyone in the community can share any tips on settings for either 
My modem - TP-Link TD-W9970

My router - Asus RT-AX68U

I'm not bothered with anything to do with Wi-Fi, as it is hardly ever used; almost every single device (apart from 2 x smartphones and 1 tablet) is connected via CAT6 ethernet. 👍

Just out of interest, with my sync speed what kind of speed test results should I be getting? Thanks

[#14]

@FTTC_User 

As retransmission high is set on your line the best that you can expect is a download speed of around 90% of your sync speed.

Based on this you are not going to get a significant improvement whatever you do,

[#15]

Hello

Just thought I'd provide an update. It's now been a couple of months since the engineer visited, and I'm pleased to report my internet speed has remained stable at around the 60Mbps mark, which is probably what I should be expecting.

Looks like the speed issue that was ongoing for over a year (since Jan 2021 - went down to 42-44) has finally been resolved.

Thanks again for your help.