Soon we’ll start to provide faster upload speeds to our ‘up to 38Mbps’ Plusnet Unlimited Fibre customers.
We know how important it is to be able to upload content quickly, especially to social media, so we’re making improvements and raising the maximum possible upload speed for customers on this product.
At the moment, customers on this product can get upload speeds of ‘up to 1.9Mbps’ but we’re increasing that to ‘up to 9.5Mbps’, at no additional cost. Your download speed will also remain the same, but you should benefit from faster speeds when uploading photos and video to the likes of Facebook or sending emails.
New Plusnet Unlimited Fibre customers will start getting the faster upload speed from the point of sign-up, and we’ll also start to move our existing ‘up to 38Mbps’ customers to the faster upload speed from November.
What speed should I get?
On our sales page we describe the speeds of our various broadband services as being ‘up to’ a certain speed. This is the ‘advertised speed’ and is the maximum speed generally possible using that type of connection or product.
It’s a purely technical description which helps you choose the type of product suitable for you – however you need to bear in mind that not all products may be available in your area and the actual speed you’ll get will depend on your particular telephone line.
We give you a much more accurate speed estimate when you sign-up to us, based on your phone number and postcode. This is your ‘estimated line speed’ – the speed we’ll provide to your router.
But that isn’t the end of the story; in reality, the broadband speed that you receive is dependent on a whole list of factors:
• The type of broadband or fibre product you have chosen
• Distance of your property from the nearest BT roadside cabinet or Exchange
• Quality and age of your phone line
• Electrical interference from things like generators and power lines
• The number of people sharing the network
• Your router and wi-fi setup within your property
So your actual speed, for both downloading and uploading, is governed by your actual line conditions as much as your product. If you’re on ‘up to 38Mbps’ Plusnet Unlimited Fibre you should see an increase in your upload speed and this should fall between your current value and up to a maximum of 9.5Mbps, depending on the factors listed above.
How can I check what speeds I’m get?
You can test both your upload and download speeds by doing a speed test, this will more accurately tell you your speeds in Megabits per second (Mbps).
Doing a speed test will show you how fast your Internet connection is from your device (PC, laptop, tablet, phone etc) to the Internet – this is known as your ‘throughput’ speed. This will always be less than your line speed. All sorts of factors come into play when carrying out a throughput test, not least wi-fi.
Figure 1. The difference between line speed and throughout speed
It’s often overlooked, but the speed you get from your Internet connection is greatly affected by how your home network and router (Plusnet Hub) is set up.
If you have your router downstairs and connect over wi-fi upstairs for example, this can provide a much slower connection than if you were closer to the router or connecting to it using Ethernet cables.
So what will I see from this change?
An increase in upload speed means...
Social gamers – If you, or someone in your household, is a keen gamer then this is great news. Faster upload speeds are needed for using game streaming apps such as Twitch, Hotbox or YouTube Gaming and will mean you should have a much smoother experience.
Families – Is your household home to many connected devices including TV, tablet, laptops and smartphones, where everyone is trying to do something different? A great upload speed will mean that more people can be using the Internet at the same time without things slowing down.
Streamers – Love to live stream? Then you should also start to find that not only will the quality be better but you will also have a more consistent stream.