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Dropouts and line speed

birdman
Grafter
Posts: 113
Registered: ‎04-10-2009

Re: Dropouts and line speed

Download speed has continued to drop and is now at a measly 129Kbps where it seems stuck. Virtually unusable for anything but simple web browsing (and then only if I've got bags of time to spare). Nothing heard from PN since last Thursday so don't know whether a TRC engineer appointment has been arranged for tomorrow or not - PN were supposed to get back to me last Friday. We are supposed to be a 24 hour society these days, but it seems the fault is not important enough to follow-up at weekends. Ho hum.  Angry
BT have been a dismal failure and are letting PN and me down. This can't go on. I wonder if Ofcom might be able to kick them up the posterior or whether BBC Watchdog would get its teeth into it. I'll have to investigate.
nottsjohn
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎24-11-2008

Re: Dropouts and line speed

......and The One Show. You really should get someone to kick ass
John
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Dropouts and line speed

@Birdman
I understand from speaking to Lee on Friday (I believe) that he escalated your case to Wholesale as obviously, the problem is still ongoing.
Please let me know how you get on and I can chase if needs be.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 965
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Dropouts and line speed

Quote from: birdman
then to see him go away because his allocated time is up.

I heard a rumour that there's a problem with parking in your area where other cars park so close in front and behind that you can't get your van out. Is that true? Wink
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
birdman
Grafter
Posts: 113
Registered: ‎04-10-2009

Re: Dropouts and line speed

Nice one, jelv. Yes, I think it might be becoming a problem. Wink
I've just posted the following comment to my question - I've surprised myself on my restraint.
Quote
Fault first reported on 17th June - so four and a half months and counting..... Is this a record?
Does this not entitle me to a modicum of urgency?
Why are BT not out there looking for the fault and correcting it?

If nothing else, it will at least remind them that I'm still here.
@nottsjohn
Does anyone actually watch The One Show?

birdman
Grafter
Posts: 113
Registered: ‎04-10-2009

Re: Dropouts and line speed

Sorry, jameseh, somehow missed your last post - I didn't get get an email about it. I really don't know what the situation is at the moment.
The last I heard was on Thursday last when a gentleman from PN 'phoned me because my connection had been dropping again and speed was going down. He asked for dates for a BT TRC engineer to come and I gave him all day Fri 30 Oct or all day Mon 2 Nov. He rang again shortly after and asked me to test with another router while he waited on the phone, but this made no difference, so he said (if my memory serves me right) something to the effect that he would keep monitoring for the next 24hrs and get back to me re the appointment. I heard nothing further following that, but made myself available should the BT engineer turn up, but no-one did. I hope I understood things correctly.
So it seems a bit odd - we both appear to be waiting to hear from the other.
The situation is that I have noticed one or two dropouts in the intervening period and MBS is reporting 130Kbps download, and I don't know what's happening re BT visit.
It's all very disappointing just when we thought that BT had got it cracked. Sad
birdman
Grafter
Posts: 113
Registered: ‎04-10-2009

Re: Dropouts and line speed

jameseh
I have replied to the ticket with times available for engineer's visit - either tomorrow Wed 4/11 or Fri 6/11 all day.
I hope you can push for a TRC engineer this time so that, hopefully, this fault can be cleared-up once and for all.
Thanks for your help.
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re:Dropouts and line speed

Hi birdman,
I've booked your appointment for Friday morning.
Please let me know how it goes.
birdman
Grafter
Posts: 113
Registered: ‎04-10-2009

Re: Dropouts and line speed

Thanks Jameseh.
The engineer duly arrived this a.m., the same one who came last time - i.e. not a TRC engineer, but he knew all about the problem from last time. He carried-out the standard tests at the socket and was syncing at 1.7meg with a SNR of 7db. He then spent about 20 mins discussing it with his help desk who saw that he was syncing at that rate.
In case it was a local interference issue he fitted an RF3 filter next to the BT socket. As swapping the E side between the exchange and the cabinet had initially considerably improved the downstream rate for a few days last time, he then went away to swap it out again. He later 'phoned me to confirm this had been done 100 pairs apart, and was able to confirm that the D side had been swapped on a previous occasion. We must now wait a day or two to see if things improve.
He said that if these measures didn't do the trick, then the only option left will be to replace the card at the exchange with a new one.
Curiosity got the better of me so I did a speed test at MBS and already the downstream rate had gone up from 130Kbps to 285Kbps (upstream 380kbps), so lets hope this augurs well for a resolution of the problem. However, I trust the ticket will remain open until we are better able to determine whether or not it has. I am copying this posting also as an update to the ticket.
birdman
Grafter
Posts: 113
Registered: ‎04-10-2009

Re: Dropouts and line speed

24hrs after the last BT visit, download speed had increased to 730Kbps (310 up). This morning at 0915hrs MBS showed a speed of 951Kbps, and three tests later in the day gave a speed around 690Kbps each time.
BT speedtester gave the following results:-
Quote
Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test:  -provides background information.
Download  Speed
613 Kbps

0 Kbps 2000 Kbps
Max Achievable Speed
Download speed achieved during the test was - 613 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds  is 400-2000 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :768 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 1250 Kbps

I will report any changes.
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re:Dropouts and line speed

Sounds like progress - Keep us updated please.
birdman
Grafter
Posts: 113
Registered: ‎04-10-2009

Re: Dropouts and line speed

It did Jameseh, yes. But I have just seen a comment added to my question this afternoon from [removed] telling me that speeds have dropped again. Such a shame. Sad It's now looking a like replacement card at the exchange may be necessary as stated by the BT engineer. What do you think?
[Moderator's note by Thomas (Be3G): whilst I understand it wasn't done out of malice, can you please avoid referring to agents' names from tickets etc. as per the forum rules.]
birdman
Grafter
Posts: 113
Registered: ‎04-10-2009

Re: Dropouts and line speed

This is getting beyond a joke. After nearly 5 months, 5 BT engineer visits, the download speed is the lowest it has ever been - 107Kbps. Also, no broadband at all for a period this evening.  Cry  Will someone please give BT a shake-up.
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re:Dropouts and line speed

Hi Birdman,
I've passed your case back to BT.  Please give me a shout later on and I'll chase your fault again.  I agree that the line card is the next sensible step as they appear to have tried everything else.
birdman
Grafter
Posts: 113
Registered: ‎04-10-2009

Re: Dropouts and line speed

Hi Jameseh
Any joy with BT? It seems rather strange that they don't seem to follow-up the results of their work after each engineer's visit to see whether it has done the trick. They seem to leave it until you tell them, inconveniencing you and me. It would be nice to think that they would keep on to the problem until it is resolved.
Download speeds reported by MBS have been consistently 130Kbps - the progress bar reaches that point quite quickly and stays there for the remainder of the test. I have noticed when online or from the lamps on my router, that there have been more connection drops recently.
Can't they at least try a replacement card at the exchange to see whether that is the culprit?