Fibre Max 100 on oversubscribed line

[warwound]

I'm currently an EE mobile contract customer but Plusnet are my ISP.

I'm on their Unlimited Fibre Extra package so should see download speed of up to 72Mb/s but have never seen any speed higher than 44Mb/s.

Numerous Openreach visits have established that the line from the cabinet to my home is oversubscribed. With all the crosstalk my speed will never reach the 'minimum guaranteed speed'.

One Openreach engineer told me that after he submitted his report, Openreach would upgrade the line within a few months - that was last September.

The other engineers told me that a line upgrade is extremely unlikely to ever happen.

This week a speed fault has developed and my download speed is now around 25Mb/s, yet my upload speed has increased to 17Mb/s.

Plusnet are investigating and, if the fault is not fixed, I have the right to leave without penalty.

I'm currently about 6  months into an 18 month contract.

Now the EE broadband checker tells me that EE can provide Fibre Max 100 at my address with download speed of up to 146Mb/s.

My question is - can EE provide this speed on my oversubscribed line or will EE only be able to provide a max speed of around 44Mb/s just like Plusnet?

[XRaySpeX]

Welcome to EE's Home Broadband Forum.

EE's Fibre Max is a diff technology from normal Fibre. It's called G.Fast & will deliver faster speeds than Fibre for those that can get it.

If you would like help with your BB speed or connection issues, please would you carry out the following steps for starters, which will enable us to diagnose the problem and advise you further. Do not restart your router to do these tests:

1. Post your full router stats, Obscure your names in the BB Username & also the SSIDs.

Full router stats are key to any speed & connection issues.

2. Try a wired speedtest, using an Ethernet cable supplied with the router, here http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest.html . Click on the "Results Page" button at the bottom of the graph you first see and then copy to here just the "Link to this result:" link that you see below the next main graph.

3. What does BT Wholesale Broadband Availability Checker estimate for your phone number? Post just the whole table and the line above it, blanking out your phone number. If it doesn't recognise your phone number or you don't have one, use the Address Checker, not the Postcode Checker.

[warwound]

OK, here's my router stats:

A link to my speedtest results: www.thinkbroadband.com 

And the availability checker table:

[XRaySpeX]

There's definitely something wrong there.

Locate the hidden test socket that is revealed when you remove the bottom half of the split faceplate (2 screws or press tabs) of your master socket. Only do this if you have a split faceplate. Do you have any extension sockets in the home even if unused? Are there any wires connected to back of faceplate of master socket?

Try the BT Quiet Line Test (QLT), dial 17070 Opt 2, preferably with a corded phone, in the test socket with the router disconnected. If there is any noise, report it to your landline provider as a voice fault (don't mention Broadband). Often sorting out voice faults will fix the Broadband as well.

Reboot the router & plug it into the test socket. Post the full router stats & System Uptime when plugged into test socket.

Is the issue any better?

[warwound]

I do have a split faceplate, it was installed last September during one of the Openreach engineer visits.
There's no wires on the back of the faceplate, just a moulded plug that connects to the (test socket) wall part of the faceplate.
Only my cordless phone is plugged into the master socket, no other extensions.

I connected my Plusnet Hub One to the test socket and here's the line stats:

I tried the quiet line test and heard no noise.

[XRaySpeX]

The DLM system has put you on a banded profile in response to past errors on your line, at the top of the up to 27.4 Meg band of these VDSL Banded Profiles. You need to give the DLM time to relent & remove any banding. If your sync speed at the test socket remains stuck at the same speed for 10 days you should ask your ISP to investigate the underlying fault. If a fault is found and fixed then the OR engineer may request a DLM reset. However should significant errors persist the DLM will reapply banding.

[warwound]

Thanks for all your help.

In my original post I stated "This week a speed fault has developed".
What actually happened is:

I experienced a power outage on 28th March.
I had been using an Asus DSL-AC68U and the power outage corrupted it's modem firmware - a known fault with this modem/router.
I tried many times to fix the firmware but failed, so reverted to using the Plusnet Hub One.

The Hub One doesn't support guest networks which is a feature I require.
So after 2 or 3 weeks I switched to using a TP-Link TD-W9970 in bridge mode with an Asus RT-N66U.
I also tried a Huawei HG612 with the RT-N66U but decided the W9970 was best for my purposes.

Since 28th March I have rebooted whichever modem or modem/router is connected to my landline many many times and eventually the speed fault developed.
So the errors that the Openreach equipment thinks are present are probably non-existent and simply a result of the numerous modem reboots.

Plusnet have logged this as a speed fault (on 15th April) and will be taking action - sometime soon I hope.

I have lived in this property since last September and paying Plusnet for their Unlimited Fibre Extra service but my line speed has never reached their minimum guaranteed speed.
When my download speed was around 44Mb/s and my upload speed was around 11Mb/s I accepted that this was as fast as I'd ever get.

Now that the speed fault has been logged, Plusnet have given me a 'right to leave without penalty' if they cannot bring my line speed up to the minimum guaranteed speed which is currently 52Mb/s.
I am sure that my line speed will never reach anything more than around 44Mb/s.

If G.Fast can provide a noticeably faster connection than ~44Mb/s then my plan is to leave Plusnet (who do not offer G.Fast) using my 'right to leave' and start a new contract with an ISP that does support G.Fast.

So, looking at my line stats, do you think that G.Fast can provide a noticeably faster connection than ~44Mb/s?

[warwound]

An Openreach engineer visited me this morning and reset my line.
My stats are now:

Yet online speed tests from a pc/laptop directly connected to my router show download speed of 22-24Mb/s and upload speed of 18Mb/s.
So my sync speed is now much the same as it was before the speed issue developed but my real world speeds are plain lousy.

I had a good chat with the Openreach engineer and found out that FTTP is currently being deployed in my town (Kings Lynn, Norfolk). Work began around February 2021 and is expected to last 18 months.
The engineer showed me a piece of string tied around the telegraph pole outside of my house:

He explained that it runs through an underground duct to the end of the road. Another duct goes from there to the top of the main road where the BT cabinet is located.
This piece of string will eventually be used to pull a fibre optic through the ducts and provide FTTP to the houses connected to that telegraph pole.
So FTTP will be available for sure but it could be anytime in the next ~16 months.

The engineer also chatted about G.Fast and said he thought I'd be good for up to around 100Mb/s download speed using G.Fast based on what his test equipment reported.

Ideally I'll leave Plusnet as they are failing to provide the minimum guaranteed speed.
Then sign up for G.Fast until FTTP is available.

[XRaySpeX]

Your speeds have improved but still on slow side. Do the QLT at the test socket again.

[warwound]

Plusnet rang me and said that even though Openreach had reset the line, they still had to reset my profile on their end.

They did that and straightaway my speeds were restored to the speeds they were before this issue started.

A speed test shows i'm getting around 48Mb/s download and 16Mb/s upload: www.thinkbroadband.com 

Plusnet have my 'current line speed' as 78Mb/s and my 'guaranteed minimum speed' as 52.4Mb/s.

My modem is sync'd at 52.2Mb/s.

Plusnet are going to ring me back this week and I'll then bring up the possibility of ending my contract without penalty which will enable me to switch to another provider and G.Fast.