Fibre 4Mb/s slower than adsl?!

DorsetDude

DorsetDude

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Keith
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Hi

recently decided to go from talktalk who Id been with for donkeys years to a "fibre" broadband. Duuring research to change I noticed that my download speed with talktalk was about 12Mbps. Plusnet claimed they could offer 25Mbps for 50p a month more than my talktalk.was.
Anyway 2 or 3 weeks into my plusnet contract now and my download speed is 8mbps and hasnt buddged in their 10 days "let it settle down" period.

Questions:
Are they in breach of contract if I want to cancel due to the cr4p service? This is nowhere near their claimed 25Mbs.
Anyone else had similar and managed to resolve?

I will be ringing them to have a moan at some point.

Cheers
 
Yes I would say that are in breach but you have limited time to leave penalty free and also need proof that the forecast speed has not been met by some margin. Do you have the original predictions for up/down load speeds.
 
My supplier had a guaranteed minimum download speed, not sure if yours does?
Make sure you check the download speed at the actual router, and not over a wireless connection.
 
25mbps doesn't sound like it would be fibre it's usually up to 36 mbps or 72mbps depending on service taken. With fibre the runs are only from street cabinet so shouldn't be too long to impact speeds that greatly from there. You can use https://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/adslchecker.welcome to check what services are available on your line and what expected speeds should be theoretically obtainable on each service. If you are not getting these first step would be check your own equipment so router into master socket and computer into router via cable and run a speed test with no other devices on. If speed below expected you'll need to get in touch with plusnet whether you want to cancel or fix it. Most companies have a clause initially if speed not acceptable to allow you to cancel but as to whether they do or if it's breach of contract depends entirely on the contract you signed with them.
 
Rang em last night and they tested and agreed it was less than 10 which was nowhere near what I should be getting. Asked me to take off the cover on my "master phone socket" and use a test socket inside. There wasnt one. Just a wire disappearing back up the wall. Guy on the phone was stumped by that. Theyve now raised a fault and engineers should contact me within 3 - 4 days. Guy also offered to reduce my bill as Im not getting fibre yet. Fair play.
Ive had a look round my place in case I missed another phone socket somewhere but cant find one. Maybe the phone line fitting is a bit of a botch job. And there a few of those in my place I discover each time a different tradesman visits since I moved in.
 
DorsetDude said:
Asked me to take off the cover on my "master phone socket" and use a test socket inside. There wasnt one. Just a wire disappearing back up the wall.
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Have you followed that cable to see where it goes to?
 
There is a PlusNet community that is also frequented by the Customer Support folk, I have found it a good resource for discussion and feedback that often aids getting tickets answered etc

Here https://community.plus.net/t5/Broadband/bd-p/Broadband

PS FWIW are you sure you are indeed on Fibre, as I like other posters find your info a tad mixed.

If you run the checker as mentioned in Graig's post that will tell you the performance expectations of all services available from your exchange and even the roadside cabinet you are connected to :)

AFAIK all Fibre installation still need an engineers visit so the socket you mention would not have been left 'as is', they would have updated it to the new style BT socket and provided new kit i.e. a fibre modem/router. From your description and subject to knowing more about how you got the fibre service it sounds like you are still on ADSL.

As for the speed difference between TT and PN, TT is a LLU service compared PN (which uses the BT infrastructure) AFAIK the LLU providers typically in ADSL exceed the BT speeds partly because of the LLU kit they install gives lower or zero contention in the exchange because of those changes.
 
Box Brownie said:
There is a PlusNet community that is also frequented by the Customer Support folk, I have found it a good resource for discussion and feedback that often aids getting tickets answered etc

Here https://community.plus.net/t5/Broadband/bd-p/Broadband
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Great thanks.

PS FWIW are you sure you are indeed on Fibre, as I like other posters find your info a tad mixed.
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I asked last night if I was on "fibre" as I suspected what you said and they assured me I was.

Box Brownie said:
AFAIK all Fibre installation still need an engineers visit so the socket you mention would not have been left 'as is', they would have updated it to the new style BT socket and provided new kit i.e. a fibre modem/router. From your description and subject to knowing more about how you got the fibre service it sounds like you are still on ADSL.
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Hmm interesting. All that happend was plusnet said my serivce would transfer on a set day and I might lose connection while the service transferred from talktalk to plusnet. I got a new wifi router through the post that I set up myself. At no point has an engineer visited.
I thought Fibre went from the exchange to the green connection box out in the street. From there to my house still used the old BT lines so no engineer needed? So you think a fibre broadband swap definitely needs an engineers visit?
 
DorsetDude said:
Great thanks.


I asked last night if I was on "fibre" as I suspected what you said and they assured me I was.


Hmm interesting. All that happend was plusnet said my serivce would transfer on a set day and I might lose connection while the service transferred from talktalk to plusnet. I got a new wifi router through the post that I set up myself. At no point has an engineer visited.
I thought Fibre went from the exchange to the green connection box out in the street. From there to my house still used the old BT lines so no engineer needed? So you think a fibre broadband swap definitely needs an engineers visit?
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There has been mention for a while of 'self installed' service but I did not think that PN had started that process yet?

The FTTC system places a smaller version of the DSLAM kit, they use in the exchange, in the roadside cabinet. The new wifi router they sent logically is more than just a router it will have the capability, unlike almost all ADSL routers, to 'talk' to the cabinet kit I mention.

There was some postings about "self install" on the community forum and I feel sure there will be some acronym on your order that 'describes' the sort of PN package you bought into i.e. was it a self install?

PS I also thought that when shifting from one ADSL provider to another the switch to fibre was two steps (possibly simultaneous?) of take over ADSL > then switch to fibre?

PPS What make and model number is the new kit PN sent you??
 
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We had a Plusnet fibre install a couple of months back and I was quite surprised when it was self install. Had a couple of teething issues with frequently dropped connections, but didn't take long to sort once we actually got an Openreach engineer to site to investigate
 
Son_of_Thor said:
We had a Plusnet fibre install a couple of months back and I was quite surprised when it was self install. Had a couple of teething issues with frequently dropped connections, but didn't take long to sort once we actually got an Openreach engineer to site to investigate
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Things appear to have changed. I am also with plusnet. On the day of change, an engineer visited having spent time at the green cabinet to wire things up, put in a new socket and supplied a modem. I then connected the modem to our router.

On the subject of connections, make sure that you are using a minimum of a Cat 5 ethernet cable between the modem and the router for the best possible download speed. On something like a Cat 3 our download was about 25 mb/sec.
Changing to a Cat 5 improved it to 70 mb/sec.

PS Just checked download speed - 74.33 mb/sec
 
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David_H said:
Things appear to have changed. I am also with plusnet. On the day of change, an engineer visited having spent time at the green cabinet to wire things up, put in a new socket and supplied a modem. I then connected the modem to our router.

On the subject of connections, make sure that you are using a minimum of a Cat 5 ethernet cable between the modem and the router for the best possible download speed. On something like a Cat 3 our download was about 25 mb/sec.
Changing to a Cat 5 improved it to 70 mb/sec.

PS Just checked download speed - 74.33 mb/sec
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Things have definitely changed - we don't even have a modem! Plusnet supplied a new router which plugs straight into the BT socket
 
David_H said:
On the subject of connections, make sure that you are using a minimum of a Cat 5 ethernet cable between the modem and the router for the best possible download speed. On something like a Cat 3 our download was about 25 mb/sec.
Changing to a Cat 5 improved it to 70 mb/sec.
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My only devices I regularly use are over WiFi. ie an iPad and a PS4 for netflix etc. There is no ethernet cable connected anywhere and I find the use of a modem and a router a bit odd?
So I have telephone socket on the wall, plusnet microfilter thingy plugged into that, plusnet wifi "thingy" plugged into the microfilter using telephone like plug, landline phone plugged into second socket of microfilter.
If I decided I wanted to connect a pc for example via ethernet, that cable would plug directly into the wifi "thingy". I think the wifi "thingy" is a router basically.

Im beginning to wonder now if fibre broadband installation generally involves an ethernet cable socket on the wall instead of the phone type socket.
 
Keith

FTTC type cable still uses the phone socket FTTP will be more like connecting Ethernet AFAIK.

Why? well you are still connecting to that "last mile" as they call it which is copper as the fibre terminates at the cabinet.

PS the single 'router' box they supply replaces the normal router and what used to be a BT modem I.e. it was/is/used to be a two box setup.
 
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It may also be, if you're totally using WiFi, that the new router is now using a congested common 'channel' which is giving a high interference of your Wireless signal.

Hopefully, this will give you some idea of what the allocations are. Channels 6 and 11 are common defaults... and we live in a 'uncrowded' country neighbourhood.... I've set mine to chan 13 to remove channel overlaps (don't ask why there's three)

ssid_er_home.jpg
 
Definitely worth getting an engineer out. My speed dropped over a couple of months and then it failed all together. Engineer came out and reckoned the switch in the cabinet had been failing for a while then broke all together. Once replaced and fixed the speed nearly doubled what it had been in the first place.
 
Well the nice man from OpenReach came on Friday morning, 8.15 as well right at the start of the 8-1pm slot which was good.
He rooted around and found a spur off to a second socket in the attic and disconnected that. Tested speeds at the telegraph pole and in the house. Very best he could get was just under 20Mb at the pole and about 19Mb inside. Apparently Im unlucky in that I'm miles away from the cabinet. Over wifi I now get just under 18Mb (Only 6Mb more than what I got on ADSL with TalkTalk). Watched netflix last night and still getting bad pixelisation in the dark scenes, very blocky colour gradations.
So I think Im going to ring PN and try to convince them its not up to what was promised, cancel my contract and go with Virgin. At least with Virgin the actual optic fibre goes straight to the house I think. Should be able to get much higher speed. I'll run another comparison on uswitch or somewhere first just to double check.
Cheers all.
 
Did you check the figures using the "Checker" linked to in post #6 by Craig? How do the reported figures reconcile with what the OR guy found? All grist for the mill when you talk to PN ;). Did have a look at/join the PN Community?

As for Virgin, I suggest you get their reassurance that their cable does indeed run by your house I.e. on the street past your path/doorway.
 
DorsetDude said:
Well the nice man from OpenReach came on Friday morning, 8.15 as well right at the start of the 8-1pm slot which was good.
He rooted around and found a spur off to a second socket in the attic and disconnected that. Tested speeds at the telegraph pole and in the house. Very best he could get was just under 20Mb at the pole and about 19Mb inside. Apparently Im unlucky in that I'm miles away from the cabinet. Over wifi I now get just under 18Mb (Only 6Mb more than what I got on ADSL with TalkTalk). Watched netflix last night and still getting bad pixelisation in the dark scenes, very blocky colour gradations.
So I think Im going to ring PN and try to convince them its not up to what was promised, cancel my contract and go with Virgin. At least with Virgin the actual optic fibre goes straight to the house I think. Should be able to get much higher speed. I'll run another comparison on uswitch or somewhere first just to double check.
Cheers all.
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Hmmmmm, even at 18Mb download, you shouldn't be getting any issues with Netflix.
Netflix would work fine on a 5Mb connection.

Are you using Netflix over the Wifi somehow?

Have you tried to test the latency by running a ping test to google.com to see what the round trip time is?

Speed is not everything when looking at an internet connection and 18Mb is more than ample for most streaming so I would suggest maybe the issue lies elsewhere.

Have you tried using Netflix on a mobile 4G connection to see if the picture improves? Just as a test.
 
noneforit said:
Are you using Netflix over the Wifi somehow?
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Er, yes. From ps4 (or now, my bluray player which has netflix on it)

noneforit said:
Have you tried to test the latency by running a ping test to google.com to see what the round trip time is?
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I havent got a computer connected. Only ipad, ps4 and blu ray player. Dont think I can run ping from any of those.
Netflix is much better via the blu ray, picture much improved. Still dont think Im getting any sound to the rear speakers but thats probably another issue.

noneforit said:
Have you tried using Netflix on a mobile 4G connection to see if the picture improves? Just as a test.
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Dont think I have a 4g enabled device. Unless my iphone is and then the screen would be so small I probably wouldnt be able to tell.

Cheers.
 
If at all possible you could try temporarily connecting the PS4 via Ethernet to your router (disable WiFi to be rigorous) and just see if Netflix then appears satisfactory ;).

Potential broadband issues are hard enough to pinpoint without LAN WiFi in the mix. WiFi adds a whole new level of variables on top of an already complicated situation.
 
I wonder if you .might be suffering from the effect of co-channel interference? If your neighbours many of which might have WiFi are on the same channel as you and if so that could impact on your 'connection'.

I know from using a WiFi analyser on my android smart phone which channels are being used and I set my router to an unused channel.

Perhaps you should do the same? NB I am not a Netflix user but the likes of iPlayer & ITV hub are fine are good with no buffering. This is on ADSL @ just over 3Mbps ;)
 
Box Brownie said:
I wonder if you .might be suffering from the effect of co-channel interference? If your neighbours many of which might have WiFi are on the same channel as you and if so that could impact on your 'connection'.

I know from using a WiFi analyser on my android smart phone which channels are being used and I set my router to an unused channel.

Perhaps you should do the same? NB I am not a Netflix user but the likes of iPlayer & ITV hub are fine are good with no buffering. This is on ADSL @ just over 3Mbps ;)
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Yep - see my post #17 above.
 
chuckles said:
Yep - see my post #17 above.
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Oooops! Sorry Barry missed it along the way............having said that I don't think Keith picked up on this being a potential cause for his headache(s)?
 
No worries - I wasn't bothered in any way.... just wanted him to look up the page.

(Actually I did this scan early in the day.... I should've done it the evening when everybody was home from work/school)
 
18mb should be plenty for Netflix.

Definitely try the WiFi channel as suggested and if possible try running a network cable. Even if temporary then you could try some high speed power lines.
 
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