BT to Plusnet? Poor speed but unsure about switching to worse???

Womble147

Any comments or assistance to this would be appreciated....

I'm with BT for home phone line rental & broadband.. £27/month.

Where I live, the broadband connection is poor....~1Mb, BUT i've seen results online from neighbouring streets for 2-3Mb. I've witnessed these too so i know it's possible (in my mind) that i could have a similar download speed as we're all on the same exchange (1 mile away).

I've seen on MSE that I could get cheaper broadband...the likes of TalkTalk (no thanks....due the poor customer service) and PlusNet.

Whilst i'm tempted with these, I thought i'd pursue improving my current connection before/if I move away from BT.

Having called BT I got the usual flannel about broadband working, the line's fine, i shouldnt compare my line with others, and its not worth me pursuing this any further!!?

I escalated it, and got the same response. Finally BT agreed to do some proper checks on my line and the exchange settings etc. After chasing this up and not getting anywhere, I called up today to get a MAC code, ready to move away from BT.

I then got the same flannel from the BT operator about moving away.

They also offered me a discount... £21 for line rental + broadband. BUT this is only whilst I'm a BT customer, ie try and sign me up for another year.

They then also said that the cheap broadband providers do something called local looping, which increases the sharing of the lines, and the broadband connection could then be worse!!

Anyone had anything similar?

Any advice?


Gavin

spannerzone

Well Plusnet are owned by BT and use BT's infrastructure so you might expect the same results.....however I went with Plusnet as they have a UK call centre and, well that was the main reason to be honest! (plus they were cheaper)

Have you done some checks with the master socket (plug modem directly into the 'test' socket behind the master socket front panel to see if your internal phone wiring is causing issues?

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/socket.htm

As for TalkTalk I'd rather have my legs sawn off I think!

Mark_In_Hampshire

In terms of comparing your performance to your neighbours, the only results that are really relevant are your direct neighbours. One or two streets away can give differing results. Example: Here, 1.7Mbps. Next-door neighbour 1Mbps. 400m away someone gets 6Mbps.

It depends on both the length and, importantly, the quality of the lines involved. A neighbours may be entirely copper, yours may be wholly or partly aliminium or narrower gauge copper than theirs.

If you visit a site like www.ispreview.co.uk or www.thinkbroadband.com and post up your router statistics, people could have a look in some detail and see if you're getting the most from what you have regardless of which ISP you use.

Womble147

Cheers for the replies...

Quick update.. After numerous calls to BT support, they denied being able to upgrade my link....then i told them i'm cancelling in 2 days... then the line speed went up (to 1.25Mb).... They drive me mad!

The technical team are now saying my line wont support a faster download speed. Obviously I dont believe them, but cant make them increase it even further!?

Now I've had an email from the BT Mac Request team offering line rental + unlimited weekend calls + broadband for a total of £18.90/month. This isnt too much more than PlusNet, a lot better than the £27 I was paying...

Guess it may be best to stick with BT. At least I can continue with the call i've logged to increase the bandwidth further.

God BT are frustrating to deal with...I cant imagine what TalkTalk would be like....

steveE2

The technical team are now saying my line wont support a faster download speed. Obviously I dont believe them, but cant make them increase it even further!?

Post the stats from your router

Womble147

These stats?



ADSL line status
Connection information
Line state Connected
Connection time 1 day, 15:37:48
Downstream 1,440 Kbps
Upstream 448 Kbps
ADSL settings
VPI/VCI 0/38
Type PPPoA
Modulation ITU-T G.992.1
Latency type Interleaved
Noise margin (Down/Up) 6.4 dB / 21.0 dB
Line attenuation (Down/Up) 50.0 dB / 31.0 dB
Output power (Down/Up) 16.7 dBm / 11.9 dBm
Loss of Framing (Local) 0
Loss of Signal (Local) 0
Loss of Power (Local) 0
FEC Errors (Down/Up) 3217758 / 3
CRC Errors (Down/Up) 84 / N/A
HEC Errors (Down/Up) N/A / 2
Error Seconds (Local) 19

penrhyn

With a 50 db line you should be getting a download sync of around 6Mbps. However your router is syncing on the noise magin limit of 6.4db, this suggests a lot of noise/interference on the line, dodgy extention wiring or incorrect/duff filters.

Have you tried plugging youir router into the master test socket i.e.



PS Have you tried a quiet line test?
Dial 17070, press option 2 (quiet line test)

You should hear 'Quiet Line Test' and then silence, there should be no pops, clicks, whistles, buzzing etc. If there is noise on the line, make sure it's not your phones connection to the socket (wiggle it about a bit) and that you are using the master socket. If you are sure its the line making the noise then dial BT (or WorldOnline) and report the fault, they should be able to sort it out. Remember that 'mis-reporting' a fault (e.g. if it turns out to be your phone, extention cord etc.) may be charged a call-out fee by BT (/WOL).

macman

If there is a line fault, switching will make no difference whatsoever to your speed if everything else is equal and you have ruled out bad filters/internal wiring/duff wireless connection etc. If there is noise on the line, you need to report it as a line fault to BT, not as a broadband fault.
Moving to Plusnet will however still be worthwhile as it should be cheaper and will avoid you having to deal with BT's dire call centre. But it won't magically solve your line issue.
Dial 17070, select option 2, do a Quiet Line test.

Womble147

The quiet line test was just that...silence, which is good.

I'll try the master socket test next.

I was hoping to improve the line speed whilst at BT, before moving (if I move)...thought it was easier than by complaining to another company who will probably just try and fob me off "Sorry mate its BTs lines, nothing we can do. We did say up to 8Mb...which 1Mb is!".

macman

BT Retail's relationship to BT Openreach is the same as any other ISP's-entirely separate.

Micky

Indeed. BT Openreach tell me that they are not "customer facing", which is a nonsense. No customers = no business. BT still behave as if they are a state monopoly. Break it up.