FTTC activated but provisioned on the wrong product!

Signed up for PlusNet's new unlimited fibre tariff 10 days ago and my line was changed over by BTOR today. The engineer who visited was a contractor who just came in, plugged the VDSL modem into my master socket and checked the green DSL light came on. He got me to connect my PlusNet router, but that wouldn't bring up the PPPoE connection. After a few minutes of waiting he then b*ggered off and suggested I contact PlusNet if it didn't start working in the next 10 minutes. Very helpful! Fortunately I quickly figured out the router didn't have my username and password configured, so once they were set up everything burst into life.

However.... I ran the new BTW speed test and was disappointed to discover I was "only" getting 37Mbps down and 8Mbps up (I know that's a lot faster than many people!). When I signed up for the service the estimate of my line speed was 80 down and 20 up, and that's what the BTW availability checker says my line should be capable of. I'm about 200m from the cabinet. I also noticed I was on an IP profile of 40Mbps down/10 Mbps up. Hmmm...

Rang PlusNet support who spent quite a while trying to convince me it was either the 10 day settling period or that my line wasn't capable of anything higher. I pointed out that 40 down 10 up sounded suspiciously like the Fibre Essentials package, rather than the 80/20 Unlimited one I had signed up to, but was assured I was definitely on the 80/20 service. Anyway, persistence paid off (thank goodness I wasn't trying to convince a script-driven Indian call centre, mentioning no particular ISPs) - he eventually went away to investigate and found that, yes, they had ordered the wrong product from BTOR and I was indeed on the 40/10 product. It was their fault and they would request a change, which would take 7-10 days (but would happily charge me for the 80/20 product in the meantime!).

So I'm not impressed by my first experience of PlusNet. I hope things improve. I'm left wondering two things:

How can PlusNet order the wrong service from BTOR? I signed up online and ordered the 80/20 Unlimited fibre product from PlusNet. Surely they don't have people printing out the orders in a back room and re-typing the details into the BTOR order system? I just checked the (automated) order confirmation I received by email from PlusNet and it does indeed say "Estimated Broadband Speed: 40 Mbps", so it seems their computerised order systems screwed up. Which makes me wonder if there are lots of other customers getting half the speed they are paying for, who either haven't noticed or have been successfully fobbed off by tech support.

And secondly, I thought the BTOR installer was supposed to install a new VDSL face plate on the master socket (and maybe even test the line, or am I living in the idyllic past?). My master socket is one with a built-in filter from the very original engineer installed ADSL service (512kbit/s). Does anyone know if there is any difference in the filter characteristics used now for VDSL? I'm not sure if the filter acts on the modem port or just filters the DSL frequencies out from the phone socket and extension wiring. Any of the experts here can tell me?

Sorry about the long post - needed to vent my frustration with a not very impressive fibre upgrade!

In terms of the general idea the old faceplate filters are fine. In terms of absolute specifics there may be some difference, but I have not ripped one to pieces to check if component values already matched what is 100% best for VDSL.

It seems many new PN customers including you and me are having major speed issues...

In reply to a post by Bright:

Signed up for PlusNet's new unlimited fibre tariff 10 days ago and my line was changed over by BTOR today. The engineer who visited was a contractor who just came in, plugged the VDSL modem into my master socket and checked the green DSL light came on. He got me to connect my PlusNet router, but that wouldn't bring up the PPPoE connection. After a few minutes of waiting he then b*ggered off and suggested I contact PlusNet if it didn't start working in the next 10 minutes. Very helpful! Fortunately I quickly figured out the router didn't have my username and password configured, so once they were set up everything burst into life.

How long was it left? It should have set up automatically via TR69 without needing touching. Takes about 10-15mins though.

In reply to a post by Bright:

he eventually went away to investigate and found that, yes, they had ordered the wrong product from BTOR and I was indeed on the 40/10 product. It was their fault and they would request a change, which would take 7-10 days (but would happily charge me for the 80/20 product in the meantime!).

That's not great. One of our guys will pick this up tomorrow and sort this.

In reply to a post by Bright:

So I'm not impressed by my first experience of PlusNet. I hope things improve. I'm left wondering two things:

How can PlusNet order the wrong service from BTOR? I signed up online and ordered the 80/20 Unlimited fibre product from PlusNet. Surely they don't have people printing out the orders in a back room and re-typing the details into the BTOR order system? I just checked the (automated) order confirmation I received by email from PlusNet and it does indeed say "Estimated Broadband Speed: 40 Mbps", so it seems their computerised order systems screwed up. Which makes me wonder if there are lots of other customers getting half the speed they are paying for, who either haven't noticed or have been successfully fobbed off by tech support.

Most of our ordering is automated, but there are some fibre installs which need a human touch. As soon as you put that human element in, errors can happen.

I've not noticed a loads of people with this particular problem, but I have seen a couple, so I'll get someone to have a review to see if there is something a little more sinister going on.

In reply to a post by Bright:

And secondly, I thought the BTOR installer was supposed to install a new VDSL face plate on the master socket (and maybe even test the line, or am I living in the idyllic past?). My master socket is one with a built-in filter from the very original engineer installed ADSL service (512kbit/s). Does anyone know if there is any difference in the filter characteristics used now for VDSL? I'm not sure if the filter acts on the modem port or just filters the DSL frequencies out from the phone socket and extension wiring. Any of the experts here can tell me?

Hmm. I'm not an expert at all, but the point of the faceplate is to sepeate away the rest of your wiring from the master socket completely. This is because at the higher fibre speeds, that interference can mean 10s of Mbps of difference...!

In reply to a post by Bright:

Sorry about the long post - needed to vent my frustration with a not very impressive fibre upgrade!

Yeah, Sorry about that. Like I said, I'll get someone having a little look to make sure we fix whatever has gone wrong here.

I suspect your problem is very different (and possibly a bit trickier to resolve, I.e. a fault), but I'll make sure it's checked all the same.

In reply to a post by KellyD:

How long was it left? It should have set up automatically via TR69 without needing touching. Takes about 10-15mins though.

For the sake of brevity I didn't explain all the details... When the PlusNet router was connected to the BTOR modem it configured and connected after a few minutes - the "Internet" light turned green. However there was no connectivity to the internet (eg could not access google.com). I checked the router's management page and could see that it had been configured with your DNS server addresses so tried to ping those. No response. Left it a few more minutes then turned off the router and BTOR modem and turned them on again. This time the "Internet" light didn't come on. After 5 or 10 minutes the BTOR installer left. I left the router on for about 20 mins but still nothing. Had another look at the management page and it had a username of [email protected] and no password. So I filled in the correct username/password and it connected fine. I guess the TR69 process didn't work properly...

In reply to a post by KellyD:

Most of our ordering is automated, but there are some fibre installs which need a human touch. As soon as you put that human element in, errors can happen.

I've not noticed a loads of people with this particular problem, but I have seen a couple, so I'll get someone to have a review to see if there is something a little more sinister going on.

I got a "Welcome to PlusNet" email within a couple of minutes of completing sign-up. That said "Estimated Broadband Speed: 40 Mbps". I just didn't notice it in the small print. So either your back office staff are very quick off the mark with their "human error" or there's something wrong with your automated process!

Thanks for your response. Hopefully it can be sorted out quickly. I'm hoping it's not a fault with the line - your CS rep said that I was provisioned on the wrong BTOR product after checking your systems.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

In terms of the general idea the old faceplate filters are fine. In terms of absolute specifics there may be some difference, but I have not ripped one to pieces to check if component values already matched what is 100% best for VDSL.

Thanks Andrew. Having thought more about it, I guess the faceplate is just a low pass filter on the telephone socket and extension wiring to prevent the DSL signals getting through to them. It doesn't filter anything going to the data port, does it? It would make much more sense if filtering out the unwanted voice frequencies is left to the modem itself.

So if that's the case, my very old ADSL faceplate shouldn't have any impact on my VDSL sync speed...?

In reply to a post by Bright:

Having thought more about it, I guess the faceplate is just a low pass filter on the telephone socket and extension wiring to prevent the DSL signals getting through to them. It doesn't filter anything going to the data port, does it? It would make much more sense if filtering out the unwanted voice frequencies is left to the modem itself.

So if that's the case, my very old ADSL faceplate shouldn't have any impact on my VDSL sync speed...?

Correct. There are suggestions there may be slightly better components in the OR VDSL2 one, but only relevant on 80/20 products that achieve over the 40Mbps. Certainly not a significant problem even on 80/20.

Re the startup - my Plusnet routers came with a four-page leaflet explaining in painful detail the setup procedure, and that after connecting you should go and have a coffee as it takes around 15 minutes to establish the PPP connection even once all the lights are on. Didn't you get one of those? It proved to be true.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Re the startup - my Plusnet routers came with a four-page leaflet explaining in painful detail the setup procedure, and that after connecting you should go and have a coffee as it takes around 15 minutes to establish the PPP connection even once all the lights are on. Didn't you get one of those? It proved to be true.

Yes, although I went and made tea. Maybe that was the problem!

I assumed that once the "Internet" light turned green and the PPPoE connection was established it would work, but maybe I was too impatient - I had a BTOR installer telling me he couldn't hang around and wait for it! After the power-off reset I waited 20 mins, but nothing happened so maybe the set-up process got aborted by my impatience.

So apart from setting the correct username and password in the router, was there anything else the TR069 process was supposed to configure in the router, can anyone tell me?

Hi there,

Sorry to see that you were provisioned on the wrong product, we currently have a problem open(74168) which is due to fixed. This should have been explained clearer to you from your first contact with us.

You'll be in the higher speeds as of tomorrow, please let me know if that is not the case. There's nothing that you need to do from your side.

We use TR069 to automatically connect you to the internet, there's nothing that else that it will have tried to do.

Rrgards,

Thanks Chris (and to Kelly as well). Hopefully all will be well from tomorrow. I'll report back.

If this is a known issue, you might want to make sure all your CS reps are briefed, as it took some perseverance on my part to get past the "it's the 10 day training period/it's the quality of your line" barrier.

In reply to a post by Bright:

"it's the 10 day training period"

CS reps should be absolutely banned, once and for all, from using that in relation to FTTC services. It does not apply and never has.

I'll get that flagged up. Yeah, needs stamping out.

Not being able to see what that problem is (unless there's some less than obvious place a customer should look), would it not be worth posting something in your service status system, so those who get the e-mail and view info any other way, can be aware of the problem {and more useful, when it has been fixed} ?

Edited by deleted (Thu 17-Jan-13 18:32:54)

Good news this morning. BTW Performance Test results:

Download speed achieved during the test was - 73.43 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speedsis 16 Mbps-77.44 Mbps .
IP Profile for your line is - 77.44 Mbps

Upload speed achieved during the test was - 13.81Mbps
Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 20 Mbps

So thanks to Kelly and Chris for getting this sorted out. Hopefully it will be plain sailing with PlusNet from now on!

Feel free to scream at us on here if we mess up

In reply to a post by KellyD:

Feel free to scream at us on here if we mess up

Surely neither if those two things ever happen.

This isn't a me having a go at the isp , But it seems that this Kelly communications outfit are a bit on the roguish side , as presumably they are being paid (sub contracted) by BTOR ,
To carry out managed installs at the customers address and they are simply not doing that, I some cases customers are being charged an install fee of upto £96.00 possibly more as the prices have been or are due to be increased soon

He should of fitted a VDSL filtered faceplate and re connected any internal extensions , tested the line with a JDSU/EXFO device for potential issues
and should also of moved the Master socket if required or asked by the customer

Kelly Com's failed to provide the service that they are being paid to provide by BT openreach , Maybe the best solution is to stipulate at sign up, that unless the engineer is BT openreach they won't be crossing your threshold ,

Edited by tommy45 (Fri 18-Jan-13 14:38:56)

In reply to a post by tommy45:

tested the line with a JDSU/EXFO device for potential issues

Seems Kellys communications are not popular at all...

What are those tests if you dont me asking?

The EXFO & JDSU can perform quite a few different tests/tasks to help a qualified telecoms engineer, locate faults, see line stats /error rates/ sync speed, as well as probably a lot more SFI engineers will usually carry one, but most BT openreach engineers who are doing FTTC installs seem to carry them too , Had these tests/checks been made at the time of install it would of been apparent that the op was on the incorrect package, as the engineer would of seen that the sync was over 40mbps less than the max attainable rate,

On another note i hope that the op isn't having to pay the charge for install of FTTC , Because they didn't carry out this install, at the CP, and as such the isp should refuse to pay openreach ,explaining as to why, if enough cases of refusal to pay for botched installs I'm sure it wouldn't be too long before Kelly Com's where given their marching orders by OR

Edited by tommy45 (Fri 18-Jan-13 16:26:34)

Post deleted by seb

In reply to a post by tommy45:

On another note i hope that the op isn't having to pay the charge for install of FTTC , Because they didn't carry out this install, at the CP, and as such the isp should refuse to pay openreach ,explaining as to why, if enough cases of refusal to pay for botched installs I'm sure it wouldn't be too long before Kelly Com's where given their marching orders by OR

Fortunately I didn't pay the install charge - PlusNet is offering free install at the moment if you also take the phone service. So PlusNet is paying, not me

Have you been charged the £50.00 install fee by plusnet? or do you also pay line rental to them .in which case would be F.O.C to customers, but plusnet will still possibly get charged, unless OR are still doing the sim install (new line & FTTC deal ) F.O.C to SP's /Isp's ?

In reply to a post by Bright:

In reply to a post by tommy45:

On another note i hope that the op isn't having to pay the charge for install of FTTC , Because they didn't carry out this install, at the CP, and as such the isp should refuse to pay openreach ,explaining as to why, if enough cases of refusal to pay for botched installs I'm sure it wouldn't be too long before Kelly Com's where given their marching orders by OR

Fortunately I didn't pay the install charge - PlusNet is offering free install at the moment if you also take the phone service. So PlusNet is paying, not me

Well at least that's one good thing,i suppose

A managed install is where the ISP-supplied router is connected to the modem after the FTTC itself has been tested, and the connection is shown to be usable by the user connecting to the router - I expect wired.

So far as I know only BT Retail do managed installs.

Plusnet installations are not managed installs. The correct operation of the OR-supplied modem seem to the only requirement. The engineer has no instructions whatsoever to to do with the user's router.

When the Home Wiring Solution has not been ordered, or when it has but is not used, (BT Retail order it by default, in order to be prepared - Boy Scout fashion), then there is no reconnection of extension wiring required unless it was incorrectly wired or there was no NTE5 in the first place.

In reply to a post by Bright:

My own FTTC install at home last Tuesday was carried out by a contractor from Kelly Communications who brought a large tool bag, dumped it on the floor but never opened it, didn't even look at my master socket but instead just pulled the RJ11 cable out of the back of my existing ADSL router, plugged it into his BTOR modem, checked the DSL light came on, told me he couldn't wait 15 minutes for the PlusNet router to configure and ...

If BTOR are paying Kelly for more than that, then they are indeed being ripped off. I certainly wasn't impressed!

?
That sounds like a part story. Is your modem at the master, and did that already have a filtered faceplate? If not, what is the setup?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

That sounds like a part story. Is your modem at the master, and did that already have a filtered faceplate? If not, what is the setup?

Yes and Yes.
But I was expecting him to change the faceplate (as stated in the "Welcome to PlusNet" booklet and I have seen elsewhere) and test the line. Or is that not part of a non-managed install?

Technically he should remove your filtered faceplate and fit the Openreach interstitial filter unit, and supply an NTE5A to which he reconnects your extension wiring that was on the back of your filtered one.

Many people here having a filtered faceplate have requested the engineer to leave it alone.

The jury is out as to whether the OR filter is any better than what you had. People on here who know what they are talking about and have experimented seem to think on the 80Mbps products it can give higher connection speeds. On the 40Mbps ones nobody seemed to have any issues.

I could see Openreach wondering where their faceplate had gone to if an FTTC problem turned out to be a faulty filter .... So if I had been someone with a filtered faceplate I would have asked for the OR one to be provided as a spare for me, or if as in many installations the engineer did replace it I would have asked for mine to be handed to me. Typically they seem to be taken away and binned.

The filtered faceplate isn't mine, it's BT's. They fitted it when they did an engineer install of my original (512kbps) ADSL service. Not sure which model it is without taking it apart. I seem to be getting decent speeds so I'm not really bothered other than that I was expecting it to be changed. I asked him if he was going to replace it but he just ignored the question. He spent most of his time in my house checking his blackberry, so I didn't get a very positive impression...

If there is an install charge for FTTC then we should expect the job to be done right 1st time
1, engineer fit's OR vdsl faceplate (up to you if you wish to swap back to your own) if you so wish and have a filtered face place ,many on adsl don't
2, the engineer should perform all tests from the master socket that are standard practise, which should highlight any potential issues at that point, be it a pre existing line fault or something not 100% with the install
3 only leave once you have a sync( upto customer to enter log on details into router) or wait for the ISP to do it automatically via their inbuilt back door)

4 , possibly re locate master socket if needed due to lack of available power sockets ect all should be performed as they are part of the install process

Fine if the isp don't want to send a BTOR engineer, they may as well just send the modem in the post along with the VDSLfaceplate ,and no visit to customers premises required at all, but they could find that these options could tun out to be more expensive long term botched installs ect a recipe for disaster ,

Ah dear, such a good run of decent posts, and now you come out with this one . Seeing as you replied to me I take it to mean you are aiming it at me, though most of it is applicable whether or not.

In reply to a post by tommy45:

If there is an install charge for FTTC then we should expect the job to be done right 1st time
1, engineer fit's OR vdsl faceplate (up to you if you wish to swap back to your own) if you so wish and have a filtered face place ,many on adsl don't

Isn't that what I said, somewhat more clearly?

2, the engineer should perform all tests from the master socket that are standard practise, which should highlight any potential issues at that point, be it a pre existing line fault or something not 100% with the install

Some of that is obvious, some may be open to question. I don't know exactly what the specification of the task is, and neither do you. The rightness or wrongness of the task specification would be another matter, best raised by you in a dedicated thread rather than disrupting this one.

3 only leave once you have a sync( upto customer to enter log on details into router) or wait for the ISP to do it automatically via their inbuilt back door)

See my post. That would be a managed install, simples. The connection to the internet, either through the user's router or direct from a single computer is absolutely not part of the task specification. What is required is that his tests show a satisfactory sync with the DSLAM from his equipment and that the modem also sync's.

I don't think he has to check what sync the modem achieves, but there I would agree he should have to.

4 , possibly re locate master socket if needed due to lack of available power sockets ect all should be performed as they are part of the install process

Not if the Home Wiring Solution has not been ordered. That is free and must involve allocation of extra time to the job, or at least to his schedule for the shift. Without it, IMHO he would be perfectly entitled to abort the job if he thought it would take too long. Even though that would involve undoing anything he had done at the cabinet.

Fine if the isp don't want to send a BTOR engineer, they may as well just send the modem in the post along with the VDSLfaceplate ,and no visit to customers premises required at all, but they could find that these options could tun out to be more expensive long term botched installs ect a recipe for disaster ,

I don't know what you are trying to say there. It's gobble-de-gook. Are you saying Openreach should reverse the policy in this quote:-

Openreach intend to introduce a GEA-FTTC product variant that allows the CP to provide and be responsible for the users VDSL2 modem.

and covered in this News Article? That would be better discussed in the comments to that or again - by your starting a new thread about it.
_{Edit - typo.}

Edited by RobertoS (Fri 18-Jan-13 19:29:22)

Well the job isn't being done properly by Kelly com's and i as a customer would not happy at being charged for such a botched up install , or would be seeking a refund or a fully trained BT openreach to visit to carry out the instal properly

And what kelly com's is doing isn't what they are tasked to do by OR they are cutting corners hence why i would object to them accessing my threshold to carry out their botch it and scarper install (delivering the bt modem) why should anyone pay for this ?

In reply to a post by Bright:

The filtered faceplate isn't mine, it's BT's. They fitted it when they did an engineer install of my original (512kbps) ADSL service.

They have disowned these and it now belongs to you. This change happened fairly soon after self-install ADSL became the norm.
The network termination is the test point behind the SSFP.

I agree fully with that post tommy . Just I got riled at the one before, which maybe I shouldn't have done. Sorry.

Don't forget the OR installation charge includes quite a lot of work at the exchange, possibly at two, plus the "software" allocation/provisioning of the FTTC port at the cabinet, plus the cabinet connection changes. The home visit, (with no HWS), should be well under 30 minutes long even when done properly.

In reply to a post by Jaggies:

They have disowned these and it now belongs to you. This change happened fairly soon after self-install ADSL became the norm.
The network termination is the test point behind the SSFP.

That's interesting... thanks!
So now I'm rather more peeved that the Kelly engineer didn't fit the correct VDSL faceplate.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Don't forget the OR installation charge includes quite a lot of work at the exchange, possibly at two, plus the "software" allocation/provisioning of the FTTC port at the cabinet, plus the cabinet connection changes. The home visit, (with no HWS), should be well under 30 minutes long even when done properly.

Just out of curiosity, are there any changes to the voice path at the exchange when upgrading to FTTC? Or does the E-side pair just continue to terminate (via the MDF) on the MSAN, and that gets re-programmed to just provide voice service on that line? (at least I assume how it's wired).
If so, what work is required at the exchange, since I assume there will already be a logical path between the street cabinet MSAN and the ISP gateway router via BTW?
I've never seen this properly explained... any idea if there's a good diagram of it somewhere?
Many thanks!

Re the voice line, I'm not entirely sure what happens, but you've got one bit wrong way round, which won't help you .

On a voice only line that has never had broadband it gets from the premises to the MDF by pure phone-line equipment. When it gets broadband it is routed instead to the CP/ISP's MSAN or DSLAM and jumpered from there to the MDF, if SMPF/WLR. What happens from the MSAN for LLU/MPF phone I'm a bit lost on.

So it isn't via the MDF to the MSAN, it is via the MSAN to the MDF.

When there is an ADSL cease, I believe it is left in situ attached to the MSAN for the next occupant of the premises unless the ADSL port is needed. At least for BT Wholesale-based ADSL.

At what point the ADSL physical connection on a line is ceased when FTTC is installed for the premises is a further question. I believe the filtering at the cabinets isolates it from the d-side even if still there.

I think you are right that the background linking at the exchange for FTTC is done at cabinet installation time, at least for the number of cards initially installed. Then it's just a question of software control/allocation of the subscriber to the port and from the MSAN into the correct backhaul network. There's a chunk of switching kit at the exchange between the subscribers and the MSANs/GEA cable links.

Thanks for the clarification, Bob. I'd forgotten the bit about the line terminating on the DSLAM first then back to the MDF for connection to the voice switch. Although I think, strictly speaking, all copper lines come in through the cable chamber and terminate on the MDF before being jumpered to the DSLAM via a hand-over frame, so maybe we were both right

It's getting pretty complex now... life was so much easier when you could hear the location of a fault by listening to the two-motion selectors

SNAP !
Was provisioned today (21/1/13) on the 40/10 and I've ordered and paid for 80/20. Took a couple of calls to CS. Asked them to check what was ordered from BTOR and lo and behold, its the capped product.

I was advised it'll take 24hrs to sort out. I'll update after that.

Also any one used a Draytek 2830 (or similar) in place of the Plusnet Thomson router ?

Cheers
FS

I had my fibre installed by bt today and now I get an even slower speed than I had with ADSL 4.5 megs when the BT bloke checked the line before going he said that his tests showed the line was capable of 80 megs so what has happened now i don't know.

Plusnet telling phone users that there is 1 hours delay before phone is answered. waited so long for fibre to come to yeovil and now am so disappointed.

BTW package is unlimited top speed

Hi Rodders,

Can you PM me your Plusnet username? I assume you've already raised a fault ticket, if not can you do so at faults.plus.net and we'll get on to it.

Drop me a PM with your username and I'll check the order for you if you like?

Hi Chris,
thanks for the offer, I'll give you guys at provisioning a chance to sort it first. If its still the same after a few days, then I'll ask for your help.
Cheers
FS

Thanks Chris PM sent

Fixed and replied. The order hadn't fully completed on our side, so it was still set at ADSL speeds. I've corrected it and you should see the faster speeds next time you disconnect/reconnect.

Thank you very much now running at 54 megs
You Sir are the man

Respect

If it's any help, I'm using a Draytek 2820n with PlusNet Unlimited Fibre, very successfully.

Thanks RJH, I tried it again and got it working now. A lot more flexible than the nasty Thomson Technicolor modem.

Not sure if my profile has been changed, the speed hasn't changed much. Down is a 40.3Mbs and upload is 8.8Mbs, I was expecting 59Mbs/19Mbs ...

I'll try again in the morning.

I've been told that there is a problem with the Thinkbroadband speed test such that the Upload speed shows as around 50% of the correct speed. I have confirmed that by comparing the results with a different speed test, such as speedtest.net. On there, my Upload speed is currently around 17Mbps.

Does this one give better results? http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/broadband.html

That's interesting, although perhaps it's an intermittent problem or only affects certain users? In my case the Thinkbroadband speed test (Java version) seems to produce the right upload speed, but consistently gives a download speed that is around 10% lower than the BTW and Speedtest results.

BTW Performance Test:

Download speedachieved during the test was - 73.25 Mbps
IP Profile for your line is - 77.44 Mbps

Upload speed achieved during the test was - 12.77Mbps
Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 20 Mbps

(my upload normally shows as 16-17Mbps on BTW, so I think this result was a blip).

Speedtest.net:
Download: 72.29Mbps
Upload: 17.97Mbps

Thinkbroadband:



(btw, is there any way to embed a speedtest.net result image on these forums?)

Edited by deleted (Thu 24-Jan-13 11:36:50)

In reply to a post by Bright:

(btw, is there any way to embed a speedtest.net result image on these forums?)

No.

Yes, that (Flash) test gives much better results (68.15 Mbps down and 17.46 Mbps up). For me the Java one (below) is inaccurate.

I had exactly the same thing. Ordered Unlimited Fibre, activated today, been getting 35/8 when I should be getting 65/20. Called them up and yep, I was provisioned on 40/10. They seem to have corrected it, but no way of telling since it will take 72 hours to take effect.

I did call them immediately after I received my order confirmation (which stated 40/10 as the estimated speed), just to make sure there was no problem. It was dismissed as an error and I was told I was definitely on the 80/20!

So wait for 3 more days to enjoy my lovely new fibre connection

In reply to a post by bigheadtodd:

I did call them immediately after I received my order confirmation (which stated 40/10 as the estimated speed), just to make sure there was no problem. It was dismissed as an error and I was told I was definitely on the 80/20!

Given that this seems to have been a systemic problem with the automated ordering process for a while, and that it was acknowledged as a problem by PlusNet 10 days ago, it's a bit surprising if there hasn't been a proper briefing of every single CS rep on this issue!

I could understand if orders can't be changed once they've gone into the BTOR sausage machine until they emerge the other end with a successful migration (not sure if that's the case), but shouldn't there be proper, up-front transparency with customers about the mistake? As a customer, I'd rather receive an email telling me that there has been an error with my order and I will initially be activated on a slower service, then upgraded to the correct service as soon as my migration completes, rather than finding out for myself and having to chase up to find out what's going on.

I can't help thinking this could have been handled better.

In reply to a post by Bright:

In reply to a post by bigheadtodd:

I did call them immediately after I received my order confirmation (which stated 40/10 as the estimated speed), just to make sure there was no problem. It was dismissed as an error and I was told I was definitely on the 80/20!

Given that this seems to have been a systemic problem with the automated ordering process for a while, and that it was acknowledged as a problem by PlusNet 10 days ago, it's a bit surprising if there hasn't been a proper briefing of every single CS rep on this issue!

I ordered on Dec 21st, and my service (an FTTC migration) was activated on Jan 22nd.

Is there any way to determine I'm on the 80/20 service, my sync rate is below 40 owing to a long line, so I can't tell from speed, I just want to ensure I'm provisioned on 80/20 which
has better traffic management parameters than 40/10 I think ?

In reply to a post by broadbandjockey:

Is there any way to determine I'm on the 80/20 service, my sync rate is below 40 owing to a long line, so I can't tell from speed, I just want to ensure I'm provisioned on 80/20 which
has better traffic management parameters than 40/10 I think ?

I'm not certain, but I think your IP profile will show as 20Mbps if you're on 80/20 - go to http://speedtest.btwholesale.com/ and run the test then click on Further Diagnostics, enter your phone number and see if it says "Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 20 Mbps."

Edited by kasg (Sat 26-Jan-13 20:21:32)

In reply to a post by kasg:

In reply to a post by broadbandjockey:

Is there any way to determine I'm on the 80/20 service, my sync rate is below 40 owing to a long line, so I can't tell from speed, I just want to ensure I'm provisioned on 80/20 which
has better traffic management parameters than 40/10 I think ?

I'm not certain, but I think your IP profile will show as 20Mbps if you're on 80/20 - go to http://speedtest.btwholesale.com/, run the test then click on Further Diagnostics, enter your phone number and see if it says "Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 20 Mbps."

Done that, and it's stating 'Max Achievable Speed' as 10 Mpbs

So Plusnet have me on the wrong profile too ??

What shall I do, send them a ticket, which might just lead to chaos, if the person reading it is not clued up enough ? What am I missing out on, are there different traffic management parameters on 40/10 ?

Edited by broadbandjockey (Sat 26-Jan-13 20:12:06)

I'd PM one of the reps here, or look for an appropriate thread on the Community Broadband forum and post a request there, where the first rep to come along should help.

There is a small amount of throttling on Essentials Fibre and a 40GB peak-time allowance service, but I expect if you look in ypour Account summary it will say you are on "Unlimited". So the restrictions won't apply. It's just the order on Openreach that was duff.

Good batting, thinkman !

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I'd PM one of the reps here, or look for an appropriate thread on the Community Broadband forum and post a request there, where the first rep to come along should help.

There is a small amount of throttling on Essentials Fibre and a 40GB peak-time allowance service, but I expect if you look in ypour Account summary it will say you are on "Unlimited". So the restrictions won't apply. It's just the order on Openreach that was duff.

Thanks Roberto, and to kasg too.

I've posted a note in the Plusnet community forum, along with others in the same situation

Edited by broadbandjockey (Sun 27-Jan-13 16:07:02)

I'm wondering why they have not fixed that problem yet.

The problem is fixed, but we have in flight orders that you can't change without cancelling. We are placing order to regrade them once their orders clear from BTs systems.

Re: the briefing of support staff, I'll go and chase that. It certainly should have hit all the staff by now.

My FTTC connection went live yesterday and I too am on the wrong package (40/10 instead of 80/20).

I've contacted the support team and was told it would take a few days, KellyD is there any way you can check whether this is correct? From looking at other posts it seems to only take 24 hours to resolve, but my connection is still not correct.

Thanks
Matt

KellyD, do you know how long it's supposed to take? The rep said 24-72 hrs on the phone, and that was 4 days back. Still stuck on the lower package.

Edited by deleted (Tue 29-Jan-13 21:01:58)

Have you done a power-cycle on the modem?

I ask because I don't know if the change automatically causes a re-sync at the higher speeds or whether it requires a manual one.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Have you done a power-cycle on the modem?

I ask because I don't know if the change automatically causes a re-sync at the higher speeds or whether it requires a manual one.

Yeah just tried it. No luck unfortunately.

PM me your PN username and we'll have a butchers.

When I was "upgraded" to the correct package it happened automatically and didn't need me to power cycle the modem.

Thanks KellyD, PM sent.

Edited by deleted (Wed 30-Jan-13 09:47:25)

Quick update.
Seeing I didn't have much luck here, I ended up calling support again. My speed had ticked slightly upwards to about ~ 43 Mbps but nowhere near the 65 Mbps I was supposed to get.

So apparently I am now provisioned on to the Unlimited Fibre package (since a couple of days back but no email to me saying this had been done). I was also told that because I was in the 10-day period, speeds could fluctuate etc etc, and that I shouldn't expect much more than what I was getting. I refused to take this as an explanation as I should really be getting ~ 20 Mbps more, and the speeds I was getting were suspiciously close to the upper limit of the lower package.

After a bit of to-and fro, it turns out my connection profile was erroneously set to 43 Mbps as the d/l speed. Now been fixed, but another 24-48 hours before this takes effect.

Sigh. It's just one thing after another...

I'll nip in quickly before any of the experts point out that the "10 day period" doesn't exist on FTTC, and any CS rep using it as an excuse for poor speeds needs to be sent to the gulag for re-education.

I'm starting to get a bad feeling about the quality of some of PlusNet's technical support reps...

Not just Plusnet, having two DLM systems is confusing many support people it seems.

If this was my line I would be pacing out the distance carefully and seeing if that matched sensible estimates for the line length that was likely, if that is the case I'd just settle for the speed I can get.

What is not helping is that Openreach is new to the whole DSLAM/DSL game, where as BT Wholesale has had 13 years in the game.

Wow. Just wow.

Didn't realise I was being fobbed off. Next time I speak to them I'll be prepared.

Hi KellyD,

I sent you a PM as I'm still on the wrong product 2 weeks after installation. Can you take a look please?

Thanks
Matt

In reply to a post by KellyD:

Feel free to scream at us on here if we mess up

This is an invite I cannot refuse Kelly

I think I might in a similar situation to the OP. Though my route to getting FTTC has been a litany of cock-ups and phone calls to chase plusnet over several weeks... just want to put my situation to you all and see what anyone and everyone (including Kelly) thinks...

Having been with plusnet for nearly a year now for ADSL2+ I've had ongoing connection drop out problems, these were not Plusnet's fault as I had similar with my previous ISP (Demon) and had got tired of dealing with their customer (dis)service team - they were nice people but being based in a call centre outside of the UK with only the ability to send help tickets back to UK staff (it appears) getting anything done was worse than pulling my own teeth out. Plusnet were good with dealing with the connection problems but BT were ultimately unable to resolve things and, with no spare lines available back to exchange, I concluded that if I wanted a reliable connection I had to bite the bullet and go for FTTC.

Installation was due to take place on 1st Feb.

No one turned up and no one even bothered to contact me to tell me that or explain why.

After a week of chasing and chasing via help ticket (which Plusnet staff seem very slow to read these days and even less likely to read properly) it was supposedly rebooked for the next available date which was stated to be 11th March (can you see the obvious cock-up here?). I felt this was far too far in the future to be anything other than a mistake but I was assured that it was the correct date.

On the 11th Feb - when I was away from home that day, the BT engineer calls me to ask why I'm not at home!!

Installation rebooked for 18th Feb and thankfully it's now done. I noticed last night my speeds were still that of ADSL2+, i.e. 6mb down and 0.5mb up. I called plusnet and was advised that no, I don't have fibre but have ADSL2+ based service instead. After a few seconds sanity kicked in and the mistake was realised. Details had not been updated. I'm on the unlimited fibre package now so it should run at full speed (which was estimated at about 65mb down and 20mb up if I recall).

I tested it this morning and the down varies between 3mb and 36mb from test to test. Up speed is around 1.6mb. This is far from the speeds promised and I was told last night that it will be 10 days until the speeds settle down, which, having read this thread, seems to be hogwash...

Kelly, my plusnet account name is the same as the one used here, I would be grateful if you could have a look over things and make sure that everything is as it's supposed to be with regards to account type ordered with BTOR and profiles applied etc. I will retest my line speed tonight once I get home and if I find the speed has not improved I will be making a rather grumpy phone call to you tonight! I'm not all impressed with Plusnet at the moment and am tired of the excuses I keep hearing (like you are short-staffed, human error etc) I accept the reasons are valid but I'm not seeing much evidence that they are being addressed...

Edited by andrewh1973 (Wed 20-Feb-13 12:27:25)

I tested it this morning and the down varies between 3mb and 36mb from test to test. Up speed is around 1.6mb.

That sounds like two separate issues.

First, a 40/2 product.

Second - testing wired or wireless? That speed range would be silly if wired, and would point to your previous problem not being between the cabinet and exchange. If wireless please try wired.

After a week of chasing and chasing via help ticket (which Plusnet staff seem very slow to read these days and even less likely to read properly)

I think Plusnet's user base is expanding faster than customer support can cope. This thread is telling: http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,1120...

In it, it details that the ticket target response time has increased from 4 hours to 24 hours (and that's in addition to any short-term delays in ticket responses). Chris Parr never replied why the target response was increased by so much.

Post deleted by andrewh1973

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I tested it this morning and the down varies between 3mb and 36mb from test to test. Up speed is around 1.6mb.

That sounds like two separate issues.

First, a 40/2 product.

Second - testing wired or wireless? That speed range would be silly if wired, and would point to your previous problem not being between the cabinet and exchange. If wireless please try wired.

Testing wired and both directly to the PC and via the router, speed results are the same.

Seen the reply. Asking someone to have a look for you.

Hi there,

You were indeed provided on the 40/2 product, sorry about that. I've placed a modify to move you to 80/20 which should complete tomorrow.

If that doesn't improve anything I suspect we'll need to go down the route of raising a fault, as everything is correctly configured on your account for fibre speeds and the BT profile as of today was showing fibre also.

Hope this does sort things out for you though, please keep us posted.

In reply to a post by orbrey:

Hi there,

You were indeed provided on the 40/2 product, sorry about that. I've placed a modify to move you to 80/20 which should complete tomorrow.

If that doesn't improve anything I suspect we'll need to go down the route of raising a fault, as everything is correctly configured on your account for fibre speeds and the BT profile as of today was showing fibre also.

Hope this does sort things out for you though, please keep us posted.

Hi Matthew

Oh so as for Bright's connection, so it was for me also, well, well, well!

So there's an emotion i've not felt for a quite a while: ambivalence!

For on the one hand I'm really pleased that you responded to and looked into this so quickly and - it seems (though I've learnt only to hope with plusnet recently never to be certain!) - resolved the matter. But on the other hand, I'm even more dismayed with your company than I had been already. I realise mistakes can happen but these seem to happening rather too often. Moreover, why did no one spot this mistake last night when they were correcting my line profile? Plusnet seems to rely heavily at the moment on customers knowing enough about the technical side of the product to be able to point your staff at the areas where they should be checking and looking for things that have gone wrong. On so many levels that is both worrying and unacceptable.

I've previously recommended plusnet to others as I believe you're in a class of your own, but I'm starting to have second thoughts now. From missed appointments, lack of effective communication and the seemingly incessant need to chase, prompt, nag, question and postulate just about anything and everything when dealing with you, I'm wondering if you've actually got shares in the companies that make hair restoration products!!

I will certainly run a speed test again tomorrow night and report back either way, but for now, thanks..

One other thing, can you PM me please (or email me directly since you have access to my customer details) and tell me the name of who at Plusnet I would address a letter of complaint to and by this I mean someone senior - very, very senior - like your operations director or maybe even your MD. I work for a very small company where customer service is very important and so I personally know that when things are repeatedly going wrong "at the bottom", the problems ultimately reside at the top - not the bottom - of the company. Someone at the top needs to up their game and really take note and get a grip of issues like these, but I'm not convinced they currently are.

Nonetheless, many thanks again for sorting this, it's greatly appreciated.

Edited by andrewh1973 (Wed 20-Feb-13 19:26:00)

In reply to a post by andrewh1973:

Plusnet seems to rely heavily at the moment on customers knowing enough about the technical side of the product

Like the unfathomable decision of Plusnet to provision all ADSL2+ customers at 448 kbps upload, and only give them full speed when they ask for it.

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

In reply to a post by andrewh1973:

Plusnet seems to rely heavily at the moment on customers knowing enough about the technical side of the product

Like the unfathomable decision of Plusnet to provision all ADSL2+ customers at 448 kbps upload, and only give them full speed when they ask for it.

Agree totally!

Thank you Kelly, greatly appreciated.

In reply to a post by andrewh1973:

can you PM me please (or email me directly since you have access to my customer details) and tell me the name of who at Plusnet I would address a letter of complaint to

Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

It's very "fathomable".

When we built the provisioning code for the product, our tests indicated a high level of faults from uncapped. Therefore to prevent customer problems we order capped.

We've now moved to a process of uncapping these customers, but we've changes to make to make the orders provision uncapped. We haven't got that piece of works scheduled yet. (we've been doing things with greater impact, like delivering the Unlimited product)

I know it's not great, but we can't do everything at once.

Hi Matthew

I said I would update this again tonight either way....

I'm pleased to report that a speedtest now shows 69.1Mbps down and 16.6Mbps with a ping time of 10ms. I'm most definitely happy with that, thanks very much, Plusnet got there in the end!