FTTC at or below downstream handback threshold

I'm back on BT after almost 2 years with Sky 40/10 where I had a rock steady connection. I had chosen to leave due to the TV being upgraded to 4k and the kids turning into online gaming zombies

I'm back on a product I had before, BT FTTC 76/20. However I'm not getting 72/19 like I was 3 years ago. I'm getting 51.3/19 - I know its only been 3 days and speeds may increase, however I am hovering around the downstream handback threshold.

I looks like I might be able to come out of BT FTTC if this continues - I'm very close to the cabinet and before BT was rock steady at 72/19. I realise in 3 yrs many more 76/20 users may have come on line the BT Availabilty checker says 80 -58.8 for grade A. Speedtest.net give a ping of 10ms.

Stats

Product name:
BT Hub 6A
Serial number:
+084316+NQ74283450
Firmware version:
SG4B1000B316
Firmware updated:
13-Jan-2018
Board version:
1.0
Gui version:
1.64.0
DSL uptime:
0 Days, 2 Hours 0 Minutes 56 Seconds
Data rate:
20.00 Mbps / 56.04 Mbps
Maximum data rate:
24158 / 57593
Noise margin:
15.4 dB / 6.3 dB
Line attenuation:
14.9 dB
Signal attenuation:

VPI / VCI:
0/38
Modulation:
G_993_2_ANNEX_B
Latency type:
Fast Path
Data sent / received:

Up time is low because I cannot clear the BT with Fon, its off on the BT Dashboard, but won't close on the HH6.

I've used the BT Fault service and the automated system agrees the speeds are low, but surprisingly it asks me to ring in, of course the moment I do that they'll see I'm in the magical training period and say they can't do anything.

Would changing router improve things (using one where I can control the noise margin) or should I just go for reversal under the downstream handback threshold rules?

Any advice most welcome.

VDSL2 you cannot control noise margin without breaking other things

If your cabinet does not have vectoring enabled (most don't) then increased cross talk over three years could account for the change.

With a Max of 57 and syncing at 56 with 6.3 dB suggests your downstream is operating at close the the maximum. Greater numbers of user with have increased te noise, as you know, and that is very likely to be the reason.

I assume you have fully checked you internal wiring and any potential local noise source.

BT Availabilty checker says 80 -58.8 for grade A.

Did you get a managed/engineer install?

If not what range does the checker say for impacted VDSL Range B as this figure is used for handback purposes.

Ian

yep spent most of Saturday talking to the guys over on the BT Forum and then an engineer ringing me in the afternoon on Sunday. He confirmed it was cross talk and until G-Fast gets rolled out there is nothing to do really and that is with the automated fault system saying there is a speed problem, yet the engineers said otherwise.

I'm not happy being a BT Wifi hotspot, even after 24hrs I cannot get the BT wifi with fon/x to go away on the HH6 dashboard. I'm going to get a third party router that gives me control as to who accesses the router. And it won't be Joe Bloggs sat in his car trying to hack the router and PC.

To add insult to injury the HH6 is recycling "internally" ever 3-4 hrs now, ie. its doing a soft reset with the external hub light remaining blue.

On the Saturday I did find that by disconnecting the freesat aerial from the back of the Smart TV, I managed to get the router to do a soft reset as well. The sat cable is right next to the BT drop wire... and the loss of broadband was noticed immediately the cable came out the TV by everyone, yes the TV was still switched on

VFM I am happy, 53/19 compared to 37/9 & 99p more than my previous ISP & free weekend calls as well.plus a cash back card to follow.

Impacted is 52-, which equates to handback of 52. What is odd is that when on LLU 40/10 I had no issues at all.

The HH6 cannot reboot / reset whilst the light remains blue. After any reboot the light will go green for a period, then amber, then blue (soft or hard). It never just remains blue. If you have drop-outs and the light is blue the router is faulty or the devices.

RE the WiFi hotspot, the fact it's not turning off is another indicator of a faulty hub. I turned mine on/off quite often, it applies the change overnight.

EDIT: The firmware you have removed the 14 day reboot, BT used to insist the devices rebooted once every 14 days, which caused a bunch of complaints - so your device should stay up well beyond 14 days now. My record was 100 days before I left.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Wed 17-Jan-18 02:16:31)

If you are still in the training period, your line may drop regularly. I had my line reset recently, due to a fault repair, and the hub was re-syncing every 30 minutes in the early stages, which settled down after a couple of days. I would sugest that you wait a while, and see what happens.

There is no training period...

VDSL2 DLM systems are always active and monitoring.

Resyncs every 30 minutes is NOT DLM but the modem failing to hang onto the sync speed, and then reconnecting, if at the same speed as before a failure again soon would be expected and this is why DLM exists to reduce the number of resyncs.

In reply to a post by nevans:

If you are still in the training period, your line may drop regularly. I had my line reset recently, due to a fault repair, and the hub was re-syncing every 30 minutes in the early stages, which settled down after a couple of days. I would sugest that you wait a while, and see what happens.

It's unlikely the OP, (or the poster you replied to), is still in the (non-existent) training period. The OP reported the problem on 13 January just before midnight, and the last post in the thread until yours was approximately 3 days 2 hours later, early 17 January.