BT are deliberately lowering our speeds!

For over a year we were getting around 47mbps. Then for more than a year, we were getting around 44mbps, with 8mbps upload.

Today, (31/03/19) it is synced at 28mbps. Also the upload has also lost 2mbps.

The speed we now get is about 20mbps less, yet each year the price continues to increase.

BT always said they would give customers the highest speed our line is capable of, yet clearly our line is capible of much more than this 28mbps, which in a speed test only gives 25mbps, which is actually <50% we used to get on this very same line for less money with the same company.

How can this be?

Price keeps going up, speed keeps getting permanently slower. Each month it's slower than the last.

BT says we are getting "good speeds"? How is a 50% loss in your connection speed rating anywhere near considered "GOOD" and after multiple price increases?

To be clear, I am talking about the sync speed in the router, it dictates the maximum speed you will be able to achieve. It used to be a lot higher. Something has changed.

Therefore, I can only conclude, that BT are artificially throttling our bandwidth in order to squeeze more people onto the same capacity at the exchange, to extract MORE PROFIT, at the expense of the customers, while also INCREASING THE PRICE EACH YEAR!

Our line has been PROVEN to be capable of more than 25mbps as we had over 40mbps FOR YEARS.

So, keep giving us less than our line is capable of, increase the price, and lie.

That is BT, and people should be warned!


1. Product name: BT Home Hub
2. Serial number: +068543+NQ53709325
3. Firmware version: Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.264 (Type A) Last updated 03/03/19
4. Board version: BT Hub 5A
5. DSL uptime: 1 days, 10:33:37
6. Data rate: 6640 / 28678
7. Maximum data rate: 6636 / 42044
8. Noise margin: 5.9 / 11.8
9. Line attenuation: 35.2 / 23.0
10. Signal attenuation: 34.7 / 21.1

Your post proves nothing and certainly not that BT are deliberately lowering your speed.

It would appear to be that like many others you are a victim of crosstalk where lines suffer interference or crosstalk from adjacent lines in the cable bundle and each time a new connection is made this can alter the behaviour of other connections. Alternatively a neighbour or local business may have acquired new electrical equipment and this is interfering with you connection.

Your line, like all others using copper or aluminium to connect you to the cabinet is subject to the laws of physics rather than the behaviour of a strictly regulated supplier and is a good example of why so many would like to see full fibre connections between themselves and the internet. Fibre not being subject to the same external interference suffered by metallic conductors..

If something is happening such as a fault, with "crosstalk" or anything, surely it should be up to BT or openreach etc to look into such a fault and correct it? Rather than simply telling us our speed is "GOOD" when it has lost about 50% of it's speed since we got the line.

It is practically impossible to get through to anyone who understands the issue at BT, since every time they start telling me about my wi-fi connection.... it has nothing to do with the wi-fi because it's the sync speed on the router! :\

How can I get my line checked for any of these issues if my ISP or BT or openreach etc don't do it?

The end result is our speed is going down, and the price is going up year on year.

Another thing they keep doing is reducing the acceptable speed value, which pretty much confirms my original point. When we started with this connection we were told to expect at least 45 and then it was 38.. and now it's 25?? If that is not deliberate then I don't know what is.

I suppose next year it will be down to 20mbps that will be considered "GOOD" and it will not be because of BT profits of course....

Possibly some instability and /or errors in the connection and DLM has increased the SNR to compensate. BT should investigate further. Maybe try another contact avenue to bypass the front line service desk.

You appear to be asking BT Openreach to change the laws of Physics. Good luck there.

May I suggest you browse the Fibre Broadband forum here and learn more about the problem and the solutions, such as Fibre to the Premises (FTTP).

All I'm asking for is for BT to put my line speed back to how it was for a number of years, which was over 44mbps, which is now less than 28mbps. Especially since the price keeps going up each year..

Such an insane conclusion which makes no sense whatsoever. Your sync speed has nothing to do with the bandwidth capacity at the exchange.

As others have said, you probably have been subject to crosstalk. But it's certainly not deliberate from BT or Openreach at all.

I think you should investigate the issue by checking your filtering, devices connected to the filter and even switching out for a different modem for a while to see if it improves the situation.

Just by the way, I don't recommend using BT Home Hub 5A since it has a Lantiq chipset. Especially on a longer line, you'd certainly be better off using a modem-router combo with a Broadcom DSL chipset. I have had a poor experience with Lantiq, even on a short line.

In reply to a post by Paul2345:

For over a year we were getting around 47mbps. Then for more than a year, we were getting around 44mbps, with 8mbps upload.

Today, (31/03/19) it is synced at 28mbps. Also the upload has also lost 2mbps.

BT always said they would give customers the highest speed our line is capable of, yet clearly our line is capible of much more than this 28mbps, which in a speed test only gives 25mbps, which is actually <50% we used to get on this very same line

How can this be?

Something has changed.


1. Product name: BT Home Hub
2. Serial number: +068543+NQ53709325
3. Firmware version: Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.264 (Type A) Last updated 03/03/19
4. Board version: BT Hub 5A
5. DSL uptime: 1 days, 10:33:37
6. Data rate: 6640 / 28678
7. Maximum data rate: 6636 / 42044
8. Noise margin: 5.9 / 11.8
9. Line attenuation: 35.2 / 23.0
10. Signal attenuation: 34.7 / 21.1

Your sync speed is lower than your max attainable rate, this will be due to DLM reducing your speed due to drop outs on your line or errors etc. This has NOTHING to do with BT lowering your speed.

You have 1 day of up time there, do you turn your router on and off all the while? If so, you'll find you are the one causing the DLM to automatically reduce your speed because all it sees is you've dropped out. If you do turn your router on and off at night or regularly, then stop it immediately and DLM will slowly increase your speed again over the coming months, if you are lucky that is.

As your own stats say there, the line is capable of 42 meg down, but it has been reduced to 28meg by the DLM for a reason. You need to find out what that reason is, and as i say, that reason is NOT BT reducing your speed. Sorry, you have that very wrong there i think.

Keep an eye on your up time, you'll soon see how long you remain connected for, easy to spot drop outs you might not be aware of.

Edited by TheInstaller (Sun 31-Mar-19 19:58:22)

In reply to a post by Paul2345:

All I'm asking for is for BT to put my line speed back to how it was for a number of years, which was over 44mbps, which is now less than 28mbps. Especially since the price keeps going up each year..

They may not be able to you. What you haven't grasped is that your line's performance is impacted by what other lines are doing and by environmental factors. Just because you got a certain speed several years ago doesn't mean you're going to get the same speed now. Pretty much everyone with an FTTC connection has seen some deterioration over time. It's an expected downside of the technology and always was. As more and more people sign up for FTTC there is an increasing risk of interference between lines.

And FYI the price has no bearing on anything. There is very little cost difference as far as your provider is concerned. The main drivers of cost are the same as most companies - staff wages.

Also: You mentioned wifi - are you performing wired or wireless tests? Because wifi is subject to yet more environmental issues so some of your speed loss could be because of that.

But the bottom line here is that you shouldn't be so paranoid and accusative. A decrease in speed over time is an expected downside of the technology and BT have no interest in deliberately lowering your speed.

Post deleted by tommy45

I think you may be a little off beam, with the "throttling" comment.
There are so many variables - which dictate your speeds: what may have been fine some time ago may have changed - poor line connections/corrosion in external joints/water ingress. Too many to name, really. I suggest that you get on BT's case and get them to check your line again. You've not changed anything indoors, have you?
I've been a BT customer for years - with minimal problems, mainly admin.
I've been on 80/20 since it was available - years ago - and my speeds don't deviate much from 60/18 to 64/18.5.
I think I'd look elsewhere, rather than rant about throttling/beware!

I had similar issues that my line speed dropped from 8Mb to 2Mb.

I had to call BT multiple times and they sent a BT Openreach engineer, who said the line test showed no issues

Then BT did some reset on their backbone and it is now fixed.

It did take them two weeks to sort out.

That might have been a stuck IP profile, a more common thing in the older days of ADSL

In reply to a post by Paul2345:

It is practically impossible to get through to anyone who understands the issue at BT,

Plainly it is you who is not understanding the issue.

I think that's a little unfair. The OP conclusions maybe flawed, but they appear to have an issue that their SP should be helping to investigate and resolve.

In reply to a post by Paul2345:

Another thing they keep doing is reducing the acceptable speed value, which pretty much confirms my original point. When we started with this connection we were told to expect at least 45 and then it was 38.. and now it's 25?? If that is not deliberate then I don't know what is.

I suppose next year it will be down to 20mbps that will be considered "GOOD" and it will not be because of BT profits of course....

As you have already been told, this is simply how the technology works. Its annoying, but there is nothing ANYONE can do about it, except roll out REAL fibre.

The target figures change because they originally were best case scenarios but now they adjust them according to real-world results, so they are more realistic.

Looking at your line stats, it looks like they have had a temporary error that caused it to connect at a slower speed. This may restore by rebooting the router, or it may be more serious and have become stuck.

I appreciate your frustration, your ISP should really be helping you sort this out and in that sense you are right to be frustrated. But they haven't "deliberately" made your connection worse, it is of no benefit to them to do that.

Quite possibly, but ranting like this

Therefore, I can only conclude, that BT are artificially throttling our bandwidth in order to squeeze more people onto the same capacity at the exchange, to extract MORE PROFIT, at the expense of the customers, while also INCREASING THE PRICE EACH YEAR!

Our line has been PROVEN to be capable of more than 25mbps as we had over 40mbps FOR YEARS.

So, keep giving us less than our line is capable of, increase the price, and lie.

That is BT, and people should be warned!

isn't the way to solve the issue.

Have BT, and/or OpenReach engineers been out to you to check your installation and their connections? I had a similar but less drastic problem with FTTC a year or two ago. when my download speed dropped a few Mbs from about 38Mbs after an 'update'. To cut a long story short, they ultimately found a problem in the local cabinet and another in the local exchange and, in addition, they provided a new box where the copper enters my house. End result was download speeds around 46 to 48 MBs. ( I did have to risk a charge for an engineer's visit but the BT web-site test sequences did originally suggest a problem existed which needed an engineer's visit.)