Plusnet Fibre Unlimited Speed Problem

I migrated from BT Infinity to Plusnet Value Fibre in November for 2 reasons 1) To save money and 2) Local call centre rather than the problems associated with BT's India based call centres.
I found the BT service reliable and enjoyed uninterrupted speeds of 35+mbps D/L and 2+mbps U/L over the 18 months of usage.
On the changeover to Plusnet Value Fibre my D/L speed remained the same and U/L speed increased to 7+mbps, both these speeds were maintained throughout the first month of usage.
At the end of this first month I upgraded to Plusnet Fibre Unlimited and after receiving confirmation from Plusnet that my service had been upgraded to Plusnet Fibre Unlimited I was diappointed to find my D/l and U/L speeds remained unchanged.
I contacted Plusnet through the online question system and was told that everything looked fine at their end showing a D/L speed of 78mbps and to do all the usual equipment checks then report the problem again.
My set up has not changed whatsoever so I am certain their are no faults with my equipment. I then contacted Plusnet by telephone to report the problem,the advisor told me to switch off my router then switch it on again.
After the router rebooted and connected to the Internet she told me to give it 72 hours to stabilise. Since this reconnection the D/L speed has varied up and down between 4mbps and 26mbps nowhere near the estimated 66mbps.Has anyone else had a similar problem with Plusnet?

Please can you run the BT Performance Tester and copy/paste the full contents of the two results text boxes .

It won't let me cut or copy but the results are

Download Speed (mbps) 30.95

Upload Speed (mbps) 15.02

Ping Latency (ms) 20.75

I think you ran the quick and dirty. Sorry, I should have said we need the "Diagnostic" one - the left-hand button. That let's you copy and paste. (I doubt if it lets you "cut").

Sorry I needed to update java to enable the full tester








FAQ




1. Best Effort Test: -provides background information.

Download Speed
32.54 Mbps

0 Mbps 0 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed

Download speedachieved during the test was - 32.54 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 12 Mbps-0 Mbps.
IP Profile for your line is - 76.63 Mbps

2. Upstream Test: -provides background information.

Upload Speed
16.67 Mbps

0 Mbps 20 Mbps
Max Achievable Speed

Upload speed achieved during the test was - 16.67Mbps
Additional Information:
Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 20 Mbps


We were unable to identify any performance problem with your service at this time.
It is possible that any problem you are currently, or had previously experienced may have been caused by traffic congestion on the Internet or by the server you were accessing responding slowly.
If you continue to encounter a problem with a specific server, please contact the administrator of that server in the first instance.



Please visit the FAQ if you are unable to understand the test results.






Notes:
The Download Speed is the average rate that was achieved during this test.

Notes:
Your line is configured to the maximum rate that it can support or at your chosen fixed rate, this is known as the line rate and would be viewed through your CPE software or in your router configuration.

Your IP profile is always less than the line rate and is normal on any network.

The Upstream Test rate figure quoted will always be smaller than the assured rate profile. This is because in order for the throughput to reach its destination, it requires an overhead which explains the difference between the two.


Notes:
If your download speed lies in this range then your connection seems to be working fine.

Notes:
The Download Speed is the average rate that was achieved during this test.

Notes:
Your line is configured to the maximum rate that it can support or at your chosen fixed rate, this is known as the line rate and would be viewed through your CPE software or in your router configuration.

Your IP profile is always less than the line rate and is normal on any network.

IP Profile for your line is - 76.63 Mbps

indicates you are connected at over 79Mbps, but a fraction short of the full 80Mbps.

Have you checked your Current line speed in your Member Centre? From the earlier posts I expect PN have checked that, but it's worth a look yourself.

Then, are you testing connected wired or wirelessly to your router? Those wild speed swings are wierd. If wireless, what is the wireless connection speed? (Shown in Status of the connection).

This all sounds a bit familiar (different ISP of course):

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/fibre/t/4172503-how...

I'm not familiar with Plusnet packages but has the OP just been moved from 40/10 to 80/20? That's what I currently suspect caused my problem. If (big if perhaps) it's the same problem the OP should find that turning their router off for 20 minutes a few days later (seems to be half a week after my problem starts) will cure it. For a while at least.

Edited by Andrue (Sat 29-Dec-12 18:17:35)

All I can find in my Member Centre to check my line speed is the BT wholesale link that you advised and Mybroadbandspeedtest.co.uk

I am testing wirelessly with my Router and Modem next to my PC

Here are the results of the Thinkbroadband tests



Date

Day

Downstream

Upstream

IP Address

Connection











29/12/12 17:41

Sat

30739 Kbps

7279 Kbps

91.125.66.233

Home DSL






Home DSL





29/12/12 16:28

Sat

28626 Kbps

7340 Kbps

91.125.66.233

Home DSL






29/12/12 14:33

Sat

15400 Kbps

6672 Kbps

91.125.66.233







29/12/12 10:01

Sat

12087 Kbps

7150 Kbps

87.114.21.195







29/12/12 08:26

Sat

18492 Kbps

7135 Kbps

87.114.21.195

Home DSL





28/12/12 23:53

Fri

18305 Kbps

7003 Kbps

87.114.21.195

Home DSL





28/12/12 20:59

Fri

26282 Kbps

6936 Kbps

87.114.21.195







28/12/12 20:49

Fri

4810 Kbps

6860 Kbps

87.114.21.195







28/12/12 15:20

Fri

14659 Kbps

7086 Kbps

87.114.21.195

Home DSL





28/12/12 14:44

Fri

26619 Kbps

7137 Kbps

87.114.21.195

Home DSL





28/12/12 13:47

Fri

4363 Kbps

7093 Kbps

87.114.21.195

Home DSL





28/12/12 13:42

Fri

7806 Kbps

7113 Kbps

87.114.21.195

Home DSL





28/12/12 12:35

Fri

35695 Kbps

7339 Kbps

87.112.158.224







28/12/12 09:26

Fri

36300 Kbps

7394 Kbps

87.112.158.224

Home DSL





27/12/12 23:14

Thu

36284 Kbps

7436 Kbps

91.125.215.242

Home DSL





21/12/12 08:04

Fri

36638 Kbps

7472 Kbps

46.208.120.208

Home DSL





04/12/12 08:15

Tue

35143 Kbps

7685 Kbps

87.113.96.116

Home DSL





28/11/12 14:20

Wed

34614 Kbps

7640 Kbps

87.113.96.116

Home DSL

In reply to a post by lawty:

I am testing wirelessly with my Router and Modem next to my PC

Ah. Bad idea. Unless you live in an isolated house in the middle of the countryside chances are there isn't enough wifi bandwidth available. All your neighbours will be competing with you. Try a wired connection - it's the only valid way to test throughput as it's the only way to get reliable throughput. Wifi is fine for convenience but if raw speed is what you want you have to go wired.

Also you should probably remove the IP address starting '91' from your post. It's a minor security risk.

Edited by Andrue (Sat 29-Dec-12 18:31:31)

In reply to a post by lawty:

All I can find in my Member Centre to check my line speed is the BT wholesale link that you advised and Mybroadbandspeedtest.co.uk

Member Centre >> left-hand menu >> Connection settings >> High speed broadband (in the centre panel). As in

Telephone number:xxxxxxxxxxxx
Phone exchange:STEPPING HILL
Estimated line speed:51Mb (Accurate to within +/- 1Mbit) - Checked on 2012-12-21 14:20:57
Current line speed: 52.2 Mb

Guess I will try a wired connection but all my previous speedchecks have been done wirelessly so I am comparing like for like

Phone exchange:OLDHAM Estimated line speed:66Mb (Accurate to within +/- 1Mbit) - Checked on 2012-12-22 21:03:28Current line speed: 78 Mb

You aren't necessarily comparing like for like. For example, if this started Christmas Day you could now have 3 tablets and 5 games boxes messing up your wireless, that weren't there before.

Another possibility is someone on the same cabinet has recently been connected to FTTC and your connection has been knocked.

I'd like to see your wireless connection speed as well, that I requested earlier . That could be relevant.

So the line settings there are correct as well. There was a possibility that the Current line speed had got stuck at 40Mbps, and that acts like the IP Profile, even if the connection is much faster.

You really must do a wired speed test . That will either prove it isn't a wireless issue, or that it is.

In reply to a post by lawty:

Guess I will try a wired connection but all my previous speedchecks have been done wirelessly so I am comparing like for like

The more variables you can eliminate the better. One other thing to try (although it carries some risk) is to connect your PC directly to the modem this allows you to eliminate the router as a cause. I'm sure RobertoS can give you the information needed to do that but the following probably applies to all FTTC customers apart from Sky and TalkTalk:

http://www.idnetters.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,19...

Do not do this unless you have a firewall on your PC and don't stay connected longer than is needed to run a couple of tests. It makes your PC ground zero for any attacks that happen to be targeted at your IP address.

A worhwhile thought, but I think just trying wired to the router first. That shouldn't be a major problem as the computer and router are close together and an ethernet cable came with the router. It's unlikely to have been lost so soon.

In reply to a post by lawty:

Guess I will try a wired connection but all my previous speedchecks have been done wirelessly so I am comparing like for like

Frankly, it's pretty meaningless if you do it over wireless, all sorts of things could affect the speed. It would never even occur to me to do a speed test wireless (unless I was specifically trying to test the wireless speed).

The fluctuating speed problem only started on the 28th Dec. after informing Plusnet that my speed had not upgraded upon changing to Fibre Unlimited and subsequently rebooting my Router as advised so I think it highly improbable that this would coincide with an incident at the cabinet.

Wired speed test please . Essential.

Wireless connection speed, almost essential. If that is 56Mbps or lower, that in itself is an issue.

At the moment you and we are completely in the dark. We are trying to identify and/or rule out common issues that occur .

Edited by RobertoS (Sat 29-Dec-12 19:18:03)

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Wireless connection speed, almost essential. If that is 56kbps or lower, that in itself is an issue.

Bob, fire your proofreader. 56kbps is not enough to test an ancient dial-up modem.

In reply to a post by Uilebheist:

Bob, fire your proofreader. 56kbps is not enough to test an ancient dial-up modem.

That would be silly of me, as he just pointed out the error which I have corrected. For which I thank him you.

Anyway - the statement was valid .

Apologies and thanks all round problem half solved Wired Test results
Please excuse my ignorance of the wireless connection issues

29/12/12 19:17

Sat

70384 Kbps

7695 Kbps

91.125.66.233


Please excuse my ignorance re wireless connection issues

I say half solved as I was expecting double the upload speed.

In reply to a post by lawty:

I say half solved as I was expecting double the upload speed.

Is that testing using TBB? There's a known bug with the TBB tester atm. Try speedtest.net.

Thanks again Fully solved

Speedtest net result

http://www.speedtest.net/result/2402149178.png

Phew!

That upload looks like a 10Mbps upload setting that has been left in place. That shouldn't have happened but is nothing like as scary as what you were getting on the download. Support shoild be able to check and fix that.

We now need to address the wireless side. If you have a wireless connection icon in the system tray at the right, clicking it should give a list of available connections, your probably at the top. Right click yours and then select Status.

Again, this is just a first step - establishing it isn't simply inadequate wireless connection speed.

Edited by RobertoS (Sat 29-Dec-12 19:38:40)

It is showing 72mbps

On the Status page, click Wireless Properties and then Security. What does it say?

Edited by deleted (Sat 29-Dec-12 19:54:44)

Security Type WAP2 Personal

Encryption Type AES

Is the radio type 802.11n - i.e. Wireless N ?

Yes 802.11n

You should maybe download Inssider and see if you can find an uncongested channel.

OK thanks I will give it a try

In reply to a post by lawty:

all my previous speedchecks have been done wirelessly so I am comparing like for like

No, you're not! Eventually you will bump up against the wireless speed limit.

Downloaded Inssider doesn't seem to tell me anything useful and the link to the user manual does't work

In reply to a post by lawty:

It is showing 72mbps

Isn't there something about if the wireless connection is operating at 72 Meg, say, then you get half-speed in each direction (half-duplex??) i.e 36 Meg? Which will fit well with OP's wireless speedtests.

No, you're not! Eventually you will bump up against the wireless speed limit.



Already found that out thanks anyway

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

In reply to a post by lawty:

It is showing 72mbps

Isn't there something about if the wireless connection is operating at 72 Meg, say, then you get half-speed in each direction (half-duplex??) i.e 36 Meg? Which will fit well with OP's wireless speedtests.

That's what I was looking for . I didn't expect 72 though.

In reply to a post by lawty:

Downloaded Inssider doesn't seem to tell me anything useful and the link to the user manual does't work

You should have a list of wireless sources it can see, and below that probably the welcome box. There's a tab between the two. You want the 2.4GHz one. It is only a graphical representation of the list, but a lot easier to understand.

Channels overlap 2 either side, as you will see there.

You have two problems. The major one is the 72Mbps. That is limiting your top speed - you need at least 130Mbps. It wouldn't have shown up on a 40Mbps connection. We can work towards that soon.

The variability that wasn't there on 40Mbps may be explained by Christmas presents, as I said before. Or Christmas lights, or a number of other possible factors we come across now and then. We just have to progress in steps now if you want to go back to wireless.

If you are happy on wired, then that is easiest. But you possibly have reasons for wanting wireless working well.

The minor one is to examine the graph and see if there are are less occupied spots than where you are. You can set your router to wherever you want. Very busy areas are where you will get interference, which has a similar effect to congestion. To some extent explaining the variability of what you were getting.

I forget - is it the Plusnet router, if so which? I don't use either of mine because I rely on wireless and they are poor.

See if you can get that far and let us know .

Edited by RobertoS (Sat 29-Dec-12 21:20:17)

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

You should maybe download Inssider and see if you can find an uncongested channel.

If the OP does they should probably buy a lottery ticket as well

Anyway to get enough speed from wifi the OP will need two adjacent channels and that's even more unlikely.

Unless of course the OP's PC is using a 5GHz dongle in which case it ought to be possible to find space for full speed.

Edited by Andrue (Sat 29-Dec-12 21:26:27)

I just got this - two channels and a 150-capable wireless card. Router in bedroom opposite side of steel-framed house, it and I at the front of the house against the respective outside side walls.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/2402334929.png

Which in relation to my sync of 54/14.9 isn't too bad.

I've not run Inssider for a few weeks now, but when I took my laptop for a walk around our house with Inssider running I picked up 27 wireless networks, only two of them were mine. And my two are on free channels - the other 25, mostly BT & SKY seem to all be on two channels - hate to think what their wireless is like.

Very useful little program Inssider.

Post deleted by RobertoS

Free channels?

Two channels is what most routers have to use to get true "N".

Free as in no one else is using that channel.

Just took a look, but I'm not going to wonder around the house this time of night (wife and kids are alseep). Most wi-fi networks here seem to be on channels 1,6 & 10. So mine are on 3 & 8 which are 'free' from others, although of course do overlap a bit

Edit. Just sat in my office I'm picking up 20, and that's with only one of mine.

Edited by R0NSKI (Sat 29-Dec-12 22:45:40)

In reply to a post by R0NSKI:

I've not run Inssider for a few weeks now, but when I took my laptop for a walk around our house with Inssider running I picked up 27 wireless networks, only two of them were mine. And my two are on free channels - the other 25, mostly BT & SKY seem to all be on two channels - hate to think what their wireless is like.

Very useful little program Inssider.

I fired it up on my laptop earlier this evening and it showed 12 networks. Unlike yours mine are spread around quite a lot. There is some clustering and I think they were Sky labelled but there's no clear space. I've toyed with the idea of replacing my WAP with one that supports the 5GHz band but in normal use it's perfectly fine having a wired connection on my laptop. When I'm actually mobile around the house I don't need real speed.

Edited by Andrue (Sat 29-Dec-12 22:44:59)

In reply to a post by Andrue:

When I'm actually mobile around the house I don't need real speed.

Same here, wireless is only for the phones, tablets, Wii and laptop (which I hardly use), all others 1Gbps wired

I only have houses one side of me (other side is park) and I have a lot of networks crammed in on the 2.4ghz. My android detects 9 but my router detects 14.

I had always been using 40mhz width but it turns out that was gaining me about 5% and not much more. With just 20mhz configured and the least populated channel which is 13, but still 3 routers around there, I can get 70-75mbps throughput on it. Which is just about enough for a fully synced line. For that it reports 130-150mbit, laptop always reports 150 regardless, the varying reported speed is from router side. So on 40mhz when the laptop reported 300mbit the actual real throughput was almost the same.

I only use wireless for phones, and my laptop, everything else is wired, and sometimes my laptop goes wired as well depending where it is.

Some people really hate wires tho, eg. my sister wont even use wired keyboards.

Watch out, some devices (to comply in the US) don't support channels 12, 13 & 14. Yes there is a channel 14, but not much supports it.

yes but I am using UK compliant devices.

So was I and the tablet in question just couldn't see my network, which was on channel 13. To save cost's the manufacturer obviously just made the wi-fi comply with the US, as the lowest denominator. Luckily I had read of others having problems before and twigged pretty quickly. At the time it was a common problem.

Edited by R0NSKI (Sun 30-Dec-12 10:24:06)

Check out your laptop card. I lay you odds it is only 150Mbps capable. Like mine.

Inssider on my Desktop (upstairs) Shows only my connection on Channel 11 and another Plusnet wireless on channel 1 nothing else. on my Laptop (Downstairs) it shows mine on channel 11 a Plusnet on Channel 1 and 3 BT's on Channel 6

Sorry I should have added it is a Plusnet Router (Technicolour)

Hmmm, technicolour is notoriously bad for wireless... although mine works fine through two stone walls I hear most people have wireless issues with them, and I must have received a lucky one.

I don't know to what extent the problem is relative to the router and waiting further advice from Robertos when he is next available

My charges went up last night to £34 per minute reading and typing. That is including Vat, I'm not a shark.

Re the wireless - in the router GUI there should be a Wireless setup page, possibly with sub-pages within that.

What we want is probably on the same page as where the channel can be set to automatic or chosen by the user. Look for something like 300Mbps mode, and/or bandwith, and/or 20MHz. See if you can set 40Mhz, which should give a main channel and an extension channel.

If that is there you should be able to get a 130Mbps or 150Mbps connection. Which would probably cure the wireless speed problem.

Though even then, unless there is an important reason for not using wired, that would be best for the PC.

Thanks for the low charges (Robber) Only joking hope you were.
I cannot find anywhere on the Wireless Access Point configuration page where
I can change anything other than channel selection between manual and automatic.
It shows an Actual Speed (Mbps) 65but no option to change it

Edited by deleted (Sun 30-Dec-12 20:37:29)

why would it report 300mbps? and also the throughput does go up on 40mhz just not by a huge amount.

Whilst its possible you right I think it seems the most likely reason is its due to the sheer amount of users on the wifi range.

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

why would it report 300mbps?

Strange - the wording I gave as examples is straight out of the GUI of my router.

... and also the throughput does go up on 40mhz just not by a huge amount.

In the thread where your throughput is mentioned, I don't think you have yet replied to my suggestion that your laptop card maxes out at a 150 connection.

Whilst its possible you right I think it seems the most likely reason is its due to the sheer amount of users on the wifi range.

As far as I know that would kill the throughput, but not the connection speed, though both vary of course.

In reply to a post by lawty:

I cannot find anywhere on the Wireless Access Point configuration page where
I can change anything other than channel selection between manual and automatic.

You don't need to go through with any change, you can always back out, and it doesn't really matter anyway - nothing that cannot be reversed happens, but I assume it is set to Automatic. Changing it to Manual will probably refresh the page, with some different options.

It shows an Actual Speed (Mbps) 65but no option to change it

Umm, earlier it was 72Mbps. Is this the TG582N, that I ditched because of its wireless?

I've just thought - I don't want to disconnect my live router, but I can disconnect from it and have a look at the TG GUI. I'm fairly sure there was no way I could get over a 75Mbps connection . That'll be later, or tomorrow.

Is the wireless important though? I've sort of asked before, but not directly.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

... but I assume it is set to Automatic. Changing it to Manual will probably refresh the page, with some different options.

I can understand why manufacturers include an "Auto" channel selection mode, but in my experience it's more nuisance than it's worth.

It only ever seems to select Channel 1 even when nearly everyone else within range is also using it, and on several occasions I've solved a poor wireless performance (for myself and others) simply by changing "Auto" to "Manual" and leaving everything else (including the channel) as it was.

Go figure

My figure is atrocious.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

My figure is atrocious.

Link

I don't wear blonde wigs.

Edited by RobertoS (Sun 30-Dec-12 21:36:17)

Paul Mason, 51, weighed 70 stone (444kg) three years ago and was confined to the bed of his bungalow in Ipswich, Suffolk.

Now that's a really atrocious figure... it's the thick end of half a ton

I can live without the wireless if I have to but having put you to so much trouble I would like to optimise wireless.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Check out your laptop card. I lay you odds it is only 150Mbps capable. Like mine.

It all depends on the number of antennas and 'streams' as well as the channel mode (20/40).

A useful chart:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11n-2009#Data_...

As you can see you can get to 216megabit using 3 streams (3 antennas) in 20mhz mode (single channel) which should suit the majority of people at 2.4 GHz. This is how I run my Draytek 2820Vn as it doesn't support 5 GHz, but it does have three nice aerials on!

In reply to a post by lawty:

I can live without the wireless if I have to but having put you to so much trouble I would like to optimise wireless.

Just had a look at the wireless configuration page of my PN TG582N and as you say, no way to alter anything that might help. As far as I can remember the highest connection speed I've ever had to it was 75Mbps. Which isn't good enough for your FTTC, not even for mine now I have a decent sync speed.

So you have three options:-

Run wired, whcih is best anyway if you are close to the router, which you are;

Put up with the wireless speeds you get;

Get a router with better wireless. I use one of these which I got for just under £24 - they are often under £30, the price tends to change every day.

I don't claim it's a brilliant router, but using the 40MHz (2-channel) it connects me at 150Mbps which is my laptop card's maximum. On InSSIDer it show as offering 300Mbps.

Thanks for all your help Rob I will take your advice and go wired.

Happy New Year

And to you .