Fibre Speeds and Extra

Looking for some advice around line speeds

I am on PlusNet Fibre and getting speeds of about 38Mb downstream. Under their Fibre product that I am on, this is the maximum. To get faster, I need to move to Fibre Extra. Of course, I don't know if my line speed is limited by the package I am on or if that's genuinely all it's capable of.

I checked the BT Wholesale ADSL Checker and it says my phone number, my cabinet should get something around the 50 mark. OK, not huge numbers higher, but higher.
FTTC Range A (Clean) 55.3 35.7 13.9 8.3 -- Available
FTTC Range B (Impacted) 46.5 27.4 13.7 6.1 -- Available

Also, when I was on non-Fibre ADSL, this checker predicted 5Mb down and I consistently synched at 8Mb and never dropped. Rock solid max speed. Therefore, my track record is that the ADSL Checker underestimates my house and has done for a few years since the house was built.

So, heartened that I could get faster, and possibly that I may even exceed these numbers, I called PlusNet to move to their 'Extra' product. They told me the 'Extra' wasn't available because "my line has not been enabled for it" and that "the BT Checker is unreliable and should not be used" and that "their checker is what they have to go by". Apparently their checker says my line can only do 35Mb. The fact I am getting 38Mb would seem to de-bunk that. Their agent advised that it's BT Wholesale who prevent the Extra product being available for them to sell to me.

So, can someone help here? Is the BT Checker known for promising products that aren't available? Is this really something PlusNet can't do? Is my speed limited by their package or the technical capacity? Is there any way I can check?

All help welcome.

that it's BT Wholesale who prevent the Extra product being available for them to sell to me

This is complete rubbish. My line is slightly slower than yours on estimates and on BT Retail I am on the 80/20 package. The person at PlusNet doesn't know what they are talking about.

The actual benefit you get may be fairly small but the main reason I went 80/20 is that I then get 15Mb/s upstream instead of being limited to 10Mb on 40/10. The fact PlusNet's lower package is now 40/2 means that even people who can't get 40Mb/s may benefit from better upstream on the higher package.

You could try ringing them again and seeing if you can get someone who knows what they are talking about. Be careful of it automatically extending your contract though - there are a lot of people leaving PlusNet at the moment due to support (like support people not knowing what they are talking about!) and speed problems so you may not want to get tied in long term (or you need to be consciously choosing a tie in if that is what happens).

Remember the checkers give a range of estimates too, the real key is what speed is the modem connection at.

If the connection is syncing at below 40 Mbps then removing the sync cap will not make you go faster. All Extra does is remove a sync cap imposed by Openreach, it does not unleash extra technology to make you go faster.

If for example an extra 4 Mbps on top of what you have now is worth the money then a decent ISP will listen, advise that they cannot guarantee anything and regrade if you ask.

If you haven't already done so, I suggest you post your experience in the Fibre section of the Plusnet Community Forums. One of the reps might take pity on you and upgrade you to 80/20, but it's a manual process at the moment - the normal Plusnet computer says "no."

What modem do you have? If it is an HG612 then when unlocked you will see the actual speed your line can achieve. It may be 38.5 or it may be 55.5 ... you will not know until you look.

When you see what it can do, then make a decision as to whether it is value for money.