Low speed options

Its that time of the year where my broadband is up for renewal.

For my line BT Wholesale state a maximum achievable speed of 50mbs.

However any provider I go to will only offer me a maximum of 33mbs (my BT Broadband current package speed)

Why cant i find a provider that would offer what BT wholesale says the line can support?

In reply to a post by jcrocker:

Its that time of the year where my broadband is up for renewal.

For my line BT Wholesale state a maximum achievable speed of 50mbs.

However any provider I go to will only offer me a maximum of 33mbs (my BT Broadband current package speed)

Why cant i find a provider that would offer what BT wholesale says the line can support?

You won't have been quoted a single figure, it will be a range, and that range is an estimate. If your actual line speed is 33Mbps, then that's what you'll get. It will be the same for all providers, since they all use the same Openreach DSLAM and copper wire.

Where did you get the 33Mbps figure? Make sure you are talking about sync speed reported by the modem, not a speedtest.net or similar; the speedtest.net result will always be lower by ~10%. The sync speed should be available from the router's web interface.

Hello

The quote for a new package from any provider gives an estimated speed of 33-36mbs. However BT Wholesale checker quotes a maximum of 50mbs.

I am prevented of purchasing a faster speed even though BT Wholesales own data seems to indicate the line will support it.

I have been on LLU in the past with Sky and Talktalk where the line has happily supported 45mbs with no drops or reliability issues so I know the line will support it.

In reply to a post by jcrocker:

I have been on LLU in the past with Sky and Talktalk where the line has happily supported 45mbs with no drops or reliability issues so I know the line will support it.

"In the past" - but not now. How many other connections have been added to te cabinet and cable since? Almost certainly the previous 45 Mbps will have degraded.

Your only real choice is to choose a provider that offers a 55/10 service and see what you get. If the line will support 35, 45, 50, 55 then that is what you will get. Even if a provider says 33 and the line supports say 48 you will get 48.

What *range* does the BT Wholesale checker report? It doesn't just return one number.

A screenshot of the BTW checker would be helpful - blank out the address/phone at the top.

If it shows "Observed speeds", include that too. Those are the sync speeds as measured from the DSLAM end, updated every week or two.

Here is the checker results

https://ibb.co/R6yvBp6

Max observable 50mbs
Range: 40-55mbs clean 54-35mbs impacted (its a new clean line)
Router ssays max attainable is 50mbs
Line is apparently 645metres long

But im only offered packages effectively throttled at 33mbs maximum!

Edited by jcrocker (Thu 07-Apr-22 11:21:58)

Sorry whats a 55/10 service?

My checker results are https://ibb.co/R6yvBp6

Like it says on the tin; 55Mbps download / 10Mbps upload.

This is a service offered by some providers presumably as a result of the Advertising Standards Authority changing the rules so that broadband speeds can only be advertised with reference to the actual speeds obtained rather than the headline speed cap. Before this ruling the norm was to offer two packages, 80/20 and 40/10. Those customers who wanted the maximum possible speed and who could achieve say 50Mbps download would opt for the 80/20 package which brought the average speeds achieved for that package well below the high 70s the ISP would like to advertise. To avoid this bad news for the marketing department, I guess that the 55/10 packages were introduced to try and take the lower speed data out of the 80/20 marketing.

Don't worry about throttling. I think what you see is that the packages you are offered provide a *guarantee* of 33Mbps, but they will work at 50Mbps, because that's the speed you get today (unless you buy a package which is capped at 40Mbps down)

Over time your 50Mbps may degrade, as more users take up service - FTTC crosstalk reduces performance - or the line degrades. That's why they'll only guarantee 33Mbps. Also the minimum "impacted" speed for your line is 35Mbps.

As I said before, just order a 55/10 service and you will get whatever it can support.


You also say, "its a new clean line" and "where the line has happily supported 45mbs " , so is it a new line or an old one?


Or even go for a 40/10 and then see what the Max Achievable is - if it is way above 40, then upgrade with that supplier to 80/20. You will have extra costs, and te contract will restart but as you will be doing it with a few days that will be minor.

Edited by MHC (Thu 07-Apr-22 14:50:09)

In reply to a post by MHC:

As I said before, just order a 55/10 service and you will get whatever it can support.

Or an 80/20, since few providers offer 55/10 (mainly BT).

For example: with Plusnet, "Unlimited Fibre" is 40/10, "Unlimited Fibre Extra" is 80/20.

Signed up to a Zen Internet deal that says it will offer the supported line speed, works out less in terms of price than my current supplier for a slower speed so lets see what happens.

Went for SOGEA, as the only thing i get on the landline these days are spam calls.

Interesting, what deal did you get?

Right now Zen is offering me £30 per month for 40/10, plus a £20 setup-fee, on a 12 month contract.