Plusnet Fibre v Plusnet Fibre Extra

Currently on PN Fibre (FTTC)
The Cabinet is located on the road outside the rural Exchange, the remaining 3/4 mile route on 50yr old copper
Eg 10% Fibre + 90% Copper
My current speed is 28 -32Mbs

On my renewal PN have offered me Fibre Extra at 46-51Mbs and guaranteed 41Mbs

How can they acheive this speed on virtually a copper route
I cant even get the max advertised speed on their cheaper Fibre package
Am I throwing away my money if I upgrade to Extra

I trialled EE Mobile broadband with an Huawei B525 router at 48Mbs

What method are you using to determine "current speed is 28-32Mbps"? Is this your modem sync speed, or via some Internet speedtest site? If the latter, are you using a wired ethernet connection to your router, or wifi?

What you really care about here is the "sync speed" on your existing router/modem - if its web interface supports that. It should show "actual rate" and "attainable rate".

If the "actual rate" is say 39999kbps and the "attainable rate" is higher, then you will get higher speeds by paying a bit more for Fibre Extra. (In other words, your speed is capped at 40Mbps)

But if your current sync speed is 32Mbps then you definitely won't get anything faster by taking Extra.

Of course, if Plusnet are happy to guarantee you 41Mbps, and you get less, then they have to send an engineer round to fix it.

Finally, can you show a screenshot of broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com for your line, with your address or phone number blanked out? This will probably explain where Plusnet are getting their figures from. But it should also show "Observed speeds" which show the actual sync speed as detected by the Openreach DSLAM.

I use the BT Performance Checker for the speed test
Wi- Fi 34 download and 10 upload but Desktop and laptop in same room
Ethernet 35 download and 10.7 upload, ethernet cable direct to Desktop

I have details you asked for, but I cant figure out how to send and attachment/screenshot on this forum

Edited by bures (Thu 07-Apr-22 18:40:58)

Upload to imgur.com or pasteimg.com or similar, and post the link here.

I would say that's close to the maximum obtainable after overheads on a 40/10 connection against a speed test server. Especially if you have not turned every other internet device off. You are basically maxing out the upload which strongly suggests that the sync on your line is capped to 40/10 and if you pay more you will get a higher sync speed.

Note your route is not 90% copper and 10% fibre because your cabinet is almost certainly not connected to your local exchange, but much further away, anything up to 20km away. It will be 90% fibre and 10% copper.

No idea how that works
Look at this URL

http://www.bures.org.uk/bures/check.jpg

I can assure you the Fibre Cabinet is connected to the exchange
Its located in the main road where an unmade track leads to the exchange

Look at this map
http://www.bures.org.uk/bures/route.jpg

Thanks for taking an interest in this conundrum

In reply to a post by bures:

http://www.bures.org.uk/bures/check.jpg

OK, that's very helpful.

Your line has a predicted speed range of 50.7-70.5 Mbps (based on a mathematical line model), in the absence of problems like bridge taps.

You are actually achieving 56.9 Mbps - see "Max Observed Downstream Speed". That is within the predicted range, so it's fine. (Your observed upload speed of 16.23 Mbps is also good, right at the top of the predicted range)

The results you'll get from sending real Internet traffic over this, such as measured by a "speedtest" site, should be maybe 92%-94% of this, depending on some technical parameters of the line.

If you're consistently only seeing 28-32Mbps then this implies there is a problem with your home network, or more likely the device doing the test. For example, some forms of Windows antivirus product have a huge negative impact on speed.

Try booting from an Ubuntu Live USB stick and doing the test again. Also, try doing a non-browser-based speed test - for example, install the Ookla (speedtest.net) app.

In reply to a post by bures:

I can assure you the Fibre Cabinet is connected to the exchange

The cabinet will be connected to the exchange with copper, but it's extremely unlikely in your rural location that the fibre goes there.

The fibre connections for both FTTC and FTTP go first to Fibre Aggregation Nodes (which you can't see - they're underground) and from there to larger "head end" exchanges which contains the equipment to light the fibres.

Most local exchanges are copper/voice/ADSL only. There is copper from the cabinet to your home ("D-side" or Distribution), and there is copper from the cabinet to your local exchange ("E-side" or Exchange). Those may well follow the path you expect.

However the fibre from the cabinet, and indeed the fibre from the exchange itself (to provide voice and ADSL services) will both go to fibre aggregation nodes - maybe the same one, maybe different ones - and very likely follow a completely different route to reach your nearest head-end exchange.

The head-end exchanges aren't published, but judging from Google Maps, I'd say Colchester is a possible location for yours.

In reply to a post by jabuzzard:

Note your route is not 90% copper and 10% fibre because your cabinet is almost certainly not connected to your local exchange, but much further away, anything up to 20km away. It will be 90% fibre and 10% copper.

In anycase quoting the ratio of fibre to copper length is meaningless. All that's important is the length of the 'last mile' copper in absolute terms