It's already too late - not showing on my Account Details Ugh

How do I test using the test socket? Do I plug the hub into the test socket and connect the PC to the hub by ethernet cable? Or do I have to plug an ADSL filter into the test socket and then connect the hub to one of its sockets and then connect PC via ethernet cable?

In reply to a post by PMSG:

How do I test using the test socket? Do I plug the hub into the test socket and connect the PC to the hub by ethernet cable? Or do I have to plug an ADSL filter into the test socket and then connect the hub to one of its sockets and then connect PC via ethernet cable?

spare adsl/vdsl microfilter into test socket, and then your hub one into the correct socket on the filter. Sometimes the faceplate can go, just like a microfilter can.

Can you post http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/ stats from the dsl checker, so we know more about your line. Keep the phone number blanked out obviously. Lots of us are helping because we all have had problems with our service at some stage.

DSL checker stats

Range A 33 20 6.6 4.3 18
Range B 32.2 18 6.5 3.8 14.9

Results of Think Broadband speed test run via test socket/ethernet to hub

D/L 14.3 and 14.1 U/L 1.8 and 1.8

Results of BT Wholesale speed test

D/L 13.56 and 13.88 U/L 2.52 and 2.87 Ping latency 34 and 22

I then rang the 'Further Diagnostics' and it showed similar actual speeds but then said 'acceptable range for this line' 10.64 - 15.19

(Does this mean that Openreach tells PlusNet I can get between 18 and 32.2 but I can hand it back if it's below 14.9 but in reality it only expects me to get between 10.64 and 15.19?????)

So.....is there anything I can do to get improved performance?

I'd contact Plusnet and complain you are below estimates they provided.

Speed test results aren't all that relevant.
It's the figures shown on the Plusnet Hub One that are used to determine if you are below the estimates.
The estimates are sync speed estimates not speed test estimates.

That acceptable range quoted on the Wholesale further diagnostics page looks like nonsense I wouldn't even mention them to Plusnet.

Those further diagnostics also showed the IP Profile, which is calculated from the actual sync at the time the modem connected to the cabinet (on FTTC) or exchange (on ADSLx).

It allows your ISP to buffer the downstream to you, preventing data arriving at the cabinet or exchange faster than it can come down the line to you. So preventing packet loss at that point. Though it may occur elsewhere due to noise.

The acceptable speed in that report is nothing to do with what speed your line should be able to connect and transmit at. Only what it is set to at that point in time.

Edited by RobertoS (Wed 21-Aug-19 10:47:56)

Thanks for info Roberto. Excuse my ignorance but does that mean that my speed is restricted to 15.19 by that setting regardless of what speed could be achieved??

Not exactly.

The sync/connection speed by definition determines how fast your line can transmit data, and the estimates are of your achievable sync. However various outside factors can reduce the maximum achievable which is why clean and impacted ranges are given.

Every time your modem or modem/router connects to the modem at the other end it will be at a (hopefully only slightly) different speed. The IP Profile is calculated from that actual line speed that time.

However, the speed data goes down the line is a different thing altogether, and is what speed tests try to report. Think of having a simple phone conversation with someone. The speed you speak determines how quickly your listener gets what you are saying, and vice versa. But the electronic signals are basically going at the speed of light.

If your download speeds are low, that can be due to a low connection speed or congestion somewhere within the network, or other factors. Which is what your thread is about. All I was trying to explain was the achievable figures that you got from the Further Diagnostics.

Those vary directly with the connection speed and alter every time your modem disconnects and connects. They have nothing whatsoever to do with either the speed your line should connect at, or what it is connected at, or that the data comes down the line.

They are a result, information only, telling you the expected speed test and real data speeds to be expected from the current sync speed. If the line should be connecting faster, as per the estimates, these Further Diagnostics don�t know anything about that.

A bit like a thermometer (sync and IP Profile) and a forecast of temperatures for the day (achievable on the day). On a different day with different weather (different sync speed) those figures change. The BT Wholesale estimates for your line however tell you more like the sort of climate you can expect in your part of the world as opposed to mid-Sahara (FTTP).

The IP profile will change automatically as your sync speed (the speed reported by the router - if its a Plusnet Hub One this is the Helpdesk page under troubleshooting) increases or decreases.

So, if your line conditions improved and the modem sync'ed at a higher speed the IP profile would increase also in line with the sync speed.

The IP profile is always lower than the sync speed as there are overheads involved in running the connection.

Just a clarification, as there is often confusion on forums. And even in ISP adverts.

There are several different �speeds�. In descending order:-

The sync/connection speed.
The data throughout speed over an Ethernet connection to a modem or modem/router.
The data throughput speed over a wireless connection to a router or wireless access point.

We need to be sure in any conversation that everyone in the thread, or reading/writing an advert, is talking about the same one of those and specifically say if they mean a different one .