A downgrade too far?

I've been with Pipex for just over three years. A year ago I was upgraded from 512k to a 2mb (fixed) service. I've been very pleased with it, with actual download speed consistently in the region of 1.7mb.

Just over a week ago, synchronization started to become a little hit and miss. A couple of (different) times a day it would drop off for maybe an hour or two, and then all would be well again. Still, it started to get annoying, so I put a call into Pipex and after all the usual tests, BT visited and proclaimed that I was too far from the exchange to support 2mb. Huh?

I showed the engineer how it was indeed supporting 2mb (at that moment), albeit with an attenuation of 63.0dB and a noise margin of 7.6dB. Borderline perhaps, but I have a screenshot of my router stats from January which shows an attenuation of 63.5dB and a noise margin of 3.9dB. In other words, worse - but I've had no problems then or since.

The engineer told me that *Pipex* might downgrade the speed, or they might put me on ADSL Max. The following day Pipex called and said that *BT* had downgraded my line to 512k. I asked if the downgrade could be to 1mb rather than going all the way down to 512k. Pipex called BT, then called me back and said that BT wouldn't budge.

So, I'm now running at 512k - a quarter of the speed that I had previously enjoyed for months. Pipex would switch me to ADSL Max - if I sign up to another 12-month contract (that's not really a problem, but it's a bit rich in the circumstances to justify it as my being 'upgraded'!).

What I find frustrating is the lack of interest (or ability, if I am to believe Pipex) to give the customer the best service possible. With clear empirical evidence that the line does support 2mb and has done for 11 months, is there any way I can reach someone sensible (in Openreach?) who will let me at least *try* the next best thing (i.e. 1mb)?

Any thoughts, comments and/or pointers would be much appreciated.

Your line is out limits for a fixed rate 1Mbits (<60db) or 2Mbits (<45db?) service from BT wholesale. The final descision would be down to Wholesale .
Your only option would be to try an ADSL max based service.

the fixed speed services have attenuation limits and 60 dB is the limit for 1M.

Your 2M service limit is 43 dB hence when "synchronization started to become a little hit and miss" it was downgraded to the correct service for the attenuation.

MaxDSL wouldn't have this hangup, but if you ended up on a high SNR margin due to instability you could be back at 512k or worse.

If the checker at www.btwholesale.com/getbroadband is offerring 1M fixed speed (as well as a Max prediction) than an ISP with a 1M fixed package should be able to put you on it, otherwise you'll struggle.

Thanks, Phil - it looks like I'm a victim of policy rather than practicality, as I have been enjoying a 2mb service for 11 months (with an attenuation of ~60dB all along) - until BT found out and took their ball back. I accept that some downgrading is necessary, but is it too much to ask to just *try* 1mb, and if sync is still an issue, *then* I go to 512k?

Point is, I'm willing to "struggle". Are there any points of contact in BT that would be willing to help, or an enlightened ISP that would put in more effort than Pipex? Pipex are insisting that I commit to a new 12 month contract to convert to ADSL Max, i.e. effectively they have told me to shop around.

BT checker reports that I should be able to get up to 512Kbps fixed and "2MB or greater" for ADSL Max. FWIW, now I'm on 512k fixed, my noise margin has gone up to 21.8dB.

there are plenty of monthly contract ISPs around, some of which (the Entanet dealers) have fixed speed and Max products available so would be able to change you around although they may struggle to order anythnig faster than 512k fixed speed as it is outside limits.

Your problem is that the service you were enjoying got to the point where you reported it as a fault.

Why not switch to Max on an ISP with a one month contract. If you don't like it you can switch again back to the fixed speed 512k option.