Plusnet current line speed

I am another one who is getting fed up with Plusnet's artificial line speed cap aka current line speed. I have to ask Plusnet much too often to correct mine to allow me to get the correct download speed from my sync rate.

I have been trying to get PN to change my CLS because it is consistently stuck below my sync speed. At last after over a week of trying via a ticket they looked at my sync speed of 5.3 and changed my CLS to 5.3 as well a day or two ago. Today it has gone back to 4.6 !!!!
Why? My line is good and stable with no loss of connection unless I resync myself.
Despite the fact that I am on 21CN my ip profile is stuck at 4.14 where it has been for over a week, this despite PN saying on the 11th that they had reset my line.

The biggest problem with PN tickets is that there is always a delay of 2-3 days between each action which adds to the frustration. And there is always a wait of 30 mins if I want to phone them.

I think it is time to look around for another isp. This would be a shame as I have been with them since the first days of ADSL. But if they cannot sort a simple issue like this quickly then why should I stay loyal any longer.

Can anyone clarify what this CLS should represent : the sync speed, download/throughput speed, the ip profile or some other value derived from a secret formula devised by Plusnet.

In reply to a post by jaba:

Can anyone clarify what this CLS should represent : the sync speed, download/throughput speed, the ip profile or some other value derived from a secret formula devised by Plusnet.

The IP Profile rounded down slightly.

And on WBC ADSL2+ the IP Profile is 88.2% of the sync.

Edit - so the IP Profile for 5300kbps is 4.67Mbps. CLS possibly 4.66Mbps. Looking at the OP, I'd be very surprised if the IP Profile is still 4.14Mbps.

Edited by RobertoS (Fri 18-Apr-14 15:44:14)

Yes, and? Your 'And' is a non-sequitur. I wasn't defining IPP but CLS as asked.

Your edit proves my definition.

It wasn't redundant, in that by ignoring it my post is indeed strange in being a reply to your post. "and" as in "in addition to that ...", for the OP's information. From all his previous posts he seems unaware as late as 2013 that the IP Profile system is no longer banded. I forgot to say it doesn't have a several day delay either .

Thanks for the input guys. My exchange went 21CN 3 months ago. Prior to that I had to wait several days for the profile to update. From my observations since then the profile moves very quickly with any sync speed change.
Until now that is. Both TBB speedtests and ip profile are 4.1x even though sync is 5312 and has been for days now.

But my current line speed is 4.6 which is 86.5% of my 5312 sync rate. This does not tally with the suggestion that the CLS is slightly more than the ip profile (assuming it is 88.2% of sync)

Update: Just completed another BT speedtest : [IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/jbuk/btiptst1...[/IMG]
It is not telling the truth though because a TBB speedtest still runs at 4.1x and 3.9x for the multiple thread test.

Something is not quite right here there is no consistency between sync speed, ip profile and PN's annoying CLS.

What AV/FW system are you running?

In reply to a post by jaba:

This does not tally with the suggestion that the CLS is slightly more than the ip profile

Reread! I said slightly less!

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

What AV/FW system are you running?

AV = Avast free
FW = Privatefirewall

What do you make of the d/load speed being more than the ip profile ?? The test looks a bit flaky to me.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

In reply to a post by jaba:

This does not tally with the suggestion that the CLS is slightly more than the ip profile

Reread! I said slightly less!

Grovel grovel you are of course correct sir.
But what about the BT speedtest anomaly ?

I sometimes got higher speeds than the BT IP profile would suggest the connection should get and my connection is 20CN, I put it down to occasional error within the BT software if that is actually possible in the BT non virtual reality???

Edit > typo

Edited by Apprentice (Fri 18-Apr-14 23:27:09)

There have been a couple like that in the last week. None before that I remember. It could be BT Wholesale are mucking about modifying the test again and screwing up. Not for the first time.

The reason I asked about the Internet Security is that some firewalls can cause weird effects on speed tests. Avira and Kaspersky being common suspects.

The sequence is:- Connect, sync speed is determined >> IP Profile is determined almost straight away >> IP Profile change is logged by BTW >> a few times a day Plusnet interrogate that log and apply a slightly lower Current line speed, which is what ultimately limits your line download speed.

The links in that chain are not robust. It shouldn't be possible for throughput to exceed IP Profile on the BT test. However, it's my understanding there are at least two copies of the IP Profile in the BTW system. What we see in the speed test report is just a figure used for reports. The other one is what actually controls the speed. The two do seem occasionally to get out of step, with the Plusnet CLS being set by the real limiting one.

ISPs are expected to monitor the IP Profile and make sure nothing arrives at the DSLAM from them faster than it, as that would mean the DSLAM would have to drop random packets because they couldn't all go down your line. Plusnet and a few others certainly do this, and Plusnet are able to buffer your line to some extent.

Thanks Roberto. I am still left with an underperforming line. The TBB speedtest is consistently returning 4.13Mbps with a sync of 5312. So I too do not believe the BT speed figure logged.
I can't seem to get Plusnet to do anything about it. They blame DLM, my house wiring or filtering, the BTW maximum speed estimate of 4Mbps and so on..........

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

And on WBC ADSL2+ the IP Profile is 88.2% of the sync.

Edit - so the IP Profile for 5300kbps is 4.67Mbps. CLS possibly 4.66Mbps. Looking at the OP, I'd be very surprised if the IP Profile is still 4.14Mbps.

Well you will be surprised in that case. [IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/jbuk/btiptst1...[/IMG]

This morning nothing has changed : still synced at 5312, diurnal variation of snr from 7-5db and the line profile stuck down at 4.14 for 11 days. It is just not resetting and following the sync speed any more. Running the TBB speedtest the throughput is always at 4Mbps not the false result in the BT test above. Also the upload speed is not right either I think.

Plusnet are not responding to my ticket asking them to do something. Their last reply said they had looked at some statistics for my line and it is not capable of running any faster than 4Mb reliably !!! There is no evidence for this plus it is synced at 5312 without dropping ever.

It is true that the BT test result does show the maximum speed for my line is 4Mbps but this is obviously refuted by the 20% higher sync speed.

What should I do - nothing, hassle Plusnet or just ask for a MAC ?

In reply to a post by jaba:

What should I do - nothing, hassle Plusnet or just ask for a MAC ?

I'd do nothing. Look at RobertoS' figures. 88.2% of 5312 is 4.7Mb/s. A PN profile of 4.14 sounds a bit low but not hugely so. Take off 15% for TCP overheads and you have 3.5Mb/s.

Even without the PN line speed you're still only looking at 3.95Mb/s which is probably where PN's statement that you can't get better than 4Mb/s comes from. They are right - you will never see throughput higher than 4Mb/s.

But it does seem that being with PN is costing you .5Mb/s. If it were me I'd ignore it but if you feel it's worth changing ISPs over then go for it.

In reply to a post by Andrue:

In reply to a post by jaba:

What should I do - nothing, hassle Plusnet or just ask for a MAC ?

I'd do nothing. Look at RobertoS' figures. 88.2% of 5312 is 4.7Mb/s. A PN profile of 4.14 sounds a bit low but not hugely so. Take off 15% for TCP overheads and you have 3.5Mb/s.

Even without the PN line speed you're still only looking at 3.95Mb/s which is probably where PN's statement that you can't get better than 4Mb/s comes from. They are right - you will never see throughput higher than 4Mb/s.

But it does seem that being with PN is costing you .5Mb/s. If it were me I'd ignore it but if you feel it's worth changing ISPs over then go for it.

The TBB speedtest is consistently returning 4.13Mbps with a sync of 5312

Which is actually better than I'd expect for that sync so speed and to my mind nothing to complain about. But perhaps I'm confused.

In reply to a post by Andrue:

But perhaps I'm confused.

I think you are! By this:

Take off 15% for TCP overheads and you have 3.5Mb/s.

IPP accounts for most of that.

Uh uh .

The PN Current Line speed was 4.66. It's the IP Profile that was 4.14, but is apparently being ignored.

That comes down to the one reported by the BT Test not being the one applied to the line. We've seen that a few times.

You seem to have copied a link incompletely. It doesn't work, because the actual link is exactly what we can see in the post.

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 22-Apr-14 18:59:00)

It's a copy of this one:

In reply to a post by jaba:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/jbuk/btiptst1...

but as that was 4 days old the 'still' is suspect.

Thanks.

Well inside daylight hours, turn your modem/router off for 5-10 minutes. Then on again and post the full router stats. Please also post the contents of the download and upload text boxes of the Further diagnostics. (It's easier to copy and paste them individually than to mess around with images).

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 22-Apr-14 20:55:09)

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Well inside daylight hours, turn your modem/router off for 5-10 minutes. Then on again and post the full router stats. Please also post the contents of the download and upload text boxes of the Further diagnostics. (It's easier to copy and paste them individually than to mess around with images).

Things have changed slightly this morning, so here we go............
1. BEFORE Reset:
/usr/sbin/adslctl: ADSL driver and PHY status
Status: ShowtimeRetrain Reason: 0
Channel: FAST, Upstream rate = 446 Kbps, Downstream rate = 5312 Kbps
Link Power State: L0
Mode: ADSL2+
Channel: Fast
Trellis: U:ON /D:ON
Line Status: No Defect
Training Status: Showtime
Down Up
SNR (dB): 6.2 18.0
Attn(dB): 53.5 33.4
Pwr(dBm): 0.0 12.8
Max(Kbps): 4812 800
Rate (Kbps): 5312 446

2. AFTER :
/usr/sbin/adslctl: ADSL driver and PHY status
Status: ShowtimeRetrain Reason: 0
Channel: FAST, Upstream rate = 446 Kbps, Downstream rate = 5388 Kbps
Link Power State: L0
Mode: ADSL2+
Channel: Fast
Trellis: U:ON /D:ON
Line Status: No Defect
Training Status: Showtime
Down Up
SNR (dB): 7.7 18.3
Attn(dB): 54.0 33.5
Pwr(dBm): 0.0 12.8
Max(Kbps): 5272 856
Rate (Kbps): 5388 446

3. BTW Diagnostics :
Download speedachieved during the test was - 4.92 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 1.2 Mbps-4 Mbps.
IP Profile for your line is - 4.14 Mbps

Upload speed achieved during the test was - 0.31Mbps
Additional Information:
Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 0.45 Mbps

Clearly the 4.92 is not accurate as it is 91% of the sync speed and not achievable in the real world at my end of the line.
IP profile still showing 4.14 though !

Plusnet have responded saying, unbelievably, we are only first line support and can do no more and I must raise the problem as a fault !! Then a further reply asked for speedtest results so I sent them a clip of my TBB tests since the issue started on April 11th.

This is the 1st time you have told us your attn. You are getting an extremely good sync from it. Your line is certainly not underperforming.

What do you get from the TBB speedtest?

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

This is the 1st time you have told us your attn. You are getting an extremely good sync from it. Your line is certainly not underperforming.

What do you get from the TBB speedtest?

Exactly XraySpecs, good isn't it. Atten. used to be 52 with 20CN but for the last two months on 21CN I have seen usually 53.5 and today 54.

TBB speedtest shows consistently :

Tue 22/04/14 00:09 4.09 Mbps 3.92 Mbps 0.36 Mbps

This 4Mbps is in keeping with my ip profile and highlights my issue. Why can I not enjoy a larger percentage of my excellent sync speed ?

In reply to a post by jaba:

Atten. used to be 52 with 20CN but for the last two months on 21CN I have seen usually 53.5 and today 54.

That's correct. Usually ADSL2+ increases attn. by about 3dB.

Your sync is v. good and your throughput is only slightly down on what you could expect, say 4.4 to 4.5 Meg. The only anomaly really is that the BT IPP is being reported bizarrely.