Plusnet say <1mbps download is acceptable

Posting on behalf of elderly relative, who uses broadband to check emails and do the occasional bit of internet shopping. Nothing else, no streaming, no wifi. She recently moved house and transferred her plusnet contract to the new house.

We have been trying to help her sort out her broadband issues as it is frequently unuseable. We haven't even been able to run a speed check as they either time out or fail. After about 1.5 hours on the phone to plusnet, they told me that her broadband speed (plugged into test socket) was 0.7mbps, and this was acceptable for her area so there is no issue. They said if she wanted faster than 0.7mbps she should get fibre, which is available in her area.

As my relative has very limited internet useage, she doesn't want to pay the extra cost of fibre. She even resents having to pay for broadband as she uses it so little.

How can I find out if 0.7mbps really is the acceptable internet speed for her area? I have suggested she ask her neighbours who they are with and what speeds they get, but is there any other way I can find out? If I plug her postcode into USwitch broadband checker it says average 2.5mbps but I dont know how accurate this is.

Can anyone suggest what we do next? Other than just get her to pay for fibre

Try entering the address or telephone number into the BT DSL checker it will indicate the expected speed for the address

https://www.dslchecker.bt.com

Edited by deleted (Tue 21-Jan-20 14:58:42)

How much are they paying Plusnet?

Fibre services are avialable in the £21 to £23 range at the bargain end via firms like TalkTalk, Vodafone and Plusnet.

Fibre or FTTC, Andrew?

FTTC as in VDSL2 as in Fibre to the Cabinet usually, but once the providers start selling FTTP no reason it will not have a similar price for entry level 40/10 speed in areas where FTTC is not superfast.

Plugged number into the BT Broadband checker link. Got this for ADSL. Couldn't get it to do columns. Middle column is Downstream line rate. Right column is Downstream Range. I don't know the difference between these, or beween ADSL2+ and ADSL Max but will google

I suppose if the broadband she is on is 'up to 1.5mbps (line rate)', then that explains why plusnet think 0.7 is acceptable.

WBC ADSL 2+ ____ Up to 3 ____ 2 to 5.5
ADSL Max ______ Up to 1.5 ____ 1.5 to 4.5

I will try and find out what she is paying though. She couldn't remember when I asked. I assumed about £10 a month, but can't find any standard broadband for anything like that price, so it must be more. We've been on Fibre for years, so I hadn't looked at standard broadband prices for a very long time.

Lots of people quote the broadband price without including the line rental element especially if they have had the service for a few years.

Did the checker give any VDSL speed indications

As MrSaffron says check for VDSL speeds, if its available you may be able to get a good deal on VDSL for her but you will need to make a note of the contract length so some haggling can be done before it expires as the price will go up.

If she doesn't use it much is she perhaps eligible for BT Basic and the broadband element of that?
https://btplc.com/inclusion/ProductsAndServices/BTBa...

It wouldn't be any faster, but they might at least try to chase up what is going on.

Any idea what the 4G signal strength and download speed is like?

How about dumping the land line rental, call charges and broadband (£20pm?) and getting a sim with unlimited calls/texts and say 2GB data for £7pm? Either use/tether a phone or splash out on a 10 inch Samsung 4G tablet with a bluetooth keyboard which would be paid for by the savings in 18 months.