Fibre 150 speeds have fallen off a cliff

[johnnybegood]

I have had g fast installed since October, I was told at the time I would get 140 down and 20 up and after 2-3 weeks the line settled at these speeds up until approx 3 weeks ago when I noticed speeds at peak time around 7pm dropping as low as 42 and early morning not getting above 82.

Nothing has changed my end with the set up, doing the same test using the 3 different rmethods I have always used, Wifi from chromebook, Wifi from phone and Ethernet from laptop, all are very similar at best 83 down and 14 up.

The service I should be getting is at least 109 guaranteed but currently getting the same speeds I was having on the faster fibre at £5 per month less, I was sold this new service on the fact it would nearly double my speeds. Can someone from TT run a few checks to see if anything has changed on the line, I am using the TT hub and the separate open reach installed fibre modem. But as I say nothing has changed here except the speeds, so are TT slowing down the speeds to enable the service to run smoothly for everyone? At least if I know that's the case I don't need to go looking for an issue. 

[OCE_Michelle]

Hi johnny,

I'm sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I've run a test on the line which hasn't detected a fault. Could you run a few wired speed tests using the TalkTalk Speed Tester so we can see how your throughput speeds compare to the sync speed please?

Thanks

[johnnybegood]

Hi Michelle

Since my original post there have been a couple of developments. Last Friday 1st May at around 9.30am my connection was lost completely, after the speed kept dropping. I ran a test via TT service checker and a line fault was detected, BT OR attended the street on the Saturday morning (Excellent Response) and found a fault with cabling in the street, I spoke with the OR engineer and explained that the speed would gradually degrade until it finally goes pop.

So I was back up and running by midday Saturday,. I run a few tests since then and it is now more consistent but still down on the speeds I am paying for with Gfast 150. The engineer from the street got a sync speed of 138mbps but I cannot get more than 100mbps, its usually around 90mbps on average. Going back 6 weeks ago I was getting 140mbps so I know I can get these kind of speeds, is it a case of waiting to see if they improve again or TT slowing everyone down due to the current network load, or could it be that another part of the network from my property is degrading and just waiting to pop if the age of the cabling is similar to that was fixed the weekend.

I have run 3 tests this evening and got 84mbps, 91mbps and 82mbps, this is at 9.40pm.

So in summary it's better than when I first posted but still around 40-50mbps lower than I was getting 6 weeks ago and around 20-30mbps lower than the speeds I was guaranteed, so where do I go from here. 

[OCE_Michelle]

Hi johnny,

Thanks for the additional information. If the sync speed has increased, however the throughput is still low then we usually advise switching the router off for a full 30 minutes and then retest the speed again as this will reset the current session. I'm not sure if this will work or not for GFAST. Do you have a separate modem and router?

Thanks

[johnnybegood]

Yes sperate modem and router which does not allow me to access the sync speed as its locked to OR, I have not been able to test the current sync speeds it was the OR engineer whilst doing work in the street who told me the sync speed was showing at 136mbps from the street. I have no idea what the sync speed of the modem is as I cannot access that information. Still tho cannot get above 100mbps no matter where in the house I am / wired wireless its all the same. I will try the switch on and off for 30 mins to see what happens.

[OCE_Michelle]

Hi johnny,

How did you get on following the 30 minute router power down? Has there been any improvement in throughput speed?

Thanks

[ifanyonecan]

Hi

Have you plugged anything into your network that runs at a maximum of 100mb as this can sometimes make the rest of the network run at the lower speed and would max at 100mb.

Mark

[johnnybegood]

Thanks both, I have tried the 30 min power down and there have been no significant changes in speeds in the last 24 hours, still staying below 100mbps. I have checked the TT service centre dashboard and it has an explanation mark against line speed saying 101mbps when it should be between 119 and 160mbps. This is aligned to the max speeds I have been experiencing, I was getting 77mbps on the previous faster fibre contract , upgraded to G Fast and got 140 mbps for approx 3 - 4 months, but now always below 100 mbps, I have disconnected everything from the network and reconnected 1 by 1 and little changes, the speeds have dropped and my end have made no changes to devices or network set up. The incoming master socket is brand new and changed by OR in November and wiring checked as part of G Fast install. Frustrating I cannot access sync speeds as now have separate modem and router.

How long do I need to suffer these speeds until it will become a case of not meeting min guaranteed speeds, at the moment I am getting an extra 10-15mbps more download and 5mbps less upload speeds (15mbps now was 20mbps) than my previous fast fibre contract which was costing £5 per month less.

I cannot speak to anyone via phone and chat is never available.

Thanks for your support so far, but I really need to know where this is going and how long I will need to wait for speeds to be restored or if there would be an option to drop back to my previous package.

[OCE_Michelle]

Hi johnnybegood,

I'm really sorry for the delay in getting back to you. The line test is indicating a potential issue towards or in the property. Can I just confirm has the set up changed at all since the engineer installed it? Is the voice service working ok with no noise on the line?

We can arrange an engineer visit to the property for you, however we can't guarantee that the engineer would be able to enter the property due to the COVID-19 guidelines and also as they are prioritising total loss of service faults for vulnerable customers. Would you like us to try and arrange a visit for you?

Thanks

[johnnybegood]

Thanks Michele for getting back with the update and just to update you. Before I was able to carry out a check for any noise on the land line this evening we lost all connection, when I got in at around 7pm the router had the orange solid light and devices would not connect. Left it half hour but still a solid orange light so switched off both router and modem for approx 2 mins, came back with a blinking orange / white light and then went solid orange again, then some 20 mins later it went to a solid white light and Internet was restored, run a few tests and the speeds are now maxing at 101mbps, so we have broken through the 100mbps that is over half a dozen tests. Not sure if something has been done on the line or you have submitted an error log to the openreach team for investigation but we have an improvement this evening in the right direction. For voice calls the line is not perfect, there does seem to be a bit of interference but that could be my aging cordless devices, unfortunately I don't have a standard plug in phone but can if you wish get my hands on one to try, for all the Internet speed tests I carry out I do disconnect the cordless phones to prevent any interference, only plugging them in when required.



If you have not already raised an engineer call do you think it may be worth waiting a further day or 2 to see if the speeds increase any further? There has been a definite step change this evening. 

[johnnybegood]

The max speed this evening is 110mbps not the 101mbps I posted so quite a step from where I have been and that was quite consistent over 5 or 6 tests.

[OCE_Karl]

Hi

I've logged this to Openreach as I'm picking up an issue on the line.

Check back in 48hrs and we can see what they have done.

Thanks  

Karl.