Heavily limited banded connection

[Setekh79]

Been a few storms around my way recently, I'm now cut down to 40mb from the 50+ I used to get.

Stability has returned and even my TalkTalk router says I should be doing much better than this:

Any advice or help is appreciated.

Thanks.

[AllyM]

@Setekh79 

I don't think the "speed to your router" is a real time measurement. It can take a day or so to update.

The screenshot of your router DSL information page shows that you are connected at a sync speed of about 44.8Mbps. If the actual throughput speed is still only around 37Mbps it may be worthwhile doing the 30 minute switch off as Michelle has advised.

The normal target SNR is 6dB, so 7.2 isn't far off.

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

Just checking back in to see how you're getting on?

Thanks

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

Thanks for the update. If the sync speed increases but the throughput speed remains low then we usually advise powering down the router for a full 30 minutes as this will reset the current session and can often increase the throughput speeds. We only advise trying this once in case DLM thinks the connection is unstable.

Thanks

[Setekh79]

Hello, I see the resync yesterday and speed has crept up a bit as you said, bit of a way to go but it is progress so I'll take it.

However, it seems that even though the sync speed has increased, throughput remains the same, speed tests show no improvement almost as if I'm still capped/banded...

 

SNRM is still at 7+, so there's plenty of improvement possible still.

Here's the speed test on your site that shows that I'm still at 39mbps:

I'll continue to leave gear as it is and see if anything changes. Sync going up is all good and everything, but if I'm IP profiled at 39 then it's a bit of a moot point.

Will check back Friday.

Thanks.

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

I've re-checked the connection stats and the sync speed has started to increase over the last 24hrs so hopefully this will continue if the connection continues to remain stable. We'll re-check the stats again in a few days.

Thanks

[Setekh79]

I was afraid you would say that, you're looking at my account and seeing what my minimum speed is because I renewed whilst I suffered reduced speed from normal, and now you're just seeing it as all green. Previous speed was 52+ and now I am hard capped at 40. It has been banded for months, I don't see it changing in the next few days, that's for sure.

I had a feeling this wouldn't go anywhere, I should have switched when I had the chance last month.

[Chris-TalkTalk]

OK thanks. The speeds you are getting are above the guaranteed minimum for you line and if the connection remains stable with a low error count then the speed should improve over the next few days.

Chris

[Setekh79]

I am currently connected to the test socket, yes.

And yes, It's the hard capped profile that is at the heart of this issue.

[Chris-TalkTalk]

The 30 minute power off wont help in this case I'm afraid, as the line profile is what's restricting your speed. Is your router still connected to the test socket?

Chris

[Setekh79]

No extensions, only 1 socket.

Nothing else connected.

Do I power off for 30 mins to restart session or leave it?

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi Setekh79,

Line test is passing and router is currently in sync at 40Mbps. How many telephone socket do you have? Do you have anything connected to your telephone socket(s) in addition to your router?

Chris

[ferguson]

Fair enough. What I suggested is risk-free though as it will not trigger DLM in itself, but may just kickstart the connection speed if you have suffered recent outages. Otherwise, it does look like you are on a fixed profile, on which I will leave the support team to advise further. 

[Setekh79]

I'm not going to anything further unless specifically told by staff, if the possibility exists that I'm going to be told 'tough luck', your connection is stable and usable even though you've lost 25% speed, then I'm not going to risk further speed loss because of DLM.

[ferguson]

@Setekh79 

Try switching your router off for a full 30 minutes before switching it back on again, that will restart the remote session and your connection speed may improve. Other than that, please leave it connected at the test socket for now and wait for a further response from the support team. 

[Gliwmaeden2]

Yes, just keep it on at the test socket till staff get back to you, @Setekh79.

The minimum guaranteed speed does seem to change sometimes at renewal  - and as long as you are above the current minimum, they would be unlikely to send out an engineer, particularly if the connection appears stable. 

Anything involving copper may have a slower guarantee than before - they are aiming to do away with that infrastructure completely in the next couple of years, and we will all have to switch to Full Fibre to the premises, rather than FTTC eventually. 

It sounds as though you are getting the upper end of the current estimate for your line. That is within your current contract guidelines. Probably worth finding out why that differs so much!

My own Fast Broadband deteriorated badly a few years ago compared with the equivalent product from 10 years ago - a good engineer did manage to get speeds up to the best it has ever been, after it deteriorated to below the minimum guaranteed. 

So I now get speed test results that are above what they say is possible for the line. The minimum and maximum however have never been adjusted officially to reflect the improvement. Anyway, it shows that it's possible to exceed the estimate of the contract!

[Setekh79]

New stats connected to the test socket.

[Setekh79]

Hello.

The line is stable, now.

But recent storms and me moving things around has caused DLM or some other functionality at the exchange to misread this as past instability, resulting in my current much lower sync and apparent capping/banding at 40mb. I used to get 52000+ meaning that my current speed is a reduction of over 20%.

When I took out the Fibre 65 service in November 2021 I was quoted with a speed between 46 and 50mb with a minimum of 42. I recently renewed at the end of contract and my speed has deteriorated to such an extent that I was told that I would only be able to get 36-40mb with a minimum of 32mb

I used to get 50000+ then it got reduced to 46993 6 months ago, then 43998 2 months ago and now 39999 about 2 weeks ago. A reduction of over 20%

I have had sync times in excess of 90 days, so it's stable and errored seconds are less than 20 a day.

I do not use a phone with this service, but I have connected a handset up to test, there is no noise or interference on the line and the dial tone is clear, There are no other extensions or other equipment connected, only the router plugged directly into the VDSL port.

The master socket is an OpenReach 5c mk4. It does have a test socket. I'm assuming you want me to take off the faceplate and connect directly to the test socket for 48 hours, if so I am doing that now.

-------------

As far as this complaint goes, the service is stable and usable, but the slow and gradual kneecapping of the speed over the last year for no apparent reason is starting to grate and considering that even your own router says I should be capable of so much more, I felt that it was time to say something about it.

Regards.

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

I'm sorry to hear this. I've run a test on the line now which hasn't detected a fault. Does the main socket have a test socket please? Is there any noise on the voice service?

Thanks

[Divsec]

Hi @Setekh79 your post has been escalated and you should hear soon. The team will check your connection and advise.