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[divybc]

So as of late I was on 80/20 solid for way over a year and happy as they come.

Thing is now, last Thursday night comes and my SNR margin dropped away to 2.6db. I thought nothing of it as it was still showing me my 80/20 sync, so I rebooted the modem and it changed my downstream drastically.

I have fell from the full 80 to 56 downstream and 58 max attainable. Now Sky saw this as a fault as the minimum they guaranteed me for was 71, but that has clearly changed.

Had OR out who told me my line is fine and this is "normal"

Now paying for a MAX 80 package which I was getting and them some on the attainable, but I've lost over 24 Mbps.

Possible over capacity on the cab? Line fault? Not sure, but I'm looking at cancelling.

Any insight into this is appreciated as I'm not sure what is going on.

Cheers.

[j0hn]

If you're below the minimum guaranteed speed and OpenReach say there is nothing they can do then you can leave your contract without penalty. All that will achieve though is if you switch to another ISP you'll have the same sync with a lower guarantee.

If FTTC is your only option (No virgin etc) then try push Sky to try again. If the cabinet isn't full you could try ask for a port swap. Use the address checker (not just the postcode checker) here http://www.dslchecker.bt.com and check if it says available or waiting list.

It's a large drop in speed, but within the limits of crosstalk. If it's crosstalk that's caused this then 1 the lines running next to yours between you and the cabinet has just signed up for FTTC and it's that interference which has hit your sync speed. The only way round this would be a pair swap. Being below the guarantee you may be able to get Sky to push for this. Crosstalk is a lottery though, another pair might be worse. Switching ISP they will likely offer a lower guarantee and will likely tell you nothing is wrong, tough that's what you get. My advice is try push Sky to try get a pair swap or a port swap if the cab isn't full.

[Ronski]

If you're on a Huawei cab then you might regain quite a bit if your target snr drops, this could change to 3,4, or 5 depending how well your line performs.

[Sheepie]

Could be crosstalk. My max attainable has gone from 103242 to 63628, sometimes in quite significant drops, the highest being 15Mb.

I have another FTTC line and that must be on a different, less poputated bundle, since I get max attainble on that one of 75516.

My street cab has over 600 properties off it, I think it has high FTTC subscription

It's a lottery!

[divybc]

Saddens me now. I have cancelled with Sky and will be going with Virgin as they are now estimating lowest 49.4 and they can no longer guarantee me that 71+.

It sounds petty, but paying 40+ a month for 80/20 and I'm only getting 56/20 is not worth it when Virgin offered me 200/20 for 2 pounds cheaper a month with TV/Line rental and a freeview TiVo also.

Thanks for the input guys.

[Weaver]

Is Virgin's throughput anything like the '200' they quote ?

[divybc]

I've been with them in the past and my area has just been upgraded to add more channels. I had them along with Sky, but cancelled Virgin due to their engineers leaving damage in my property. They rectified that and compensated so I am going back. I was getting 200+ during the day and about 170+ at peak times.

Can't complain with that, but not sure if it's changed. I'll have 14 days to test it out anyways.

Even at that, it's got to be better in terms of price comparison between the two as technically I will be getting more than double the speed for a cheaper price with everything that Sky offered me anyways.

[Black Sheep]

Not from folk I talk to in my area ..... unless it's at 0200 in the morning !!. Things may be different where the OP lives though ??.

[Weaver]

@black sheep - isn't it very variable according to locality? (from what I read)

[Black Sheep]

I wouldn't have any idea tbh, Weaver ?? I just know some of my friends are leaving VM due to the very, very poor throughput speeds which is interfering with their dodgy IP streaming devices  .

I also see EU's on a somewhat regular basis who comment they are leaving VM, but that is mostly to do with the pricing. 

[Weaver]

VM would be superb if they were honest, and didn't massively oversell the system in some places, from the rumours I hear. Perhaps they should have a QoS-based second tier offering with guaranteed minimums. So you pay for the minimum, not the fantasy maximum.

[PhilipD]

Hi

If you're below the minimum guaranteed speed and OpenReach say there is nothing they can do then you can leave your contract without penalty. All that will achieve though is if you switch to another ISP you'll have the same sync with a lower guarantee.

If FTTC is your only option (No virgin etc) then try push Sky to try again. If the cabinet isn't full you could try ask for a port swap. Use the address checker (not just the postcode checker) here http://www.dslchecker.bt.com and check if it says available or waiting list.

It's a large drop in speed, but within the limits of crosstalk. If it's crosstalk that's caused this then 1 the lines running next to yours between you and the cabinet has just signed up for FTTC and it's that interference which has hit your sync speed. The only way round this would be a pair swap. Being below the guarantee you may be able to get Sky to push for this. Crosstalk is a lottery though, another pair might be worse. Switching ISP they will likely offer a lower guarantee and will likely tell you nothing is wrong, tough that's what you get. My advice is try push Sky to try get a pair swap or a port swap if the cab isn't full.

Would a pair swap be possible on FTTC.  If it's one wire running from the property to the PCP how can they swap that?  Just interested if a pair swap is possible in the same way it can be done for ADSL back to the exchange. Maybe they go back to the first joint from property and swap it there but then that's a fairly big job I would have thought breaking open a joint.  Just interested.

Regards

Phil

[PhilipD]

Hi

VM would be superb if they were honest, and didn't massively oversell the system in some places, from the rumours I hear. Perhaps they should have a QoS-based second tier offering with guaranteed minimums. So you pay for the minimum, not the fantasy maximum.

My brother swapped from 80/20 on TalkTalk to Virgin 200, often their speeds are now only around 40Meg during the evenings whereas on TalkTalk it was always 70+, they aren't impressed. 

Regards

Phil

[Weaver]

Naming and shaming and reporting to the authorities for false advertising?

[ejs]

Last time I checked, the advertising rules on broadband speed were pretty wide.

CAP and BCAP consider that maximum speed claims should be based on the actual experience
of users and therefore marketers should be able to demonstrate that the speeds in their
advertising can be achieved by a reasonable proportion of the provider’s customers.

Reasonable proportion being 10% of the provider's customers. Virgin are advertising up to 200Mb.