Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[BobC]

Hello,

I'm out of contract with BT, paying exorbitant prices, for what I get, compared to other users on the internet. £40 for 39Mbps. My broadband speeds have dropped significantly over the past 4 years. In 2016-2017 on a full cabinet my maximum data rate was pushing 74Mbps now down to 55-57Mbps and my current sync rate is 42 which in realtime terms is 39Mbps in broadband speed tests. The BT Hub also loves going down for a reboot every 1-14 days.

BT / Openreach have been hopeless in the past when engineers have come out. They all refused to do a dlm reset even though it was blatently clear my noise margin was spiking wildly out of control, it's at 10db currently. All of them reported no issues as well. This is why I have been thinking of switching to Zen and A&A. Both provide decent routers/modems and I'm hoping with better CS they can fix whatever problem is impacting my line. The telephone checker estimates are prone to change but a none impacted A range line is currently 68Mbps with a low of 44Mbps in the B impacted line, this was higher in the past. Postcode checker still indicates a 55 - 78 estimate.

I already have a line setup and on a month to month rolling contract with BT so I guess I could just migrate to another service? In all honesty I would like a new line connected at a different telepole that is both closer to my house and to the cabinet based on distance, but BT refused that switch back when I complained about it in 2018 stating it would not make any difference which telepole you were connected to.

I know Zen and A&A are some of the mostly costly providers out there, but if they can somehow stabilise my line and bring the speeds back up to a respectable standard I'll switch in a heartbeat. All I want is consistency and low latencies. Low download speeds used to bother me but the only options I have are FTTC and VM, VM offer much higher download speeds, but are rubbish when it comes to latencies and peak time problems.The routers Zen and A&A provide are also a touch better than the BT HUB for wifi which would be a bonus.

[g3uiss]

When you switch you will still end up on the same circuit. So it won’t change anything. AA used to offer to resolve lines issues with a soft guarantee, not sure if that’s the case. There are better routers at little cost than ISP supplied ones. I’m with Zen but use a Draytec

[BobC]

When you switch you will still end up on the same circuit. So it won’t change anything. AA used to offer to resolve lines issues with a soft guarantee, not sure if that’s the case. There are better routers at little cost than ISP supplied ones. I’m with Zen but use a Draytec

I get that but I generally just go with the ISP provided ones. The HUB 5 was my first bad experience. The 5ghz wifi loses connection often and pushing the little wifi button on the HUB doesn't correct it. Had 3 of these things now and always the same issue. At other times the 5ghz wifi just disappears completely until the HUB reboots. With dlm managing the connection I daren't reset the HUB manually anymore.

Well, with a switch the dlm would reset, so the speeds would increase for a time, but something over a period of time is causing errors to build up on the line which is causing the max data rate and sync speeds to tank. I have tried the quiet line test in both the master socket and the test socket it's quiet, but something is happening somewhere. A fault was raised on our cab a while back, an engineer came out to fix whatever the problem was and half a day later the speeds had shot back up to almost 77Mbps, that was only shortlived though, because within a year or two that started to drop off again, as did the max data rate.

I honestly have no idea what to do then. I either sacrifice speed and go 40/10 due to my line being inconsistent or I risk it and switch to VM knowing all the problems they have with congestion.

[g3uiss]

What happens when you switch depends on if your on an ECI cab. Are you able to post stats so the excellent members here can give you some better info

[Weaver]

What G3uiss said. It’s not going to hurt to talk to AA who are indeed very good at getting faults fixed, but they can’t fix crosstalk. If you need more speed then go FTTP if you can or go for twin bonded lines as I have (with AA).

[BobC]

What happens when you switch depends on if your on an ECI cab. Are you able to post stats so the excellent members here can give you some better info

What information would be needed? As for the Cab it's Huawei.

What G3uiss said. It’s not going to hurt to talk to SMO who are indeed very good at getting faults fixed, but they can’t fix crosstalk. If you need more speed then go FTTP if you can or go for twin bonded lines as I have (with AA).

FTTP is not available, I wish it was. It's available through Virgin Media but oversubscriptions is a massive issue with them.

[Weaver]

Some modems expose a whole page of detailed information. This is obtained by using telnet or certain apps designed for the specific purpose of querying modems. Such modems need to be based on a Broadcom chipset as far as I’m aware.

[g3uiss]

Others do provide stats, but not as easy to interpret.

Things like. SNRM, ES, CRC, FEC, HLOG, QLN are the key diagnostic parameters. They indicate degree of cross talk, errors in the metallic path way and constraints on the line

Here is a link to my stats, not current but you will see the idea.

west-lodge.com/vdsl/index.htm

Might show you some examples.

[BobC]

Others do provide stats, but not as easy to interpret.

Things like. SNRM, ES, CRC, FEC, HLOG, QLN are the key diagnostic parameters. They indicate degree of cross talk, errors in the metallic path way and constraints on the line

Here is a link to my stats, not current but you will see the idea.

west-lodge.com/vdsl/index.htm

Might show you some examples.

I don't think my current HUB is able to display that sort of information.

4. Board version:   BT Hub 5A
5. DSL uptime:   2 days, 19:43:04
6. Data rate:   U14828 / D42051
7. Maximum data rate:   U14828 / D55690
8. Noise margin:   U6.0 / D9.9
9. Line attenuation:   U24.2 / D19.6
10. Signal attenuation:   U23.9 / D19.7
11. Data sent/received:   2.1 GB / 64.3 GB

This is all I am able to grab. The HUB 6 and beyond offer more options. Even though I signed a new contract with BT back in late 2018 they never offered me a new HUB when I asked. They said they could send me a like for like replacement of the current one but wouldn't offer me a new one, which I found a bit odd because when you take out new contracts I should have been able to switch, based on what I have read since then.

[g3uiss]

The only real information there is DS SNRM suggesting your line is not running at max, by quite away. But it’s all in the dark without more information. I don’t know if you can harvest more data from a 5A others my have more knowledge. Really to make progress a router of EBay would be a good investment for both access to stats and likely better performance. Zyxel VMG perhaps but lots of suggestions on the forum.

[BobC]

The only real information there is DS SNRM suggesting your line is not running at max, by quite away. But it’s all in the dark without more information. I don’t know if you can harvest more data from a 5A others my have more knowledge. Really to make progress a router of EBay would be a good investment for both access to stats and likely better performance. Zyxel VMG perhaps but lots of suggestions on the forum.

Don't really want to be spending any extra on top of the monthly broadband bill by buying my own equipment.

I'm stuck in a real tough situation here. I switch from one FTTC provider to another and will most definitely run into the exact same issues. I switch to Virgin Media and I have much higher download speeds for about 6 hours a day past midnight then frequent fluctuations for the rest of the day due to mass oversubscriptions and daily congestion. Both are equally terrible options.

What I may end up doing is switching to another FTTC ISP at a cheaper cost, pay a month to month or upwards of a 12 month contract and hope that the new modem/router combo doesn't disconnect and resync anywhere near as often as the HUB 5 does.

Until FTTP becomes widely available and gives the area more options I'm sort of stuck between two terrible options.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Have you considered 4G providers?
I had an awful experience with Three for two years but then decided to try Voxi (Vodafone) for £30/month and I get 50-120Mbit.

It might vary, but at least with a monthly contract you can drop it at any time.  Obviously depends on which networks are nearby and how subscribed they are.

[Weaver]

Talking about buying your own equipment; you can get superb ZyXEL kit for cheap money on eBay sometimes.

[BobC]

Have you considered 4G providers?
I had an awful experience with Three for two years but then decided to try Voxi (Vodafone) for £30/month and I get 50-120Mbit.

It might vary, but at least with a monthly contract you can drop it at any time.  Obviously depends on which networks are nearby and how subscribed they are.

Not sure I would be comfortable with that sort of arrangement. 4g coverage is full strength here but I'm not sure I'm willing to take that sort of chance over a 4g network as my broadband replacement even on a month to month basis. I suppose I could take out a plan on top of my existing broadband and see how it goes but that would be double the cost.

I will decide over the next few weeks where I want to go from here. BT prices are also going up by a few pounds at the end of the month which seems to apply to me also even though I'm on one of their halo packages (end of contract = pay the same rate as in contract) but I've been out of contract for a while so I should be able to leave at anytime either by migrating or just cancelling. Problem with cancelling with BT directly is I would lose my slot on the cab and I'm pretty sure it's still full.

Honestly not sure where I would go next. It doesn't seem to matter how much I pay or how little I pay I'm going to have the same issues regardless, but I'll probably still end up opting for a ISP like Zen just because of the reviews, the CS, the router, although with Zen I wouldn't be slicing as much of the monthly fee as I would hope, price generally doesn't bother me, but if I'm not getting the speeds or the stability and my line condition cannot be improved to how it was just a few years ago, it may not make much sense to choose one of the more expensive options.

The cheaper alternatives don't get glowing reports though and are far more likely to fob you off just like BT have done. Going to be tough deciding the next option.

[g3uiss]

I really think as @weaver suggested a box of eBay ( £20/30) would give you all the answers. Certainly less than switching. At least you would know.