we do not reset the DLM unless a fault has been found and repaired
Well, that wasn't my experience. I'm convinced there was no fault on the line, just the removal of G.INP screwed things up. I'm not complaining, just trying to highlight the difference in service that everyone seems to get from OR.
Again, as I pointed out above ..... there will be anomalies, there always is.
I will agree with you that there are discrepancies in the certain aspects of BB engineering. That is why there is a set criteria lain down of exactly how to test a line, and exactly what to do dependant on the returned test results.
The issue is, should we all follow these scripted tests, you (as in the royal you) would be even more p1ssed off with the service given than you are now. The scripted tests take away the element of applied logic/knowledge from the engineer, and the service given then becomes just a tick-sheet exercise.
The plus side to these scripted tests is that they are there to protect, (draw a line in the sand if you like), Openreach and what is expected of them.
Read this forum, read other forums, and you will see the totally ridiculous trigger-point that some folk have regarding when they would request an engineering visit regarding their circuits performance !! Once our tests pass, and they receive the cost of the call-out, they soon stop the madness.
That is why I mentioned your 'Electricity analogy' as being dead in the water. Each EU has his/her own
expectation of what is good/bad/middling when it comes down to broadband.
Every single circuit is bespoke and will have different characteristics and elements affecting it.
Conversely, electric is electric ....... you turn the TV on and it works, you turn the kettle on and it works ..... etc etc ........ NO two broadband lines will be the same, and as mentioned it then depends on what the EU expects of their own circuit.
Add into the mix the sworn enemy that is 'intermittency', and it becomes a tricky business indeed.