I have had a subscription for Fibre 2 FTTC broadband (predicted speed 67.9 to 80Mbps) for about 2 years. After the line was activated, the speed rapidly dropped and the profile was capped to about 25 Mbps (well below the OpenReach hardback threshold).
I have raised this four times with my ISP over the last year. Each time, they performed a profile reset, the line became faster (in the expected range) for a while and over a few weeks dropped back to 25-35 MBps. At the beginning of 2020, the ISP asked me to swap out all my hardware and connect the router to the master socket. I told them that the phone line does not have an NTE5 socket -- it has a junction box marked GPO, wired up to a 1980s BT socket (with the two dots logo). Nevertheless, I swapped out the router and cables, and the problem remained the same.
In January, the ISP finally agreed that this is is not working correctly, and suggested sending out an engineer. However, COVID then intervened and I was not able to arrange the engineer's visit. When I contacted the ISP again (last week), the ISP was no longer willing to send out an engineer, and suggested I swap out the router and cables again. I refused because it does not seem to be solving the problem, and is just going round in circles. Yesterday, while reading this and other forums, I saw the suggestion of trying a quiet line test, and discovered that there is a constant hiss on the phone line.
I'm surprised and a little annoyed at the ISP, who have charged me for 2 years for their faster broadband product, while the speeds I receive are lower than their slower product. I can't understand why they don't seem willing to send out an engineer to investigate, when my speeds are clearly far lower than I am paying for. I also don't understand why they didn't suggest the quiet line test themselves.
So, I would be grateful for any advice. What is the best way to get the ISP to agree to fix the line so I can get speeds greater than 35Mbps? Does the ISP (or anyone) have any responsibility to upgrade the socket to an NTE5, if the line is not working as expected? Should I expect a refund for the 2 years of "up to 80Mbps" broadband, when I have only received speeds of 25-30Mbps?
Thanks!