PlusNet and Max-DSL

Hi,

I'm hoping some generous and knowledgeable soul may be able to assist me
and save what little hair I have left.

It is now 14 days since the Max-DSL process was started on my line and
PlusNet still show my Maximum Stable Rate as 2000 Kbps.

My router is synching at 7616 down and 448 up.
S/N is 9dB down and 18dB up.
Attenuation is 23 dB down and 18 dB up.

BT speed tester says throughput should be 6500 Kbps so why am I still
getting only 2000 Kbps. PlusNet support have given varying answers, none
of which suggest that they know what they're doing or know the answer
and now they're ignoring me!

Should I give up and find a better ISP or do my figures suggest
something is wrong?
--
Phil Morris

"Phil Morris" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi,
>
> I'm hoping some generous and knowledgeable soul may be able to assist me
> and save what little hair I have left.
>
> It is now 14 days since the Max-DSL process was started on my line and
> PlusNet still show my Maximum Stable Rate as 2000 Kbps.
>
> My router is synching at 7616 down and 448 up.
> S/N is 9dB down and 18dB up.
> Attenuation is 23 dB down and 18 dB up.
>
> BT speed tester says throughput should be 6500 Kbps so why am I still
> getting only 2000 Kbps. PlusNet support have given varying answers, none
> of which suggest that they know what they're doing or know the answer and
> now they're ignoring me!
>
> Should I give up and find a better ISP or do my figures suggest something
> is wrong?
> --
> Phil Morris

I also had similar problems with plusnet. I had rock solid 2mb before being
maxed. 14 days later and no change I was syncing higher but getting no speed
increase and more disconnections then before. After lots of tickets and
plusnet blaming bt nothing had changed. In the end they switched me back to
non max for free. They recently upgraded me automatically and this time
speed increased after the initial 14 days. I now get around 4mb.

I suggest that you raise a ticket give them the change to sort it if you get
no joy asked for a free downgrade to non max. If you desperately want a
speed increase you can get a Mac code and try else where. I never bothered
2mb and a solid connection was okay. Just lucky that the autoupgraded
worked.

with the BT thing I have got my Mac code and leave on Wednesday to join
eclipse.

Hope they get it sorted Dave & Bob might be the light at the end of the
tunnel (if they are alive ! no postings from them recently )

Regards
Adam

On 23 Nov 2006, Phil Morris <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>BT speed tester says throughput should be 6500 Kbps so why am I still
>getting only 2000 Kbps.

I found that the transfer speed was well below the 5-6 Mbps that might
have been expected for weeks and months before I switched router and
found the lower speed "went away". Although I tried about half a
dozen different makes, most were using the same (Conexant) chipset,
and while all had a spec to say they would work at up to 8000 kbps, I
felt that they were simply not "up to the job". So out of curiosity,
which router are you using? It might be worth trying some others if
you have a suitable shop / friend that can loan you something. The
one I'm using right now is a Zyxel 1-port unit, at under 25 quid.

Incidentally, while it is easy to blame the ISP, some of the settings
will be within the BT network (and presumably outside control of the
ISP), and if your own equipment is causing the problem, it is even
more "unfair" to blame the ISP. I happen to be using another ISP
but it was some months until I routinely saw 5++ Mbps downstream
speeds for the data I wanted. Actually it really didn't make me
that bothered when it was significantly slower, so long as it was
working whenever I needed, but that's just me - it works, so why be
too worried about whether it is going really fast - heck, I'm only
paying 15 quid a month, and with generous limits, so even if it's
stuck at 2000 kbps I'd still be very happy... LOL.

Phil Morris wrote:

> BT speed tester says throughput should be 6500 Kbps so why am I
> still getting only 2000 Kbps. PlusNet support have given varying
> answers, none of which suggest that they know what they're doing
> or know the answer and now they're ignoring me!
>
> Should I give up and find a better ISP or do my figures suggest
> something is wrong?

It looks to me like there's a problem with contention or bandwidth
shaping. I used to be a PlusNet customer, so I know that they can
influence the throughput on a fast-synching line line. Some of their
accounts are designed to run slowly on certain activities. And when I
was a customer, they never seemed to have enough capacity to go around
anyway.

Your best bet is to reconfigure your router/modem for BT's speed test -
that will at least eliminate PlusNet from the equation. Don't forget to
check you've got your broadband login details handy.

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/btwspeedtest.htm

If it still comes back slow, there may be a problem with your
modem/router, or your exchange is very busy.

Do you ever get any faster than 2000kbps? What times of day have you
tested speeds?

--
K A Nuttall
www.yammer.co.uk
Re-type the e-mail address how it sounds, remove .invalid

On Thu, 23 Nov 2006 14:47:15 +0000, Phil Morris wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm hoping some generous and knowledgeable soul may be able to assist me
> and save what little hair I have left.
>
> It is now 14 days since the Max-DSL process was started on my line and
> PlusNet still show my Maximum Stable Rate as 2000 Kbps.
>
> My router is synching at 7616 down and 448 up.
> S/N is 9dB down and 18dB up.
> Attenuation is 23 dB down and 18 dB up.
>
> BT speed tester says throughput should be 6500 Kbps so why am I still
> getting only 2000 Kbps. PlusNet support have given varying answers, none
> of which suggest that they know what they're doing or know the answer
> and now they're ignoring me!
>
> Should I give up and find a better ISP or do my figures suggest
> something is wrong?

I had similar problems and although I eventually got to 6+Mbps the other
interruptions, particularly to USENET, made me jump ship.
I am now with Blueyonder which claims to be only 2Mbps but everything
appears to run faster.
--
Jim S
Tyneside UK
http://www.jimscott.co.uk

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Phil Morris
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>Hi,
>
>I'm hoping some generous and knowledgeable soul may be able to assist
>me and save what little hair I have left.
>
>It is now 14 days since the Max-DSL process was started on my line and
>PlusNet still show my Maximum Stable Rate as 2000 Kbps.
>
>My router is synching at 7616 down and 448 up.
>S/N is 9dB down and 18dB up.
>Attenuation is 23 dB down and 18 dB up.
>
>BT speed tester says throughput should be 6500 Kbps so why am I still
>getting only 2000 Kbps. PlusNet support have given varying answers,
>none of which suggest that they know what they're doing or know the
>answer and now they're ignoring me!
>
>Should I give up and find a better ISP or do my figures suggest
>something is wrong?

Phil,

One of two issues. Either the BRAS rate is stuck (apparently it happens
a lot a Google for "BRAS Stuck ADSL" will get you chapter and verse.
Raising a ticket saying that seems to be the problem may help get
Plusnet support to do something about it. I think BT have to do
something at Plusnet's request.

The alternative is that it is simply not being updated by the BT kit.
Have you tried the recommended process of disconnecting the router each
day for a few days. That worked for me.

After being MAXed from a 1Meg line I was getting synch at about 4Meg,
and my BRAS settled at 3500 - no real complaints. Recently I made some
minor changes to the internal wiring (disconnected the bell wire at the
master socket in the loft). My synch rate jumped to just over 6meg.
After switching off the router each night for around a week, the Plusnet
BRAS suddenly reset itself to 5500. So the official process does (or did
in my case) work.

If switching off doesn't work, you are back to step 1 - but tell them
you have tried this, otherwise they will probably just ask you to do so.

Hope this helps.

Regards
--
Peter R Cook

> Raising a ticket saying that seems to be the problem may help get Plusnet
> support to do something about it. I think BT have to do something at
> Plusnet's request.

Given Plus(etc)Net's current alleged support issues, you may be better off
raising a query in their forums, where helpful staff appear to hang around
and deal with stuff a few times a day, bypassing whataver "queuing system
dealt with by call centre droids following a flowchart" system they have in
the back office. They've certainly helped me a couple of times in the
Metronet forums.

">
> Given Plus(etc)Net's current alleged support issues, you may be better off
> raising a query in their forums, where helpful staff appear to hang around
> and deal with stuff a few times a day, >

there has been no sign of plusnet staff in newsgroups for while ! Bob & Dave
Must be on holiday or discussing their promotion with Bt's HR Dept. LOL

Adam

On 23 Nov 2006, "dylan30" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>there has been no sign of plusnet staff in newsgroups for while ! Bob & Dave
>Must be on holiday or discussing their promotion with Bt's HR Dept. LOL

Probably a change in priorities, preventing/reducing options to monitor and
contribute on u.t.b, and elsewhere... Anyway, if you check the User Group
forum you'll see Liam recently responded to someone wanting to go back to
a non DSL Max connection... ( http://usergroup.plus.com/ )

(E-Mail Removed) declared for all the world to hear...
> Hi,
>
> I'm hoping some generous and knowledgeable soul may be able to assist me
> and save what little hair I have left.
>
> It is now 14 days since the Max-DSL process was started on my line and
> PlusNet still show my Maximum Stable Rate as 2000 Kbps.
>
> My router is synching at 7616 down and 448 up.
> S/N is 9dB down and 18dB up.
> Attenuation is 23 dB down and 18 dB up.
>
> BT speed tester says throughput should be 6500 Kbps so why am I still
> getting only 2000 Kbps. PlusNet support have given varying answers, none
> of which suggest that they know what they're doing or know the answer
> and now they're ignoring me!
>
> Should I give up and find a better ISP or do my figures suggest
> something is wrong?

Post in plusnet.service.customer-feedback

General advice is that you should re-boot your router once a day for 3
days and if it stays at those high sync rates then the bit which is
limiting you to 2ooo (your BRAS profile IIRC) will automatically
"learn" your new speed and increase itself accordingly.
--
Regards
Jon