This topic

Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

JohnW3 — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 07:51:39 GMT

I was contracted for BT Fibre 2, which my bill confirmed, and I was getting average download and upload speeds of 67Mbps and 19Mbps, respectively, which were the advertised speeds.

Then, without me doing anything, the description on my January 2021 Bill changed to Fibre with Halo 1 and my average upload and download speeds went down to 55Mbps and 15Mbps, respectively, which just happen to be within the advertised speeds for Fibre with Halo 1. My ping times to a server I frequently use in London also went up from 10ms to 20ms disrupting my use of audio software I was running.

I did have an Email from BT saying I was being put onto Fibre with Halo 1 at no extra cost but there was no mention of speeds reducing. I contacted BT Customer Services via Chat and was assured that my service had not been downgraded. I telephoned and spoke to a BT adviser who said my lower speeds were within contract but agreed to book an engineer appointment for Sat 6th Feb 2021, which is the day after tomorrow, to look at my router and line.

I believe my service has been downgraded but nobody is admitting to this. I have no problem with paying a bit more for a service equivalent to the one I was getting under Fibre 2 but there doesn't now seem to be such a package available. I would like my speeds to be restored to those I was getting under Fibre 2 for which I would be prepared to pay a bit more per month if necessary.

Anyone else had this sort of experience and were you able to get a satisfactory resolution?

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

garybs29 — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 08:04:48 GMT

Halo 1 is just an add on so doesn't affect your speed in any way & you should get the same speeds as Fibre 2 so you definitely haven't been downgraded. There may be an issue somewhere which is causing the speed degradation, do you get any noise on the line when doing the quiet line test for example (on 17070)

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

JohnW3 — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 08:27:49 GMT

Thanks for your response, Gary. This is the first time I've done the quiet line test so it's a bit difficult to know what I'm listening for. I would say there was a bit of noise but not really bad crackling.

Regarding reduced speeds, the advertised average speed for Fibre 2 was 67Mbps download and Fibre with Halo 1 is advertised as 52Mbps to 57Mbps with a guarantee of 47Mbps. See below from BT websites.

It seems such a coincidence that when my service was changed from Fibre 2 to Fibre with Halo 1 my speed went down from 67 to 55.

BT Fibre 2

67Mb average speed
Unlimited usage
PAYG calls

Fibre with Halo 1

52Mb - 57Mb

Download speed range

16Mb-18Mb Upload speed range

47Mb Stay Fast Guarantee

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

garybs29 — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 09:14:53 GMT

67Mb average speed

That's an average speed of everyone in the country & not specific to your line. The halo 1 estimated speed range is specific to your line, have you got any documentation showing you were meant to get 67 on Fibre 2?

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

JohnW3 — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 09:33:15 GMT

Hi Gary.

Thanks for your reply.

The Fibre 2 and Halo 1 speeds advertised by BT which I quoted from were clearly intended to give potential customers a view of what speeds they could expect if they signed up for a particular service. There was no distinction in the advertising between "everyone in the country" and "my specific line". So if BT say in an advert "Average 67MBps" for Fibre2 and "52Mbps to 57Mbps" for Fibre with Halo 1 then is it reasonable for a customer to assume that Fibre with Halo 1 is slower than Fibre 2?

I'm not clear why, if Fibre with Halo 1 advertising is specific to my line, then Fibre 2 advertising is not. Can you explain?

Can you give me some indication of where I might find documentation showing I was meant to get 67Mbps with Fibre 2?

Thanks again. Your responses are much appreciated. Cheers.

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

garybs29 — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 09:48:07 GMT

You'd have to look at your account & any order confirmation, when you place any orders you'd get a speed range for you line (like the halo 1 you provided earlier) & not the average so you'd need to check what your speed range & guarantee was on Fibre 2

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

imjolly — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 10:18:12 GMT

in order for the forum members to help please can you post the stats from your router (if hub enter 192.168.1.254 in your browser) and if HH5 then go to troubleshooting then helpdesk and if HH6/SH2 then advanced settings then technical log information .

Have you tried the quiet line test? - dial 17070 option 2 - should hear nothing - best done with a corded phone. if cordless phone you may hear a 'dull hum' which is normal any noise is a problem is a problem for your broadband

the advertised speeds are as already posted by @garybs29 are an average (not your average) as directed by ofcom

enter your phone number and post results remember to delete number https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

Someone may then be able to offer help/assistance/suggestions to your problem

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

pippincp — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 12:34:58 GMT

@JohnW3wrote:
Thanks for your response, Gary. This is the first time I've done the quiet line test so it's a bit difficult to know what I'm listening for. I would say there was a bit of noise but not really bad crackling.
Regarding reduced speeds, the advertised average speed for Fibre 2 was 67Mbps download and Fibre with Halo 1 is advertised as 52Mbps to 57Mbps with a guarantee of 47Mbps. See below from BT websites.
It seems such a coincidence that when my service was changed from Fibre 2 to Fibre with Halo 1 my speed went down from 67 to 55.
BT Fibre 2

67Mb average speed
Unlimited usage
PAYG calls
Fibre with Halo 1
52Mb - 57Mb
Download speed range
16Mb-18Mb Upload speed range
47Mb Stay Fast Guarantee

I can see why you are confused so lets get the dross out of the way. Halo 1 is an addon that has nothing to do with speeds. It can be added on to both Fibre 1 and Fibre 2 products.

The 52 - 57mbps is for your line as it also includes your minimum Stay Fast Guarantee.

Hope that helps.

@posting the info @imjolly has asked for will futher clarify.

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

JohnW3 — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 14:16:08 GMT

Hi Gary.

I've managed to find my order confirmation which I received on 15th September 2017.

This is an extract from it.

Broadband - Unlimited BT Infinity 2

Your broadband will start by midnight on: 18 Sep 2017

There's no need to be at home on the day as we don't need to visit to start your broadband.

How fast will it be?We estimate your download speed will be between 61Mb and 80Mb, and your upload speed will be between 19Mb and 20Mb.

The minimum guaranteed speed you can expect from your broadband will be 55Mb.

We comply with the Ofcom Broadband Speeds Code of Practice We'll always aim to give you the download speed shown, but if your actual speed is slower you should call us on 0800 111 4567 and we'll do our best to fix it. If we can't improve it and it stays that way, you'll be able to cancel your broadband contract without having to pay early termination charges.

How much can I use?There's no usage limit on your broadband service, so you can use the internet as much as you like.

It's for Infinity 2 which is what Fibre 2 was called then. As you can see, at that time BT estimated my download speed as between 61Mbps and 80Mbps. The get out, though, is that the minimum guaranteed speed was 55MBps which is exactly what I'm getting now. Note though that the guaranteed minimum has now been reduced to 47Mbps.

Anyway, soon after my Infinity 2 Broadband started on 18th Sept 2017 I did a speed check using the Which? Magazine checker and I have dug out the email from Which? confirming the results of 67.5Mbps upload and 18.5Mbps upload. I was obviously very happy with those and I have been getting those speeds up until January this year.

Thanks for using our broadband speed checker

JOHN, your vital statistics are below

Date of test: ‎18‎/‎09‎/‎2017 ‎14‎:‎49‎:‎45
Download Speed: 67.5Mbps
Upload Speed: 18.5Mbps

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

imjolly — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 14:32:44 GMT

sorry you really need to post the information I requested so the forum members can help at present there are no current stats nor current estimates of connection speed range as more people are added to cabinet crosstalk becomes a problem resulting in lower speed

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

VeteranISPUser — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 14:34:24 GMT

Hi @JohnW3

I don't know if this helps or hinders but I have Fibre with Halo 1 and I get on average 73.5 mbps download and 19 mbps on upload.

Note you should ignore the "Halo 1, 2, 3 & 3+" when looking at speeds as it is just an add-on benefit and has nothing to do with broadband speeds.

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

JohnW3 — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 14:51:44 GMT

Hi IMJolly.

Thank you for your response.

The speed stats from my router are:

Downstream: 62.793Mbps

Upstream: 20Mbps

Are there any other stats from the router that would be useful for forum members to know?

I have tried the quiet line test. I don't have a corded phone but the wireless handset is the one in the base station which I am right next to and the base station is wired directly to the master socket. There is definitely no hum but I can hear some noise which I would describe as mild static. So I can't say I'm hearing nothing. Do you think the noise might be causing packet errors and hence DLM has intervened to stabilise the line and so caused the reduction in speeds?

I've done the broadband/checker.btwholesale thing but can't find a away to copy/share the results. So some results are: VDSL Range (Impacted) 75.3 to 56.3; Downstream handback threshold (Impacted) 50.8; Maximum observed upstream and downstream speeds 63.06 and 20, respectively, on 27th January 2017. Are there any other stats from this source that would be useful?

Thank you for all your help. Cheers. John

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

JohnW3 — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 14:54:56 GMT

Hi. I've now posted the information you requested. Cheers.

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

imjolly — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 15:01:06 GMT

any noise on quiet line test is a problem for your broadband and needs reporting to 151

if you use a Hub can you post the full stats as the abbreviated version of connection speed is of little use. can you also post the dslchecker full results please

you can you the camera icon to post pics

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

JohnW3 — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 19:41:16 GMT

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this so far; I am most grateful and I have learnt a lot in the process.

I will report noise to 151.

I have heard enough people say it now to accept that my speed reduction is nothing to do with the addition of Halo.

I have photographed the screens that have been asked for on the forum and I'm just in the process of making them small enough so they don't exceed the upload size limit for this site.

The BT engineer is coming tomorrow morning (Saturday) so I will hopefully have some more information to work on and possibly share here. I am presently moving towards the conclusion that noise on the line is the root cause of the slower speeds and ping times I am experiencing.

Cheers, John

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

JohnW3 — Sat, 06 Feb 2021 11:16:14 GMT

The engineer has now been to the house and confirmed there is nothing wrong with my router or my internal wiring. He said there is definitely a fault somewhere in the copper from the house or in the cabinet or in the fibre to the local exchange.

He booked an Openreach Engineer for Monday afternoon 8th February who will work on and, hopefully, resolve the fault.

The engineer who came this morning said he had several calls to make around my local area to address sudden drops in broadband speeds and he believed they were all being caused by the same issue and that Openreach had capped everyone's speeds in order to stabilise the lines.

I'm not going to post any further data on my specific profile/configuration for now but will report back to the community after the engineer has been on Monday afternoon.

Thank you again to everyone who has responded to my posts.

Cheers, John.

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

VeteranISPUser — Sat, 06 Feb 2021 11:21:58 GMT

Hi @JohnW3 Just to add, don't be surprised if you don't see the engineer. They may simply work on the cabinet or exchange and not contact you.

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

imjolly — Sat, 06 Feb 2021 11:29:20 GMT

@JohnW3

from your post I assume that the engineer that visited today was not from openreach but a contractor hence why he did very little

look forward to update

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

JohnW3 — Sat, 06 Feb 2021 11:37:36 GMT

Yes, my understanding is that the engineer who came today was from BT (the ISP) who provide their service over infrastructure belonging to Openreach who are a separate entity. Hence Openreach are responsible for resolving any fault in their network.

Re: Fibre with Halo 1 reduced speeds

imjolly — Sat, 06 Feb 2021 11:49:41 GMT

BT Retail do not have engineers. any faults are done by openreach who may use contractors which what has happened in your case