BT Infinity Hest Bank, Lancashire: Speed Expectation Query / Improvement suggestions?

[kohai]

Hi, looking for some advice / expectation management perhaps...

My parents live in Bolton-le-Sands (Hest Bank exchange) and get their internet services through BT. They've recently upgraded their package from standard broadband to BT Infinity, this upgrade occured today but has only increased their internet speed from 4-6Mbps to ~12Mbps (upload is still a very poor ~1Mbps).  They are paying £59 per month for this...

Could someone advise if there's any way to improve the speed they'd get from this service?

The estimated download speed prior to upgrade was 11Mb-18Mb (within 1-2Mb) with a minimum speed of 8Mb, so I'm not expecting any fault investigation from BT given the resulting connection speed.

The initial connection speed frollowing the upgrade was 9Mbps, so I removed the faceplate on the master socket and connected the hub directly to the test socket, this seems to have helped increase the line sync to 12Mbps, but equally I guess this could just be the line stabalising generally.

Here's the output from the Hub techlog: -

Product name: BT Hub 6A
Serial number: +084319+NQ74118323
Firmware version: SG4B1000B522
Firmware updated: 12-Mar-2018
Board version: 1.0
Gui version: 1.64.0
DSL uptime: 0 Days, 0 Hours 52 Minutes 56 Seconds
Data rate: 1.24 Mbps / 13.56 Mbps
Maximum data rate: 1243 / 13989
Noise margin: 6.5 dB / 6.4 dB
Line attenuation: 30.4 dB
Signal attenuation: VPI / VCI:0/38
Modulation: G_993_2_ANNEX_B
Latency type: Fast Path
...
Boot loader:9.2.0

Also attached are the before and after results of connecting to the test socket of the master socket.

[imjolly · Accepted solution]

from the information you have posted you are getting speeds within estimate - just the distance from the street cabinet is the problem as you can see from graph  you could try conencting to test socket with a filter to see if that makes any improvement

[kohai]

Thanks, that's a good graph and makes sense. 

According to samknows.co.uk we're 1.14km from the local exchange (Hest Bank) but I'm not sure how far away from the street cabinet we are, I'll have a scout around for it (Exchange HEST BANK is served by Cabinet 4).

I'd be surprised if it was further away than the exchange though, or is it likely that it's just the exchange?

I think the phone line comes in over ground, but I'll do some more investigating.

[imjolly]

cab 4 looks like it is directly accross from Hatlex drive junction

[kohai]

Nice, this one(?) looks promising, thanks.

How did you work that out by the way? I started reading this post but figured I'd have to drive around to find it.

If it is the Hatlex drive junction one (likely) then that's ~1.6km drive away, and I presume they'd run the cables along the  path the main road (coastal road) takes.

Ah well I guess this is the best they'll get then, just have to wait to see it B4RN rolls out around here at some point...

Thanks again for your help.

[conrad]

Based on the improvement in stats when you are connected to the test socket there may be an internal wiring problem. It may be best for a short while to leave the hub connected to the test socket so as to avoid too many disconnections if it's not too inconvenient.

I did notice on the screen shot about the speeds quoted it referred to Unlimited Infinity 2. Your parents should NOT be on this but Unlimited Infinity up to 52Mbps , or even the cheaper Infinity 30GB monthly allowance if applicable. They may have to ring Customer Options to try and downgrade  0800 800 030.

[kohai]

Thanks, I think they're on Unlimited Infinity but I'll double check this, good call.

Yeah I've left it connected to the test socket for now, will keep it like that for as long as possible this week.

[pippincp]

The upload profile shows that your parents aren't on Infinity 2.

[kohai]

Just for completeness, to find the location of a cabinent use **telecom tarriffs** Cabinet 4 we're connected to.

Here's the relevant guide on Kitz.co.uk

[kohai]

@imjolly I'm going to mark your reply as the accepted answer, given my parents are getting speeds within the estimate and it's seems likely that the issue is the distance from the street cabinet. I'm leaving the Hub connected to the test socket for now, and see if there's any improvement (or at least no degradation) in the next couple of days.

Last question though, I get that the graph you posted is more indicative than truly accurate, but given their distance from the Street Cabinet (1.14km) shouldn't we expect to see speeds >20Mbps?

Perhaps more concerning is the upload speed of 1.24Mbps, would this perhaps constitue a fault requiring investigation?

A quick google (single source: *isp review* - Identifying Slow Speed as a Fault on FTTC Superfast Broadband Lines) suggests to me that BTs FTTC should provide an upstream data rate no less than 22.5% of the downstream. In this case then should this be classified as a fault given that for a 13.56Mbps downstream data rate should have a minimum (22.5%) upstream of ~3Mbps?

Clutching at straws here a bit I know, I just want to make sure I've done as much as possible to improve the value my parents are getting from what is quite an expensive price (albeit perhaps the best they can get in the area).