Stay Fast Guarantee vs Downstream Handback Threshold

[andyjeff66]

I'm an unsatisfied customer; I'm unsatisfied because I'm aware that my internet speed is impacted through a fault/problem in the Openreach fibre network. And the Openreach fibre network is the only option available to me at the moment.

So, my connection is a steady 32-35 Mbps down (SFG = 29) and a strong 16-17 Mbps up and it has been stuck like that for years.  According to Openreach it is underperforming as I should be in the 55-80 Mbps range with a handback threshold of 53.7-49 Mbps. I posted about it back in 2018 when I upgraded to the equivalent of Fibre 2 but still had the same speed.

So, how do I know there's a problem with the Openreach fibre? After numerous visits from different engineers that can not find a fault within my house; I finally spoke to one that was a little more open about the problem from their side. Apparently there is a section of fibre cable along my road that is causing the fibre signal to degrade by 50%. He believed the wrong type of cable was installed as he has visited other properties with a similar 50% drop. Even though there is a clear problem with the cable/service being provided because the cable is "working" it is not considered a priority to replace.

I reluctantly accept my connection is well within the stay fast guarantee but the knowledge that it should be performing better really does strike a nerve.

I'm currently on fibre 1; if I were to "upgrade" to fibre 2 BT advise the speeds and SFG will stay the same. Though if I ask them as a new customer with my address they advise 51-73mb and SFG of 45mb.

Do I have any other options or am I waiting on Openreach to decide to do something? I assume the Stay Fast Guarantee trumps the handback threshold which means BT do not have to do anything. I'm only asking as Virgin Media have been working in the area and in my road.

[licquorice]

I wouldn't take a lot of notice of what the 'engineer' told you. Your service is delivered by copper, not fibre.

You say the speed has been low for a number of years, has it always been slow from day 1 or did the speed drop suddenly?

[iniltous]

Unless your house is on the main road and happens to be on the route the ‘fibre’ takes from the aggregation node to the FTTC cabinet, then with fibre to the cabinet it’s unlikely that the fibre is outside your house or in your road ..I suspect what you have been told is nonsense.

Post your router statistics, that will give some details as far as what your line is capable of and if it’s underperforming, it is always possible that it’s the DSL checker that’s wrong , and is predicting speeds that simply cannot be achieved .

FYI , your upload speed is 18Mb , so it’s likely that you are already on Fibre 2 , ( the only profile that has the 20Mb upload , all others are 10Mb) ,  but your download is not even hitting the 40Mb or 55Mb download cap, of Essential or F1, let alone getting towards the F2 top speed of 80Mb…but what you are getting may be all your ‘line’ is capable of providing.

If you have had engineer visits presumably your internal setup should be OK , but if possible  connect your router to the test  port  of the master socket before posting your router stats ( assuming you are going to post your router stats )

[gg30340]

I smell flannel by the Openreach person. You have a FTTC connection which means, as has been pointed out your broadband signal comes along copper cables from the cabinet and not through fibre.

It may be the case that you have aluminium cables some where on your line which if that was the case that would be the cause of poor speeds, however you would have had that from the very start. It would not " just happen.

It makes no odds which package you are on. You will only get the max speed that your line can support and that appears to be 32/35mbps so upgrading to Fibre 2 is a waste of money in your case.  

[andyjeff66]

It has always been slow and I've always wanted the fastest service available to me. It's just never been able to achieve that. The engineer probably did say it was copper and I've just not remembered everything he said from 2020. I accepted it as it seemed a plausible explanation after so many visits.

From Superfast Fibre Plus in 2018 (60-80 down 19-20 up SFG 55) to Superfast Fibre 1 Unlimited in 2020 (49-72 down 15-18 up SFG 43). This year I settled for Fibre 1 (31-34 down 15-17 up SFG 29) as there was no faster service available to me.

I don't believe I have ever seen a speed higher then 38 from my line. Each time I signed up and didn't hit the SFG I complained had visits from the engineers and they can not find a problem on my side. If there was I'd gladly pay to get it sorted.

[andyjeff66]

Thank you, I appreciate the confirmations. It's just annoying to have had that carrot of a higher speed dangled in front of me so many times when the reality is it was never achievable.

[imjolly]

from your previous posts in 2018 you had a 42mb connection with an attainable of 43mb.   to try and solve speed problem you were moved to another pair but made little difference.  appears you just have poor lines in your area and probably some aluminium cabling