treacle slow internet

[Blackpuddin]

We live in a village in Powys, Wales and we suffer from what I think is pretty poor internet speed.
Here's a screen grab of a speed test I've just done.

.

Our internet is provided by Plusnet. We are running a new Plusnet router plus a booster. YouTube videos kind of run but are very fuzzy. Downloading a single 1.5min MP4 video yesterday took hours (literally). For this service I am paying nearly £40 a month. I work from home and am just about managing but I get to look at a lot of whirly wheels on my iMac while I'm waiting for something to happen.

There's no fibre or anything clever like that round here. The company that has been promising to bring us 100mb broadband for the last three years has just closed down.

Not sure there is any point in complaining to Plusnet (though I will do that just for the hell of it). We're just in a dead zone here. Just wondering if there's anything I can do to speed it up somehow.

TIA for any tips or thoughts.

[babelfish]

Blackpuddin said:

We live in a village in Powys, Wales and we suffer from what I think is pretty poor internet speed.
Here's a screen grab of a speed test I've just done.

.

Our internet is provided by Plusnet. We are running a new Plusnet router plus a booster. YouTube videos kind of run but are very fuzzy. Downloading a single 1.5min MP4 video yesterday took hours (literally). For this service I am paying nearly £40 a month. I work from home and am just about managing but I get to look at a lot of whirly wheels on my iMac while I'm waiting for something to happen.

There's no fibre or anything clever like that round here. The company that has been promising to bring us 100mb broadband for the last three years has just closed down.

Not sure there is any point in complaining to Plusnet (though I will do that just for the hell of it). We're just in a dead zone here. Just wondering if there's anything I can do to speed it up somehow.

TIA for any tips or thoughts.

What speed are you paying for?

If you aren't getting what you are paying for why wouldn't you complain?

I'm confused....

[Blackpuddin]

We don't get offered speed choices here. What you see here is what we get. No options. Just seems to be getting even worse of late hence me wondering if there's anything I can do about it.

[Griffith4ever]

I don't get offered choices either, BUT, when you look at broadband, once you enter your postcode and phone number you get told what you can expect - on ALL comparison sites. What do they tell you? (your download speed is fairly close to what a 1980's modem would achieve)

[HRL]

https://www.starlink.com/map

Think they do offers for those in rural U.K. locations. It’s still not cheap however but it’s a million times better than what you currently have.

[Blackpuddin]

Griffith4ever said:

I don't get offered choices either, BUT, when you look at broadband, once you enter your postcode and phone number you get told what you can expect - on ALL comparison sites. What do they tell you? (your download speed is fairly close to what a 1980's modem would achieve)

I compared all the providers who were offering a service. Not all of them did. Plusnet was no better or worse than any of the ones offering Internet coverage.

[Blackpuddin]

HRL said:

https://www.starlink.com/map

Think they do offers for those in rural U.K. locations. It’s still not cheap however but it’s a million times better than what you currently have.

I'll take a look at that, thanks.

[Blackpuddin]

Blackpuddin said:

HRL said:

https://www.starlink.com/map

Think they do offers for those in rural U.K. locations. It’s still not cheap however but it’s a million times better than what you currently have.

I'll take a look at that, thanks.

It's available here but as you say it's expensive, £449 for the hardware and £75 a month for the service. Some thought needed.

[outnumbered]

If you have good mobile coverage, a 4G router might be the answer.

[Blackpuddin]

Sadly we have zero mobile coverage here.

[dan98]

Get inside the top of your attic and check you can't get a mobile signal from any of the main providers.

If you can, get a SIM and stick a router up there - 3g / 4g data would be way faster than what you're getting.

[FourWheelDrift]

Are you recording those speeds through your PC/Mac via wifi or through a cat5 cable to the router?

[camel_landy]

FourWheelDrift said:

Are you recording those speeds through your PC/Mac via wifi or through a cat5 cable to the router?

^^^ This...

A the moment, your problems could be caused by a slow internet connection, crap Wifi or both. Eliminating the Wifi, by using a cable, will allow you properly test the internet connection.

M

PS - Admins: When are we going to have a Sticky for this sort of thing?

[Actual]

Living in the New Forest my dad could only get 1Mbps download on ADSL and as there was no mobile reception it also had to be used for Wi-Fi calling which worked well but your speed really is terrible and you have my sympathy.

Most ADSL green cabinets are out on the street but his cabinet was 4 miles away. This means his high frequency ASDL signal travelled 4 miles over 2 very thin twisted wires to het to his house. He waited years for an upgrade to the local infrastructure and we always joked that after any upgrade his speed would suddenly jump to be one of the fastest in the country.

Unfortunately he died before they finally installed FTTP.

[Blackpuddin]

dan98 said:

Get inside the top of your attic and check you can't get a mobile signal from any of the main providers.

If you can, get a SIM and stick a router up there - 3g / 4g data would be way faster than what you're getting.

We don't have an attic but again I researched all mobile providers when we moved in and they were all either terrible or non-existent. Mobile is currently with 3. WhatsApp works here but that's about it. No regular TV signals.
We live in a lovely spot and knew this would be the price of the location but it would be good to get some sort of improvement. I will be ringing Plusnet this morning and will report back.

[Blackpuddin]

camel_landy said:

FourWheelDrift said:

Are you recording those speeds through your PC/Mac via wifi or through a cat5 cable to the router?

^^^ This...

A the moment, your problems could be caused by a slow internet connection, crap Wifi or both. Eliminating the Wifi, by using a cable, will allow you properly test the internet connection.

M

Speeds recorded via Mac/wifi. I work downstairs but the only phone connection in the house is upstairs. There is another one downstairs but it doesn't work. I will try to tempt a mender man out here (another problem!).

[Blackpuddin]

Just done another test, 0.25 up, 0.63 down.

[Gary C]

What type of broadband ?

ADSL or VDSL ?

With those speeds I imagine its ADSL and even then its pretty poor. With ADSL, your connected via your telephone line directly to the exchange, with lots of losses, VDSL has a local cabinet so a much shorter wire.
Thing is, all 'internet providers' will use the same equipment provided by OpenReach so changing provider wont make a fig of difference unless they provide their own 'wires'

Do you hear crackling on your line ? dial 17070 and listen, if you can hear crackling then report it as this will affect your speeds. If you can log onto your router, it would be interesting to see the results of the diagnostic page.

Also, check this https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-inter...

Edited by Gary C on Friday 11th August 07:15

[Sheepshanks]

Blackpuddin said:

We live in a village in Powys, Wales

Have you checked if Powys County Council - or whatever local council you’re under - have anything going on that might help?

One of my colleagues lives in a very rural hamlet in England and had a nightmare with radio and then satellite broadband. Then the local authority worked with Openreach and put fibre past his house. I forget what it’s called now, but with the system he’s on there’s no street cabinet - he’s connected directly to it.

[Blackpuddin]

Gary C said:

What type of broadband ?

ADSL or VDSL ?

With those speeds I imagine its ADSL and even then its pretty poor. With ADSL, your connected via your telephone line directly to the exchange, with lots of losses, VDSL has a local cabinet so a much shorter wire.
Thing is, all 'internet providers' will use the same equipment provided by OpenReach so changing provider wont make a fig of difference unless they provide their own 'wires'

Do you hear crackling on your line ? dial 17070 and listen, if you can hear crackling then report it as this will affect your speeds. If you can log onto your router, it would be interesting to see the results of the diagnostic page.

Also, check this https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-inter...

Edited by Gary C on Friday 11th August 07:15

Tried 17070 and pressed the fast test option, it asked me if I was authorised to use it and if not to hang up!
Never heard of VDSL but after Googling it I'm very much assuming we're ADSL with these speeds.
The link you sent me is very interesting, many thanks, I followed it up and it referred me to bt.com/uso which is the site dealing with the 'universal service obligation' giving eligible UK addresses the right to request a 'decent' broadband connection. From our postcode it looks like we are eligible for an upgrade but according to the spiel on the site it's very much looking like a right to request rather than an absolute right.

Here's what it might cost, again quoted from the USO site.

'If the total cost is £3,400 or less (exclusive of VAT) per premises in your area, you won’t have to pay for the work.

But it could be a lot higher. If the build is more than £3,400 per premises, you'll need to pay excess costs to get a connection.

The way these costs are worked out has changed for some customers. We’ll calculate the total excess cost of the build and divide that between the eligible premises. If that amount is below £5,000 per premises (on top of the £3,400), we’ll automatically split the costs. So you’ll only pay to connect your address.

If the excess cost is above £5,000 per premises (on top of the £3,400), you’ll need to raise the full build cost to get a connection.

If you do need to pay anything, we’ll give you a quote so you can decide what to do.'

This reminds me of what happened in this village three years ago when we moved in and collectively asked BT to give us a quote for 'decent broadband'. Their response was something in excess of £200k, not an option when split between fewer than ten houses.

Anyway, I'll give them a shout after 9am when they open and see what they say.

Thanks to all so far for the helpful suggestions.