Ongoing slow download speeds!!

[Maz1977]

 

 

I have Superfast broadband ( fastest I can get ) Around  2-3 weeks ago broadband went off completely ( several hours ) and by morning was up and running . Went on the sky app to check if there were any problems and it stated there was an issue between the exchange to hub, however, all was working so left it. I've always had around 40-42mbs on speed tests both to hub and to devices.

A few days later my Son was having buffering issues gaming and I'd noticed longer wait times logging onto the likes of Netflix, other streaming apps etc.... things just appeared slower. Did several speed tests and was only getting 23mbs- done all the usual hub stuff, disconnected devices etc and kept eye on it.  2 weeks later I'm still having buffering problems- service checker continues to state problem from exchange to hub with an average daily download of 27mbs ( my minimum guaranteed is 40mbs )  Looking at the last 14 days of data from sky, you could see I had this daily average of 40mbs, then the night it went off it showed 0mbs then has shown 27mbs every day since. 

Contacted sky, done all the usual stuff and resets yet again, they said they'd arrange an engineer to look as couldn't see what the issue was and I'd be contacted by text within 3 days. . Got a text whilst at work the next day to say problem on line has been fixed and to say if all was ok..... it wasn't, so I replied no, so they tell me to call sky again..... go through all the resets yet again and she's says after telling me for half an hour she didn't know what the problem was ( and that two people in the household had too many devices of 6 connected ) that it was all of a sudden a problem with my hub..... she'll send a new one out. She was lovely, but couldn't help much more than what is already done myself. 

Got new hub and download speeds still the same... at  27mbs. 

Since my internet went off completely, it's never been the same. I've screen shot my router stats.... Any advice guys!? Broadband actually went off whilst we were on holiday early August for over a day as well as I received texts but obviously we weren't affected but there was clearly an issue.   I will call Sky again but judging on the similar discussions I've read on here, don't think I'll get far. 

[Maz1977]

Thought I'd post the info from the exchange as well- is anyone able to shed any light?  

 

[mae-3 · Accepted solution]

@Maz1977 

The broadband line has a fault with a raised noise margin showing above 6dB at 8.3dB, and the speed is down because of the broadband line fault which will need another BT Openreach engineer to fix.

[Maz1977]

Thanks so much, I will contact them again.  I was trying to make sense of the figures on the stats; what do the ds numbers mean on the line attenuation? Do sky have access to these stats so they can see the fault? 

[Maz1977]

I posted a couple days ago about my download speed being reduced from a steady 40-43mbs to now 23-27mbs. I posted my router stats and was advised there was a fault on the line so I've went back to Sky.....and cutting a long story short and being told three different things from three diffeeent advisers that there isn't a fault and that's that!! 

My minimum guaranteed download speed is 40mbs, but sky have said now I'm out of contract this does not stand and if I was to take out a new contract the guarantee would only be 20mbs. The Customer Service around my issue has been frankly horrific, been told so many different things from different advisers at Sky I'm giving up! I've had broadband for over 10 years with Sky and have had no problems until now.  

Has anyone got anywhere with Sky or gone higher with the same problem? My slower download speed literally happened overnight when it went off completley for a few hours then hasn't been the same since. 

[daveNOS]

@Maz1977 I would put in a formal complaint, the agent you spoke to is 100% wrong when they stated the minimum speed doesn't apply if your out of contract, your never out of contract while you are paying for a service. 

[Maz1977]

I'm honestly so gobsmacked at the information I've been told which is all different. The adviser has point blank said that there isn't a fault and therefore they cannot book an engineer. When I told him I was told that if I enter a new contract an engineer could be booked, he said yes, but your new contract will state a speed of 20mbs so an engineer won't do anything. When I questioned my current min download speed guarantee of 40mbs, he said I'm out of contract so that doesn't apply. I've even received a right to exit from sky! 

[Chrisee]

@Maz1977 if you are out of contract with Sky you can switch ISP without penalty if you decide to do that just sign up with any other isp who uses Openreach as they will handle the whole thing including cancelling with Sky its really easy these days.. As posted above the Sky rep is being very difficult in refusing to get Openreach involved and while you could complain I would just switch assuming the Availability column in the DSL checker says Available for the VDSL line..

The dsl checket indicates that your line has a hanback speed of 35Mb/s which is the minimum speed Openreach expects and will be used to give a guaranteed speed. 

[Kbizzle2021]

 Hey - Can someone explain my stats to me please? I have low speeds and high noise margin but I don't really understand anything else. 

[mae-3]

@Kbizzle2021 

The router stats show that it has unhealthy speed and a highly raised noise margin downstream, showing a speed of 15Mbps some 300% lower than expected for your line length at about 370 metres from the cabinet. The raised noise margin is 17.1dB indicating a fault near or in the premises. You also get drops on the line well with the uptime compared to router uptime and its WAN connection uptime which should be about the same on a good line.

Suggest you run a Sky App broadband test which should allow you to book an engineer with the severity of the fault.

[Kbizzle2021]

Thanks so much for your swift and helpful reply @mae-3  

I've been certain it's a fault but Sky keep repeating the, no fault on the line, script to me. I think I also had this fault with my previous ISP, literally last month. It had similar low speeds and they sent out Open Reach who replaced my master socket to one without needing a filter and my speeds shot back up to 61-71mbps. Everything worked brilliantly, up until my Sky Broadband activated and it's gone wrong again. One helpful advisor, has escalasted my issues to the 'back team' or something so hopefully someone will help.  

My worry is, if I leave now during my cooling off period, without a fix, I won't be able to get any other ISP's to guarantee the previous speeds I was getting. Not even my old ISP Vodafone will offer me the same speeds I was getting literally a month ago. I'd had Vodafone Unlimited Broadband 2. 

If this becomes my only option, and I have to leave Sky without a fix. Who do I go to if I'm not able to arrange a call out with Open Reach myself? Is it Ofcom? Can they even help with this stuff? I've seen some people go to their local MP but I'm praying it won't have to get to that. 

[mae-3]

@Kbizzle2021 

I'm somewhat surprised that the technical advisers of Sky are stating no fault when it clearly is a severe fault on the broadband line with those figures supplied.

Fortunately, when such faults are so severe as your broadband line an engineer from BT Openreach would find it relatively easy to diagnose and rectify.

If you still have an issue with engaging an engineer then the community can raise the issue for discussion with a technical adviser of Sky's. If you like the post escalating then please advise.

[kevlark]

just have more of a standard package with superfast broadband. did everything I could from the website, expected speeds up to 45mb/s on download but I'm barely getting 6 

should I mention it might be a problem for openreach while calling them? it cut off a lot during october and has been slow since, I've even changed an old modem/router to a new one but of course I've had to do sky's tests with their hub