Low minimum guaranteed speed

[barryc8g]

Towards the end of April 2024 I was offered a renewal of my Fibre 1 contract for another 24 months even though it still had over 7 months to run.  My location is served by a lengthy copper wire from the fibre cabinet so speeds have never been great, but Vodafone (and their predecessor Talk Talk) have always supplied an adequate service for the needs of my household.

The existing contract started in December 2022 with estimated download speeds in the range 15 Mbps to 16.9 Mbps, with a minimum guaranteed speed of 13.5 Mbps.  The MGS was reached after a couple of weeks but over time sync speed has settled at a lower figure probably because of high error counts.  Usually, the sync speed is well above 10 Mbps with few errors, and I am sufficiently a realist to accept this without complaint because I don’t really need a higher speed (which is probably unattainable anyway).

However, the renewal contract summary provided disquieting figures!  Estimated download speeds (‘measured’ on 23/04/24) were in the range 4.9 Mbps to 6.7 Mbps and the MGS was 4.4 Mbps.  I keep a log of sync and throughput speeds and on that day the sync speed was 11.4 Mbps (as it had been for 49 days) and throughput was 10.69 Mbps.  I complained, but to no avail.  It was claimed that the MGS was provided by Openreach and that was that!  I then (with some difficulty)rejected the renewal contract because its MGS was so ridiculously low and gave me no grounds for complaint if the speed were to drop to nigh-on useless values.

I would welcome any thoughts as to the origin of these ‘measured’ speeds and why the directors complaints department adopt a ‘computer says no’ attitude to any question about their accuracy, even when they are demonstrably unrealistic.

As I write this, my current sync speed is 13.1 Mbps (throughput 12.34 Mbps) and I have again been offered a 24 month early renewal which is financially attractive, but what would the MGS be I wonder, and how can I find out in advance?  

[Jayach]

I suspect the "measured speeds" may be gathered from the "Observed Speeds" here:

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

Although Vodafone may be keeping their own records. (unlikely)

If you renew there should be no change to the actual connection provided, as that is Openreach, but you may be forced to go to VoIP for the telephone connection, if it isn't already.

Is there no prospect of Full Fibre where you live in the near future?

[barryc8g]

Thanks Jayach for the link.  It shows a downstream line rate range of 15.0 to 24.1 and a 'Handback Threshold of 11, these estimates for an impacted VDSL Range B line.  So I conclude these are not the source of Vodafone's figures.

I've had VoIP ever since switching to Vodafone in Dec'22.  The only problems have been occasional failures to re-establish the connection after a router re-boot or WAN reset.  Apparently there are no plans to site a fibre cabinet nearer to my property.

[Ripshod]

Also, frequent disconnects (line faults or reboots are the most common causes) will gradually reduce your speed.

Run a quiet line test (17070)

• Plug a Standard Analogue phone into the test socket - you should get a Dial Tone
• To check the Telephone Number Dial 17070 - you will hear a message giving you the telephone number associated with the line
• Quiet Line Test - This lets you hear if there is Noise or crackling on the line

[barryc8g]

The broadband connection is very stable, no great number of downstream errors (upstream doesn't bother me much) and a fairly decent Signal-to-Noise ratio.  The VoIP phone connection is also OK.

[Ripshod]

Ah, you already have VoIP. That kills the quiet line test idea 😂

[Jayach]

As you already have VoIP, then absolutely nothing should change if you renew. until such time as FTTP (full fibre) is available where you live.

Check here to get an idea of when that may be.

https://www.openreach.com/fibre-checker

Full Fibre doesn't use street cabinets.

[barryc8g]

Nothing changed last time I renewed, except the new contract significantly reduced Vodafone's obligations to maintain a decent minimum sync speed.  I think 'sometime never' would sum up the likelihood of getting FTTP where I live!  I can get a service at 40 Mbps from an independent supplier (via an aerial system) for a not-unreasonable cost but would have to make separate arrangements for a VoIP telephone service.