topic Re: Fiber Install Complete in Full Fibre

Fiber Install Complete

khaled35 — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 14:54:57 GMT

Great experience. Engineer showed up when they said he would. He banged on with the work and was done in about 3 hours. Tested connection and confirmed working.

How long after an install should I see an increase in speed? I'm moving from 74FTTC to 300FTTP.

Re: Fiber Install Complete

Baldrick1 — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 15:01:31 GMT

@khaled35

You should get a text from Plusnet when they have set up their end. It should be by midnight.

Have you tried the new connection to see if it's yet working?

Re: Fiber Install Complete

MisterW — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 15:01:46 GMT

How long after an install should I see an increase in speed?

There is no stabilisation period on FTTP. Once your account change has completed (sometime later today) then the speed should change. Login to your account and check if your product and current line speed have changed. Once they have, reboot the router and you should be good to go...

Re: Fiber Install Complete

khaled35 — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 15:03:02 GMT

Thanks. Thought there might be a after midnight thing.

Yes, connection is working and am getting 75down and around 50up.

Re: Fiber Install Complete

khaled35 — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 15:07:30 GMT

Product still indicates the old one. Not sure how to check line speed on the account, but not important. I'll wake up tomorrow morning and come down the stairs like it's Christmas.

Re: Fiber Install Complete

Baldrick1 — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 15:15:07 GMT

@khaled35

Fingers crossed! If it doesn't pick up try the reboot suggested by @MisterW

Re: Fiber Install Complete

MisterW — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 15:18:35 GMT

Not sure how to check line speed on the account,

login and then go to the Broadband tab , it should show the product and current line speed , which should show 300 Mb once the product change is complete

Re: Fiber Install Complete

khaled35 — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 15:38:30 GMT

Here's what I see

Think product hasn't changed yet.

Re: Fiber Install Complete

MisterW — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 16:02:20 GMT

Yes, the product change hasn't completed yet. It should complete later today, keep checking occasionally and once it shows Full fibre, then reboot the router.

Re: Fiber Install Complete

khaled35 — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 20:42:24 GMT

Got the email about product change being complete. I checked the site and yes, it's changed there too

Do a speed test and I max out at 94. This is a wired connection.

Re: Fiber Install Complete

Baldrick1 — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 20:57:22 GMT

@khaled35

Check out your Ethernet cables, they need to be at least CAT5e and also check the speed of your Ethernet adapters. It sounds like something is only running at 100MBps.

Are you using a Hub 2? Have you logged in to your router and seen what data speed it is reporting?

Re: Fiber Install Complete

MisterW — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 20:59:25 GMT

That sounds like you've got an ethernet connection somewhere that's only 100Mb capable.

Are all your cables cat5e or better ?

Is ther NIC on the testing machine gigabit capable ?

Are you using the Plusnet hub 2 router or your own ?

Re: Fiber Install Complete

khaled35 — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 21:13:23 GMT

You guys may be on to something. On wireless, I get 277Mb

I think it might be the ethernet cable from ONT to the router. The one provided was too short, and I just had this really long and old one laying about. I'll need to buy one that's an appropriate length.

What category cable is ideal?

Re: Fiber Install Complete

RealAleMadrid — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 23:02:58 GMT

@khaled35 Cat5e is perfectly good enough, a CAT6 cable will not make the connection any faster.

Re: Fiber Install Complete

Baldrick1 — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 23:17:15 GMT

@khaled35

If you’re getting 277Mbps over wireless it won’t be the ONT to router cable

Re: Fiber Install Complete

Townman — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 00:29:48 GMT

OK you can be my trial guineapig - this is a soup to nuts guide on this issue which the SUs have been bringing together. This is the final draft... the ink is still wet, this version being completed a few minutes ago.

"Do a speed test and I max out at 94. This is a wired connection."

I think the last but one point might be relevant here - the PC's ethernet port? Let us know how you get on with this!

FTTP data test speeds not as expected

There have been numerous reports of measured data speeds not fulfilling users' expectations of their shiny new FTTP service. An end to end data speed test is a somewhat blunt instrument with which to test the connection speed. In most instances the FTTP service is running at the product's connection speed, but the user's environment or the data speed test service cannot saturate the FTTP connection's bandwidth.

We can no longer have confidence that the cause of slower than expected data transfer speed is due to the broadband connection's performance. If there is any doubt that the user's technology, infrastructure or chosen test service cannot saturate the FTTP link, then a data speed test is likely to deliver misleading results.

Here are a few things to consider / investigate...

Is the ethernet cable between the router and the ONT CAT5e or better?
CAT5 or below will not transfer data faster than 100mbps thus a simple cable could be the culprit of slow data speeds. The ethernet link rate between hub and ONT can be observed in the Hub Two GUI under 'Status'. This is a good indicator of router <> ONT cable function.
Is the device on which the data speed test is being run connected over (CAT5e) ethernet cable (not WiFi)?
A device connected over 2.4GHz WiFi absolutely will not get anywhere close to 300mbps. It will typically be less than 100mbps. Typical 'good' 5GHz performance using the Hub Two is likely to be below 500mbps and will get lower the further away you are from the router. More optimal Wi-Fi performance is possible but involves sourcing your own third party equipment that is capable of the newer standards. Also Wi-Fi performance is equally dependent on the client. Some older devices don't support 5GHz, and even the most recent smartphones only have a 2x2 antenna array, which limits the number of concurrent Wi-Fi streams (the hub can use more streams / go faster, but most clients cannot).
Is the device on which the data speed test is being run connected over (CAT5e) ethernet cable with no intermediary devices (like Powerline adapters, switches and physical ports) on the LAN side?
Irrespective of cabling, if is a 10/100 ethernet switch in the chain then it's going to bottleneck things. If relying on Powerline adapters, it is highly unlikely to be able to pull anywhere close to 300mbps through electrical wiring. Many Powerline adapters that are rated at e.g. 500mbps, actually have only 10/100 ethernet ports which means the advertised speeds are near fiction.
There are no other active devices active on the network at the time of the test.
Other concurrent use of the network will reduce the bandwidth available for the data speed test, thus delivering a misleading result.
If on a static IP or using the Plusnet firewall (configured in the user portal) has the Plusnet IP profile updated?
Speed tests performed soon after the service has been connected (but before Plusnet's systems have updated) might be constrained by the accounts data speed profile. Disconnect the router from the ONT, wait a short while, reconnect then check that the Current Line Speed (Download) reported in PN Broadband Status reflects the FTTP product's profile.
If using a third party router ensure that QoS (or other traffic shaping tools) are disabled.
QoS and other tools have been seen to cause havoc with attempting to saturate FTTP links. Prioritisation / QoS features are very processor intensive and can (probably will) significantly bottleneck speeds.
Is the test device is configured to use any VPN / corporate intranet connection?
They can be another potential bottleneck.
Is the test device capable of moving the data at FTTP speeds?
Some kit simply does not have the power to saturate FTTP connection speeds. Whilst undertaking data speed tests, (in windows) use Task Manager's performance tab to check throughput limitations do not arise from...
- CPU performance
- Disk write / read speeds - FTTP will easily saturate a 5400 rpm disk
- Memory utilisation - the data has to go somewhere!
- Network performance - unless the machine is reasonably new, the ethernet port will be limited to 100mbps!!
Speed test service
Not all speed test services are dependable nor consistent, so run some comparable tests on different speed test services, at different times of day and night (both on and off-peak) where possible. The following are good points of reference.
- BT Wholesale - NOTE BT's recommendation link for testing 500mbps and above products
- Think Broadband who also offer a number of download files to soak test connections.
- Ookla aka SpeedTest.net who also have a client side speed test application which is preferable.

Please check out the above to ensure that the perceived data speed is not compromised by something other than the fear that the FTTP connection speed is not what it "should" be.

Re: Fiber Install Complete

khaled35 — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 08:02:19 GMT

Thanks everyone. I've ordered new cat5e cables for everything. Should get them tomorrow.

Re: Fiber Install Complete

MisterW — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 09:07:29 GMT

As @Baldrick1 said earlier, the cable from the ONT to the router must be OK, since you're getting 277Mb wireless.

It looks like the problem is with the pc you're running the wired test, either the cable connecting it is not cat5e OR the network card is not gigabit capable OR the pc is old and just not up to the high speeds.

You should be able to check the pc connection speed o the Hub 2 devices list

Re: Fiber Install Complete

khaled35 — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 09:48:07 GMT

I did see that but figured, these cables are old and they're long. I have a 20m cable running from ONT to router when I just need 5m. Just doing a bit of a refresh.

Re: Fiber Install Complete

bobpullen — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 18:44:21 GMT

The path between the wired device you're testing from and the hub needs checking. Those cables need to be > Cat5e and the device itself (and any others in the path, e.g. switches/Powerline adapters) need to have Gigabit ethernet ports too. If the physical port on any of these devices is only 10/100 then no amount of cable jiggling is going to help.

As others have said, router <> ONT is fine if you can pull > 100mbps using Wi-Fi.