topic Re: Full fibre145 speed? in Full Fibre

Full fibre145 speed?

Porthrepta — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 20:17:57 GMT

Upgraded to the FTTP 145 package but getting 60Mbps 67Mbs typically and 30 to 40 upload.

The story and visits:

1. OpenReach install indoor and outdoor boxes, but trunking blocked. Trace to where they think the blockage is.

2 and 3 Dig hole - wrong place. Trace again and dig second hole and install fibre.

4. Connect fibre to the home. Hub 2 does not connect. Lots of phone calls to Plusnet but no constant connection just bursts logged at 160 Mbs. Then try my old Plusnet Hub (1?) and get a connection of 67Mbs/30Mbs. So Plusnet shipped a replacement Hub 2.

At this point, I can only say a big thank you to OpenReach for their persistence to resolve this.

Now it's me! The new Hub 2 was received and installed and works, but....
Speed is still similar, typically 67Mbs down and up to 40Mbps up.
My question. Do I have to do anything to get the estimated 145 to 160 Mbps or does Plusnet have to reset anything?
It had a hint of 160Mbps with the faulty Hub 2 and OpenReach said it's a good signal and I should get the full speed.

Just out of interest what speed should the WiFi work at in close proximity to the router?

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

dvorak — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 20:52:56 GMT

Is this testing on a wired or wireless connection?

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

Porthrepta — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 21:01:36 GMT

This is wireless. Similar figures on two laptops and phones, none have wired options.

The OpenReach person recorded 160 Mbps bursts on his phone by wireless.

Hence my final question in my original post, what is the maximum wireless speed expected, is this the actual limit?

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

bill888 — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 02:33:20 GMT

Log into Plusnet web portal. In the Broadband tab, check the reported speeds reflect Full Fibre 145 service.

Your maximum wireless speed will depend on the capabilities of the wireless chip within the devices. The hub one and two are both dual band 2.4/5GHz wifi-5 (802.11ac) routers. When in same room as the hub, 2.4 GHz wireless is generally limited to under 70 Mbps. 5 GHz wifi-5 is capable to 200+ Mbps for devices with one aerial (eg. non-premium new phones) and 400+ Mbps for devices with two aerials (eg. most new laptops).

In the absence of an ethernet wired computer, you could log into the Hub and switch off the 2.4 GHz wifi. Then check if your devices can connect to the 5 GHz wifi. If you lose ability to connect to wifi, then use the recessed Reset button on the back of the hub to perform a 'factory reset'.

https://www.plus.net/help/broadband/router-user-guides/hub-two/

What are the make/models of your smart phones?

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

Porthrepta — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 07:06:21 GMT

Thanks, the web portal shows

My laptop wifi properties shows:
Protocol: Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)
Network band: 5 GHz
Link speed (Receive/Transmit): 866/866 (Mbps)

I'm not worried about the phone speed, I just used them to test next to the router.

I'll also check through the guide again.

Thanks

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

bill888 — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 10:17:09 GMT

With a link speed of 866/866 MHz, you should indeed see 140+ mbps when running speed tests.

I would though double check speeds with an ethernet connection, and perhaps try turning off antivirus software or other utilities like smartbyte if you own a Dell, to see if it makes a difference.

Take a look at this other thread too:

https://community.plus.net/t5/Full-Fibre/No-speed-increase-with-upgrade/td-p/1919994

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

bmc — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 11:12:52 GMT

@Porthrepta

To answer your original question there is no minimum speed on a wireless connection. It depends on both customers equipment and router location. No ISP can really offer guarentees unless you're using their supplied WiFi access points.

If you're receiving expected speeds on a wired connection then PN have fullfilled their contract. With wireless it now just becomes a case of finding the optimal solution for your equipment.

Brian

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

Porthrepta — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 11:53:00 GMT

Thanks, yes it looks exactly like the link you sent.

I tried some of the suggested fixes, AV off, MalwareBytes off and that made no difference.

My WAN lead was an OpenReach one that they swapped when trying to get the faulty modem working, so I unpacked my "returns" box and installed the new Plusnet modem WAN lead. Probably just noise or time, but it did increase by 2Mbps...

Top is Speedtest.net AV and MB's OFF

Middle is ThinkBroadband as above.

Lower is Plusnet WAN cable with AV and MB's all enabled.

I'll get out a "very old" Dell with an Internet port and try that this evening.

Thanks for your help.

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

bill888 — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 12:26:08 GMT

hmm, 72-74 mbps looks awfully like 80mbps FTTC/FTTP speeds....

Were you previously on Plusnet Unlimited Fibre Extra (upto 80mb fttc)?

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

bmc — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 12:43:07 GMT

@Porthrepta

Although you can't split the WiFi bands on the Hub2 have you tried switching the 5g band off to see if that makes a difference.

Brian

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

Porthrepta — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 13:06:51 GMT

Yes Plusnet Unlimited Fibre Extra, but although my line was said to support 80Mbps +, it started at 60 with multiple modem resets and settled at 40... History now repeating itself!

I was intrigued to know what a wired network would achieve, so here is the result. Looks familiar...

So the issue is not the WiFi.

From your link posted https://community.plus.net/t5/Full-Fibre/No-speed-increase-with-upgrade/td-p/1919994/page/3

It would appear that Plusnet can believe they are providing the speed advertised, but at the user end, it can be very different!

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

Porthrepta — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 13:08:42 GMT

Not WiFi related, same results on an internet cable connection.

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

bmc — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 13:41:01 GMT

@Porthrepta

Then you need to wait for a staff member to pick up this thread or give PN Support a phone.

Brian

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

Porthrepta — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 12:46:24 GMT

@bobpullen From this thread do you think we (this ticket and the two below) have also been left on the wrong provisioning?
https://community.plus.net/t5/Full-Fibre/Incorrect-profile-provisioning-error-500-68-running-at-325-49/m-p/1922878

https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Order/Full-Fibre-upgraded-but-no-speed-increase/m-p/1924094#M28832

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

Townman — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 13:02:31 GMT

@Porthrepta wrote:

Not WiFi related, same results on an internet cable connection.

You cannot assert that with any confidence. That old Dell at best might run at 100mbps over ethernet, so nowhere near the 160mbps product specification. You have been advised by BT that the LINK is doing 160mbps - what your devices can exploit of that potential is probably down to the devices. There are a host of user side issues which will ensure that the speed they perceived is less than that which is being delivered.

@bobpullen - any chance of one of those new tests being run here o prove the delivered speed please?

One interesting test would be to see what concurrent speed several wifi connected devices can achieve. If you get several devices concurrently reporting 60+mbps - I hope you'll agree that the link is doing more than you can measure and it is your devices which are incapable of exploiting the available capacity.

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 make full use of (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 make full use of the FTTP link's bandwidth, 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 (Optical Network Terminator) CAT5e or better?
CAT5 or below will not transfer data faster than 100mbps thus a simple cable could be the cause 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 the device is 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 type of device and the age of its technology standards. Some older devices do not support 5GHz, even the most recent smartphones only have a 2x2 antenna array, which limits the number of concurrent Wi-Fi streams. The Plusnet Hub Two can use more streams (go faster), but most types of device 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 there is a 10/100 ethernet switch in the chain then it is going to bottleneck things. Similarly Powerline adapters are 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 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?
Data speed tests performed soon after the service has been connected (but before Plusnet's systems have updated) might be constrained by the account's line 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 (Quality of Service) and other traffic shaping tools are disabled.
QoS and other tools have been seen to cause havoc with attempting to saturate FTTP links. Prioritisation and QoS features are very processor intensive and can (probably will) significantly bottleneck speeds. Notably there have been numerous reports of Netgear Orbi maxing out at 550mbps when connected direct to the ONT, rather than being connected to a Plusnet Hub Two.
Is the test device configured to use any VPN or corporate intranet connection?
VPNs and corporate intranets can also be potential bottlenecks.
Is the data speed test device capable of moving the data at FTTP speeds?
Some kit simply does not have the power to make full use of FTTP connection speeds. Whilst undertaking data speed tests, if running on MS Windows, use Task Manager's performance tab to check throughput limitations do not arise from...
- CPU performance
- Disk read/write speeds - FTTP will easily outpace 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 factors, to ensure that the perceived data speed is not compromised by some other factor limiting the data throughput-speed of your full-fibre FTTP.

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

Townman — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 13:03:49 GMT

As for wrong provisioning, your user portal reports your CURRENT speed to be 160mbps. That comes from BT's service reporting.

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

bill888 — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 13:23:30 GMT

@Porthrepta

What is the make/model/spec of the old PC ?

If it is running Windows, what is the make/model of ethernet adapter (look in Device Manager > Network Adapters)?

Even a typical 15 year old PC with 100mb LAN card should be able to report 90 mbps in speed tests imho.

fwiw, can you enable ping on the router and use BQM to check for possible packet loss?

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

Townman — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 13:27:11 GMT

@bill888

But it is not just the NIC to consider! Why do people only believe that the only thing which could possibly be wrong is the link ... or worry about speed in the absence of an operational issue which might have speed bandwidth as a significant contributor?

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

Porthrepta — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 21:24:36 GMT

@Townman Concurrent download test:

Laptop #1 10Mbps

Laptop #2 45Mbps

Phone 25Mbps

All normally achieve 60Mbs to 70Mbs individually, but tonight:

Laptop #1 74.8Mbps

Laptop #2 72.4 Mbps

Phone 69.5 Mbps

Laptops on 5GHz, phone on 2.4GHz

I shall perform further tests as you describe.

Thanks

Re: Full fibre145 speed?

Porthrepta — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 21:49:55 GMT

@bill888 Old laptop is a Vostro 3560 with Intel Core i7 processor.

I couldn't find details of the hardware from where you suggested, but the manual for all builds says:

Network adapter 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet LAN

I have only just enabled the ping for BQM and it currently shows this small time sample:

Not sure if that's of any use.