cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Internet unusuable when uploading.

iKarampa
Hooked
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎07-01-2018

Internet unusuable when uploading.

Hello,

 

Every time someone in uploads videos or pictures, the entire network crawls to a halt. Our upload speeds are very slow (1mbps), uploading a 500mb file can kill the internet for a day in the household.

 

Is there any way to fix this? I have a 2704n router.

 

Regards

10 REPLIES 10
markhawkin
Pro
Posts: 552
Thanks: 121
Fixes: 11
Registered: ‎17-07-2016

Re: Internet unusuable when uploading.

@iKarampa

yes, this happens.

It is possible to get a "clever" router and configure "load balancing" to slow the upload and reserve some speed for other uses but that is comparatively complicated and will cost you for the router. I tried this with some limited success.

Even more complex, it is possible to use a second connection (say 4G mobile) to share the load.

 

Perhaps the best solution (if available to you) would be to upgrade to fibre.

One of the main reasons I upgraded to fibre was upload speed on basic ADSL.

I am the satisfied customer....
ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
Thanks: 631
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: Internet unusuable when uploading.

The problem is known as "bufferbloat" and the 2704n router is especially bad in that regard. There have been numerous threads where people have switched to Plusnet and the 2704n router and suddenly this has become a problem, despite their usage and line speed not significantly changing.

iKarampa
Hooked
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎07-01-2018

Re: Internet unusuable when uploading.

This is a deal breaker for me, every time someone records videos my household internet is unsuable!

 

Can you contact Plusnet and ask for a better router? Do they have a better router?

Baldrick1
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 11,618
Thanks: 5,166
Fixes: 415
Registered: ‎30-06-2016

Re: Internet unusuable when uploading.

@ejs

This is something that has confused me, asuming that the adsl signal is full duplex I would not expect any slowing of the downstream. It does show what a poor router this is. 

So, is the solution to the OP's problem to buy a different router? If so do you know if there is any data out there that compares different routers resilience to bufferbloat?

Moderator and Customer
If this helped - select the Thumb
If it fixed it,  help others - select 'This Fixed My Problem'

RealAleMadrid
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 2,713
Thanks: 1,395
Fixes: 59
Registered: ‎07-07-2009

Re: Internet unusuable when uploading.

It's to do with downstream data packets having to be acknowledged by the TCP/IP protocol, a small amount of upstream bandwidth is required for these ACK packets. If the upstream is saturated by a continuous upload then the downstream can be severely affected or even totally crippled. 

What I don't follow is how can recording videos use the upstream, unless the OP means uploading videos to social media sites.

Baldrick1
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 11,618
Thanks: 5,166
Fixes: 415
Registered: ‎30-06-2016

Re: Internet unusuable when uploading.

@RealAleMadrid Yes I get that upstream packets have to be achnowledged. I also assume that the deeper the interlacing the more downstream handshaking there is to accomodate. What I can't get my head around is how the upstream data packet acknowledgement can totally stop downstream data, which has far greater bandwidth. Interpreting @ejs comment I can only think that there is a common buffer in the router that has to handle both upstream and downstream data. I can see that if the upstream data is coming into the router faster than it can be retransmitted over the ADSL link then a single buffer could get filled but that seems like a pretty rubbish bit of engineering design. But then...

Moderator and Customer
If this helped - select the Thumb
If it fixed it,  help others - select 'This Fixed My Problem'

RealAleMadrid
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 2,713
Thanks: 1,395
Fixes: 59
Registered: ‎07-07-2009

Re: Internet unusuable when uploading.

Sorry but I don't think you've got it at all. It's the acknowledgment of downstream packets that have to be sent upstream or the remote site will keep resending packets that have not been acknowledged so if upstream is saturated the downstream bandwidth is irrelevant and grinds to a halt. The usual solution is to configure QOS on the upstream so that there is always some bandwidth for essential upstream data, such as ACKs and maybe VOIP calls. My router can do this, not sure about the PlusNet ones, I have never used an ISP supplied router they as they are usually budget devices with limited configuration available.

iKarampa
Hooked
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎07-01-2018

Re: Internet unusuable when uploading.

Recording videos has no effect. It is when a mobile connects to the wifi, that google photos will try to upload everything in the queue. This in return cripples the internet for everyone, notably all streaming services.

I need to find the culprit and ask them to switch off their wifi so the rest can actually use the internet.

 

This wasn't an issue earlier as I had a separate router with QoS, which unfortunately died recently. I switched to the 2704n as my main router and I am truly shocked at the quality of the broadband! Ticked_off

I sourced a Linksys EA6350 from ebay, which I will be installing soon.

Baldrick1
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 11,618
Thanks: 5,166
Fixes: 415
Registered: ‎30-06-2016

Re: Internet unusuable when uploading.

@RealAleMadrid

I've got it now, thanks.

 

Moderator and Customer
If this helped - select the Thumb
If it fixed it,  help others - select 'This Fixed My Problem'

murrayw24
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎19-11-2017

Re: Internet unusuable when uploading.

I had exactly the same problem since I switched to plusnet a couple of months ago.
I finally "fixed" the problem this week by unplugging the plusnet hub zero router and plugging in my old talktalk "super router" - which turns out to live up to its name! I can now stream video on one device while uploading photos from another device.
So my advice would be to change the router.