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0.5mb holiday connection better than my home fibre connection

Sticks
Dabbler
Posts: 12
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Registered: ‎29-06-2016

0.5mb holiday connection better than my home fibre connection

I play an rts game that requires an online server connection. At home, on my 30mb fibre connection, the game constantly drops out and is almost impossible to play. On holiday the game runs reliably and never drops out even though the connection is throttled back to 0.5mb. Speed tests at home and on holiday confirm the 30mb and 0.5mb speeds. Why is this?

17 REPLIES 17
MatthewWheeler
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
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Registered: ‎01-01-2012

Re: 0.5mb holiday connection better than my home fibre connection

Are you connecting over wireless at home?

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Matthew Wheeler
 Plusnet Help Team
Sticks
Dabbler
Posts: 12
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Registered: ‎29-06-2016

Re: 0.5mb holiday connection better than my home fibre connection

Over wifi at home and on holiday. Ipad pro. New plus one router but happened on old router also. Within sight of router but still drops. I thought it was their servers until the holiday connection proved so much better. Have changed channels on router at home but no difference, back to auto now.

thanks,

 

 

Sticks
Dabbler
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Registered: ‎29-06-2016

Re: 0.5mb holiday connection better than my home fibre connection

Bump

Anoush
Aspiring Hero
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Re: 0.5mb holiday connection better than my home fibre connection

Hello. Sorry that you haven't had another response to your thread.
I'd probably suggest changing the wireless channels again (keeping to either 1, 6, 11).
If you go to the wifi settings on your iPad, see how many networks are available (secured or unsecured) as potentially any of them can cause interference. If there are quite a few it could be worth buying a wireless repeater to try to boost your signal.

(Could also be a good idea to test your connection using a laptop or PC connected via an ethernet cable just to determine if the issue is just related to your wireless)

Hope this helps
This is my personal Community Forum account to help out around these parts while I'm at home. If I'm posting from the 1st March 2020, this means I'm off-duty with no access to internal systems.
If this post resolved your issue, please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
Sticks
Dabbler
Posts: 12
Thanks: 7
Registered: ‎29-06-2016

Re: 0.5mb holiday connection better than my home fibre connection

Cannot try the game from a PC but the PC gives the same 30mb speed on our fibre connection. The ipad at home continues to struggle to keep a connection with the game but was very stable at 0.5mb on holiday. Seems the opposite of VFM!

Sticks
Dabbler
Posts: 12
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Registered: ‎29-06-2016

Re: 0.5mb holiday connection better than my home fibre connection

I have a strong wifi signal, a 30mb connection and the games runs [-Censored-]. On holiday, at 0.5mb free capped service, it runs fine. The game is like stirring treacle at home but completely OK at the slow speed. More suggestions plse.

Andrue
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Re: 0.5mb holiday connection better than my home fibre connection


@Sticks wrote:

I have a strong wifi signal, a 30mb connection and the games runs [-Censored-].


A 'strong' wifi signal doesn't mean a 'good' wifi signal. Unless your house is in the middle of an empty moor or half way up a mountain it's likely to be surrounded by wireless access points and consequently competing with them for bandwidth. There are two bands you can use for wifi. The older 2.4GHz band which is now often horribly overcrowded for most of us or the newer 5GHz band which is less crowded.

Some routers are better than others at handling the crowding but wifi has always been a compromise of convenience against stability and performance. You have to think of wifi as like trying to hold a conversation with someone in a crowded room. Your router and computer(s) may be really struggling to get a word in against your neighbour's equipment. All in all wifi has never been a good choice for the serious gamer. A further bad mark against it is the increased latency from the essential packet encryption process. I would suggest you try these things:

  • Scan your local area for WAPs. There are lots of Wifi analyser/scanner applications available. These will tell you how bad the situation is in your house. You might be lucky and find a quiet(er) channel to select. Last month I did a check of mine and found there were 14 WAPs visible from my living room even though I live in a detached property. Gawd help anyone who lives in a block of flats.
  • If your gaming machine supports 5GHz you should ensure you're using that. The PN router apparently does support it.
  • Consider buying a better router. The PN router is okay but like all freebies from ISPs not the best out there. You might get better wifi performance with a router that you have bought yourself.
  • Try connecting using Ethernet rather than wifi. This is my top recommendation. Honestly no serious gamer would rely on Wifi it's too fickle and just never going to be as good as a wired connection.
Sticks
Dabbler
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Registered: ‎29-06-2016

Re: 0.5mb holiday connection better than my home fibre connection

I am only trying to play an IOS game, not a PC mega game. the bandwith required is very low and the 0.5mb connection we had on holiday was fine despite the pressure of many users being signed on. At home on my Plusnet 30mb connection the game drops all the time and is hopeless. See my original post. But thanks for replyng.

Sticks
Dabbler
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Registered: ‎29-06-2016

Re: 0.5mb holiday connection better than my home fibre connection

i conducted a scan, only two other wifi accounts reported, we are pretty remote here......rural Devon.

Andrue
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Re: 0.5mb holiday connection better than my home fibre connection

Interesting, it doesn't sound like wifi is the problem then. Could you try running the thinkbroadband speed test:

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest.htm

Please run it both wired and wireless. If you have a spare router to hand it might also be worth trying that. Or even (slightly risky) connecting your computer directly. There's a guide courtesy of Zen here:

https://support.zen.co.uk/kb/Knowledgebase/Fibre-Optic-Broadband-Creating-a-PPPoE-connection-in-Wind...

Obviously you'll need to use your PN credentials and be aware that you are exposing your computer directly to the internet. Make sure you have enabled the computer's firewall and don't linger longer than it takes to run a speedtest Wink

Moderator's note by Dick (Strat): Full quote of preceding post removed as per Forum rules

Sticks
Dabbler
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Registered: ‎29-06-2016

Re: 0.5mb holiday connection better than my home fibre connection

Please remember I am using an ipad. I ran the thinkbradband test which gave a result of 29mb.

Andrue
Pro
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Re: 0.5mb holiday connection better than my home fibre connection

Are there no other computers in the house? Do you know who is hosting the game? Has it ever played well at your house?

 

It's beginning to sound like it might be a routing issue but I still wouldn't rule out an issue between your iPad and the router.

Sticks
Dabbler
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Registered: ‎29-06-2016

Re: 0.5mb holiday connection better than my home fibre connection

We have an old PC. Perblue host the game "Titan Empires". If I re-boot the ipad and router it works OK for a while.

Andrue
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Re: 0.5mb holiday connection better than my home fibre connection


@Sticks wrote:

If I re-boot the ipad and router it works OK for a while.


That suggests a possible ipad/router compatibility issue. Another thought occurs to me though - what times/days are you normally playing? Did those times change while on holiday? I'm wondering if it could be related to peak time congestion (either in the UK or their servers in Wisconsin). If rebooting the router and/or ipad always fixes the issue it would tend to suggest a compatibility issue.