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Incredible fluctuations in fibre speeds

furryconker
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎10-10-2014

Incredible fluctuations in fibre speeds

We've been with plusnet a number of years now and were convinced (with a solid offer) to upgrade to Fibre. I was attracted to it because we do a chunk of streaming in our household via Now TV and NFL Gamepass and I thought I could avoid some of the buffering issues we suffered on standard broadband.

 

Well since the switch the speeds we received vary terribly. Occasionally we hit 30 mbs + but usually its in the 10's to mid teens. Thats usually. There are times for no reason it drops under 10 and tonight it hit a new low of 1 and a bit mbs according to speedtest !

Watching NFL Gamepass today has mean't dropping quality to levels I used to us on standard broadband and even then I'm getting buffering.

As I write its crawled back up to 9.73 mbs.....30 mbs is a dream it seems Sad

I've raised tickets and had the reports back saying there is no problem when there obviously is.

Any ideas or suggestions of things I can do (I've used all available speed tests and the differences are negliable) ????

19 REPLIES 19
SpendLessTime
Hero
Posts: 3,000
Thanks: 928
Fixes: 86
Registered: ‎21-09-2009

Re: Incredible fluctuations in fibre speeds

Have you seen this thread at https://community.plus.net/t5/Fibre-Broadband/High-packet-loss-and-other-DNS-issues/m-p/1354749#U135... because you may be suffering from this issue?

The basic conditions are

  1. High packet loss 
  2. You are connected to the Plusnet  new network (I'll explain how to test below for that)
  3. You have not bought a static IP address from Plusnet

How to check for the new network?

Look at http://users.plus.net/@gateway/ if the gateway name shown contains the letters "-IR" then it is the new network (this test works for non static IP users only)

Ex - Plusnet Customer (2009 - 2023) now with BT
furryconker
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎10-10-2014

Re: Incredible fluctuations in fibre speeds

core2-hu0-18-0-0.colindale.ukcore.bt.net (62.172.103.16) 4.568 ms

 

Is what I got from the gateway check which is all gobbledegook to me being honest.

 

Just tried BT Whoelsale test....still under 10mbs

SpendLessTime
Hero
Posts: 3,000
Thanks: 928
Fixes: 86
Registered: ‎21-09-2009

Re: Incredible fluctuations in fibre speeds

That is the new network (Plusnet haven't updated some fields to give back a human readable result)

Are you using the Plusnet Hub One router or did you supply your own?

Ex - Plusnet Customer (2009 - 2023) now with BT
furryconker
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎10-10-2014

Re: Incredible fluctuations in fibre speeds

Plusnet One (white one with a soothing blue light)

furryconker
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎10-10-2014

Re: Incredible fluctuations in fibre speeds

http://freeola.com/line-test/

 

According to the above their test failed due to 100% packet loss.

 

BT Wholesale had an error after doing a basic speedtest too.

SpendLessTime
Hero
Posts: 3,000
Thanks: 928
Fixes: 86
Registered: ‎21-09-2009

Re: Incredible fluctuations in fibre speeds

Not good, I ran that test and got

 

Packets Lost{ i } Latency{ i } Jitter{ i }
0% 13.516ms 0ms

But I'm not affected by the issue so would expect a clear test result I got.

You may want to add your complaint to the big thread linked above

Ex - Plusnet Customer (2009 - 2023) now with BT
Browni
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 2,673
Thanks: 1,054
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Registered: ‎02-03-2016

Re: Incredible fluctuations in fibre speeds


@furryconker wrote:

http://freeola.com/line-test/

 

According to the above their test failed due to 100% packet loss.

That figure may be highly misleading as apparently the test pings the host IP address. If there is nothing set up to respond to pings (which will be the case when only the Hub One is used) it will report 100% loss as the test will not work.

furryconker
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎10-10-2014

Re: Incredible fluctuations in fibre speeds

Tried another....

 

Same message as on the BT Wholesale test.pingtest.png

Browni
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 2,673
Thanks: 1,054
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Registered: ‎02-03-2016

Re: Incredible fluctuations in fibre speeds

At least that one states it can't do it rather than incorrectly reporting 100% loss.

What is the other error?

furryconker
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎10-10-2014

Re: Incredible fluctuations in fibre speeds

The BT test now actually completes, this is the result there right now.bt1.png

SpendLessTime
Hero
Posts: 3,000
Thanks: 928
Fixes: 86
Registered: ‎21-09-2009

Re: Incredible fluctuations in fibre speeds

@Browni

Well I wish that Freeola put better instructions in place as it just says

What does this Broadband Line Quality Test actually do?

The line test above works by sending packets from our server straight to your computer and reporting as it is doing so. This allows our test to see if there is any packet loss, what the average network latency of your line is and provides a jitter measure. This accurate line quality test can alert you to any potential problems on your ADSL line.

So naturally I assumed the browser was handling the packet test. Sad

Ex - Plusnet Customer (2009 - 2023) now with BT
Browni
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 2,673
Thanks: 1,054
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Registered: ‎02-03-2016

Re: Incredible fluctuations in fibre speeds

@SpendLessTime this is what I get when I disable the DMZ on my Hub One (normally a Now TV box lives there)

An error has occurred

Unfortunately the line test has failed to complete, due to 100% packet loss. This means that we were unable to connect to your computer via a ping request. The most likely cause of this problems is firewall software that is set to block ping requests. This firewall software may be installed on your computer, or built into your router (if you use a router to connect to the internet).

That is wrong as well as nothing is blocking the ping requests, I just don't have anything set up to respond to them.

furryconker
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎10-10-2014

Re: Incredible fluctuations in fibre speeds

Well today we have varied between just over 30mbs....to just over 6mbs....to under 1mbs....to 5mbs right now.

 

Laggy webpages....I really don't know what to do !

 

Am I naive to say I didn't expect this on "fibre" broadband or do I take it further ?

SpendLessTime
Hero
Posts: 3,000
Thanks: 928
Fixes: 86
Registered: ‎21-09-2009

Re: Incredible fluctuations in fibre speeds

No this is not the service you should be getting, something is very wrong.

You need to take it further.

Start with the basic tests for phone and FTTC. If at the end you have yet to submit a fault then do so for the FTTC. The links are in the guides I've linked to below.

First thing is to check for a phone fault (if Plusnet provide the phone start here https://www.plus.net/help/phone/phone-line-troubleshooting/ ) If you do have a phone voice fault, report it as such and do not mention any broadband issues. And then when that is fixed, see if the broadband is better.

Then if still not solved (or no phone fault is in evidence) start with the FTTC guides at https://community.plus.net/t5/Fibre-Broadband/Fibre-Fault-Guides/m-p/1156188#U1156188

 

Ex - Plusnet Customer (2009 - 2023) now with BT