Upgraded from 300 to 900, not getting minimum speed guarantee

[#1]

Hi,

Been on 300 for quite a while and took the offer to upgrade to 900 recently. Despite getting a new CAT8 cable and Plusnet sending me a new router I can still only get top speed of : 312.38Mbps Download &  92.77Mbps Upload.

Running a wired CAT8 connection, have a few other ethernet cables and all get the same 300 odd speed. Have red ONT plugged into appropriate router input etc. Any ideas or suggestions why I can't get the higher speed ?

[#2]

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...

1. 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.
    
2. 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.
    
3. 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.
    
4. 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.
    
5. 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.
    
6. 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.
    
7. Is the test device configured to use any VPN or corporate intranet connection?
   VPNs and corporate intranets can also be potential bottlenecks.
    
8. 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!!
      
9. 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.
   • 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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A user has observed that different devices ran at different speeds and their problem was discovered to be the LAN card settings on their Laptop...

My PlayStation was connecting at around 535mbs all the time, but the laptop was only running about 130mbps max. On checking the internet settings I found that speed and duplex were set to auto. I changed this to 1 Gigabit and now the test speed is 838mbps.

To find the settings for your ethernet adapter, go to advanced after selecting properties.

[#3]

Thanks for the reply. There was a CAT5 cable running directly from the router to the back of the pc and I swapped it out for a CAT8. Both displaying 300 odd speeds every time. The likes of WAN link speed shows : 1000Mbps. There are no intermediary devices between the router and PC. There are a few other ports on the router that have ethernet cables running round the house to other devices, though not powered on when performing speed tests. Have Surfshark VPN but have it turned off again when doing speedtests too, . 

ThinkBroadband had varying results there ranging from early 300's peaking at a burst  speed of 570 before dropping to 322

Any ideas ?

[#4]

Are you confident that the PC has the guts to drive the link faster?

Might be worth running the system monitor whilst running speed tests.

Hust to be clear, have you received confirmation that the upgrade has been completed,

[#5]

Hi,

Yes got confirmation a few days ago and has spoke with an agent on the phone who after doing some tests said she would send me out a new router. It arrived today, installed in, but still displaying sub 500 speed.

What am I looking for in the System monitor exactly, this ?

[#6]

@dmurray0 

What platform are you using, have you got details of the Network Interface Card being used?

[#7]

Hi,
It's a Windows 10 pc with an Intel 82579LM network adapter.

[#8]

Is the hardware made by Dell? If so, which model

Are you using a Hub two or something else? If something else have you any QoS setup up?

[#9]

@dmurray0 

I have a couple of lenovo PC with the same NIC, I will do some testing a bit later.

One windows 10 pro the other Mint 21.3

[#10]

It's a Dell Optiplex 990 and using the latest Plusnet Hub they sent me yesterday

[#11]

Going back to the soup to nuts advice in post #2 - have you checked this out...

...but the laptop was only running about 130mbps max. On checking the internet settings I found that speed and duplex were set to auto. I changed this to 1 Gigabit and now the test speed is 838mbps.

To find the settings for your ethernet adapter, go to advanced after selecting properties.

[#12]

@dmurray0 

I have copied a 4Gb file between my two system, in either direction the download achieved a speed of around 110 MiB/s which is about 920 Mbps.

To eliminate a browser issue, on your PC try using the command below in a command prompt. 

curl -O https://mirror.server.net/linuxmint/iso/debian/lmde-6-cinnamon-64bit.iso

This is the result on a linux system connected directly to my TP-Link router

curl -O https://mirror.server.net/linuxmint/iso/debian/lmde-6-cinnamon-64bit.iso
  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
100 2565M  100 2565M    0     0   108M      0  0:00:23  0:00:23 --:--:--  109M

Note the Average and Current speed which are in MB/s; 109 MB/s = 872 Mbps for me

This will download file lmde-6-cinnamon-64bit.iso to the working folder for your command prompt, it can be deleted.

There is also a cli version of speedtest see https://www.speedtest.net/apps/cli 

Let us know how you get on.

[#13]

Point of clarification: if run in a TERMINAL (Powershell) session that needs to be curl.exe

The command as is works if a CMD shell is spawned from PS.

[#14]

Hi,

It was auto and changed it to 1Gigabit but still high 300's max......

[#15]

Hi, 

Tried the Command Prompt but get the below:

curl -O https://mirror.server.net/linuxmint/iso/debian/lmde-6-cinnamon-64bit.iso
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 0
curl: (35) schannel: next InitializeSecurityContext failed: CRYPT_E_NO_REVOCATION_CHECK (0x80092012) - The revocation function was unable to check revocation for the certificate.