Help please - Cloud Gateway Ultra & Plusnet Hub 2

[#1]

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@aaarrrrggggghhh wrote:

So it's working but I've had 5 brief disconnections since going into Bridge mode with PPPoE.  ...

... ... ...

...  it was more stable when I was double NAT-ing with the Hub2 as a router - perhaps I ought to go back to that?

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@aaarrrrggggghhh 

So we know what we're looking at going forward, what is your setup now ?

Is your Plusnet Hub Two still in "bridge mode", or did you revert to "router mode" with double NAT ?

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[#2]

Yep - plusnet is in bridge mode with the Cloud Gateway Ultra acting as the router

[#3]

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@aaarrrrggggghhh wrote:

... I have finally had time to take your advice and set up a broadband quality monitor -

@aaarrrrggggghhh 

Well done, it is already showing useful information.

What were you doing at 12:45 and 14:15 to produce those blue and red spikes ?

[#4]

@aaarrrrggggghhh 

I've reformatted the live graph below to improve visibility so that we can watch as the plot progresses -

[#5]

@aaarrrrggggghhh 

Your BQM graph is confirming that you do indeed have packet loss on your connection - as can be seen by the red at the top.

So far the packet loss appears to be due to your network overloading the upload path of your connection, and NOT due to a faulty VDSL broadband line back to your FTTC cabinet or elsewhere upstream.

This is good news, because your Cloud Gateway Ultra has the ability to control the outbound traffic, so this should be fixable.

I'd like to let the graph run overnight to see if there are any line related packet losses, before making any adjustments.

What you can do now is get a baseline test result from the Waveform bufferbloat tool.

When your network isn't being used much, run this test on an ethernet connected PC - waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat 
When the results appear, scroll down to "Share Your Results:" then press [Copy] on the same line
then come back here and paste that result URL in to your forum reply.

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[#6]

Nothing in specific - wife and I wfh and youngest daughter home on socials or some other nonsense (!)

[#7]

Roger willco. I have bought a USB-C to LAN adapter as I no longer have anything plug in-able to an ethernet connection!

I am super grateful for your help with this as it is driving me mad and I am so out of my depth now that it hurts!!!!

[#8]

@aaarrrrggggghhh 

Something else you can do to save some time later and help me understand what controls your CGU has to play with, I would like to see a screenshot of your machine's WAN bandwidth controls - so I can instruct you with the exact words as shown on your screen.

From Google searches (as I don't have any Unifi kit), you need to do something like this on a PC or laptop (not on a mobile) -

1.  Log into your UniFi Network web GUI (https://192.168.1.1  or  whatever your router's LAN address is).
2.  Click on the Settings (gear icon) on the left sidebar.
3.  Click on Internet.
4.  Select your primary internet connection (usually WAN1).
5.  Under the Advanced section, toggle the setting from Auto to Manual.

Now take a screenshot of that page and save the image to your PC.

Come back to this forum and start a new reply.

To post the screenshot in your reply -

1. Find the "Insert Photos" icon above the edit window (a box with mountains and a sun) and click on that
2. Then select [Upload] at the top
3. Then [Choose Files]
4. Find the image file on your PC, click on it to select it, then press [Done].
5. The image will upload to the forum, then press [Done] to get back to the forum editor

[#9]

[#10]

https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=efef86a3-ca9a-4706-81f1-c186f9d0da8c

bufferbloat results - which means I think I need to enable smart queues on my Cloud Gateway?  https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/12648661321367-UniFi-Gateway-Smart-Queues

[#11]

Yes, the goal will be enable smart queues and tune SQM to suit your line conditions to reduce bufferbloat,

however that will be the last stage after we've worked through trying to improve your upload speed first,

as enabling smart queues right now will mask any line diagnostics we try.

There does appear to be a problem with your line's upload speed !

For a download speed of 51Mbps you should be getting an upload speed of about 10 to 15 Mbps - NOT 6 Mbps !

Are you able to plug your Plusnet Hub 2 in to the TEST SOCKET behind the Master Socket faceplate and repeat the test ?

[#12]

@aaarrrrggggghhh 

Another thing to do before enabling smart queues, is to ensure the CGU's firmware is up to date.

While updating the firmware won't help with the line speeds, it might eliminate some bugs in your router's operation.

I see that the current firmware version for the Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Ultra (UCG-Ultra) is UniFi OS 5.1.33,

released on 10th September 2026 - so recent that it is unlikely that you've updated your device to that version.

Make a note of what the currently installed firmware version is, before upgrading.

I would suggest rebooting the CGU before doing the update.

From what I can find on Google, it appears that you update the firmware from -

        Settings > System > Updates

Then reboot again after the upgrade is complete, before you continue using it.

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[#13]

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@aaarrrrggggghhh wrote:

... sadly we are too rural for FTTP at the moment ...

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I am assuming you mean Openreach FTTP.

If you'd like me to check if there are any non-Openreach FTTP networks (known as AltNet FTTP)

or Fixed Wireless Access broadband networks in your area, then let me know your postcode, and I'll see what I can find.

I'm miles from anywhere, surrounded by fields and vineyards, can't get Openreach FTTP but can get an AltNet FTTP,

I currently have 80/20Mbps SoGEA VDSL and use Smart Queue Management to keep the latency to just above zero.

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[#14]

@aaarrrrggggghhh 

When you take off the Master Socket faceplate as requested in Message #26, can you report back whether the removed faceplate has any wires attached to the back ?

After running the bufferbloat test with the router plugged in to the TEST SOCKET and posting the results link here,

keep the router in the TEST SOCKET and run the Plusnet line fault detection bot (instructions below) to see whether it can identify a cause for your upload speed being so low.

If it finds a fault then follow the process to have an engineer visit to fix your line.

If no fault is found, keep answering the text prompts to say your fault hasn't been fixed, and at each stage the bot will escalate it's diagnostics and will attempt a line reset, more detailed line testing, etc, until you eventually get to request a callback from a human. If you get as far as the human, then it is up to you whether to accept that the automated system was unable to detect anything wrong, or if you want to ask a tech support guy to see if there is anything else he can do to identify why your upload speed is about half of what it should be.

To use the bot, use the mobile phone that you have registered as an account holder contact in your Plusnet Member Centre.

[#15]

@aaarrrrggggghhh 

Your screenshot in Message #24 -

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@aaarrrrggggghhh wrote:

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From that screen does it allow you to navigate to where you can configure the "Smart Queues" settings ?

If not, can you find and screenshot the requested web page on a computer screen (not on a mobile) ?

I'm hoping to see a screen that looks something like this -