New full fibre vastly fluctuating speed.

[#1]

Our full fibre 500 was installed today. The engineer Josh did a cracking job.
I’ve run a few speed tests and at times I’m hitting over 350mbs, which is great. Other times it’s struggling to get above 15mbs.
Is it normal to fluctuate? The engineer did say it can take a few days to reach top speed but he didn’t mention we should expect such a big inconsistency from one minute to the next.
Thanks

[#2]

@Cris_L 

The few days to reach full speed is rubbish. Are you by any chance trying to measure your speed over wireless? When assessing your true speed you must be connected to your router using an Ethernet cable

[#3]

@Cris_L I’ve run a few speed tests and at times I’m hitting over 350mbs, which is great. Other times it’s struggling to get above 15mbs. 

Would that be the BT wholesale speed tester by any chance ?

Try the Ookla one, speedtest.net and as @Baldrick1 says , use a wired connection.

The BTw one is notoriously erratic

[#4]

I’ve just been using the google speed test and fast.com.
Yes over WiFi but the old one was usual steady at around 50mbs. But I will plug in directly to try.

I’ve only got a hub 1 as Plusnet say they sent me a hub 2 last year. But I don’t have any recollection of that.

[#5]

Not great. Using Ethernet cable I’m getting 150-190mbs. It still fluctuates. Trying to work out how to post a pic

[#6]

https://community.plus.net/t5/media/gallerypage/user-id/129944/image-id/48492i2A481C831C1712B0/tab/a...

[#7]

Tested again this morning with Ethernet cable and getting 34mbs. No devices in the house currently using the internet either. Really not impressed by this so far.

[#8]

Whats the spec for the device you are using for speed tests ?

Do you have another device that can be used ?

[#9]

It’s a MacBook Pro. I’ll see if any other machine has an Ethernet port. The results are consistent with the WiFi tests though.
I’ve had results from 30mbs - 350mbs.
They estimate 500 - 550 according to the email they sent following installation.
Whether I’d get batter results with a hub 2 I don’t know.

[#10]

@Cris_L 

To eliminate the router from the puzzle, you could temporarily connect an Ethernet equipped computer directly to the ONT and connect to the Internet by setting up a PPPoE session using your PN login credentials.

[#11]

@RobPN good suggestion!.

@Cris_L The results are consistent with the WiFi tests though.
I’ve had results from 30mbs - 350mbs. 

Ok, so wifi will max out at around 350Mb on a 5ghz wifi channel, more like 50Mb on a 2.4ghz channel. Wifi speeds are also affected by outside influences e.g adjacent networks and so can be quite erratic. Hence its always requested that definitive tests are performed on a wired connection.

In my experience FTTP usually performs at the provisioned speed, there is still possibility of exchange contention but TBH I don't recall seeing that having been a problem.

It might be worth testing with the CLI version of the speedtest app https://www.speedtest.net/apps/cli (there is a MacOS version) as I've seen speed tests influenced by a browser.

It is possible on FTTP for PN staff to perform a speed test directly to the ONT, but this does temporarily drop your connection so they are reluctant to do it until local all conditions are eliminated.

[#12]

This
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253684126?sortBy=best
Suggests that macbooks do not always default to the Ethernet connection when Ethernet is connected.
It would be worth disabling WiFi when connected by Ethernet to ensure the mac book is no longer using the WiFi.

[#13]

Thanks all

Yes I disable the WiFi to make sure the Mac was using Ethernet.

It’s more the fluctuating that’s puzzling me than the top speed. Some times it’s in the 30s, this morning I got 412mbs over WiFi. Why such a variation. The variations are both direct and WiFi.

[#14]

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.
   • BT Wholesale - NOTE BT's recommendation link for testing 500mbps and above products
   • 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.

[#15]

Also see https://community.plus.net/t5/Full-Fibre/Fibre-speed-problems-solved/m-p/1955520#M23414