Openreach supplied dodgy 100Mbps-limited Ethernet cable

[#1]

An FYI because I just figured this out and thought I'd share in case it helps anyone else...

If anyone else experiences their FTTP speed being stuck below 100Mbps when on a faster package, check the router status page at http://192.168.1.254/basic_-_status.htm

If it shows a WAN link speed of 100Mbps, try removing at both ends the ethernet cable Openreach connected your router to the new box on your wall with (the one with red ends), and replacing it with the one that came in the box with the Plusnet router.

As if by magic I suddenly have a WAN link speed of 1000Mbps and the download speeds I'm paying for (500Mbps)!

Anyone else seen this or did I get Openreach's one dud cable?!

[#2]

Sometimes an ethernet cable needs a check. Patch cables are produced en-masse (to a price-point) and sometimes the testing regime doesn't pick up failures/faults. Go buy another cable. Or get the kit to test one (or know someone who has). Or get one that has been tested.

Can I ask about your upload WAN speed? I'm doing a bandwidth comparison of various applications on their consumption of upload/download bandwidth ratios. I'm assuming (possibly incorrectly) that your personal interest in bandwidth is streamed films/media.

[#3]

Sounds like the cable that OR used was Cat5 rather than Cat5e or Cat 6. How many cores are in the cable ?

Cat5 only has 4 cores and will therefore limit the speed to 100Mb.

I didn't think that OR actually supplied any cables with the installation though ?

[#4]

@MisterW  Not as simple as that. The cable category does not define the number of cores , I just looked at a couple of patch cables that were lying around and one is a 2pair CAT5e  and the other a 4 pair CAT5.

There is a 4 pair CAT5e cable supplied with the Openreach ONT so the OP either had the wrong cable or a faulty one.

[#5]

Not as simple as that. The cable category does not define the number of cores

I stand corrected

There is a 4 pair CAT5e cable supplied with the Openreach ONT

Not with mine there wasn't. Are you sure that wasn't just the earlier installations ?

[#6]

OR didn’t have any cables for mine either,
They asked for a cable.
They also checked the link speed and Speedtest on my kit to make sure it was ok.

[#7]

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@MisterW wrote:

Not with mine there wasn't. Are you sure that wasn't just the earlier installations ?

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There wasn't one supplied with mine either, and although it wasn't the earliest, it was installed in 2015.

I just moved my own existing cable from the old modem router I'd been using in bridge mode to the ONT.

[#8]

I can imagine an unconnected core in a RJ45 connector, depending on its function, causing this effect.

[#9]

"The cable category does not define the number of cores"

All CAT5e's are not equal. I've 2 cables stamped as CAT5e and they don't perform equally. One tries 10Mbps and then decides it can cope with 100Mbps. Or it could be a 'function' of the Hub2. Or just mis-labelling or non-adherance to standards.

In my case, the discrepency is totally academic as my prospects of anything WAN-wise getting past 5Mbps down/1Mbps up are, um, remote... I've looked at 4G/5G but the coverage of that doesn't support (even if the cost were amenable).

[#10]

Perhaps another topic, but you could always get Starlink.

[#11]

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@MisterW wrote:

I didn't think that OR actually supplied any cables with the installation though ?

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Well, I didn't have a red-ended ethernet cable before the installation, so either they supplied it, or there were two ethernet cables in the Hub Two box, in which case it was the red-ended cable in there that was faulty, while the other one from the Hub Two box (which I mistakenly thought was the only one in there) worked. If it's the latter, does this mean Plusnet owe me an ethernet cable?

[#12]

@paulspeller according to the Help pages here https://www.plus.net/help/broadband/router-setup-guides/hub-two-full-fibre/ the hub 2 supplied for FTTP packages includes 2 ethernet cables. I don't believe there is any difference between the one with red ends and the one with yellow though. The red ended one is supplied purely to make setup instructions simple, as it matches the red WAN port

If it's the latter, does this mean Plusnet owe me an ethernet cable?

Possibly ?, but I think @bobpullen might be more concerned about the possibility of faulty cables...