Speed below range

[#1]

Hi.
I've just upgraded to 300 but the speeds I'm getting seem to be well below the range. Initially my router was recording 280mbps but now it's ranging from 220 down to 19. I can't post stats as the mesh app doesn't give that low level granularity. Will it take a few days to settle down? I did have a message about interleaving being turned off, but then heard no more. Is that now off or on? What effect can that have on the fluctuating speeds? On the 150 package it was solid, consistently measuring 152, so I was confident upgrading to 300, but up to now it's a bit disappointing.

[#2]

Are you doing the tests wired or wireless ? Sounds from  your mention of mesh , its wireless . You need to do a wired test to check the speed.

Will it take a few days to settle down? I did have a message about interleaving being turned off, but then heard no more. Is that now off or on? 

Those are generic messages. Full fibre doesnt have a settling period OR interleaving.

Here's a guide to possible reasons for apparent low speed on full fibre

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.
    
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.

[#3]

The speed test is run from the Router/Gateway not from a wifi device. It's a built in test on the hardware. It is connected to the ONT with a cat 6 cable.

The reason I asked is because when I was on the 150 product the test consistently came out at 152. Now I've upgraded to the 300 product, which is estimated 300-330 on my line, the test initially came out at 282, but has since dropped to below 200, and has been as low as 19.

My question is more about could there be a fault, or if I'm not going to get the estimated increase, should I just cancel the upgrade and go back to the 150?

[#4]

I've no experience of the Hub 2 built in speed tester I'm afraid, I dont currently use a Hub 2. I have a 900Mb FF connection and my experience is that the Ookla tester is the most consistent, especially the CLI version. Try running that on a device with a wired connection, if the results are still variable then it would suggest a fault somewhere.

[#5]

It's not the hub 2. I removed that and use one of the Eero devices as the 'gateway'/router. I've just pulled the plug on them all and powered them up one by one and the speed at the one connected to the ONT is now 300 and I also get 300 on wifi, when close to that primary device. I did the power cycle when I had notification that that upgrade was complete, but it looks like it just needed another one. It's not something that needs doing too often as the mesh network takes up to 5 days to fully balance itself, although after an hour it's pretty good.

So it looks like the 300 is being delivered, it just need another power off and on to kick it into life.

Thanks for you time.

[#6]

Ah! Glad you found the problem

Can't say I like the fact that you need an app to setup the Eero. I'm about to help a neighbour setup his TT full fibre and so have been looking into how to configure the Eero. As a matter of interest how did you mange to configure it for PPPoE ? It seems as though it needs an Internet connection before the app can access it ? and it defaults to dhcp! Isn't there a catch 22 problem ?

My conclusion was that you needed an existing working router to which you could connect the Eero and then use the app to change it to PPPoE 

[#7]

It's a bit of a pain, and initially I wasn't happy not having the flexibility of the admin access via the browser. But to be honest it's pretty good and is reliable once nodes are in good places and had time to balance. Set up was a pain. I initially plugged into the router and added them one by one. Then I went into the network settings on the app and setup the pppoe credentials and removed the router from the setup. You can leave the router in place, disable its WiFi and use the eero in bridge. Which would give you the router admin and dhcp. But I wanted less clutter and flashing lights.

[#8]

One presumes the app communicates to the Eero via Amazon's servers ? So the Eero must be constantly talking to them. I think I might be concerned what info Amazon are collecting...

[#9]

No more than what Google analytics collects I would think. I've worked in data engineering/ analytics for years and gave up getting overly concerned about it a while back now, after the initial shock.

[#10]

You're probably right...