BT Smart Hub Slow Speeds?

Hello. I'm new to BT Infinity - although lucky to get it in my very rural area - having it activated around 3 weeks ago. I've got the new SmartHub, but I'm not particularly impressed with the speed. The SmartHub reports 'Data Rate' as 15.40 kbps/63.65 kbps (I'm assuming kbps is a typo in their manager software and means Mbps) but the 'Maximum Data Rate' as 15400/73994. Does that mean it's syncing at 73994 down, but only giving me 63.65 Mbps of that? I'm around 400M from the cabinet - Huiwai I believe, if that matters - and my 'guaranteed' speed is 65Mbps down according to BT when I placed the order.

The noise margin is 6.4/6.6, line attenuation is 20.3 with latency type 'Fast Path'. I'm not entirely sure what this all means, I can certainly live with 65Mbps down and 15 up, it's insanely fast compared to my original ADSL Max service (nothing more recent on my exchange), but want to make sure I'm getting my full monies worth!

Thanks!

The "Data Rate" is your sync. The "Maximum Data Rate" is a strange number that varies according to two main variables.

The running one is the noise margin compared with the margin at the time you sync'ed. The other is whether interleaving is on or off. A difference of ~10Mbps between the two normally means it is on.

If DLM turns interleaving off then your sync rises and the Max rate falls. . Normally ending up quite close together.

I don't know how the SmartHub handles G.INP, but on Huawei cabinets G.INP often kicks in after a couple of weeks of interleaving and interleaving is turned off.

Did you happen to look at your speeds the day or day after you got Infinity?

Edited by RobertoS (Sun 24-Jul-16 19:02:11)

The max data rate should be ignored. As in, do not take it too seriously.

The noise margin is correct an does not suggest the ISP is slowing you down.

Fast path means you are not being interleaved which is good.

Have you got a fibre MK3 socket or just using standard filters? Do you have the smart hub hooked into the master telephone socket? Are you using any of your own cabling, such as an extension cable, own filters etc outside of what BT supplied with the router?

Edited by ukhardy07 (Sun 24-Jul-16 22:39:39)

Ah!

I didn't spot he was on Fast Path. In which case that discrepancy between Max and Actual is huge.

Edit: It isn't one of those daft modems that report the upstream Fast/Interleaved rather than the downstream I hope?

Edited by RobertoS (Sun 24-Jul-16 22:43:50)

400m would normally suggest a slightly higher speed however your attenuation of 20 suggests that the line is probably nearer 500m and te speed is about right for that attenuation. The 15 up also suggest you are around the 500m (or slightly more).

I am surprised BT guaranteed you 65Mbps.

I think the maximum rate is just off on the BT Smart Hub, it is 10Mbps higher than my third party router was estimating for me. It's a brand new device, just a few weeks old and the max data rate is well hidden in the GUI. So it is possible this is a bug.

As for Fastpath, not sure how I would verify, but mine shows Fastpath and actually is fastpath.

Looking at the attentuation and noise margin, the speeds seem ok for the op in my opinion.

Also, for everyones benefit, the Hub 6 provides the following stats (generally quite good):

DSL uptime:
6 Days, 8 Hours 53 Minutes 23 Seconds
Data rate:
10.00 kbps / 55.00 kbps Firmware bug, should be Mbps
Maximum data rate:
23380 / 81150
Noise margin:
15.5 / 10.9
Line attenuation:
16.8
Signal attenuation:
VPI / VCI:
0/38
Modulation:
G_993_2_ANNEX_B
Latency type:
Fast Path
Data sent / received:
4048 MB Uploaded / 972 MB Downloaded Wildly inaccurate, I've pulled 100s of GB
Broadband username:
[email protected]
BT Wi-fi:
Not active

Edited by ukhardy07 (Sun 24-Jul-16 23:48:36)

From the stats can you check what modulation you are seeing. Is it G_993_2 or G_998_4?

I am not sure what triggers G.INP and what does not, certainly I am not seeing it in use on my Smart Hub.

That said, since interleaving is off, and fast path is enabled, I think I am right in saying G.INP is unlikely to increase the sync speed.

It was about the same speed the day I had Infinity activated, give or take the usual fluctuations.

Interestingly I plugged in my Vodafone SureSignal (hurray I thought, I'll get reception on my phone now too) and at about 00:30 that evening, the speed dropped by about 10Mbps. Switched the SureSignal off when I noticed, rebooted the SmartHub and got the speed back. The SureSignal was very close to the SmartHub - ethernet connection so had to be really, I'll try it elsewhere when I've got some ethernet cable run through the house and terminated properly.

I'm seeing G_993_2_ANNEX_B.

Ok. Thanks - really I was asking to get some confirmation that I'm seeing the speed I should be seeing. In a previous home I had Infinity and had a better speed but only a little closer to the cabinet.