New fibre installation - queries

Hi all,

FTTC broadband was installed recently and was activated on my line 4 days ago. Since then, speeds have been generally better according to the tester on this site (0.2Mbps on ADSL compared with around 3Mbps on fibre). I tend to use Steam and Origin a lot and have been measuring the speeds using that. On a good day with ADSL, I would reach 400KB/s max but often lower. With the new fibre, I have noticed download speeds on Steam ranging from the very low end of what I was getting on ADSL (60kb/s) up to 1MB/s.

I am aware that speeds fluctuate a lot during the first 10 days. Should I be concerned that they are sitting nearer the lower end however? At present Origin is downloading an update at around 80Kb/s/. I have also noticed that the upload speeds on the checker on this site are generally much higher than the download speeds, sitting at around 9Mbps. Why is this?

I am using a wireless connection and have been doing so for years, therefore the speeds quoted from both ADSL and fibre were the wireless speeds.

BT DSL address checker states that FTTC Range B (Impacted) downstream line rate (Mbps) should be between 46.8 and 25.7. This is a lot more than I am seeing on Steam and Origin. I am unable to use the telephone checker as I switched to an LLU provider years ago.

On my Sky router maintenance page, it claims that the speeds are as follows:

Line Rate - Upstream (Kbps):9170
Line Rate - Downstream (Kbps):34564

Thanks

Edited by thejinkazama (Sun 07-Jun-15 11:35:02)

46.8 Mbps = 5.85 MB/s
25.7 Mbps = 3.2 MB/s

Megabits vs MegaBytes

Also any overheads need to be taken into account so could be another 10% less than above... but those are somewhere in the ball park of the max you should be seeing if your line is connected at this Impacted ranges you mention and these isn't other constraints in play, contention etc.

What is always useful is to list the stats from the router if you can, SNR etc and sync speed.. then start understanding any problems from there.

Always worth doing tests from a wired connection also to eliminate Wireless issues in the home.

Edited by Pgre (Sun 07-Jun-15 11:36:39)

Thanks, I'll look into it.

I'm also using a B-Link Wireless Adapter, connecting to the back of my PC to connect wirelessly to the router. It's like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WiFi-USB-WIRELESS-NETWORK-...

I've been using it with both the fibre and ADSL connections. Could this be having an impact?

It's the router/modem thats the key at this point.. what router/modem (or combination) are you using?

I'm using the router provided by Sky for use with fibre. I'm using a B-Link MP 01 Wi-Fi repeater to connect my PC to the internet.

I've tested the B-Link MP 01 router in the exact same room as the home PC with a laptop instead of my PC and the speeds were almost 3.0 Mb. The PC managed 1.5 Mb max but was generally a lot slower.This makes me think the issue is with my PC but I'm not sure where.

Edited by thejinkazama (Sun 07-Jun-15 21:11:04)

You're not going to get a good idea of what the connection is capable of without connecting directly to the router - ideally using an Ethernet cable. When moving to a faster connection, wireless and powerline equipment that didn't limit your speed previously might become the limiting factor.

I'd carry the laptop to the Sky router and correct it with an Ethernet cable. The performance on a wired connection may well provide justification for improvements to your local network.

I've done a few more tests - wired laptop connection hits 3.9Mb/s, built in wireless (next to and far from router) hit anywhere between 3.7 and 3.9. Using the B-Link on the laptop gives similar speeds, it's only on the PC when it's really very slow.