Broadband speed opinions

I switched to Zen internet on Thursday last having previously been with vodafone.

When I switched to Vodafone earlier this year it was good and I was getting around 55 to 57mb.

However recently it started to go downhill, and in the evenings I was only getting around 2mb (day time I was getting a solid 50mb), despite the router saying the "sync" speed was 55! I complained to Vodafone and they confirmed that they had capacity issues and as such they couldn't guarantee me any level of service and I either had to wait until they resolved it or they would remove my contract dates and let me to elsewhere.

I waited a few weeks and decided to go elsewhere, I didn't want to take a chance and go with one of the other main players, like sky, talk talk etc. I assumed that zen would be a little unusual and as such I would likely get a more stable service.

I switched over and they said that I should get between 44 and 72mb with a typical download speed of 49mb.

The first day it switched over I was getting 47. So I spoke to Zen and explained that I was getting during the day solid 50 to 55mb with vodafone, so I was aware that my line can support it, so why I am only getting 47 with them. They said that it is still above the 44 minimum threshold however they would look into it.

Last night I checked again and I was getting 57mb! A reboot then dropped to 54 and fluctuates between 54 and 57mb.

I suppose I am a little dubious but I want to ensure I am getting the best from my connection, I replaced the faceplate when we moved here in 2016 to the MK3 one, and we have had no issues at all, no drops or service issues. The house is 1930s built and the phone line for some reason comes into the house and the socket ends up in the middle of the property in the hallway, but with no evidence of where it actually comes in! If you follow it back it ended up going to what I believe is an old bell box? The decorator decided to cut through it as they didn't think it was doing anything a year or so ago, and we lost Internet. They replaced it with a white standard box and terminated it all inside and we have been fine since.

Ideally I'd love a bt engineer to come round and check everything out and run a new cable to the house so that I know it is "clean" as surely this will have a bearing on the speed?

My line length is 550 odd metres which I believe is quite good? And the attainable speed is between 59 and 60mb when connected to the test socket.

Do you think based on the bt wholesale checker and what I have said about that I can get more? Or should I consider replacing the MK3 with the MK4?

Thanks,

Matt

See pictures of router stats.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/188995195@N03/shares/k...

https://flic.kr/p/2jdZSdy

Edited by deleted (Sun 21-Jun-20 17:07:52)

'run a new cable to the house ' Sorry but that only gets done when a fault has been proved into the lead in .

You were getting sync speed of 55 before? And now it's fluctuating between 54 and 57? That's fine.

It sounds like the switchover to Zen has done a DLM reset, so it has forgotten what it had found to be the most stable setting for your line, and is hunting around to optimise it. It would be normal for it to start with a slightly slower speed (i.e. higher SNR). Give it a week or two and it should settle down to where it was before.

If you were only getting 2M actual download speed in the evening from Vodafone, that sounds like major congestion in their IP network or lack of capacity in their interconnects. Zen should be much better for that.

I doubt that fiddling with your faceplate will make any noticeable difference to your sync speed. The range 44-72Mbps doesn't mean your line is capable of 72Mbps; it just means there's huge uncertainty in the model which estimates possible line speeds.

If you had bridge taps (i.e. branches in the cabling before it hits the master socket) that could impact your speed. But given that you're bang in the middle of the predicted speed range, I'd say that what you have is likely to be as good as you'll get. You could compare with some neighbours if you want to be completely sure.

Have a look at this chart:
https://www.increasebroadbandspeed.co.uk/2013/chart-...

In some ways things have gotten better since then, but in other ways they've gotten worse due to increased takeup of FTTC and the additional crosstalk this generates.

55Mbps for 550m is exactly what it predicts. But all kinds of variations are possible in the real world due to the actual paths taken by cables, joints, crosstalk, interference etc.

Thanks for your responses.

Yes the link would suggest I am where I should be. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, you always want more and due to the impacted estimates on the wholesale checker, I am just wondering whether more is achievable. All the cables to our house are overhead using polls, not underground.

As the house has been extended out and up, the cabling has long been buried in the extension works from the point it meets the corner of the property until it gets to the centre of the hallway, which is quite a way from any outside wall.

Happy with zen so far. Is it them that sets the speed? Or is it purely bt / what the line can achieve?

I am getting STN of 7 for down and line attenuation of 20db down. Are they good? And should the attainable throughput be the same as actual or is their always a difference? As in why can't I get 60 down if that is what the attainable is?

Thanks,

Matt

In reply to a post by Mdcooper:

Happy with zen so far. Is it them that sets the speed? Or is it purely bt / what the line can achieve?

The latter.

Zen can change the stability profile which will have a direct impact on the rate over time but they'll likely be set to speed by default so you'll get the fastest that the Openreach hardware believes the line can achieve with reasonable stability.

Matt

Thanks Matt.

So I presume they would be unlikely to up this or change the profile if they are already providing above what the minimum they are contractually required to?

Thanks,

Matt

If the profile defaults to speed, changing this won't help you as your line is already going to get the best it can.

If they've set stable or super stable, changing to speed may give you a little more.

I can't see them refusing to change this if not already on the setting which should give you the fastest.

Matt

OK thank you.

Is my STN and line attenuration OK do you think?

Matt

STN?

Do you mean SRN or Noise Margin, because that is a useful figure?

Whatever you do, and I hope you haven't been doing, is re-sync frequently to see if you can get it faster. Frequent disconnects and reconnects have the opposite effect, as the Openreach system takes them as instability and slows you down to improve it.

Hi,

Sorry I mean I have a signal to noise ratio of 7db down.

And a line attenuation of 20db down.

Are they good?

Thanks,

Matt

Line attenuation is a given, as in how many miles are you from Birmingham . It is a measurement of the signal loss between the transmitter and your modem. It depends almost entirely on the distance and the quality of the copper or aluminium and all the connections between them, between you and the FTTC cabinet.

I've got an introductory explanation of SNR(M) here. It was originally written for ADSLx but the principles are the same between you and the FTTC cabinet.

The SNRM varies constantly. Normally low at night and high in the day. Basically to do with the effects of the sun on the atmosphere affecting all the radio wave reflections going on around us.

I would say for an attenuation of 20dB you are getting quite a good connection speed. I suggest you check the SNRM early, late and a couple of times in the day, for a few days, so you can see how it varies.

I hope that helps .

Thanks for this.

Checked again this morning and it looks like it resynced overnight at around 1am and has gone from 56.5 to 58.5.

The signal to noise ratio on the download has dropped from 7 to 6, so now matches the upload figure.

The line attenuation is still 20 down and 28 up.

The attainable speed is still between 59 and 60, so may go up again in the coming days, hopefully!

Matt

FYI I noticed that G.INP is now on for download and wasn't the other day.

Would this have come on automatically? Or would Zen have to do this manually?

Thanks,

Matt

Automatic by DLM system

Ah OK interesting. Speed may increase more then 😁

Matt

In reply to a post by uno:

If the profile defaults to speed, changing this won't help you as your line is already going to get the best it can.

If they've set stable or super stable, changing to speed may give you a little more.

I can't see them refusing to change this if not already on the setting which should give you the fastest.

Matt

Getting your terminology very mixed up there.

Speed, Standard and Stable are the OpenReach profiles.

Standard, Stable and super stable are BT Wholesale terms for the above.

Quite, adding in to the mix how TTB mishmash the three!

The overall point remains though which was being convey at the top end profile will give the best rates the line can support.

Matt

G.INP turning on is a single step process.

Attenuation is fixed. Give or take 0.5, depending almost literally on the weather. Or if water gets into a joint, in which case all sorts of nasties can happen

OK thanks everyone.

Got up this morning and it has resynced overnight and now dropped to 54.89 down and 14.42 up.

With a signal to noise ratio of 7 and line attenuation of 20 still.

Attainable throughput is still fluctuating between 58 and 60.

Matt