fttp 300/30 delivering 160/30

My FTTPoD service went live yesterday.

I've run a bunch of speedtests wired and wireless, using 3 different machines, and different speedtesters.

The consistency is wonderful. Morning, noon and night I get 155-160/30. Every time. Couldn't be more stable. Nothing to suggest packet loss or congestion.

But I'm on a 300/30 service.

I asked tech support at my provider whether I could be on the wrong profile. They ran some tests and were certain I wasn't.

Router is an Asus RT-AX86U, which should be able to handle 2.5Gbps WAN.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

First try a factory reset on the router - sometimes QoS settings get stuck limiting the speed. If still not resolved try connecting a PC/laptop directly to the ONT and dial a PPPoE connection and try another speed test to rule out the router being the issue here.

(Also just checking that you are running all tests over Ethernet not wireless?)

Edited by brookheather (Fri 23-Oct-20 14:20:07)

Thanks. Tested both wired and wireless. Had wondered whether the router was trying to do something crazy with QoS, but capping to 160Mbps arbitrarily? The router was fresh out of the box yesterday.

Will though test with PPPoE when I have a moment.

I slightly suspect that if my provider isn't capping me (and they're sure they aren't) then Openreach equipment is.

But it's possible the PPPoE testing will reveal a router issue.

It sounds like they have put you on the wrong service but your provider should be able to get that confirmed.

In reply to a post by shortshrift27:

My FTTPoD service went live yesterday.

I've run a bunch of speedtests wired and wireless, using 3 different machines, and different speedtesters.

The consistency is wonderful. Morning, noon and night I get 155-160/30. Every time. Couldn't be more stable. Nothing to suggest packet loss or congestion.

But I'm on a 300/30 service.

I asked tech support at my provider whether I could be on the wrong profile. They ran some tests and were certain I wasn't.

Router is an Asus RT-AX86U, which should be able to handle 2.5Gbps WAN.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Take the router out of the loop and test directly with a short Cat5e or 6A cable from the Ethernet port of your laptop into the Ethernet port of the ONT. you will need to setup a PPPoE login etc on your laptop to get the link up.

If you’re still getting 160/30 then you have been incorrectly configured by your provider.

Many thanks @brookheather, @ian72, @Pheasant.

I've now had a chance to connect directly to the ONT with Windows 10/PPPoE (with a different ethernet cable also).

Much as expected, all speedtests came in at 155-160/30, same as previous tests when connected via the router.

Every test, every time of day comes in the same.

My provider's technical support looked at this and were certain I was not on the wrong profile. If they're not capping me, Openreach is. But the absolute consistency with which I get 155-160/30 seems clearly to point to a cap somewhere.

Will pick this up with them on Monday. Independently of this config error, I have a regrade request in (to 900/115) - maybe this will result in my provider's or Openreach's systems correcting.

In reply to a post by shortshrift27:

I have a regrade request in (to 900/115) - maybe this will result in my provider's or Openreach's systems correcting.

As you've only just gone live on the 330/30 FoD service, are you not being asked to pay off the 12 month contract on your 330/30 service before being able to switch tiers? I'm not aware of any CP allowing FoD customers to switch tiers mid-contract penalty free but happy to be corrected. Who is your CP?

Edited by Highland76 (Sat 24-Oct-20 17:01:32)

As you've only just gone live on the 330/30 FoD service, are you not being asked to pay off the 12 month contract on your 330/30 service before being able to switch tiers? I'm not aware of any CP allowing FoD customers to switch tiers mid-contract penalty free but happy to be corrected. Who is your CP?

@Highland76 - I had heard exactly the same, which was frustrating as I had ordered 300/30 when that was all that was available... and then the new tiers came out in the course of my build.

My provider (Cerberus, since you ask) has told me that regrading is now straightforward. I can see from the Cerberus dashboard that BTW has accepted the regrade order and expects it to go live next business day (Monday). Let's see what happens.

(And no, there is no penalty, although the new 12-month contract will run from the regrade date. So, er, 4 days longer than before. It is the case though that I requested the regrade long before the service went live. However, it may simply be that the process has changed since folk last discussed it.)

Excellent news that Cerberus and BTW are being flexible on this - since new orders get the benefit of choosing the right tier up front.

In reply to a post by candlerb:

Excellent news that Cerberus and BTW are being flexible on this - since new orders get the benefit of choosing the right tier up front.

Indeed it would be quite petty, especially given the higher speed tiers are now available on FTTPoD from the get go. When they were only officially offering one tier on FTTPoD, you could understand the logic somewhat.

This was resolved this morning with the following note: "BT Complex fault team has updated that there was issue with VLAN associated with the circuit from supplier end and they have moved the VLAN from their side for given circuit and hence request you to please retest the circuit speed..."

After 2 1/2 weeks, the 160 Mbps cap has lifted!

(And I can see from my TBB BQM that my ping improved slightly at the same time.

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/...)

What - for the benefit of the uninitiated - does that explanation mean?

The VLAN is a sort of virtual interconnect between Openreach and your provider (or your provider's backhaul provider, e.g. BT Wholesale).

In practice, what they really mean is that they reprovisioned your service, and provisioned it correctly this time.

It means there was an issue with the BT Wholesale virtual path (SVLAN) at your exchange, you appear to have been moved onto a different SVLAN which has fixed the issue.

In reply to a post by Highland76:

It means there was an issue with the BT Wholesale virtual path (SVLAN) at your exchange, you appear to have been moved onto a different SVLAN which has fixed the issue.

Not quite.

A customer VLAN (CVLAN) is what was tweaked here.

Multiple CVLANs can be placed inside a single SVLAN (or no SVLAN).

Incorrect profile = Usually VLAN (CVLAN)
Poor varying speeds = usually a busy (hot) SVLAN.

This was correctly communicated as a VLAN issue.

Fair enough, I stand corrected.

@candlerb, @Highland76, @j0hn83 - Read with interest. Many thanks.

I found the BT reply to my provider in the case notes, though I'm not sure whether it adds anything very significant:

Hi
We have investigated the circuit and identified that there was an issue with the VLAN. A migration order was placed and that completed during the early hours of this morning, tests show the circuit is up.
Please retest this with your user, thanks
XXX XXX BB Complex Faults, Incident Helpdesk & QAT
BT Technology

But this 2+ week saga (with engineers coming repeatedly to my house and sitting all afternoon banging away at their laptops and phoning base - to no point, it seems, as it didn't need a site visit and was only resolved when my provider escalated to the Complex Fault Team!) was likely incorrect provisioning rather than an actual fault in exchange hardware/circuit?

In reply to a post by shortshrift27:

@candlerb, @Highland76, @j0hn83 - Read with interest. Many thanks.

I found the BT reply to my provider in the case notes, though I'm not sure whether it adds anything very significant:

Hi
We have investigated the circuit and identified that there was an issue with the VLAN. A migration order was placed and that completed during the early hours of this morning, tests show the circuit is up.
Please retest this with your user, thanks
XXX XXX BB Complex Faults, Incident Helpdesk & QAT
BT Technology

But this 2+ week saga (with engineers coming repeatedly to my house and sitting all afternoon banging away at their laptops and phoning base - to no point, it seems, as it didn't need a site visit and was only resolved when my provider escalated to the Complex Fault Team!) was likely incorrect provisioning rather than an actual fault in exchange hardware/circuit?

Had a similar 2+ week issue getting an FTTP speed re-grade actioned (or not as it turned out) during lockdown Mk 1 (is that how we should refer to it now?).

The issue was with the BTW system. These sorts of issues on FTTP that relate to VLAN provisioning / speed regrades are effectively ‘soft’ change that doesn’t require engineers to physically visit your property as all the changes are in the exchange.

In reply to a post by shortshrift27:

But this 2+ week saga (with engineers coming repeatedly to my house and sitting all afternoon banging away at their laptops and phoning base - to no point, it seems, as it didn't need a site visit and was only resolved when my provider escalated to the Complex Fault Team!) was likely incorrect provisioning rather than an actual fault in exchange hardware/circuit?

Yes.

In reply to a post by shortshrift27:

But this 2+ week saga (with engineers coming repeatedly to my house and sitting all afternoon banging away at their laptops and phoning base - to no point, it seems, as it didn't need a site visit and was only resolved when my provider escalated to the Complex Fault Team!) was likely incorrect provisioning rather than an actual fault in exchange hardware/circuit?

I understand your frustration but its the process the CPs have to follow. Usually, an Engineer visit is booked to check the equipment at the customer's premises in the first instance even though its obvious there's nothing wrong in the home. I went through a similar experience a few months ago: when i migrated from a 330/30 to 1000/115 service (both BT Wholesale based), the upload on the 1 Gig service was stuck at 30 Mbps. Had an Engineer come over to my home, checked everything was fine and then he got on the phone to Openreach or BT Wholesale (can't remember which), they rebuilt the circuit and 10 mins later it was fixed.

I personally feel like there is a culture of ‘blame’ .... everyone wants it to be someone else’s issue ...... if Joe Engineer is sent out it ‘looks’ like the CP has done something.. it seems not to bother anyone that in such instances there is sod all the engineer can do.

The problem was (oh, how we laughed) that the Openreach engineers could not run the Openreach diagnostics as instructed by 2nd line support. They could only get Java security errors. Though they spent the whole afternoon trying (top marks for tenacity, I guess).

Then when the engineer reported back, it went down as a fail, so Openreach would send another engineer, who would encounter exactly the same problem and again waste an afternoon of his and my time.

3rd time around, the engineer didn't attend the premises because he knew perfectly well what would happen. (This annoyed my provider.)

Then when my provider escalated, Openreach proposed a 4th engineer visit. Without having resolved the Java security issue!

My provider, to their credit, put their foot down and insisted on the fault being transferred to the Complex Fault Team, who resolved it almost immediately.

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

I personally feel like there is a culture of ‘blame’ .... everyone wants it to be someone else’s issue ...... if Joe Engineer is sent out it ‘looks’ like the CP has done something.. it seems not to bother anyone that in such instances there is sod all the engineer can do.

Hasn't it always been that way even before broadband came along?

I dread to think how many times over my BT career I was given the details of a fault by my FDO and I've immediately said whats the point of me going to that customers premises as that fault is clearly in the exchange or on a PW or even on the customers own equipment. I use to moan all the time to the guys on 154 who at that point use to sit in our local exchanges but they never listened and kept passing them over to us because it became our problem to get the right people to deal with it.