Reliable speed test for FTTP (900/100)?

Hi folks,

We have had FTTP installed for a couple of days now, using the BT Whole Speedtest site I regularly see over 1000Mbps down and around 140Mbps up but when I check other sites I only see around 250Mbps / 100Mbps is this something I am doing wrong?
I was expecting my Router to be a bottle neck (AirPort Extreme AC) but with the BT site showing those speeds can that be the case?
The PC I am testing on is using Ethernet and the engineer said Cat5e cables would be sufficient (I have some unopened Cat7 labeled cables to use if required).

Cat5e should be fine - unless you are 50m away.

The basic "no-frills" test at fast.com is normally relaible and the TBB one too which graphs performance with links to share that will allow others to comment.

Thanks, here is the result from TBB

That looks as though something is maxing out.


If you are using Windows, run TASK MANAGER and whilst not precsie it will give a good insight. Try it with BT Wholesale, TBB and fast.com see what it gives for all three.

BT Wholesale: 1008.73 / 146.92
fast.com: 260 / 110


Is the BT Wholesale site telling me lies?

Edited by D_an_W (Fri 19-Nov-21 18:38:52)

Graphical, browser-based speedtests can tax your PC, and the BT one may be less taxing. Hence the suggestion to look at your CPU usage: if it flatlines at 100% then your PC is the bottleneck.

Often Linux performs much better than Windows on the same hardware. You could download an Ubuntu Live USB stick, boot from that, and see if you get better results. Then know where to start looking - maybe Windows NIC drivers, maybe antivirus.

This unfortunately is the problem with gigabit services: they highlight problems with your client devices and your local network. (I have 300M).

In reply to a post by D_an_W:

I was expecting my Router to be a bottle neck (AirPort Extreme AC) but with the BT site showing those speeds can that be the case?
The PC I am testing on is using Ethernet and the engineer said Cat5e cables would be sufficient (I have some unopened Cat7 labeled cables to use if required).

Tell us a little bit about the PC you are testing with; OS/version, make/model, age and how it’s connected to the network, i.e. built-in NIC or external USB adapter (can sometimes be problematic too)

Thanks folks,

The PC is relatively old now but still fine for my needs (Until now maybe!)

This is the info I use for a Signature on another forum:

* CPU: Intel i7-3770K @ 4.2GHz * Cooling: Corsair H80i v2 / Noctua NF-F12 x2 * MoBo: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H (Rev. 1.1 - BIOS F16g Mod06) * RAM: Crucial 1600MHz DDR3 32GB (4x8GB) *
* PSU: Seasonic 760W Platinum * GPU: Intel HD 4000 (768MB) * Mon 1: Dell U2410 (A07) * Mon 2: Panasonic TX-P55VT50B * Cam: Logitech C910 HD * BD: Pioneer BDR-208DBK *
* HD 1: Western Digital WDC WDS100T2B0A 1TB * HD 2: Western Digital WD Black 10TB * WiFi & BT: Apple Broadcom BCM94360CD (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac - Bluetooth 4.0 *

Connected via one of the two built in Ethernet ports (Using the Atheros chipset).

It is actually running macOS Big Sur 11.6.1 which also happens to be the last this hardware will support without patching etc.

I have been keeping an eye on price of the TP-link Archer AX6000 as it looks like it might suite my needs but it's the BT Wholesale site showing me those speeds that makes me wonder if I need to replace the AirPort Extreme at all.

Edited by D_an_W (Fri 19-Nov-21 19:35:54)

In reply to a post by D_an_W:

makes me wonder if I need to replace the AirPort Extreme at all.

It is the first component I would swap out to test. They are quite old now. Is this the one?
https://support.apple.com/kb/sp680?locale=en_GB
That is the 6th generation and it went on sale in 2013, and Apple discontinued the whole lineup in 2018. If you have another router (e.g. ISP box) give it a try for a test.

My guess is the CPU in the Extreme is not up to the needs of PPPoE over your fast FTTP service, and Apple designed their routers for the USA market which don't typically use PPPoE.

Edited by jchamier (Fri 19-Nov-21 20:02:08)

In reply to a post by D_an_W:

It is actually running macOS Big Sur 11.6.1 which also happens to be the last this hardware will support without patching etc.

It's a Hackintosh? Definitely try booting into Linux as a comparison.

But once you've convinced yourself that it's not the ISP that's the issue but your own local machine, you can forget about it. Like you said, it's fast enough for what you need. It can't consume a gigabit reliably on a speedtest? Speedtests aren't what you actually use the machine for.