Broadband very odd speed issue

Hi
I am hoping that someone can assist with a perplexing issue that is really frustrating me.
Set up
Fibre modem providing gigabit ethernet
Laptop directly connected via cat 6 ethernet cable to modem - speeds at laptop 900Mb/s plus download and much the same upload - very happy with that.
LG Oled C2 4K TV in the opposite corner of the room together with Sky Q box. This is the problem area. I am told by Sky and many others on the sky forums that the lan port on the sky q box is capped at 100Mb/s however when I connect a cat 6 cable directly between the modem and the Sky Q box I get 350 to 450Mb/s as measured on the netflix speed tester. If I remove the cable from the Sky q box the connection defaults back to wi-fi and |I get 90Mb/s. If I plug the cable back in and retest it goes back to 350 to 450Mb/s. The wifi speed in my room as measured on my IPhone is 350 to 450Mb/s which tallies with the speed on my TV with the ethernet cable connected. I am well ware that I dont need gigabit speed at my TV for it to work properly. That for me is not the issue I dont understand how I get 350 to 450Mb/s with the ethernet cable connected and 90Mb/s when I remove it. Also, I dont really want a cable running across my room (or to be more accurate my wife does not) if I can avoid it. I would be most grateful if anyone has any thoughts on this issue.

Sounds as though the port is probably Gbit, but internal processing caps that. Look at the port on the modem - there will often be two small LEDs telling you teh connection speed - what is it?

WiFi at 90Mbps - possibly capped by the SkyQ.

I just googled what speed a 4K TV needs and it seems 25Mbps is probably sufficient. So 90Mbps should have no problem at all.

Am I missing something?

Sounds to me that the issue is with the WiFi adapter (or whatever it’s called) in the Sky kit.

Are you with Sky Broadband or a different ISP ?

NOTE that Sky Q is a strange beast, it doesn't want to just connect to an existing WiFi, it wants to RUN the WiFi as a mesh system for the whole home. Assuming you are using Sky Broadband with a Sky router, using WiFi with the Q box means it is in charge, so that any Mini boxes around the house are connected correctly.
https://www.trustedreviews.com/how-to/fix-sky-q-conn...

If I had a single Sky Q for TV and was not using Sky Broadband, then I would probalby try and run an Ethernet cable discreetly around the room.

A decent router will show you the connection speed and mode that the client device is using. My ASUS RT-AX88U shows me that my Yamaha Amp is only able to use WiFi 4 (N) on 2.4 GHz, so in an attempt to stop slowing down my other devices I use an Ethernet connection to stream radio to the amp. (This is 100 Mbps) as the amp and router are quite close. More modern iPhone 15 can connect to the router at WiFi 6 (AX) with theoretical (PHY) speeds of upto 1.2 Gbps.

But the OP isn't saying he has a problem with watching the TV. Just that he doesn't understand how the Netflix speed tester is reporting very high speeds via Ethernet. He says "I am well aware that I dont need gigabit speed at my TV for it to work properly. That for me is not the issue".

See my previous post. 90Mbps is apparently more than three times the minimum necessary speed for his system. He doesn't mention connected Mini boxes having problems.

It seems to me simply a desire to understand what is going on. Which you and others are providing. A solution doesn't seem to be needed, as an ethernet cable is unnecessary.

My guess would be that what device the Netflix speed test is running on (unclear whether it's the TV or the Sky Q box) just doesn't have the CPU power to handle a gigabit speed test.

In reply to a post by pluralist:

See my previous post. 90Mbps is apparently more than three times the minimum necessary speed for his system.

If its a 4K television watching 4K (UHD) content on Netflix then the average is 25 Mbps, but it can peak higher. On non-Netflix sources (e.g. iPlayer 4K) the data rate is much higher... for example live content can't be pre-processed for best bit-rate.

That said 90 Mbps sounds fine, and we don't have much detail. Either the TV (usually they are underpowered) or the Sky Q box is running the "Fast.com" website. I don't think they've ever created an app, its meant for use on phones, laptops, tablets. Some TV's have poor web browsers.

Thank you all for your thoughts. Pluralist you have it I am trying to understand it. My router is a you fibre gigabit router which via my laptop gives me gigabit download and upload but at my TV gives me 350-400Mb/s. The suggestion that the Sky Q box is the cause seems the most likely but how is the burning question. I dont get it and Sky cant explain it. Thank you all again for trying to help if I ever find a reason that makes sense I will post back.

In reply to a post by wobblymike:

Thank you all for your thoughts. Pluralist you have it I am trying to understand it. My router is a you fibre gigabit router which via my laptop gives me gigabit download and upload but at my TV gives me 350-400Mb/s. The suggestion that the Sky Q box is the cause seems the most likely but how is the burning question.

Are you running the speed test on the TV using a web browser, or on the Sky Q box?

If the TV then the suggestion is that this as fast as the TV can go when you give it a faster connection.

so you have

YF router <--- > sky q box <---> TV?



What wifi is your phone connecting to ?

so after having a quick look the sky q box, has a ethernet net port and can squirt out wifi of its own...

Edited by Taras (Mon 29-Jan-24 09:24:00)

jchamier, Taras

Thanks for the responses, I am running the speed test on the netflix app via the sky q box. Mu wifi speed as measured on my IPhone is 360=400Mb/s.

In reply to a post by Taras:

so after having a quick look the sky q box, has a ethernet net port and can squirt out wifi of its own...

I read (based on lots of pages) that the Sky Q TV box can only transmit ("squirt out") Wifi when the internet provider is Sky Broadband using the Sky Q or later Router. Why Sky called everything "Sky Q" is confusing!

In reply to a post by wobblymike:

Thanks for the responses, I am running the speed test on the netflix app via the sky q box. Mu wifi speed as measured on my IPhone is 360=400Mb/s.

The speed you're measuring using the Q TV box is the speed the app on the Q box can take the internet. The speed on your iPhone depends on the model of iPhone and WiFi interference. If you have a 12Pro/13Pro or later it should be able to go faster than 400 Mbps in good conditions.

900 Mbps is HARD to do over WiFi for one device.

Yes it is along with a lot of other Sky stuff, one of the reasons why I switched broadband from Sky to You Fibre. I am thrilled with the speed at my lap top but remain perplexed with the speed readings at my TV. Interestingly, my wifi speed as measured on my IPhone is essentially the same as the speed reading via the netflix tester. Your suggestion of this Sky Q box squirting out its own why when ethernet connected seems to me the most likely reason - what do you think?

In reply to a post by wobblymike:

That for me is not the issue I dont understand how I get 350 to 450Mb/s with the ethernet cable connected and 90Mb/s when I remove it. Also, I dont really want a cable running across my room (or to be more accurate my wife does not) if I can avoid it. I would be most grateful if anyone has any thoughts on this issue.

You aren't talking about the TV Ethernet port or the TV wireless, just the Sky Q box. Is that correct?

The newer HDR Sky Q boxes have a gigabit port and not 100Mb port.
I believe the Sky Q boxes will only connect via 2.4GHz back to the main router, if the main router isn't a Sky hub. Might be wrong on that part, I don't have 1.
That would explain much lower throughput wireless to the Sky Q than to other devices.

90Mb/s should be more than sufficient for watching 4k HDR and running a download in the background on the Sky Q box.

jchamier thank you that is very helpful

jOhn83 that is very interesting Sky have repeatedly told me that none of their Sky Q boxes have a gigabit ethernet port but if the newer ones do that is a potential game changer I will investigate that further and yes we are talking about a connection to the Sky q box only

the v2 and v3 Qs are gigabit ports but apparently capped internally at 100mbits.

I'm confused as much as you are ...........

Can you draw a quick map of how everything is connected ( paint graphics is fine! 😁 )

In reply to a post by wobblymike:

jOhn83 that is very interesting Sky have repeatedly told me that none of their Sky Q boxes
have a gigabit ethernet port but if the newer ones do that is a potential game changer I will investigate that further and yes we are talking about a connection to the Sky q box only

It won't make any difference to the TV picture for streaming content, e.g. Netflix or Sky's On Demand. With a 900 Mbps connection you can have people using 400 Mbps on two devices at once without problem.

Anything around 100 Mbps is more than enough for TV, even 4K UHD in Dolby Vision.

you'd probably need a 4x4+ router plus reciver which is 4x4.... And there's virtually none available (pcie cards etc) and most phones are 2x2 only. Hence why your statement is soo true. its flipping hard to do 900mbits even with ax .. who knows with BE!

In reply to a post by wobblymike:

jchamier, Taras

Thanks for the responses, I am running the speed test on the netflix app via the sky q box. Mu wifi speed as measured on my IPhone is 360=400Mb/s.

You don't have an issue, you are seeing the hardware or software limitations of the Netflix app running on a Sky Q box. The speeds you are getting are still 10x higher than what would be required to watch the highest quality video streams.

Taras I would happily do so if I had any idea how to (what is paint graphics)

So the old fashioned way

YF Router - direct cable to laptop
- direct cable to gigabit switch alongside TV

Gigabit switch - direct cable to Sky Q box
- direct cable to TV LAN port (have measured speed with this connected and
disconnected, speed the same @350 to 400Mb/s

In reply to a post by wobblymike:

Taras I would happily do so if I had any idea how to (what is paint graphics)

So the old fashioned way

YF Router - direct cable to laptop
- direct cable to gigabit switch alongside TV

Gigabit switch - direct cable to Sky Q box
- direct cable to TV LAN port (have measured speed with this connected and
disconnected, speed the same @350 to 400Mb/s

then as what JPM has said, its either a limitation of the tv or the netflix app.. Even with 100mbits/s thats good for 8k .. thanks for doing that list it makes more sense as to whats going on.

In reply to a post by Taras:

the v2 and v3 Qs are gigabit ports but apparently capped internally at 100mbits.

I'm confused as much as you are ...........

Can you draw a quick map of how everything is connected ( paint graphics is fine! 😁 )

His box must have a gigabit port that isn't capped as he's getting 350-450Mb/s wired.

Just a quick update for all of you who have been kind enough to offer your expertise. jOhn83 suggests that my box must have a gigabit port. I have been repeatedly told by Sky that all Sky Q boxes have 10/100 Lan ports. Following the points made by a number of you I rang Sky Technical and to my surprise got through quickly and found someone who knew his subject. He confirmed that my Q box had a 10/100 lan port but also confirmed that the 2TB UHD Q box has a gigabit port. I also proffered the suggestion made in the posting that LAN ports can "squirt" additional speed. He confirmed that this is a known phenomenon that he has encountered on a handful of occasions. All very interesting and which has satisfied my curiosity and desire to understand why I was experiencing the issue. My decision now is whether to invest £99 in upgrading my Sky Q box to the V2 model. I know I don't need it BUT I'm a techie and ........... we'll see. Many thanks for all your assistance I appreciate it very much.

I'm at a complete loss at what you think you're going to gain by having a Sky box that can achieve more than 500Mbps on a Netflix speed test. Take a step back and be logical about this because it sounds like you're about to waste your money.

jpm thank you for your thoughts I appreciate your concern.

Let me explain what I think the outcome will be if I upgrade to the SKY 2TB UHD box (my current one is a 1TB UHD box). If you think I am missing something I would be grateful to hear your view.

The 2TB box has a gigabit LAN port which I would directly connect to my gigabit router via cat 6 ethernet; my assumption being that it provide gigabit speed at the Sky Q box.

I would then expect the netflix speed tester to reflect that.

Do you concur?

In reply to a post by wobblymike:

Do you concur?

I don't, as the speed test result needs more than just the Ethernet port; the CPU in the box may not have sufficient performance to run the tester at more than 300/400 Mbps.

All you might achieve is a light on your router showing "1000" lit up, instead of a light showing "100".

Edited by jchamier (Tue 30-Jan-24 08:49:33)

A very accurate assumption as these chips are designed for decoding video etc and not network chips.

OK thank you - food for thought, I will investigate that further and get back to you.

In reply to a post by wobblymike:

Do you concur?

No, for the reason already given by jchamier regarding the processing power of the box.

I also don't understand the motivation behind the desire to get to the bigger number.

In reply to a post by jpm:

In reply to a post by wobblymike:

Do you concur?

No, for the reason already given by jchamier regarding the processing power of the box.

I also don't understand the motivation behind the desire to get to the bigger number.

Why do people buy a Ferrari rather than a Mini when the speed limit is 70mph? It's a matter of personal choice which is not necessarily governed by practical considerations.

In reply to a post by wobblymike:

jpm thank you for your thoughts I appreciate your concern.

Let me explain what I think the outcome will be if I upgrade to the SKY 2TB UHD box (my current one is a 1TB UHD box). If you think I am missing something I would be grateful to hear your view.

The 2TB box has a gigabit LAN port which I would directly connect to my gigabit router via cat 6 ethernet; my assumption being that it provide gigabit speed at the Sky Q box.

I would then expect the netflix speed tester to reflect that.

Do you concur?

Sky claim your box has a 100Mb port but wired speed tests via the Netflix app show 350-450Mb/s.
How do you expect a new box with a gigabit port to behave any different?

It is impossible to get over 100Mb/s on a single 100Mb Ethernet port. Either you already have a gigabit port or the Netflix speed test is very very broken.

Sky are also very very insistent that ALL their boxes (including those with gigabit ports) are capped to 100Mb/s.
If they boxes aren't capped then someone needs to inform their staff on the forums as they repeat this every time they are asked about boxes with gigabit ports.

It would be a waste of money. Netflix 4k HDR doesn't even hit 30Mb/s.

Could you post the exact model number from your Sky box?

Edited by j0hn83 (Tue 30-Jan-24 11:06:46)

In reply to a post by jchamier:

In reply to a post by wobblymike:

Do you concur?

I don't, as the speed test result needs more than just the Ethernet port; the CPU in the box may not have sufficient performance to run the tester at more than 300/400 Mbps.

All you might achieve is a light on your router showing "1000" lit up, instead of a light showing "100".

You make a very good point but even if the speed test did come back faster than 300/400 Mbps I can't see how the OP would leverage that extra speed.

Edited by PCJM40 (Tue 30-Jan-24 11:13:53)

In reply to a post by GonePostal:

Why do people buy a Ferrari rather than a Mini when the speed limit is 70mph? It's a matter of personal choice which is not necessarily governed by practical considerations.

This isn't a "nobody needs broadband faster than 100Mbps" argument, it's questioning why the speed test result on a closed system matters when it has no impact on the operation of that system. It's like if your smart thermostat offered a speed test and as a result of it being low you were upgrading to a newer model with a faster processor in.

In reply to a post by jpm:

In reply to a post by GonePostal:

Why do people buy a Ferrari rather than a Mini when the speed limit is 70mph? It's a matter of personal choice which is not necessarily governed by practical considerations.

This isn't a "nobody needs broadband faster than 100Mbps" argument, it's questioning why the speed test result on a closed system matters when it has no impact on the operation of that system. It's like if your smart thermostat offered a speed test and as a result of it being low you were upgrading to a newer model with a faster processor in.

The continuing discussion all seems a little repetitive when all you are doing is reiterating the point that other people you do not hold your values and attitudes and wish to exercise their own personal choice are being silly.

Edited by GonePostal (Tue 30-Jan-24 13:33:12)

Do what you want to do. It'll make no difference to your viewing pleasure.

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

It is impossible to get over 100Mb/s on a single 100Mb Ethernet port. Either you already have a gigabit port or the Netflix speed test is very very broken.

I find the Netflix speed test (https://fast.com) to be unreliable if I don't use a private tab in the browser. (Incognito / InPrivate etc).

Maybe the Q box's implementation of this test is caching.

What is more repetitive is when any of us posts on the OP's original question.

The answers have basically been provided and acknowledged. The OP is well aware, or should be, that extra speed would not provide any benefits beyond the fact that newer kit may be less prone to failure and maybe a miniscule reduction in electricity usage.

The Ferrari v Mini analogy is clearly completely irrelevant as there are several tangible advantages to each over the other, and likewise disadvantages. Particularly wrt to daily costs, where the Ferrari could well cost as much per day to keep on the road as a Mini does for a year. For instance tyres costing hundreds of pounds each and it being illegal to repair them if they get a puncture. Never mind road tax, insurance and E5 petrol swallowing. Routine servicing in four figures, not necessarily starting with a "1".

More prosaically and with a slight connection to the OP's kit, I have been entirely dependent on Three since the start of 2019. No landline. Until about a year ago the maximum the router could receive was 4G, but that sufficed to drive my cloud-based security cameras, smart TV, laptop and iPad, plus my Android phone if I decide to save battery when at home.

Then a 5G mast was installed quite a way away. Unreliable in the summer but since the trees lost their leaves almost constant 5G with a few hundred Mbps downstream. Completely unnecessary for me, but I went for it so needed a router upgrade as the existing one was 4G. Just "satisfying" to have.