OFNL in Winchester trouble with major streaming services

Been on OFNL since moving to the area 2 years ago, using 2 different providers. Same issues in peak times, streaming services keep dropping out, I have to connect to a 4G hot spot to continue watching disney, amazon or netflix.

Doing speed tests, everything is perfect, full speed all the time, new router, using ethernet cables although same issues over wifi. Some services like YouTube work fine at the same time.

Increasingly considering 4G broadband instead of this FTTP, which seems to be not fit for purpose.

Anyone has any suggestions?

I ditched first my broadband, (low 50s down, 10-12 up) in December 2018 and landline in January 2019 when my 4G proved just as good if not better over the Christmas and New Year period when kids were active and new Christmas iPhones etc. being hammered. See speeds in my sig.

Never regretted it. The mobile broadband router came along when I got cloud-storing security cameras which were useless when I went out with my phone. Which then helped preserve my phone battery life, which is something to consider.

"Black Friday" deals now seem to be running. It could be a good time.

I'm lucky in that Three is quite good here, so unlimited everything on both is quite cheap, but may not be suitable where you are.

Thank you for advice, three is good in our area and is offering £10 pcm for 4G plus router and unlimited sim for 6 months than £20 afterwards.

Kids games however need good latency, which I believe 4G cant achieve.
So i would have to run both in parallel...

Never thought that a 300/100 FTTP can be so bad.

Yes about latency. Not good enough for serious gaming. Fortunately no gamers here.

There are multiple ISPs using Ofnl, have you tried others?

Yes tried different ISPs, neither routing nor the connection had changed. Seems like only the name on the direct debit changed and the port I connected to on the fibre break out.

Yes I think quite a few of the OFNL ISPs do use the OFNL white-label solution.

Some don't, though. I'm with Merula on OFNL and am going via their own network. Streaming services at peak times have been fine.

I'm assuming they're still using OFNL for backhaul though given their size, so if it's contention between your site and wherever OFNL hands off to ISPs then you'll still see the issue.

Edited by Adrianuk (Sat 19-Nov-22 22:52:39)

In reply to a post by Adrianuk:

Yes I think quite a few of the OFNL ISPs do use the OFNL white-label solution.

Some don't, though. I'm with Merula on OFNL and am going via their own network. Streaming services at peak times have been fine.

I'm assuming they're still using OFNL for backhaul though given their size, so if it's contention between your site and wherever OFNL hands off to ISPs then you'll still see the issue.

I have tried Links Broadband and now with MTH, unfortunately it takes 12 months to switch...

I'm not sure what either of those use off the top of my head, the ISP listed at https://bgp.he.net should shed some light on it (if it says OFNL/IFNL then it'll be the white-label solution).

I suppose the best you can do to get out of your 12 months contract would be to document all the issues you're having and then raise a complaint with MTH. If you get no joy then after 8 weeks you can raise the complaint with the Ombudsman who will hopefully find in your favour.

You'll then be able to switch, or if you decide to go with 4G broadband not pay for both that and FTTP at the same time.

Edited by Adrianuk (Sun 20-Nov-22 00:23:57)

In reply to a post by Adrianuk:

I'm not sure what either of those use off the top of my head, the ISP listed at https://bgp.he.net should shed some light on it (if it says OFNL/IFNL then it'll be the white-label solution).

I suppose the best you can do to get out of your 12 months contract would be to document all the issues you're having and then raise a complaint with MTH. If you get no joy then after 8 weeks you can raise the complaint with the Ombudsman who will hopefully find in your favour.

You'll then be able to switch, or if you decide to go with 4G broadband not pay for both that and FTTP at the same time.

Announced as 149.71.128.0/20 (Open Fibre Networks Ltd (C08353226))United States
Announced as 149.71.0.0/16 (PSINet, Inc.)United States
Your ISP is AS48945 (OPEN FIBRE NETWORKS (WHOLESALE) LIMITED)

Does it mean I'm OFNL white-label?

Yep, that’s right.

In reply to a post by Adrianuk:

Yes I think quite a few of the OFNL ISPs do use the OFNL white-label solution.

Some don't, though. I'm with Merula on OFNL and am going via their own network. Streaming services at peak times have been fine.

I'm assuming they're still using OFNL for backhaul though given their size, so if it's contention between your site and wherever OFNL hands off to ISPs then you'll still see the issue.

MTH are making me boot in safe mode and jump through hoops. The trouble is the speeds are fine, it seem to only affect streaming services. Disney, Amazon, some German TV. As soon as I do a speed test its 100%.

Have you tried via a VPN? It can occasionally help with troubleshooting either ISP throttling or a routing issue. I once cured a (temporary) streaming issue by using a VPN location in Finland.

In reply to a post by Glenn2:

Have you tried via a VPN? It can occasionally help with troubleshooting either ISP throttling or a routing issue. I once cured a (temporary) streaming issue by using a VPN location in Finland.

Can you recommend one that I can configure on a router? Without using apps.
I kind of already proven its not the service or the tv as it woks via 4G.

Hmmm... not really. In my case it was on an Amazon Firestick with IPVanish using their (Android) app. I'm sure others will come along with suggestions. I've not used many commercial VPNs.

In reply to a post by ganzic:

Can you recommend one that I can configure on a router? Without using apps.

That depends on the router!! Those that support OpenVPN can use suppliers such as Nord, or similar.
see: https://nordvpn.com/ovpn/

Or you can use an Andrews & Arnold L2TP service, which doesn't use encryption so isn't a VPN, but provides a different network IP range. (Speeds capped at 200 Mbps)
https://www.aa.net.uk/broadband/l2tp-service/

If you are looking for hardware, the GL.Inet routers work well with OpenVPN based VPNs, and can even support Wireguard (for VPN suppliers like Mullvad and others) if you are so interested.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08MKZXGBY

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B2J7WSDK

Edited by jchamier (Mon 21-Nov-22 16:46:56)

In reply to a post by jchamier:

In reply to a post by ganzic:

Can you recommend one that I can configure on a router? Without using apps.

That depends on the router!! Those that support OpenVPN can use suppliers such as Nord, or similar.
see: https://nordvpn.com/ovpn/

Or you can use an Andrews & Arnold L2TP service, which doesn't use encryption so isn't a VPN, but provides a different network IP range. (Speeds capped at 200 Mbps)
https://www.aa.net.uk/broadband/l2tp-service/

If you are looking for hardware, the GL.Inet routers work well with OpenVPN based VPNs, and can even support Wireguard (for VPN suppliers like Mullvad and others) if you are so interested.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08MKZXGBY

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B2J7WSDK

thank you

I think you want something quick and dirty just as an experiment, to investigate your issue, not a permanent VPN solution which you shouldn't even need.

If you can recreate the streaming issues on an android/ios/mac device then SurfShark offer a 7-day free trial. You use their app and you have to give them your card but they don't charge it for 7-days so you can cancel before then, and even after that there's a 30-day cancel period.

I've used IPVanish too, which has no free trial but does have a 30-day cancellation period.

Having used both of these in the past, I found IPVanish better performing.

Those are the only two I used.

Depends how you feel about signing up for things and then cancelling later I suppose.