Giganet speeds on install

Our service went live today and I'm on one of Giganet's Full Fibre 500 packages

Running a speedtest via Fast.com it comes out at a max of around 370Mbps (that's with a laptop wired directly into the router provided by Giganet). Connecting the laptop directly to the ONT (with a Windows software PPoE connection) only yielded around 130Mbps (I guess because the PPoE client in the router is hardware accelerated?)

Is that expected/reasonable considering the packageI'm paying for?

I did give their tech support a quick call and was advised that new connections take a couple of days to settle down. I know that FTTC and ADSL have training periods for line stability but I didn't think that FTTP had anything similar.

Edited by Memphis (Wed 23-Nov-22 14:06:05)

Does your laptop run Windows and does it have any third party security software?

Hi, yes it does run Windows and it has an Antivirus program installed (Avast from memory).

To be fair to the laptop is it knocking on a bit (HP Elitebook 2nd gen Core i7 but maxed memory at 16GB and a chunky 2TB SSD). The LAN port is a gigabit one and the cable my laptop is using is Cat6.

@Memphis,

Are you aware that Windows has it's own built-in Anti-Virus? Windows Defender....It always puzzles me why people go to the effort of downloading and installing another Anti-Virus when Defender does EXACTLY the same thing. In my mind that's like adding an additional engine into a car that already has a perfectly good one. Would you add an additional engine to a Ferrari???

Just my 2 pence worth....take it or leave it....

Yours,

In reply to a post by mking90031:

@Memphis,

Are you aware that Windows has it's own built-in Anti-Virus? Windows Defender....It always puzzles me why people go to the effort of downloading and installing another Anti-Virus when Defender does EXACTLY the same thing. In my mind that's like adding an additional engine into a car that already has a perfectly good one. Would you add an additional engine to a Ferrari???

Just my 2 pence worth....take it or leave it....

Yours,

A tad off topic but for what it's worth, I've never seen Windows Defender intercept a web page based nasty whereas Avast has done so on a few occasions.

Running a speedtest via Fast.com it comes out at a max of around 370Mbps (that's with a laptop wired directly into the router provided by Giganet). Connecting the laptop directly to the ONT (with a Windows software PPoE connection) only yielded around 130Mbps (I guess because the PPoE client in the router is hardware accelerated?)

Very much sounds like it’s your laptop that can’t keep up.

The point has been made about anti-virus/malware software and this does have a huge impact on headline network throughout beyond 300-500 Mbps if the base hardware can’t handle it/ is knocking on a bit. Windows is also more resource hungry in this respect compared to Linux or MacOS.

You could try booting your laptop using a USB stick install of Ubuntu and then rerun the speed tests and see how you go.

PS - fast.com is a notoriously ambitious (in terms of results) speed tester. Use Ookla or the one from here to get more honest results.

In reply to a post by Memphis:

A tad off topic but for what it's worth, I've never seen Windows Defender intercept a web page based nasty whereas Avast has done so on a few occasions

I’ve seen it do this twice, once on Win7 and once on Win10, but most people now use adblockers which solve this mess.

I have the 150/30 Giganet package with my own router (ASUS AX86U) and I see precisely 150 down and almost 30 up from our quiet rural area. It was at full speed on day one.

A suggestion in order to test whether it might be the Giganet router or the laptop having difficulty keeping up is to see if you can borrow a personal (and hopefully more powerful) router from a friend for a day. Also try testing the speed via wifi on a modern phone or tablet at home to see if it is just the laptop struggling.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Windows is also more resource hungry in this respect compared to Linux or MacOS.

Really?

If using fast.com or other web based testers, ALWAYS use a Private Browsing / Incognito / InPrivate window.

Third party antivirus software in 2022 is changing parts of a complicated operating system. I trust Microsoft to know their product much more than a tiny, desperate for money, so-called security vendor. Most corporates I know use Defender with the extra cost 365 management tools for traceability.

I have recently signed up to the Giganet 500/70 package and I get full speed on wired using the router provided by them.