Zzoomm have problems

By all accounts a main fibre have broken and have cause slow-downs, it is not just affecting zzoomm, but my download speed at the moment is less than 2Mb/s, uploads are a little more. If i use the VPN, i get around 150 down, which is strange.
See, i should have stayed on FTTC
Only joking, it is also affecting other networks as a friend of mine is on a different network and having the same problem, hopefully they can sort it out quickly.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

my download speed at the moment is less than 2Mb/s, uploads are a little more. If i use the VPN, i get around 150 down, which is strange.

That is strange.

In reply to a post by dect:

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

my download speed at the moment is less than 2Mb/s, uploads are a little more. If i use the VPN, i get around 150 down, which is strange.

That is strange.

I thought that, this problem is not just affecting Zzoomm, someone I know on Gigaclear is having the same problem. I know these things happen, but what is a little annoying is they don't seem to know when it will be fixed, also I was told Fibre is more reliable.

Fibre is more reliable for the "last mile". But there are a number of other devices/cables involved in the rest of the connection from that piece of fibre to the Internet. It sounds in this case like maybe a peer is having a problem and that is causing congestion on other links - possible that your VPN has a different route through the network to some of the other traffic and therefore you are seeing variable speeds depending on which route a particular endpoint is serviced by.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

By all accounts a main fibre have broken and have cause slow-downs, it is not just affecting zzoomm, but my download speed at the moment is less than 2Mb/s, uploads are a little more. If i use the VPN, i get around 150 down, which is strange.

Then clearly there is nothing wrong with the fibre itself, nor with the backhaul from your FTTP node to the provider's main Internet gateway.

There is some issue with Internet routing to some sites, but not others.

You can inspect the traffic using Wireshark and you may be able to see some difference between VPN'd and non-VPN'd (e.g. maybe one is using IPv4 and the other IPv6; that would suggest maybe a problem with their CGNAT box. You could temporarily turn off IPv6 to see if that makes a difference. I don't know whether Zzoomm do IPv6 at all though)

Otherwise the problem is likely with their peering or transit connections to the wider Internet. Debugging that stuff is hard. You'll need to provide Zzoomm with exact details of which sites you are testing against, and ideally traceroutes to each of those sites, to see what's going on.

But this is where you find out the downsides of going with a cheap network operator, who know about digging holes in the ground, but who don't have much experience running an Internet network.

It's also worth tracking what public IP address you have been assigned. Go to a site like ip4.me and make a note of it, then try disconnecting and reconnecting to the ONT. See if your IP address changes, and if your service improves. Keep a log of IP addresses and service quality. You may find some IP blocks are "good" and some are "bad". This is because the smaller ISPs are having to buy random chunks of address space from other providers, and some blocks may not be routed fully (e.g. are not registered in routing databases or not permitted by BGP filters). Sometimes they geolocate to the wrong country and you may find that some services like the BBC are not accessible at all.

My hunch is that fibre local loops will not be as reliable as it is forecast to be.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

If i use the VPN, i get around 150 down, which is strange.

That proves its not the fibre to the ISP but a problem from the ISP to their partner networks. By using the VPN you are forcing the routing elsewhere, which by chance, is going over a non-congested route to the VPN provider. Easily could have happened on FTTC, or ADSL or even dial up. (except with dial up you could have lots of ISPs and switch between).

In reply to a post by FibreBubble:

My hunch is that fibre local loops will not be as reliable as it is forecast to be.

https://www.theregister.com/2015/05/20/verizon_fibre...

Reliability – DSL users suffering rain-driven outages will raise a hollow laugh to hear that Sampath claimed fibre is 70 to 90 per cent more reliable than copper. This results in 60 per cent fewer costly truck rolls on the fibre network, and savings of 40 to 60 per cent on maintenance.

Forecasts will probably be based on the data from Verizon and then other parts of the world that've deployed FTTP.

1/3rd to 1/10th the faults of copper seems reasonable.

Below is what they say on their site.
We have been advised that one of our major trunk network suppliers has suffered a major fibre break, affecting Zzoomm and other companies. This will mean that our alternative diverse circuits may become congested leading to slower than normal internet access for customers in Hereford. Our supplier’s engineers are continuing to repair the damage, but unfortunately at this stage, we do not know when the link will be restored.



It seems ok now, so either it is fixed, or it is not busy enough to congest the network.

Things go wrong, I am surprised that more don't go wrong and if it is fixed then they have done a good job fixing it so quickly.

Looks like a pretty old link you are relying on there.

I reckon fibre reliability will be hit by the poor installation often very shallow buried and unprotected and the fact that one tree rub or spade hit or other PIA operator treading on or rope burning a single circuit affects many punters. Whereas a single copper disconnection affects a single punter and alerts the telco.

If a telco gets their act together they can detect and prevent copper insulation faults. It's more difficult to predict and prevent fibre or copper breaks.

I spent over 35 years hearing about increased reliability and reduced 'truck rolls' and very seldom did it come to pass.