Speed between master socket and router

Hi

Just joined so please excuse me if this is old news.

I have been suffering on going connection problems via my ISP which is PlusNet.
This has all been put down to the distance from the Green Cabinet (2.4KM)

So , after having 3 BT engineer call outs recently to address the issue , a strange fact has come to light , hence my main question.

The Engineer tells me that I am getting 20Mbs at the Test socket using his test equipment , however my download speed at my hard wired PC is less than 10Mbs.
The house is wired via CAT5 and a Powerline network to everything except the mobile phones.

I have just ordered a CAT5 RJ11 to RJ45 cable to connect between the faceplate and PlusNet router [ same as BT Homehub 5 ] , but fail to see where I'm losing 50% of my speed ??

Any thoughts please ?

Many thanks

Steve

Where is your router normally plugged in? Do you have any phone extensions? If you have extensions are they all properly filtered?

Also, PowerLine can run very slowly depending on the setup in the house.

Ideally you would plug your router into the test socket and plug a PC/laptop into the router directly and test from there. If that gives full speeds then it is a matter of starting to work your way outwards to see what is causing the speed loss.

You would be better placing the router near the master socket and then running some CAT6 to your computer. If you wanted other devices to use the wired connection but still use the Powerline adapter, then just install a simple network switch near to your computer so that your computer gets a wired connection as well as other devices like the Powerline adapter.

This way you will get the maximum speed without suffering the loss you are currently getting.

20Mbps is the sync speed. Your download speed will be lower than that. I'm not sure what the overhead is these days. When I started out with networking, it used to be 50%, but things may have got better since then. It's been 30 years.

50%???? Didn't even get that loss when using old coax connections back in the early 90's

I'm talking 10BASE5 with a [censored], repurposed Z80A-based comms controller. 50% was fairly typical. It might have been a lot better if my company had designed decent comms controllers. They could handle 16 serial ports well enough, but a single LAN adapter was hopeless.

Edited by micksharpe (Tue 09-Jan-18 14:08:10)

It shows that something was seriously wrong at your company then. Also 10BASE5 was coax based

As you mention 2.4km from green cabinet I guess this means you are on FTTC, if so 20Mb at that distance sounds very unlikely, I had a OR engineer tell me something similar once, it was complete bull. What speed is you router synching at?

The computer type was nearing end of life, so they didn't want to invest too much money in it. There wasn't even a full TCP/IP stack. It was quite a slow machine, anyway, and not selling well. It was coax - thick ethernet, in fact.

Edited by micksharpe (Tue 09-Jan-18 16:44:58)

Plug your router into the test socket of your master socket and have all other extension sockets unplugged in your property. With just the router connected, plug an ethernet cable into the router and test the speed via a laptop. Make sure this is hardwired and not using wireless. Don't use powerline adaptors as these could cause a bottle neck too. If your speed is fine, then you know it is your extensions or powerline adaptors slowing your speed down.

The next thing to try would be leave everything setup as above, but then reconnect your extensions. If your speed drops, then you need an SSFP fitted to your master socket. Using an SSFP is the ONLY way you can properly filter out extensions in a property. Putting a microfilter on the end of each cable does nothing to stop a slow down caused by extension cabling.

Also, if you aren't using an extension cable, disconnect it. Ensure there are no bridge taps present on your cabling too.

VDSL2 at 2.4 km would be considered good if delivering 10 Mbps, so my tendency is to question the info from the engineer

Have you logged into the web interface of the PlusNet router to see what the actual connection speeds reported by it are?

Hi everyone
Sorry for the delay in replying.
I am grateful to all that replied.

Today I did a little testing as advised.

Results :

The Router web interface is showing a download of 12.88Mbps

My PC which is CAT 5 via powerlines is 10.30Mbps ( powerlines )
My PC using an old wireless card was a disaster at 1Mbps ( wireless )

My new laptop sat by the PC is 11.30Mbps ( wireless )
My new laptop sat right next to the router is 11.80Mbps ( wireless )
My new laptop hard wired to the router is 11.80Mbps ( CAT 5 )

So to sum up , the powerlines to my PC are not causing too much to worry about , and I wont be switching to the laptop as I prefer my PC.

I guess I could fiddle with the wireless card in my pc , but its not something I'm very good at.

Many thanks and as ever , will welcome all thoughts and ideas.

Cheers

Steve

In reply to a post by TheInstaller:

With just the router connected, plug an ethernet cable into the router and test the speed via a laptop.

How many modern laptops come with RJ45 ethernet sockets? My 2 year old HP laptop is to thin to accommodate an RJ45 socket.

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

How many modern laptops come with RJ45 ethernet sockets? My 2 year old HP laptop is to thin to accommodate an RJ45 socket.

Brand new HP laptop I bought last year has an RJ45 Ethernet socket.

Ditto!

1 month old Asus has aforementioned socket. Small flap has to be pulled down to accommodate.

Edited by broadband66 (Sun 28-Jan-18 11:21:13)