I don't think Vodafone are traffic shaping, I think this is classic congestion.

All your speedtests both here and Speedtest.net show congestion.

The only real solution is a switch of provider, are you locked in contract?

It feels like congestion to me, I'd not experienced any dodgy routing, but I am not Netflix customer.

Curiously though, VF keep denying it is congestion related and event sent me a new router after they declared the old one didn't like the dark!

The new one has the worst wifi I've ever seem - connection drops about 10 meters away from it!

So are we saying its congested all of the time. Would that not have an effect on overall download speed and not just single thread or am i barking up the wrong tree.

As the Op said it seem be prioritised in someway. I can watch 4k stream but not download a software patch at any kind of consistent speed.
I am in a contract that I am trying to end.

Single thread is a sensitive way of spotting congestion, in time the general speed test result is likely to start dipping

The 4K stream might be being served from a cache inside the Vodafone network, or a better link out of the network

Its *NOT* congestion, if it was congestion then *everything* would be slow -

A speed test shows single thread 10Mb but muti-thread 70Mb
https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/15455947657...

A download shows at 1-2MB/sec, yet stick it through a VPN and *boom* full line speed 8MB/sec download speeds.

This is a badly managed network and/or over harsh traffic shaping (something they should not be doing) which is limiting traffic speeds in order to keep the network performing correctly for streaming video so that most users don't notice.

I feel an ofcom complaint coming on...

I have to say with the experience I am having I completely agree with this comment. If congestion was the factor it would show different results at different times of day but my results are consistent. Actual download speeds are unreliable at best.

What result does speedtest.net give you for single thread (single connection) speedtest?

This is what the TBB tester churns out for my 330 Mb/s line:



Yet speedtest.net single thread results are totally different:

Result1: http://www.speedtest.net/result/7903582302
Result2: http://www.speedtest.net/result/7903601639

Conclusion: Single Thread speedtests results on TBB may not always be correct, ie use a second tester (such as the one on speedtest.net) to cross check your results.

Edited by baby_frogmella (Sun 23-Dec-18 20:29:20)

Single Thread speedtests results on speediest.net may not always be correct

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Single Thread speedtests results on speediest.net may not always be correct

True, but there is a choice of servers on speedtest.net hence why if 2 or more different servers there give you the same single thread result and the one on TBB doesn't, then you know which one is incorrect

Its *NOT* congestion, if it was congestion then *everything* would be slow

This is not true, you do not understand how the internet works if you believe all traffic is routed identically.

When you use the VPN, then yes all your traffic is routed via the VPN, and that route is likely not congested.

Your speedtests show very very clear congestion and your ISP is known for congestion widely.

Read the traffic management document published:

http://www.vodafone.co.uk/cs/groups/public/documents...

NO traffic is managed. They cannot lie about this... It is documented and formally captured.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Sun 23-Dec-18 22:04:13)