Slow speeds from Zen

I�ve been a Zen customer for 8-9 years and over the last year or so I�ve noticed that on a night my speeds fluctuate and drop below 10mb. I�m on Fibre Broadband with estimated speeds of up to 40mb but Zen states that they wouldn�t drop below 33mb.

I�m using the Fritzbox 3490 which says 49 down and 20 up but every speed test I�m doing is nowhere near that.

I�m finding my amazon Firestick is constantly dropping out and if I reboot the router it sometimes works but the internet is clearly working as I can access it via my iPad/desktop.

I haven�t called Zen because when I test the connection on following mornings it�s usually OK again.

Back in the day Zen customer service used to be amazing and they�d always get straight to the problem but I remember calling them for an issue over a year ago and I was met the type of CS that I�d expect from Sky or BT. It really went downhill.

Are others having similar issues and if so what is it?

I don�t want to be busting £100+ on a new router to find out that it�s not the issue but I�m getting sick of not being able to stream content on a fibre broadband line - it�s just as [censored] as it used to be with regular broadband.

What�s the fix? Another ISP maybe?

try the technical and post back please. looks like tangs employing people he shouldnt be. be nice to get another opinion. and a drug testing station on the way to orrrliiiy manchester police did you hear me? if you didnt someone else will.


just in case.

BANG TO RIGHTS TO.

from what i hear from ex employees.

Edited by deleted (Sun 29-Dec-19 18:31:53)

Is this happening every night? And what time does it begin and return to normal? It sounds like a congested cvan or svan in the zen portal what does it say about your line data ? in particular this part of it Your current line technology is As this will tell us which back haul provider your circuit is configured to use, if WMBC it's BT Wholesale And zen will have to request a move from that congested vlan to a better one, if it's GEA then the problem is on Zen's side of things

I have just left Zen and gone back to Plusnet and saving £20 / month on unlimited fibre. Plusnet has shown an immediate improvement in reducing maximum latency. The spiking in maximum latency mid evening with Zen when my son was gaming and someone else streaming a video sent my son up the wall - solid block of yellow on the BQM > 170 MS (average rising from 9 to 60ms). With plusnet have since been streaming 2 HD football matches at once and not a peep from my son as the latency was not seriously impacted, no solid block of yellow on the BQM and peaking at a max of between 30 and 60 ms( a reduction > 110 ms) and no impact on the minimum / average of 9ms).The dropped packets have disappeared too.

Glad I left Zen, not sure why I was sucked in for a year after believing the hype about it being truly unlimited. The Fritz!box router has been good though and I am still using it!

I haven�t had a proper look at times as we don�t always watch TV at the same times. I have noticed it tonight after 8pm. The firestick is streaming a TV show and it�s buffering every few minutes. I was watching a show before 8pm and it was OK. I�m going to check the download speed on my Mac when the show is finished but the iPad is saying 10mb download and 10mb upload?!

What�s a Cvan and svan?

How do I check line data or what my line technology is?

In reply to a post by Angelboy:

I haven�t had a proper look at times as we don�t always watch TV at the same times. I have noticed it tonight after 8pm. The firestick is streaming a TV show and it�s buffering every few minutes. I was watching a show before 8pm and it was OK. I�m going to check the download speed on my Mac when the show is finished but the iPad is saying 10mb download and 10mb upload?!

What�s a Cvan and svan?

How do I check line data or what my line technology is?

They are Service vlan and Customer vlan BTW uses both & presumably Zen will have something similar for their GEA on net customers, Not sure of the intricacies

You can check the technology your circuit is using by logining into the Zen portal https://myaccount.zen.co.uk/UserManagement/Account/S... Then click my services Under broadband & sdsl settings (bottom left of page) you will see LINE DATA, click on that and it will open another web page Product Services On that page just about the detail of sync rates there will be a line that says this and it will say WMBC or GEA and give a max download speed (IP profile) if on BT

Edited by tommy45 (Tue 31-Dec-19 16:25:10)

In reply to a post by bigbadpirate:

try the technical and post back please. looks like tangs employing people he shouldnt be. be nice to get another opinion. and a drug testing station on the way to orrrliiiy manchester police did you hear me? if you didnt someone else will.


just in case.

BANG TO RIGHTS TO.

from what i hear from ex employees.

lots of ex employees of any company are ex employees for a reason and some tend to bear a grudge against their ex employers and so tend to give a biased(in a bad way)opinion of them,like all things in life don't believe everything you hear or read and don't only/always believe the stuff that fits in with what you want it to fit in with,It can give you a very narrow minded opinion on things

In reply to a post by steve195527:

In reply to a post by bigbadpirate:

try the technical and post back please. looks like tangs employing people he shouldnt be. be nice to get another opinion. and a drug testing station on the way to orrrliiiy manchester police did you hear me? if you didnt someone else will.


just in case.

BANG TO RIGHTS TO.

from what i hear from ex employees.

lots of ex employees of any company are ex employees for a reason and some tend to bear a grudge against their ex employers and so tend to give a biased(in a bad way)opinion of them,like all things in life don't believe everything you hear or read and don't only/always believe the stuff that fits in with what you want it to fit in with,It can give you a very narrow minded opinion on things

Just my opinion but I recon hes lying trying to get a reaction attention seeking.

In reply to a post by MoM:

In reply to a post by steve195527:

In reply to a post by bigbadpirate:

try the technical and post back please. looks like tangs employing people he shouldnt be. be nice to get another opinion. and a drug testing station on the way to orrrliiiy manchester police did you hear me? if you didnt someone else will.


just in case.

BANG TO RIGHTS TO.

from what i hear from ex employees.

lots of ex employees of any company are ex employees for a reason and some tend to bear a grudge against their ex employers and so tend to give a biased(in a bad way)opinion of them,like all things in life don't believe everything you hear or read and don't only/always believe the stuff that fits in with what you want it to fit in with,It can give you a very narrow minded opinion on things

Just my opinion but I recon hes lying trying to get a reaction attention seeking.

I actually wonder if he was/is with zen and has complained about something that they cannot actually understand what he is talking about,half/most of his posts don't seem to make sense so maybe they have same problem and don't understand his complaint

In reply to a post by Angelboy:

I haven�t had a proper look at times as we don�t always watch TV at the same times. I have noticed it tonight after 8pm. The firestick is streaming a TV show and it�s buffering every few minutes. I was watching a show before 8pm and it was OK. I�m going to check the download speed on my Mac when the show is finished but the iPad is saying 10mb download and 10mb upload?!

What�s a Cvan and svan?

How do I check line data or what my line technology is?

Have you checked this problem happens with wired devices? This could easily be a WiFi issue completely unrelated to Zen.

I'm certainly experiencing no such issues.

Edited by alexatkin (Thu 02-Jan-20 02:26:30)

In reply to a post by alexatkin:

In reply to a post by Angelboy:

I haven�t had a proper look at times as we don�t always watch TV at the same times. I have noticed it tonight after 8pm. The firestick is streaming a TV show and it�s buffering every few minutes. I was watching a show before 8pm and it was OK. I�m going to check the download speed on my Mac when the show is finished but the iPad is saying 10mb download and 10mb upload?!

What�s a Cvan and svan?

How do I check line data or what my line technology is?

Have you checked this problem happens with wired devices? This could easily be a WiFi issue completely unrelated to Zen.

I'm certainly experiencing no such issues.

The line stats from my ZEN account details (it's BT Wholesale, BTW) show 45up and 20 down, pretty consistently. I was having issues again last night at around 8.00pm and I checked my Mac and that was OK but the iPad was down to 10mb.

I read somewhere that even the powerline adapters, that I'm assuming are as good as my ethernet cable direct into the router, aren't always that great. So this might be a problem with the Firesticks.

I'm really going to have to investigate further to see if it's some hardware/cabling issue because my other options is to change the ISP of buy a better TV streamer (say a Nvidia Shield) but just out of Christmas I don't want to be dropping £££ on gear that might not be the problem.

I've just done 3 speed test, all in the same room as the router, all using the Zen Broadband Speed Test.

Test 1 - iPad air 2 (latest OS but it's an older iPad now and showing signs of slowing down)
12.7mb down 1.9mb up

Test 2 - iMac (2015 model - fast machine!) - WIFI only
201mb down 10.4mb up

Test 3 - iMac ethernet direct into router
40.4mb down 14.5mb up

So 3 different speeds here.

I took out the powerline adapater ethernet cable from the kids PS4 a month ago as the bedroom Firestick cable was goosed so they've been streaming games via wifi (to the router the other side of the wall from the PS4) and no-one has complained to me about buffering or issues with the connection. So maybe it's a mixture of the powerline adapters, the weak wifi in the upstairs bedrooms and the Firesticks themselves.

Your Test 3 cabled result suggests that this isn't a problem with the Zen connection per se, although the upload is bit lower than I would have expected.

Looking at the Firesticks and Poaerline adaptors would seem to be the way to go.

In reply to a post by steve195527:

In reply to a post by bigbadpirate:

try the technical and post back please. looks like tangs employing people he shouldnt be. be nice to get another opinion. and a drug testing station on the way to orrrliiiy manchester police did you hear me? if you didnt someone else will.


just in case.

BANG TO RIGHTS TO.

from what i hear from ex employees.

lots of ex employees of any company are ex employees for a reason and some tend to bear a grudge against their ex employers and so tend to give a biased(in a bad way)opinion of them,like all things in life don't believe everything you hear or read and don't only/always believe the stuff that fits in with what you want it to fit in with,It can give you a very narrow minded opinion on things

absolute [censored] how do you think i know lisa wasnt a solicotor? you think i stalkerd her?

we know now exacly who she is. lisa this isnt about you.

In reply to a post by bigbadpirate:

In reply to a post by steve195527:

In reply to a post by bigbadpirate:

try the technical and post back please. looks like tangs employing people he shouldnt be. be nice to get another opinion. and a drug testing station on the way to orrrliiiy manchester police did you hear me? if you didnt someone else will.


just in case.

BANG TO RIGHTS TO.

from what i hear from ex employees.

lots of ex employees of any company are ex employees for a reason and some tend to bear a grudge against their ex employers and so tend to give a biased(in a bad way)opinion of them,like all things in life don't believe everything you hear or read and don't only/always believe the stuff that fits in with what you want it to fit in with,It can give you a very narrow minded opinion on things

absolute [censored] how do you think i know lisa wasnt a solicitor? you think i stalkerd her?

we know now exacly who she is. lisa this isnt about you.

In reply to a post by jaydub:

Your Test 3 cabled result suggests that this isn't a problem with the Zen connection per se, although the upload is bit lower than I would have expected.

Looking at the Firesticks and Poaerline adaptors would seem to be the way to go.

Just watched a movie from 6pm with no issues whatsoever. Now, after 8, using the same firestick, it�s buffering.

12.5 down 10 up on my iPad

Have you tried changing dns ? i did this and got better download speeds with netflix.

Edited by beefcakechipz (Thu 02-Jan-20 22:36:09)

In reply to a post by Angelboy:

In reply to a post by jaydub:

Your Test 3 cabled result suggests that this isn't a problem with the Zen connection per se, although the upload is bit lower than I would have expected.

Looking at the Firesticks and Poaerline adaptors would seem to be the way to go.

Just watched a movie from 6pm with no issues whatsoever. Now, after 8, using the same firestick, it�s buffering.

12.5 down 10 up on my iPad

Also bear in mind Powerline adapters can interfere with VDSL, so depending on if traffic is going across them at the time that could cause issues.

In reply to a post by beefcakechipz:

Have you tried changing dns ? i did this and got better download speeds with netflix.

No, I�ll have to look into it.

In reply to a post by alexatkin:

In reply to a post by Angelboy:

In reply to a post by jaydub:

Your Test 3 cabled result suggests that this isn't a problem with the Zen connection per se, although the upload is bit lower than I would have expected.

Looking at the Firesticks and Poaerline adaptors would seem to be the way to go.

Just watched a movie from 6pm with no issues whatsoever. Now, after 8, using the same firestick, it�s buffering.

12.5 down 10 up on my iPad

Also bear in mind Powerline adapters can interfere with VDSL, so depending on if traffic is going across them at the time that could cause issues.

I unplugged the Ethernet on the Humax box and the Firestick last night and it seemed to be working fine.

I unplugged the Ethernet from the bedroom firestick and watched a movie on the WiFi from 5.30-7.30 and it didn�t skip a beat.

I put a movie on at 8.15 and it�s buffering like crazy again. I�ve tried several different apps and I thought I�d got one working but 20 mins in and it�s stopping every 10 seconds.

Both iPad and iMac are showing the same download and uploads as always.

If the iMac plugged directly into the router via Ethernet is not showing any issues then what the [censored] is the problem!!!!

It�s driving me crazy!

There is definitely something going on - take a look here: http://tbb.lnx.co/id.php

Matches the exact time (8pm) you've mentioned.

I'm on IDNet via Zen backhaul.

EDIT: Just realised I'm replying a day late but issue still looks suspect.

Edited by deleted (Fri 03-Jan-20 22:14:48)

In reply to a post by mixt:

There is definitely something going on - take a look here: http://tbb.lnx.co/id.php

Matches the exact time (8pm) you've mentioned.

I'm on IDNet via Zen backhaul.

EDIT: Just realised I'm replying a day late but issue still looks suspect.

I called Zen technical this morning and they said there�s nothing wrong with the internet connection.

All they could suggest is what I�m already doing, which is slowly trying to add and subtract elements on the network.

I�ve still got a few things to try but it�s still driving me crazy.

In reply to a post by Angelboy:

In reply to a post by mixt:

There is definitely something going on - take a look here: http://tbb.lnx.co/id.php

Matches the exact time (8pm) you've mentioned.

I'm on IDNet via Zen backhaul.

EDIT: Just realised I'm replying a day late but issue still looks suspect.

I called Zen technical this morning and they said there�s nothing wrong with the internet connection.

All they could suggest is what I�m already doing, which is slowly trying to add and subtract elements on the network.

I�ve still got a few things to try but it�s still driving me crazy.

Hi,

Instead of adding & subtracting, why don't you just start from scratch and use just ONE device (preferably a device with a wired connection) connected to the internet. Then you can slowly ADD devices until you find which one is causing the issue. This is how I would sort your problem.

HTH,

In reply to a post by bigbadpirate:

In reply to a post by steve195527:

In reply to a post by bigbadpirate:

try the technical and post back please. looks like tangs employing people he shouldnt be. be nice to get another opinion. and a drug testing station on the way to orrrliiiy manchester police did you hear me? if you didnt someone else will.


just in case.

BANG TO RIGHTS TO.

from what i hear from ex employees.

lots of ex employees of any company are ex employees for a reason and some tend to bear a grudge against their ex employers and so tend to give a biased(in a bad way)opinion of them,like all things in life don't believe everything you hear or read and don't only/always believe the stuff that fits in with what you want it to fit in with,It can give you a very narrow minded opinion on things

absolute [censored] how do you think i know lisa wasnt a solicotor? you think i stalkerd her?

we know now exacly who she is. lisa this isnt about you.

mate there is a website,well a few really,where employees and ex employees are asked to rate the company the work or worked for,if you care to look a large percentage of ex employees tend rate their ex employer as poor/very bad:-just saying ex employees don't always give an uncoloured view of their ex employer,but no matter what I or anybody else writes here you seem to take the wrong way,I think the phrase I am looking for is "you're a paranoid [censored]"

In reply to a post by Angelboy:

I don�t want to be busting £100+ on a new router to find out that it�s not the issue

If you buy a new router from Amazon directly then its a risk free purchase d/t their hassle free 30 days returns policy. They even issue refunds on the same day you drop off returns at the Post Office (previously they only refunded you once they had received the goods at their warehouse).

I suggest trying something like the Billion 8900AX, TP Link VR2800 or VR900 to rule out router issues. There's been a few reports of Zen issued Fitzbox routers causing issues, a common one being weird latency graphs on TBB BQM.

In reply to a post by steve195527:

no matter what I or anybody else writes here you seem to take the wrong way,I think the phrase I am looking for is "you're a paranoid [censored]"

Lets not help fuel the flames between Mr Pirate and others with this type of reply as its only going to prolong things and overshadow the reason why most of us are on this forum.

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

In reply to a post by Angelboy:

I don�t want to be busting £100+ on a new router to find out that it�s not the issue

I suggest trying something like the Billion 8900AX, TP Link VR2800 or VR900 to rule out router issues. There's been a few reports of Zen issued Fitzbox routers causing issues, a common one being weird latency graphs on TBB BQM.

I have used a Zen Fritz!Box with Plusnet after switching contracts and there was no issue with continued trends in TBB BQM readings. Plusnet have produced BQM readings with significantly reduced peak latency in mid evening sessions when Internet traffic is high unlike Zen which went off the scale. I am convinced Zen have capacity issues and am very glad to have moved away for a better connection at £20/month less cost. The proof in the pudding is no more complaints from my gaming mad son about lag (aka latency) when back at home from Uni and his computer science/ networking course.

Zen the best ever here and never miss a beat.
https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/...

I've set up an account now and my first day looks like this...

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/...

That looks more like usage than a line problem

Minimum latency not super low like mine but not a problem, the rest looks like usage. Something like Glasswire should show where the usage is, but again not a problem as far as I can see.
Zen never misses a beat for me which is what I want, as I record and stream all my cctv cameras 24/7 for monitoring from anywhere. 400 miles away at the moment. https://ibb.co/yFLBH1G

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/...

Edited by professor973 (Thu 09-Jan-20 11:18:15)

This was Friday - there was no-one in the house from 10am till 2pm so what does this graph mean?

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/...


This graph covered last night. From 8pm-10.30pm I was trying to stream videos to the living room Firestick and every single app and link was buffering every 15 secs.

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/...

I'm thinking it's a Firestick thing rather than a Zen thing...?

Has your router got Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) enabled?

If so, try switching off the routers UPnP and restart the router, to see if it makes a difference.

Edited by mrmarktigger (Sun 12-Jan-20 11:09:09)

In reply to a post by mrmarktigger:

Has your router got Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) enabled?

If so, try switching off the routers UPnP and restart the router, to see if it makes a difference.

It's enabled at present. I'll add it to the list of things to try - thanks!

I had exactly the same sort of quality monitor graphs when with Zen. I have kept my Fritz!box 3490 and moved to Plusnet. The quality monitor now has none of the massive yellow ping spikes. It is not your router or firestick in my opinion. It is an issue with Zen. My graphs were identical to yours in the evening when streaming TV and this is the worst we get now:

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/...

Update - I had still been having issue up until last week when My Dad set up an Amazon household for his Prime account. Since the firesticks have played with no issues!

So it wasn�t a Zen issue or a line issue or anything wrong with my cabling or the WiFi or any it.........[censored] Amazon squeezing the service for non-prime members......or so it seems....