Fibre Optic advice & help needed

gino_76ph

Hi There!

I had to open a new thread as this is now an entirely different issue.

The BT guy came this more than a week ago and has set-up my new very fast TalkTalk fibre optic broadband. and my gawd it's really fast. faster than the one i was "promised" at 26MB. it is at a speed of 30MB so far.

now, my question is related to my previous thread. how can i make sure i get the maximum & stable speed on my FO? do i set the channel again to where it has the fewest or no users? do i need to change any DNS settings, etc.?

also i noticed an observation....

when 5pm comes the speed of my fibre optic significantly slows down. it has been like that since more than a week ago. and more obvious whenever i'm downloading a standard 480p movie (from a legal torrent site) the surfing on other websites (like news, wikipedia, basic tech sites, youtube, etc.) also significantly slows down.

i need an explanation for this please as i am now slowly getting frustrated.


Thanks.

Browntoa

5pm is when the kids get home from school and hit the downloading big time !

BT used to use throttling at peak times but not usre if they still do , if its throttilng then there is nothing you can do

Buzby

Fibre Optic? Are you really, really SURE? Unless you are in a trial area, you will have copper - the same as everyone else.

hippey

Talk talk fibre is FTTC. They haven't joined the FTTP trial yet.

gino_76ph

sorry i don't have kids. and what do you exactly mean by "throttling"?

I'm pretty sure it is fibre optic as i rung TT themselves and i was in my flat when they were installing it and of course i've checked the speeds.

but i noticed it is still very much unstable and still depends on the time, etc.

i think the actual physical line from my flat to the exchange (or BT cabinet where TT has "unbundled" the line) is copper but the speeds has increased from my previous 5MB to a more faster 28MB-32MB. so far.

but i'm just wondering why the variable and unstable speeds at "peak" times?

when will my actual fibre optic speeds optimise itself so i can get a faster internet?

penrhyn

Are you connecting wirelessly or via ethernet?

Can you log on to your router and check the sync speed.

Throttling occurs where the number of users exceeds the bandwidth available, speed is reduced to allow all subs to maintain a service.

hippey

You have Fibre to the Cabinet, the last few yards are copper. It's not an unbundled product, just a BT resold one.

Speed drops are just one of those things, the more people connected to your cabinet and then the capacity at the exchange coupled with the type of sites your visiting will all account for youR drop in speed. To give you an example my connection is a FTTP at 100/15 which most of the time will be around 80-94mb but that will be dependant on the sites I use, some are lightening fast other deathly slow!

TalkTalk

HI Gino,

At present Fibre Optic customers are managed via a dedicated team of specialist agents. If you check the details in your sign up literature this will confirm the relevant contact details for this team who can assist you on this issue.

Regards

Mark

Neil49

gino_76ph wrote: »

sorry i don't have kids. and what do you exactly mean by "throttling"?

I'm pretty sure it is fibre optic as i rung TT themselves and i was in my flat when they were installing it and of course i've checked the speeds.

but i noticed it is still very much unstable and still depends on the time, etc.

i think the actual physical line from my flat to the exchange (or BT cabinet where TT has "unbundled" the line) is copper but the speeds has increased from my previous 5MB to a more faster 28MB-32MB. so far.

but i'm just wondering why the variable and unstable speeds at "peak" times?

when will my actual fibre optic speeds optimise itself so i can get a faster internet?

The data feed from the exchange to your house is not dedicated to you. It may have changed but as far as I'm aware the contention ratio of users for home broadband is 50 to 1.

In other words, you share it with 49 other users and if they all have kids logging on at 5pm and downloading films, viewing U Tube etc then the total line capacity per user is going to be reduced.

System

As already mentioned in post #6, if your PCs are connecting via wireless, after 5 P.M. when all your neighbours get home and switch on their wireless PCs you may find that is what causes the slow down.

Best thing to do is connect one of your PCs to the router using an ethernet cable, check if the speed is more stable with that connection.

If the cable is OK, then change the wireless channel number that you are using on the router and each PC, trial and error until you find the best channel number to use.

gino_76ph

That's the trouble with broadband. its "trial and error" thing. the person i spoke to on the TT Tech Support said there is not a significant difference with the speed when connected wired.

but i thought fiber optic supposed to be stable even on peak hours? (i.e. from 5pm onwards)