Samknows Whitebox - broadband monitoring

priorslee

Samknows Whitebox

Has anyone on here got one of these? Or looked into them and decided not to get one?

It seems to be a box which monitors broadband performance (a) for the user and (b) for reporting back to Ofcom/ISPs.

I've had a short search and didn't find much/recent comment on them in relation to the UK market. The few comments I did find were mixed - some saying the data provided is useful; others concerned about the volume it data they boxes use.

Interested to hear of any expeience of them

Ian011

Sits on a shelf near the router, get an emailed report once per month. Nothing much more to say really.

Buzby

Applied, then heard nothing.

almillar

I've got one, you plug it in and forget about it. It uses power obviously (about the same as a router), and you get that monthly email. It'll help with stats for Samknows. If your data is unlimited, why would you worry about it? It's hardly going to get in the way of streaming video or anything.

[Deleted User]

Just applied for one, not sure how long I'll have to wait for one?

S0litaire

I've been using a SamKnows white box user for nearly 8 years.

Sits next to my router and it's just forgotten about


If I remember correctly it can take 4 to 8 weeks to hear if you're getting a box.

Also it can depend on if their are any OFCOM / EU wide Broadband studies happening, they tend to add more people quickly when these come up. Most of these studies are not publicly announced.

priorslee

Thanks for the comments.

I applied for one 2 weeks ago and received it a couple of days ago. Plugged in and I can see how it will be easy to forget about it!
It looks like it does 1 or 2 sample tests an hour and reports:
Download speed
Upload speed
Latency
Packet loss
Jitter down
Jitter up

The first two I can understand and can see that they might highlight problems with the broadband service. The rest I have a vague idea about, but not sure how useful they'll be to me.

Edit: the above are the default data displays - I've since found out that there a host of other stats which can be displayed.

kwikbreaks

I had one and the reports were handy. It did chew a fair bit of data but that is probably only relevant if your normal usage can be reasonably low and you are looking for a good retention deal - I'm pretty much convinced that a high usage means they won't be overly fussed if you move on.

The reason I sent it back in the end was because on two occasions right on a reporting interval my entire internal network hung (visible on TBB monitor graph) until I power cycled (I did the white box router and VDSL modem together as they were all on the one power extension). This wouldn't have been a big deal if it weren't for me spending long periods away in the summer and the network hang meant I couldn't check my CCTV plus stuff that should have been uploaded to a website wasn't. SamKnows showed no interest in investigating the problem so I sent the white box back. There have been no internal network hangs since.

fortonsteve

I hope you got one. I was recommended by ofcom.
Treat is like a free insurance policy for proof of loss of service.
It sits quietly until you need it, then you gave all the graphs to prove your loss of service.
Unfortunately the bradband suppliers call centers are not telecommunication engineers, just Complain handlers & do not understand them. But if you patiently wait your 8 weeks as i have the Commmunications Ombudsman will!
Steve