Very volatile broadband speeds with two different providers

getmishaout

Hello all,

I tried searching the forum to see if someone has had a similar experience but I can't find anything relevant.

We purchased our flat a year and half ago and moved in with our existing TalkTalk contract. We had issues with speed from the start - one second all was well and running fast (~9 Mbps) and then suddenly drop to below 1 Mbps, lasting anywhere from a few minutes to over an hour. There was no pattern, though we especially noticed it in the evenings and during weekends (the times we are actually home).

When we complained to TalkTalk, they did tests and always found the speed perfectly fine and suggested we need to upgrade to Fibre to solve the issue. After several rounds of complaints from us, they sent out a BT engineer who tested the line and said there were no issues, that it must be in the router. We got a new router, nothing changed, but luckily we were just at the end of the contract so we decided to switch.

We are now with PlusNet. The speed issues have been more and more noticeable. Each day now, there is at least one occurrence when the speed dips for so long we just use the data on our phones rather than try to load anything on the wifi. Our guaranteed minimum speed is 2.5 Mbps (which seems low already for living in the centre of a large city) but whenever I test the speed during these dips, it is below 1 Mbps.

We have a BT engineer coming next Friday to check the line again. I can't even think of what the issue might be, as there is no pattern apart from it happening at peak times. It doesn't correspond with bad weather either (our TV aerial doesn't work well when it's damp outside and is corroded so we would notice if the internet issues happen at the same time).

Plusnet have done tests on their end and can't find anything, and are sending an engineer, saying that the issue might be within our property (= we pay for the call-out and any additional charges).

There are only two of us, we mostly use the wifi for watching Netflix together, so we never even have more than one device streaming videos.

Has anyone ever encountered anything similar? Could it be something unexpected like mice biting through wiring or it being corroded? What other avenues can we explore if we are told all is well again? Since switching from TalkTalk to Plusnet didn't help, would switching again be just a futile exercise?

Thank you all!

renegadefm

Yes our problem was in the end a filter problem. The filter that plugs in the teplephone socket before the cable for your router.

renegadefm

Switching providers you could do all year, it wont make a difference unless it was in the exchange, sometimes changing providers cures that as they use a different port. But in your case it sounds like the filter.

onomatopoeia99

getmishaout wrote: »

Since switching from TalkTalk to Plusnet didn't help, would switching again be just a futile exercise?

If you switched to a decent ISP and not to one that competes on price or offers deals, then perhaps it would help, but there isn't enough information to be certain.

Firstly, watch Netflix using a cable from the router to the TV (or whatever device you use for streaming), not wifi, and not homeplugs either, I mean a proper cat5e or cat6 network cable. Yes cables can be "unsightly", but the wifi is a possible failure point so should be eliminated. Homeplugs introduce their own problems and should be avoided as well.

Then, if you still have problems, during a slowdown do a ping test to check if there is packet loss. I suspect this is the most likely, based on my parents who are TalkTalk ADSL customers and use them because they are cheap. They get the evening / weekend slowdown and if you look at the packets often over half of them are getting dropped on the floor.

[Deleted User]

There was no pattern, though we especially noticed it in the evenings and during weekends (the times we are actually home).

I can't even think of what the issue might be, as there is no pattern apart from it happening at peak times.

So there is a pattern...

Our guaranteed minimum speed is 2.5 Mbps (which seems low already for living in the centre of a large city)

And that is most likely your problem. Too many people on the same infrastructure can cause congestion when everybody is using it at the same time.

If the BT engineer entered your property to test then he would have taken the faceplate off and tested at the master socket test point. This will bypass all of your internal wiring, including the router and most especially the WiFi. That's the only way to test the signal back to the exchange. When you changed suppliers did you change or add and filters that came with the router?

Use the address checker at http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/ADSLChecker.address , that will give you an idea of what speeds you'll get over ADSL or fibre.

JJ_Egan

Pattern all over the internet = wifi not ISP .