Broadband slower than neighbours'?

RoseNarene

400ixl said:

la531983 said:

RoseNarene said:

la531983 said:

They may be no space in your "cabinet" for a faster product, simply a case your neighbours got in there first before you did. 

But what did they "get in there" and do first, exactly? This is what I don't understand. If they have something different to me - what is it? As I said, we are all FTTC. 

Not sure but my dad had issues getting faster broadband and was told there was no space in the cabinet for the faster product he wanted as they were all taken up. 

That would be moving from ADSL to FTTC or FTTC to FTTP of which neither are the case here.

Where is the router plugged into? Is it the socket that comes into the house or an extension socket somewhere else?

Is there an ADSL filter (and plugged into the AADSL side) between the socket it is plugged into and the router itself?

Are there any other phones plugged in and are they also plugged into filters (should be on the other connector on the filter)

If you log into your router, what does it say the Sync speeds (down / up) are?
Also what does the router say the Noise Margin, Line Attenuation & Signal Attenuation are?

You say that your PC is plugged into the router via a wired cable? How long is the cable?

The router is plugged into an ADSL filter which is then plugged into the wall. It's the only phone socket in the whole house. No extensions.

The only phone I have is plugged into the ADSL filter.

I have the Vodafone app and it says I'm getting 19.7mbps sync speed, with uploads of 2.9. But an internet speed test says I'm getting downloads of 16.9. 

The cable is about 2 metres. I decided to use it to see if the internet would be any faster through that than using the WiFi, which it is, but not by a lot.

I think the other info you asked for is here?

RoseNarene

prowla said:

2.5 millibits per second is going to be really slow!

That's the upload speed, not download speed.

JSmithy45AD

RoseNarene said:

400ixl said:

la531983 said:

RoseNarene said:

la531983 said:

They may be no space in your "cabinet" for a faster product, simply a case your neighbours got in there first before you did. 

But what did they "get in there" and do first, exactly? This is what I don't understand. If they have something different to me - what is it? As I said, we are all FTTC. 

Not sure but my dad had issues getting faster broadband and was told there was no space in the cabinet for the faster product he wanted as they were all taken up. 

That would be moving from ADSL to FTTC or FTTC to FTTP of which neither are the case here.

Where is the router plugged into? Is it the socket that comes into the house or an extension socket somewhere else?

Is there an ADSL filter (and plugged into the AADSL side) between the socket it is plugged into and the router itself?

Are there any other phones plugged in and are they also plugged into filters (should be on the other connector on the filter)

If you log into your router, what does it say the Sync speeds (down / up) are?
Also what does the router say the Noise Margin, Line Attenuation & Signal Attenuation are?

You say that your PC is plugged into the router via a wired cable? How long is the cable?

The router is plugged into an ADSL filter which is then plugged into the wall. It's the only phone socket in the whole house. No extensions.

The only phone I have is plugged into the ADSL filter.

I have the Vodafone app and it says I'm getting 19.7mbps sync speed, with uploads of 2.9. But an internet speed test says I'm getting downloads of 16.9. 

The cable is about 2 metres. I decided to use it to see if the internet would be any faster through that than using the WiFi, which it is, but not by a lot.

I think the other info you asked for is here?

The synch speed is to the router, there are always losses due to overheads.

Ayr_Rage

The filter I was referring to is the one you are using.

The line quality stats from the router look normal, the noise margins are where they should be and you are synced to the cabinet equipment at the maximum speed your router is reporting as possible.

Tested speeds at your computer will always be lower than the sync speed (line rate) so your 16.9 is in the right ballpark.

On FTTC, if there are no faults, then the physical length and quality of your phone line back to the cabinet is the main factor in speeds.

RoseNarene

Ayr_Rage said:

The filter I was referring to is the one you are using.

The line quality stats from the router look normal, the noise margins are where they should be and you are synced to the cabinet equipment at the maximum speed your router is reporting as possible.

Tested speeds at your computer will always be lower than the sync speed (line rate) so your 16.9 is in the right ballpark.

On FTTC, if there are no faults, then the physical length and quality of your phone line back to the cabinet is the main factor in speeds.

My next door neighbour's house is literally joined to mine; they're only small houses, little 3 bed terraces. The difference in length back to the cabinet is only mere metres, surely? Would that really make their internet almost twice as fast as mine? 

iniltous

Your service has real data , the observed speed 25th July was 21.5Mb down , 2.9Mb up , any predictions will be based on this actual information.
Your line ‘should’ be capable of 20-35Mb download and 5- 7.4Mb upload , so your download although at the bottom end is just within the acceptable limit , providers don’t consider upload speeds.

The chances are , especially if your speed , although technically within spec , is worse than your immediate neighbours, and you have the same length cable  ‘route’ back to the fibre cabinet, suggests you have a ‘line’ fault , that could be on your own internal setup ( especially if you have extension sockets , even if there is nothing plugged into them )  , or it could be in the external network , if it’s external Openreach are responsible for fixing that.

By connecting the router into the NTE ( master socket ) test port , eliminates any internal wiring issues , if the speed increases while in the test port , it means your issue is ‘internal’ and not your ISP or Openreach responsibility, if the speed is the same in the test port , it gives the ‘internal’ wiring a clean bill of health, plenty of video on YouTube etc , if you are unfamiliar with how to get to and use the test port on the NTE5 master socket, simply search BT NTE5 test socket , or something similar.

Assuming the speed is the same in the test port ,so indicates potentially an external fault, you could have a problem getting Vodafone accepting a fault report for ‘low speed’  and getting Openreach to attend ( because technically your download speed is just about acceptable ) but you can always insist on a Openreach visit , even if they threaten you with charges if OR find no faults .

If you do have an underlying fault and get it fixed , your observed speed will increase to something similar to your presumably fault free neighbours  and then the guaranteed speeds ISP’s  will offer will also increase as a consequence , at the moment if you line is giving 21Mb , no ISP , if they have any sense is going to guarantee any more that that .

You probably have a fault on your line and need Vodafone to get it looked at and repaired, unfortunately that may be easier said than done ,

RoseNarene

@iniltous and @Ayr_Rage

The socket in my lounge appears to be a single 2/3a extension socket according to this site: https://www.kcom.com/home/help/phone/how-do-i-test-my-broadband-or-phone-in-the-nte-test-socket/

I’ll be honest, I didn’t even realise there was another socket, but I’ve found it in the hallway - according to the same site, it’s a blank NTE5b socket. The site says that if I take the front off to do the test, I won’t be able to plug into the front of the socket afterwards. Does that matter?

In any case, I plugged the router into this “new” socket and the speeds have increased by about .5 of a mb, which I would imagine is to be expected. I’m happy to keep my router in this new location, though it will mean that plugging the PC in by Ethernet will be more difficult as I’ll have to stretch a longer cable round. I’m guessing it won’t really be worth it.

should I go ahead and complete the test?

RoseNarene

Just as a side note, I tested the speed with and without an Ethernet cable and there was zero difference. 

RoseNarene

I decided to do the test anyway!

the download speed went all the way up to 33 but didn’t stay there; it settled to give a result of 22.1.

the upload speed, which I’m more concerned with, DOUBLED.

this is through the test socket.

what does this mean? What do I do now to ensure these speeds attained by the test socket transfer to my PCs for every day use?

Ayr_Rage

@RoseNarene that suggests that there is an issue with your home wiring somewhere, removing the cover and using the test socket means you connect directly to the incoming line so the sync speed has obviously increased significantly.

I also found my extension socket to be very bad for internet although the phone was fine.

If your PC has WiFi try connecting via that rather than ethernet, depending on the distance to the router you may get a nice surprise.