Slow sync speed. Openreach engineers arrive via Hogwarts express.

[SnAkEs1210]

Hello Vodafone community!! This is my first ever post. I joined purely to try and get some answers to some rather odd coincidences that I have experienced over the years.

So, a few years back, I just moved into a new build house and was looking for my first ever broadband package. Having also just bought a 4k TV, I thought it might be a good idea to get a TV package as well. After a little research I had pretty much set my heart on BT broadband and TV package that included BT sports HD and 4K. Before I took the plunge, I asked a few colleagues at work what they thought of the service. I was told that BTs broadband is excellent under contract but expect to have problems once the contract ends. I took these comments with a pinch of salt, decided to go ahead and order a package from BT and I was happy that I did, at first... The broadband that I recieved, was, very good. Speedtests "indicated" I was consistently getting speeds of 68-72Mbs.

For two years solid, my experience with BT was literally flawless, I really could not have asked for a better service and praised them to everybody I spoke to. Unfortunately, the week my contract ended, I started to experience issues. My internet kept dropping out and seemed sluggish. A speedtest "indicated" that my speed was now 34Mbs, so basically running at half speed and I remembered what my colleagues had said about being with BT out of contract. Surely not, I thought. I rang BT and explained my issue but I was told that as I was out of contract the minimum download speed no longer exists and I would need to take out a new contract to get my speed back up.The sad thing is, that I was planning on doing this anyway as my bill was due to go up as a result of being out of contract but I just hadn't got round to doing it.

I stayed with BT, out of contract for about another month, speedtesting my broadband pretty much everyday, every result, mid to low 30s and couldn't help but wonder if something slightly unethical was going on here. Based on how I felt I was being treated I decided to cancel my TV and broadband package with BT despite having a fantastic 24 faultless months with them.

I decided to switch to Vodafone (so here I am), recieved my new router in the post, connected it up and waited for my service to be switched over. At this point I was expecting to recieve 34Mbs due to the fact that there had been a problem with the line that was never resolved but was confident that Vodafone would get this fixed as they were offering a minimum guaranteed speed of 55Mbs on my chosen plan. To my amazement the first ever speedtest "indicated" that I was getting 66Mbs download, so it would appear that the problem resolved itself without any intervention.

My service from Vodafone was perfect for a long time but then I started getting problems again. My little boys tablet kept reporting that the Internet connection was unstable, BBC I-player was pausing half way through episodes of TV shows, throwing up error codes stating no Internet connection etc. I contacted Vodafone, who advised me to download their app, on opening the app I noticed a tile that displayed sync speed and this was currently at 40Mbs. At about the same time i recieved a text message from Vodafone apologising for the my broadband speed and informing me that I will be receiving 15% off my next bill. I was then told by the Vodafone advisor to change my DNS and WiFi channels. I then left it like this to "settle" over the next couple of weeks. unfortunately this didn't help and I was further advised to plug my router into the test socket. The sync speed was the same on this socket but Vodafone were now monitoring the problem. Several more days passed and Vodafone informed me that the sync speed hadn't improved and stayed at 40Mbs continuously, I had recorded the same reading my end. I was then told a BT engineer would be coming to my house to fix the issue.

So the date comes around, BT engineer turns up as promised, I was at work so my Mrs let him in. He then proceeded to carry out some tests and came to the conclusion that there was no issue with the line (despite the low sync speed Vodafone and myself was getting). Impossible, I thought, but when I returned home for lunch I checked the sync speed on the Vodafone app and sure enough, my speed had returned. "Oh, he did fix it" I said to my Mrs. "No, he said there was no fault with the line and the router was the problem". Wow, I thought, scratching my head. From my understanding, sync speed is the speed from the cabinet outside to the router, not what the router is outputting (throughput). Speedtesting confirmed that the throughput speed had also increased perfectly inline with the sync speed. Vodafone confirmed that the BT engineer had reported that no fault was found and they said they would send me a new router as per the engineers recommendation.

Three or Four days passed and I noticed that the sync speed had fallen again, speedtests revealed that the throughput speed had unsurprisingly also decreased, so I now have 44Mbs sync, 37Mbs throughput, another text recieved, 15% off my bill. I waited for the new router to be delivered before I done anything else. I recieved it, plugged it in and unsurprisingly the speed was exactly the same. I spoke to Vodafone and it was back on the test socket again for a number of days. Same situation, no improvement, BT engineer booked for another appointment. This time i printed off dated screenshots of all the sync speeds and throughput speeds ready for the engineer to look at. Several more days had passed and the Openreach engineer was due round. This time, he actually phoned me to let me know when he was likely to be there. I explained that I was at work all day but my Mrs would let him in, I also said I had left him a print off with some notes for him to look at, he responded by saying "hmmm" in a very bemused manner, so i elaborated saying, "well I won't be able to speak to you when I'm at work and I thought you would want some sort of explanation of the issues I've been experiencing" he then said "yeah, okay, I'll take a look". He then arrived at my property my Mrs let him in and kept me updated via text. The engineer ran some tests and during this period my Mrs was also running a speedtest in the other room, amazingly the speed had already gone up again and I'm beginning to wonder if all Openreach engineers graduate from Hogwarts because everytime they enter my house, the speed goes up.

For three months the sync speed has been around 40Mbs, I have recorded it, Vodafone have recorded it and on the two days that an Openreach engineer has been at my property the speed has spiked without them doing anything at all. How is this possible? The engineer reported to my Mrs, the line is perfect, no fault found. She then showed him the print out, which he did look at, my Mrs explained that the sync speed was slow and that indicates that there is a problem that is external to the house. "No" the engineer said "It won't be that, the cabinet and wiring is new, can you show me the other sockets please" so my Mrs showed him the socket in the livingroom and the one upstairs. After examining these, he claimed that he found the problem, it was the wiring in our house (despite the fact that the house was built at the same time the cabinet and external wiring was installed, what with it being a new build, in a new estate) I would also like to point out that the router was newer than all of these things, yet it had been replaced previously. "yes, the wiring comes in from the outside to the master socket, then goes upstairs, before coming back downstairs and the socket in the livingroom, this is causing the livingroom to have a slower speed than the rest". This could almost be feasible if we hadn't of had the router plugged in at the master socket for days on end and recorded all the low speeds, in fact the print off was the master socket test results as metioned before. So now, nothing is making any sense, there was talk of putting a master socket into the livingroom which me and my Mrs declined as we knew it wouldn't make any difference. Anyway, apparently he changed the order of the sockets so now the line comes in from the outside to the master socket, across to the livigroom (somehow without actually adding any extra wires) and then upstairs to the bedroom. I still can't see how this would make any difference (a) I'm almost certain we wouldn't lose that amount of speed through the extra length of wire (b) the test socket was the same as the livingroom socket to start with and (c) we have already received speeds of 68-72Mbs previously with the sockets wired in the order they were installed in. Perhaps, they come alive at night, jump off the wall and then change position in the house all by themselves, I can imagine them dancing around like the little mops in the film fantasia.

To say I'm totally baffled by it all is an understatement, if anyone on here has had a similar experience or can explain what has actually gone on, I would be grateful to hear from you because currently I feel like an apple iPhone user thats just recieved an update thats slowed my handset down to the point where its unusable.

[Anonymous]

There is an awful lot to go into here.

I'll start by saying that with a new build house unless there is no way you can work with it this way you want a filtered faceplate on the master socket - one that filters the VDSL signal from all the other sockets.  If you are not using them it's even better if you can disconnect all but the master socket.

In new build houses don't just trust that the wiring is good, it may not be!  I'd also say to everyone else, if you've not had your wiring tested in the last 10 years then it's time to test it!  And OpenReach cabinets, even new ones can have difficult to diagnose issues.

The sync speed is set by negotiation between the cabinet and your router over a period of time.  If you've had the router plugged into an extension and then move it to the master socket, it could take several weeks before you see an improvement in the sync speed.  On new-build estates as more properties are added, you'll also usually see a drop off in sync speeds as extra lines are brought into use and the amount of crosstalk between lines, and other interference increases.

Finally, other electrics in the vicinity (even neighbouring houses and street lights) can also go wrong and start causing interference.

Unfortunately, I'm not offering any solutions.  It may be worthwhile keeping a diary of when issues start to occur so that you can see if there is any pattern!

[clint_flick]

Hi

Since using these forums I picked up a few tips, and cannot remember who to thank for this one....

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

My cabinet says  --  HIGH  is  80 and 20     LOW is    67 and 19 as per 27/05/2020

I think whichever ADSL I am on (A or B) my expectation is of a decent speed.

So when the engineer visits you he may also fiddle/tamper in the cabinet as well.

If your cabinet has impacted reports then...................

[SnAkEs1210]

 

[clint_flick]

Hi

Beyond me.   30+ devices?

I would definitely try and ensure that you use a split Wi-Fi putting the most needed onto a 5 Ghz channel,

any lower class stuff 2.4 Ghz.  Guest channel for really occasional use?

Set W10, I assume you have it, to only do updates 'out of hours' and to pull from your own network if there is more than a single W10 device to avoid a dozen devices all downloading the same update(s).

A router is just for moving packets from 1 network/device to another, and you may be slowing things down with the number of decisions the cpu has to make (like adding a Guest channel? DOH! ).

Some of above may help to utilise what you have more effectively.

None of the above excuses the LOW connection speed you display.

[SnAkEs1210]

My post didn't go up on here for some reason.

Anyway, I bet your eyes nearly came out of your head when you saw 30 odd devices ha ha. 

About 25 of them are smart bulbs or plugs and don't really do a great deal. I have split my WiFi bands and all of them are on the 2.4Ghz band as that is the only way they will connect to my network. 

Other than that, I have a TV and youview box connected via ethernet, and two phones and a tablet connected to the 5Ghz band. 

To be honest with you, the smart home stuff doesn't seem to impact my network that much, and even if they did, I would accept that as my problem for being a stupid smart home enthusiast lol.  The problem is the sync speed being low because no matter what I tinker with in my house, that will never go up as this is external to my house. I understand that the throughput speed is my responsibility and if I am slowing it down with loads of devices, its my own fault, but like I said, they don't seem to alter my throughput speed, they don't stream or download anything at the end of the day.

[clint_flick]

AND the SNR

https://www.increasebroadbandspeed.co.uk/SNR-tweak

[SnAkEs1210]

My screenshots won't upload on here for some reason. 

But yes, my speed should be 80Mbs download, 20Mbs upload. 

"We estimate your broadband service will deliver download speeds ranging between 60Mbps - 76Mbps.  Openreach confirms a minimum download speed of 54.7Mbps"

My speed has been as stated above but recently my sync speed has fallen to 40mbs. Upload speed has not been affected, its still at the maximum 20Mbs.

I put the router on the master socket, removing the faceplate and connected to the hidden socket slightly below. Vodafone monitored my speed over 72 hours and confirmed my speed was 40Mbs and didn't change.

I left the router on the test socket over the next couple of months. 

The first visit from Openreach confirmed there was no fault with the line or cabinet. Surprisingly, the sync speed went up to 67.5Mbs and despite him saying he had done nothing, he seemed to have fixed it.

Four days later, speed dropped back down to 40Mbs. Vodafone asked me to put the router back on the test socket but it was already there so they just went ahead and started the 72 hour test period again that provided the same results.

Another Openreach came to my property. Confirmed that there is no problem with the line or cabinet. I said "there must be as the sync speed is low". He replied, "no, there is no problem with either the cabinet or wiring coming from it as it is new", which I thought was an odd thing to say, but hey. To my amazement, the sync speed had gone back up again, during and after his visit, so it would seem that him being here, somehow ridiculously boosted my bandwidth. I might ask him to move in, ha ha.

Sync speed has gone down again today and I am keeping an eye on it. Over the last 3 months, my sync speed has been 40Mbs continuously, except for the days that the Openreach engineers were round, where the sync speed seems to spike. 

[clint_flick]

Hi

Line Quality

  Downstream Upstream

Current Rate	75360 kbps	19999 kbps
Maximum Rate	77741 kbps	22769 kbps
Signal-to-Noise Ratio	5.3 dB	7.3 dB
Attenuation	DS1 5.1 dB, DS2 11.9 dB, DS3 19.5 dB	US0 3.4 dB, US1 10.1 dB, US2 15.0 dB
Power	13.5 dBm	-6.2 dBm
CRC Errors in last 1310 minute(s)	0	231
K (number of bytes in DMT frame)	0	0
R (number of bytes in RS code word)	10	16
S (RS code word size in DMT frame)	0.1031	0.3781
D (interleaver depth)	8	1
Delay	0 ms	0 ms

  Downstream Upstream

Super Frames	0	19807566
Super Frame Errors	0	231
RS Words	3037984232	831550109
RS Correctable Errors	597	1071
RS Uncorrectable Errors	0	0

  Downstream Upstream

HEC Errors	0	0
OCD Errors	0	0
LCD Errors	0	0
Total Cells	2802649795	0
Data Cells	11508621	0
Bit Errors	0	0

  Downstream Upstream

Total ES	0	206
Total SES	0	0
Total UAS	32	32

 PING ms  19      DOWNLOAD Mbps 22.81    UPLOAD Mbps 17.93

A big difference in actual speed from the modem/router numbers. 

192.168.1.1   STATUS AND SUPPORT       DSL STATUS

It may not contradict OpenReach/VodaFone in your case,

but it may very well not support their 'contention'  ARF ARF.