Vodafone Throttling Netflix???

[rodhull]

Very much looking forward to having this problem sorted out.

From the moment I first had my Unlimited Fibre 76 installed in June 2018 (and up until some time in November 2018) I could always access UHD streams on Netflix.

My line has always only been capable of syncing at ~40-45Mbps downstream which whilst low for the up to 76Mbps product, supports Netflix UHD absolutely fine (their highest quality UHD streams are ~15Mbps).

Since some time in November something at Vodafone changed and speed-tests in the Netflix app or via fast.com now never get above 5Mbps meaning I can only just get the 1080p streams, and never UHD any longer. This is now the constant norm since November. Around the same time I experienced line instability that has now settled and other traffic is actually unaffected (mostly) - other high-bandwidth services work perfectly - alternative streaming services like Amazon Prime are fine (UHD streams included), as are large multi-GB downloads via HTTP/SFTP etc. which frequently max out my line.

Netflix is the only consistently poorly performing traffic type and it directly correlates to something changing in November 2018.

I have raised a complaint only to be met with the usual useless scripted spiel from support - having me connect my line to a test socket etc. despite only Netflix really being affected is ludicrous. I just gave up complaining and since having seen this topic am hoping it is genuine and a fix is really on the way...

[mbames]

The guy who was posting about a fix has gone rather quiet recently..... so I wouldn't hold out much hope for a quick fix.

Get into the Directors Office and raise a formal complaint.  Also contact ofcom.  If they don't play ball, ask for a deadlock letter and then they will probably release you early from your contract.

[s43522]

Same problem here, Netflix and youtube etc used to work fine but the last 2 months all video services are very slow., lots of buffering.

speedtest.net gives me results as expected for my line (19Mbps), whereas fast.com give me a maximum of 5Mbps.

Is there any solution other than moving provider, as there is obviously nothing wrong with the physical line?

[gipjon]

Seem to be a new news paper story on this topic 

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2019/03/isp-vodafone-uk-responds-to-gripes-over-slow-video-str...

[Phil]

After successful tests with a number of live users last week, we’re now commencing national roll out of the fix to each of our nodes over the coming weeks - The first is planned for Wednesday evening.

Vodafone are committed to resolving the performance issues some users are experiencing as soon as possible and we’re sorry for any inconvenience caused.

[rodhull]

Can we have more of an update of the state of this supposed "fix"? Nothing has changed for me near Ipswich, Suffolk. fast.com speeds are still <4Mbps on my line which is syncing at 35Mbps.

[Phil]

The change to improve performance on some of our network nodes was applied to the first node last night. Initial feedback has been positive and we'll continue to monitor the change over the coming days.

The next node is planned for late Sunday Night and changes to other nodes will be rolled out over the following 2 weeks.

Vodafone apologises for the inconvenience caused.

[rodhull]

Any chance of telling us what specific areas each of the nodes service (if it is geographically-based) so we can expect to know when our own connections might be fixed?

[gipjon]

Good News

hey guys/girls I have got an update .I have been on the phone today with a technical specialist who i gave a real hard drilling big time and to be really fair the advisor acted very professional.

It would seem that the uk tech 2 advisors do know about these speed issues and also the fix , Now the odd thing is i got the impression that they don't seem to be aloud to talk about the issue or fix for whatever reason , which would explain why phil is also not saying a lot ,

The good news, phil may not be saying a lot but what he is saying does appear to be the truth

The fix does appear to be genuine for the issue of streaming on netflix and twitch etc. i got the impression that sundays update is a big update and will happen overnight so you wont feel the effect until Monday , a couple more updates are planned over the next few weeks .

the other good bit of news is that vodafone now know exactly where issues are without the need of speed tests etc .which also means that they know how to fix them ,

[FrancisOD]

Hi, suffering from the same issue - even bumped up to the superfast2 connection thinking superfast1 wasn't good enough. Line sync speed >60Mbps but fast.com 6Mbps on average... Post code sk11 - can you let me know when I should expect a fix? 

[KeithAlger]

They do genuinely seem to be rolling out the fix!

So the figure below is from my own 53Mbps connection (700m from cabinet), conducted over WiFi, with other devices online too (so pretty much the opposite of how you should conduct a speed test):

Worth noting, others had been seeing slow downs for several weeks before it became an issue here, so the problem appeared to propagate.  I guess the solution will have to propagate too!

[FrancisOD]

Looks like it worked! Getting 60Mbps on fast.com now too! 

[gipjon]

With ref to node fix on sunday overnight 10/03/2019/11/03/2019

FULL SPEED THIS MORNING FOR ME ON BOTH SINGLE AND MULTI DOWLOAD SPEED TEST

main exchange is derby    80/20 connectsion       sync 31mb down  7.6 up                           single / multi

 time                                                                           10am       3pm        4:45        6 pm      7pm       8pm        9pm                                                                                                                         

http://fast.com                                                          31             31            6           29          31           30           31

http://labs2.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/       31/31      31/31      8/16    31/31     29/31     29/31    29/31

http://www.supportal-test.co.uk/                            31/         31/            4/         31/        31            30           30

 https://www.speedtest.net                10am       3pm        6pm       7pm    8pm         9am

cwcs nottingham                                    10/31      ------      27/30                                   24/30

exascale manchester                              22/31     ------       ------       19/31  ------          23/31

bracknell                                                 31/31     31/31     4./31    ------    31/31         31/31

ask4 sheffield                                         31/31     31/31     31/31   ------    31/31         30/31

bt preston                                               31/31     31/31     4./6.4   ------     30/30         31/31

aql leeds                                                 31/31     31/31    31/31   -------     30/31         31/31

international Speedtest servers on  http://www.speedtest.net

cloudwatt paris                                      31/31     31/31     31/31   -----      29/30          30/31

egypt cairo telecom                              31/31     31/31     29/30   -----      28/29           30/31

at&t new york                                        20/31     18/31     -------     ------     25/31          24/31

                                                             single first / multi second

4:50 till 5pm drop in speed across all tests . single speed at only half speed or less 

5pm back to full speed across all tests 

5:10 onward keeps bouncing from full speed to about half or less in step of about 5min 

6:15 onward back to full speed 

[rodhull]

Still only getting 3Mbps (on a 35Mbps line) to fast.com in Suffolk...

Last night's works have obviously not had any effect on my line.

When is the next node due?

[Phil]

We're seeing a lot of positive user performance results from the 2 nodes that have been upgraded so far. The next one is planned for later this evening.  There are further one's planned for Thursday and Sunday night, with the final one being on the night of 19 March. 

It definitely looks like the upgrades are resolving the issue, so thanks for your patience whilst we looked into it!

[gipjon]

Fix is not100% working  it has issues 

because i had a issue yesterday with speed drop between 5pm til 6pm i ran the tests again and the issue to day is worse than yesterday 

date 12/3/2019

 time                                                                4pm   5pm 5:30 5:40 5:45  5:55 6pm 6.25 6:30 6.40 6:45 6:50 7 7:10                                                                                   

http://fast.com                                                    31   7.3    12    31   3.7  31mb  30  5.5   31     0      0     31  16  31

http://labs2.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/  31   8       10    30    0   31mb   31  13   31     2.7  2.3   31  24  31

 http://www.supportal-test.co.uk/                     31   4        9     31    3    31mb  31  2.7   31     0       2   31  22   31

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With ref to node fix on sunday overnight 10/03/2019/11/03/2019

FULL SPEED THIS MORNING FOR ME ON BOTH SINGLE AND MULTI DOWLOAD SPEED TEST

main exchange is derby    80/20 connectsion       sync 31mb down  7.6 up                           single / multi

 time                                                                           10am       3pm        4:45        6 pm      7pm       8pm        9pm                                                                                                                         

http://fast.com                                                          31             31            6           29          31           30           31

http://labs2.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/       31/31      31/31      8/16    31/31     29/31     29/31    29/31

http://www.supportal-test.co.uk/                            31/         31/            4/         31/        31            30           30

4:50 till 5pm drop in speed across all tests . single speed at only half speed or less 

5pm back to full speed across all tests 

5:10 onward keeps bouncing from full speed to about half or less in step of about 5min 

6:15 onward back to full speed 

[rodhull]

Glad some folks are getting this fix - still the same old ~3Mbps on fast.com for me - I fully expect I will be on the final node to be updated the way this is going!

It would be really helpful for a little more explanation of which areas/exchanges are serviced by each "node"...

[tialynn]

Last week fix seemed to have sorted it

last night's fix wrecked it

Fast.net 5.5Mbps

speed test . net 6.Mbps

think Broadband 17.8 Mbps bursting to 19.9 Mbps

I am on a 80/20

Fix one area break another that what it seems like

Why Can't one network engineer post on these forums and explain what is going on when it getting fixed not vague answers from administrator who just seem to pass messages on.

Can't believe a company the size of vodafone can't sort it out within 24 hours the whole network, not a mode here one in a few days one next week and so on.

[KeithAlger]

In this type of situation all we can hope for is that the problem(s) get acknowledged, identified and solved.  Beyond the rather vague statements that we get, the underlying fixes are probably commercially sensitive.

*I still believe that VF really owes it's customers some compensation over this!

[gipjon]

i totaly agree with you keith 

when o2 internet went down for a day 02 compensated everyone who had the issue (which was every one ) no question ask it was done automatic