Please describe in more detail what you are doing. You say SH2 connected with cable to the ONT seems okay. Which router are you then using?
Hi Steve. Yes seems ok when the SH2 is connected with cable to the ONT. I am then using that same router (SH2) when testing via Cat7 cable (from ONT to SH2) which is how the home is setup, which then drops download speed over 90% from what the new package should be offering and is still at the old package speed. Strangely the upload speed DID increase to almost the new package amount (increased from 20mb - 86mb, but should be 110mb), but download speed has not changed. The only difference is the Cat7 cable connectivity when testing which from what I understand shouldn't be causing any issues. So could it perhaps be the BT SH2 causing the problem somewhere? They have sent out 2 new routers and they all have the same problem.
where did you buy your 'cat7' cable. Connecting the SH2 to the ONT is done via ethernet anyway so if the original cable is OK but the Cat7 cable is not then you are likely to have a dodgy china sourced **bleep** cable...
Since the only different factor is the Cat 7 cable - the issue must reside there. Either with the cable or the SH2's interface with it.
My advice - if things work with without using the Cat 7, then don't use the Cat 7 cable.
Is there a particular reason you wish to use it?
The house has Cat7 cables running through the walls when our smart home was installed from a reputable IT business, however, would certainly be sensible to rule out an issue with the particular Cat7 cable involved. How would you suggest I test the cable without the bt SH2 being involved? E.g. can I try plugging the ethernet cable directly into a laptop, bypassing the router all together?
You cannot bypass the router. The ONT is simply a modem. Cat 7 is backward compatible with Cat 6 and 5e, all of which supports gigabit speeds. Connect the router back to the ONT using its original cable. Without the SH2 you wont get any IP address assignment or DNS...
The cat7 cable connects the ONT which is in the loft (roof of house) to the utility room on the ground floor where the router is then connected, and then the smart home is connected via cable to the router. We chose to run the data through a cat7 cable to preserve speeds as much as possible as the cable runs from the top to the bottom of the house.
Yes you can.
But to be honest, if things work well without using the Cat 7 between the ONT and the SH2 I would just stick with whatever works.
I don't think Cat7 is used very much although I may be wrong on this. It has extra additional connection points in the plug.
So you have ONT - cat 7 - Router - cat 7 - SH2.
What is the purpose of the router?