Speed tests ok, but internet is awful.

[paulw93]

Hi all, I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction with this.

As the title says, we're getting very good speeds (300+mbps) when performing speed tests, but for some reason the internet is extremely slow. Any online streaming service is constantly stopping and starting, when streaming football for every minute of clear picture the next five are unwatchable fuzz.

We have FTTP 550mbps package. I have tried all of the self help on the troubleshooting section of the website, but nothing has made a difference. The only thing that has made a difference is installing a different router, I installed a Tenda mesh system replacing the BT Homehub 2, this is getting around 150mbps on a speed test, but we can actually use the internet and stream now.

If I've missed anything then please do let me know, any advice is greatly appreciated! 

Thanks, Paul.

[Gary_C]

My first thoughts are, its a wifi issue with the smart hub.

How are you testing the speed ? It would be useful if you could hardwire a PC into the hub and run Fast.com speed test.

Would it be possible to hardwire your streaming device to the hub and see if thats an improvement ? and how is the device normally connecting, 5ghz or 2.4ghz, what sort of distance/walls between the hub and the device.

The Tenda device might be working better as being a mesh its probably improved the WiFi range, but also being a mesh its speeds are probably half what its 'says on the tin' as it has to both receive and send the data over the same channel (unless its got a separate backhaul radio channel).

What model is the Tenda mesh ?

[paulw93]

Hi Gary, thanks for replying.

Yes, that is also what I'm thinking.

I've tested the speed in a couple of ways, when the smart hub was still connected I used both the speed check on the app and on the BT website. When the smart hub was removed from the equation I used broadband speed checker and speedtest dot net.

When the issue first started I did try a wired connection to the smart hub with my laptop, this gave me a 450+mbps speed and streaming was perfect. I will put it all back today and do the speed test.  

My laptop and smart tv (devices used for streaming) are both connected to the 5ghz channel. Normally I'd be using the devices in the same room as the smart hub (<3M away, no wall) or the kitchen (<5M away, one wall), but this problem is anywhere in the house.

The Tenda is an MW6 model. The box does say the speed is rated a lot higher than the results of the speed check, but reading the online reviews before I bought it I was expecting that.

It's a strange issue, it has worked perfectly for over a year, we haven't introduced anything new into the home that could interfere either.

Just to add in case it's any help at all, video calling is impossible over wifi, you get two seconds then freeze for five seconds before it recovers, my voice was described as sounding "like a robot" but if I enter the same call on my mobile through mobile data it is fine.

Thanks, Paul.

[Gary_C]

wifi issues can be difficult to resolve and it might be due to congestion on the wifi, or something none wifi causing interference.

Search for and download a wifi analyser app onto your phone that will graphically show the use of all the wifi channels then choose one manually that isn't being used (if there are any). This might give you a better connection.

Wifi also plays better in a congested spectrum if they share the cardinal channels rather than partially overlapping. For example in 2.4ghz its recommended to use only channels 1,6 & 11. if a device is on channel 6 and another is on 7 you would think they dont conflict but because ch 6 uses all the spectrum from ch 4 to 8 then channel 7 is affected and can corrupt, however if they both are on ch 6 they can see each other and share the spectrum better.

You could try forcing a connection at 2.4ghz as that might travel better and give better speeds.

Hardwiring anything that can be hardwired also helps as it reduces the congestion in your own home.