Slow FTTP Upload - Contention or BRAS Profile Problem??

[GMcD79]

Hi folks,

I've been monitoring my Fibre 900 connection overnight, through the use of an automatic speedtest script installed on my ASUS router, to determine if there is a problem with my connection due to slow upload speeds.  It was initially suggested it may just be a contention problem, however if that was really the case wouldn't the results vary depedning on time of day etc?

I am connecting to the ONT via the BT Hub 2 and have the ASUS router connected to the DMZ of the hub, purely to ensure I don't "use a third party router" to connect to the BT Service.  Thus, also allowing BT to monitor my service.

As you will see, the upload never exceeds 65mb, no matter what time the Speedtest is run.  The only good thing is that it's consistent, but far from the theoretical maximum of 110mb advertised with the package.

I'm trying to be pragmatic in my approach in dealing with BT CS about this, but I'm getting nowhere. 

Can anyone recommend an alternative course of action as this is drving me nuts. 😃

Could my line be stuck on the old Fibre 500 Upload profile?

Thanks

[iniltous]

FTTP isn’t rate adaptive so there isn’t any dynamic line profile setting in that sense , you are given a ‘rate’ , it isn’t one that’s adjusted ‘on  the fly’ as line conditions change , FTTP ‘line conditions’  don’t change , it works or it doesn’t .

I would suggest your testing methodology is both good and bad , good in that your periodic overnight testing pretty much ‘proves’ it’s just not a congestion issue , but your somewhat convoluted third party router plugged into the BT router to dismiss any potential third party router errors by  having the SH2 connected to the ONT issues doesn’t really hold true .

Have you run the BT speed test directly with just the SH2 connected ?  , have you connected a device ( laptop/ PC etc ) directly to the ONT , set up a PPPoE session and run a speed test directly ( so both your BT hub and third party router are not involved ) ? ,

Thats not to say your issue isn't ‘real’  and either your  ISP or Openreach need to act , it’s possible that your individual profile has been mis configured, although it’s never been obvious if setting a 900Mb ‘profile’ automatically selects the appropriate upload setting or both the download and upload are individually selected so an incorrect upload setting could be made even though the download is correct , an issue I would have is if it were simply a mis configuration , the 65Mb upload you ‘see’ doesn’t really align with being incorrectly allocated the wrong upload profile , 65Mb too high for the 50Mb upload and too low for a 75Mb upload profile ( the ones you conceivably could  have been given in error if the upload can be set independently from the download ) 

If you observe the incorrect upload speed , with your own ASUS removed from the equation completely, then it does point to a problem , rebuilding your individual profile may be worthwhile to clear out any setup errors , if you haven’t already had the ONT changed  , that may also be worthwhile, or you may have detected an issue that affects more that yourself that is ‘deeper’ into the network , but no one else has noticed or reported it , the issue not directly related to your change from 500 to 900Mb  ( it was always there) , it’s just that you have a higher expectation of the upload 

There was ( I’m fairly sure ) a similar issue where a BT Mod effected a ‘fix’ that wasn’t on what OR are responsible for but was in effect further into the network.

[GMcD79]

Thanks for the suggestions. 

Right now I'm happy to try absolutely anything to prove this is a real problem.

I have already tested with just the SH2 connected, no other third party routers or devices connected other than my Laptop, via Ethernet, and got the exact same result.

I also tried testing on the official BT speed tester and the results were almost identical.  Download was slightly less,  with upload peaking around 69mb.

As for the direct PPOE connection, bypassing all router equipment, I hadn't thought of that's, so it's definitely worth a try.

I'll post the results once complete, although I do remain sceptical as to whether it will make any difference, but no harm in giving it a try 

[naylor2006]

@iniltous the post about some mod helping out was also ringing a bell with me from a while back...

Re: BT FTTP 900Mb Package, upload speed limited to... - BT Community

This was where someone was stuck at 50Mbps up on a 900mbps package and one of the Sage's here mentioned that:

This parameter is changed by BTs remote management system to allow the full speed. This normally happens automatically so you must leave the home hub alone and do not do any more resets.

The OP posted logs showing the change, I guess the point is it ties into what you say, 65Mbps doesnt really tie into a profile limitation unless its the 75Mbps limit performing shy of its limit.

@GMcD79 in the linked post the chap factory reset his SH2 and checked the logs and eventually spotted a change, I think the factory reset in the first place is what limited him.

[iniltous]

You are mixing up a couple ( not related ) issues , the post linked , it’s OP had full upload ( 110Mb ) wired it was WiFi performance that was lacking , so not the problem here , and there was ( maybe still is ) an issue with SH2’s that were sent out ‘setup’ for FTTC ( not FTTP ) with a ‘soft’ 20Mb upload limit applied , this isn’t an issue with FTTC as the ‘best’ profile is 80/20 , but when these were shipped to FTTP customers the 20Mb limit was an issue , the SH2 updated ‘over the air’ to remove this artificial cap but occasionally this was missed and the Mods could intervene and force a firmware update to remove the cap , I haven’t seen any complaints for a while and presume it’s no longer an issue , SH2 presumably shipped ready for FTTP not FTTC , and again , not really the OP’s problem .

[naylor2006]

@iniltous no it wasnt, the guy said:

Recently I had to do a factory reset for the BT Smart Hub 2 and for some reason our upload speed now never goes above 50Mb/s , I have tried both wired/wireless and no matter what service I use, Speedtest.net, Fast.com, nperf.com, Google speed test, the upload now maxes out around 47-49Mb/s, rather than the 95-100Mb/s we were getting before.

He then noted later in a post that in his logs a change which resulted in the speed returning to normal, or what he would expect. So in his case he has a 900Mbps product that had an upload limited to 50Mbps until some remote management system adjusted it.

So it ties into what you said about whether its possible to have different upload and download profiles and if the two can be set independently.

[iniltous]

The OP on that post was

Hello, we have had BT's 900Mb/s FTTP package since around May 2023, if using a wired connection, we are able to get around 950Mb/s for the download and around 105Mb/s for the upload.

My take on the events are , they  then factory reset the SH2 , so the factory set upload limit was reapplied ( the firmware reverted to the old build with the upload limit ) …the automatic trawl intended to pick up SH2 shipped with this old build was detected and so it was updated again to give the customer the full upload again, so it’s likely ( in my opinion) that the end to end ‘journey’ was , 
customer was given a SH2 with the limited upload , they were updated over the air before they noticed this restriction, they factory reset the router taking them back to the old build with the restriction and noticed the upload was less , the same system that updated them in the first place updated the router again restoring the updated build and giving the correct upload speed.

TBH , as the OP here has a problem when using their ASUS router instead of the SH2 it can’t really be the issue , as stated on the other post , BT can and do update their own routers ‘over the air’ independent of the OR network settings , obviously they can’t  interfere with third party kit even if it’s used on a BT connection 

[GMcD79]

I think you may have misinterpreted my setup here   I'm not using the Asus router for anything.  It was only connected to the SH2 in order to run an overnight speed test script. (Asus Merlin Firmware)

The connection to the ONT is l, and always has been, through the BT SH2.  

Even testing directly on the SH2, PORT 1, with nothing else connected, I get ~65mb upload.

I have tried a factory reset and if need be could try another.  As I say, I'm happy to I try anything 

[iniltous]

OK , I still think it’s unlikely to be the SH2 firmware restriction ( what you get is in excess of that anyway ) a mis configuration of the upload speed on a 900Mb download ( if that’s possible ) seems unlikely as the speed obtained is between two upload profiles, so ( in my opinion ) , possibly it’s data corruption rather than mis configuration, ( try a profile rebuild ) , ONT issue ( including cleaning the SC/APC plug and replace the ONT ) or ‘backhaul’ interconnection issue also including possible cleaning of the LC patch lead plugs , the third possibility isn’t really anything Openreach can deal with , it’s BTw / BT TSO or whatever they call themselves these days.

[GMcD79]

Thanks for suggesting some additional potential fixes.  

Those that can be done by me, I'm willing to try.

I have tried cleaning the termination point on the optical cable with some 99% isopropanol.  No difference.  

I could potentially pick up an ONT from "the auction site" and swap out mine.  Likely a Hail Mary but worth a shot?

Just wish BT CS would be more forthcoming in helping resolve these issues, instead of pointing you to Ts and Cs which is nothing more than a cop out.