"My BT" app Speed Test

[Quesada]

Can anyone explain what the enclosed reading signifies?

[iniltous]

The test shows that on that occasion the speed to the hub fell below the minimum speed guarantee.

Is this a one off or have your performed this test numerous times with the same results ( not reaching the minimum speed guarantee ) ? a one off is not particularly problematic , consistently below the minimum is.

You are part of a PON ( passive optical network ) that shares bandwidth, 2.4Gb downstream, with up-to 29 other users , although it could be many fewer , it depends on how many  in that relatively small PON  area have also taken up service on the PON .

Demand isn’t linear, a simple division 2400/30 =80Mb is pointless, at any point in time some users will be idle ( not consuming any bandwidth ) others may be streaming a 4K movie, but it possible that if you happen to be an intensive downloader , and there are many other intensive downloaders , all simultaneously doing something bandwidth hungry, then occasionally the available bandwidth to each user may ‘dip’ , if it’s occasionally the case there is no problem.

If seconds after that test , you ran another test that showed  throughput back over the minimum speed , it was simply a spike in demand, if it’s consistently the case that the minimum speed isn’t obtained, then reporting it as such is reasonable as it could indicate a problem, but if it’s not fixable ( because there isn’t a fault it’s the consistent demand overwhelmingly the bandwidth ) you could be offered the option to leave penalty free , but you would have to be ‘unlucky’ to be in that situation, obviously if you and potentially 29 neighbours all have  900Mb profiles are all permanently performing ‘speed tests’ 24/7 then they all cannot get 900Mb at the same time , anyone that wants a connection that’s not ‘shared’ , needs to pay way more for a 1Gb leased line .

[Quesada]

Thanks for responding so quickly. It's only when I notice an issue that I use the speed test, but its been happening on almost a daily basis for quite a while. 

[iniltous]

Run a test when you are not experiencing slowdowns, if that shows closer to 900Mb ( TBH , 960Mb is a more common speed recorded on your profile, as it’s actually a 1GB connection but after ‘overheads’ 960Mb is the speed a tester would show )  , calling it 900Mb avoids complaints about ‘only’ getting 960 instead of 1Gb , it’s marketed as 900 on the principle that getting more than 900 is not going to generate complaints.

If you get 960Mb  testing a a quiet time ( or when you are not noticing a slowdown ) it would confirm it’s a demand issue , however there probably isn’t much that can be done about that …if you moved to 500Mb for example the way bandwidth is dynamically allocated means that they would also see a reduction on a pro rata basis , so everyone would have a certain amount of reduced speed if the total demand was over 2.4Gb.

What exactly do you do where you would notice a slowdown …by any measure 603Mb is fast , and what applications would it be noticeable that instead of 900+Mb you are ‘only’ getting 600+Mb , watching a 4K movie for example wouldn’t fend 1/10 of your reduced speed , apart from many people running a speed test , I would think most applications would be nowhere near saturating that.

[Quesada]

Hi. The issue appears random and I only run the speed test if I notice buffering, get kicked out of Netflix or in this instance, because our smart meter has lost connection.