Broadband Speed Dropping on and off all day

[dksglen]

Thanks. I took the upgrade offer as the price increase was minimal. At busy times in the house we can have Xboxes, Netflix (x3) and multiple phones / Alexa, TVs etc. I thought the speed increase would be helpful.
The point really is that the speedtests are failing to meet guaranteed speeds and the run more test option isn't working.
That's something BT should look at, and remedy.

[ptrduffy]

To be fair to @dksglen using the My BT app is the one time when speed testing on WiFi makes sense - the app uses BT servers to connect to the Hub and check the speed (well, at least, that's what it claims to do).

And the speed is below the BT Stay Fast guarantee, so the OP could indeed complain to BT.

However, as @licquorice has pointed out the GPON network provides 2.5 Gb/s to be shared among ~30 users - so if all are highly active at the same time, each will get ~80 Mb/s on average.

The BT Stay Fast Guarantee only says that if the speed is not back to its guaranteed level after 30 days then you are entitled to £20 compensation.  It absolutely does not guarantee that you can download at 700 Mb/s (on the FTTP 900 package) 24/7 - because the network simply can't support that.

[dksglen]

Thank you @ptrduffy 

That's interesting and it's certainly not me looking for 20 pounds. I do however don't want to pay for a service that's not going to be given as advertised for the next 2 years. 

It seems to be quite misleading from BT tbh. 

[Keith_Beddoe]

@dksglen 

All your devices will be sharing the same wireless channel, competing for an available timeslot.

You may find it an advantage to connect a separate wireless access point to a port on the home hub, with a different SSID, and a different channel, and move some devices onto it, to reduce the load on the home hub channel.

[ptrduffy]

I'm not convinced that it's misleading from BT (and if it is, then all other ISPs are guilty of the same), but I think it is going to be a big source of confusion for many.

As you've found, you will get above the 700 Mb/s the vast majority of the time, as it's unlikely that all other users are downloading at the exact same time as you - the system relies on this "statistical multiplexing" to give people bandwidth as and when they need it.

[dksglen]

@Keith_Beddoe 

Thanks. The hub obviously has the 2.4 and 5 GHz on different channels. Nothing really connects to 2.4 these days, and no way of forcing that. 

Another access point is a good idea, but Im not sure I should have to be going done that route. I do have a disk that covers everything upstairs and the hub all down. 

[Keith_Beddoe]

The disk uses the same wireless channel and simply adds to the congestion.

I would be surprised if just 5GHz alone covers all devices, but you can prove that by turning off the 2.4GHz wireless on the home hub and see if everything still works.

5GHz should be less congested, but speed will drop off quite quickly as you move away from the home hub.

Unless you can actually prove that a wired connection does not give the minimum speed specified by BT, then there is not much you can do, as this is just a local networking issue and not a BT Broadband issue.

[dksglen]

@Keith_Beddoe 

The BT app tells me what is connected to what channel (2.4/5) 

As I speak right now, everything is on 5 apart from one echo dot. 

I'm not sure I need to prove anything to BT as their own app is telling me the stay fast guarantee isn't being met. Obviously this may change. 

[dksglen]

@Keith_Beddoe 

"The disk uses the same wireless channel and simply adds to the congestion." 

Thanks. This is interesting to me. I know they use the same channel, but it gives a very strong connection to all the upstairs devices. Surely that's better than a lot weaker one to the main hub? 

BT promote these disks well for coverage, and they are not cheap. 

Also, the disk has an ethernet connection. Would it be better to have it wired to the main hub (via connections in wall ) 

[Keith_Beddoe]

It will give a strong signal, but its still relies on the wireless link back to the home hub, so the signal may be strong, but unlikely to give the same speed, as the throughput will be less.