Fibre 1 - Evening Frustration.

[jifrey]

Hi,

We've been having problems with broadband (or wifi os it?) pretty much every evening for a few months now. 

Our speeds vary from 73 download/22 upload (approx) in the day, dipping a bit but usually staying above the guarantee (49 mbps). However in the evening between 8 and 11 pm it drops a lot, sometimes as low as below 1mbps, but usually dropping out all together for large periods.

I say broadband, throughout the outages the blue light stays on the hub and we can watch Netflix on the BT TV (the TV has broadband connecyed directly from the hub). So is it broadband that's the issue or WiFi (the TV is connected by line into the hub), it's devices using the WiFi that won't work, eg mobiles and pads.

BT have sent out Open Reach twice and an internal.engineer, but we're getting nowhere and the problem persists between 8 and 11 pm.

Open Reach did managed to fix a problem with the phone. There was a loud crackling noise when you got the dial tone, that's now fixed, but the broadband issue persists.

Any help would be appreciated. I'm getting very frusttated with BT, Iv've spoken to them numerous times but there's still no fix. They can see there's drop outs (but not whenthey say). I've spoken to them after 8pm.and they can't do even do a test as there's no connection, so they can see there's clearly an issue.

Do I need a new hub, fibre halo 3+, other, or a new provider? 

Thanks. 

[Keith_Beddoe]

@jifrey 

Welcome to this user forum.

This sound more like something interfering with your wireless signal between those times. You might like to try changing the wireless channel to see if it helps.

You can only really check your true broadband speed, with a computer which is directly connected to the home hub, using an Ethernet cable.

As your BT TV works fine, then it would seem to imply that your broadband connection is fine.

[jifrey]

Thanks for the fast reply Keith. 

I did wonder if it's the WiFi and not the broadband. But doing broadband tests you can see the results dropping right down before dropping out all together. And the tests are for broadband not wifi if I'm correct. 

I'm using the speedtest app that the Open Reach guy recommended and I use the BT app too, when I can get a signal.

[imjolly]

when you run the speedtests though you need to run using ethernet/cable connection and not test speed using a wifi device

as @Keith_Beddoe suggested I would change the wifi channels from auto/smart to a specific channel and I would use a wifi analyser app on phone to see what channels neighbours are using and select something different

[Keith_Beddoe]

The app would be affected by wireless interference, so the only true method is to use a direct connection, which is what Openreach use when they test the speed.

This is the approved speed testing site https://speedtest.btwholesale.com/

Its only going to give accurate results on a direct connection, without any other devices connected.

Remember that BT TV uses quite a bit of your download speed, so when that is in use, its going to affect other devices, whether wireless or directly connected.

Could that be causing the slow speed between those times?

[rbz5416]

As above, if your Hub lights are good & you can watch Netflix while connected by ethernet, your connection is at least working. Although I'm baffled by BT being unable to test as there's no connection? If BT can see no connection then they should be raising a fault for that, unless there's confusion around WiFi.

As this occurs at specific times it sounds very much like an environmental issue. Possibly another device in your home being in use or that of a neighbour. Microwaves are notorious for chucking out interference that can kill WiFi, but unlikely one is in use constantly in the evening.

As a test I would be inclined to turn off 2.4GHz temporarily as that's the band more prone to interference. Also change the channel of the 5GHz away from auto to a fixed channel. A WiFi analyser app will show which is the least congested channel or just set it to the highest available. Avoid channel 36 as that seems to have known issues with Sky Q boxes.

I could also be a faulty Hub but highly unlikely that it would fail at the same time every evening & recover every morning. But if you have another it would do no harm to try that.

[jifrey]

Thanks all. I'll try the above and let you know how I get on. I'm away for a few days so it will be the weekend.