Full Fibre 900 with BT Halo 3+ and speeds

[DBHughesy]

Hello

I have been with BT for over 30 years, and have been very happy with the service I get. However I am becoming increasingly frustrated with the complete lack of transparency and what is looking like deliberate smoke and mirrors when it comes to the speed of connection. I have read with interest all the  complications with using varied equipment, WiFi versus wired, number of devices online and wall thickness etc. etc. and this has left me with a question.

If I use any of my equipment to log onto my BT router and select the Broadband Performance Test the test should measure from the router to the server irrespective of the device I am using to manipulate the router. My device is just a window on the action if you like.

In my case the Broadband Performance Test never works and I just get a message telling me it is down, although recently it takes me straight to the 'Fix a problem with broadband and WiFi' page; which suggests that BT have no interest in me knowing what speeds I am getting by removing the speed test.

I have only been on Full Fibre 900 with BT Halo 3+ since the 6th February 2024, but all the tests I am doing show that I am only getting (depending on the time of day) between 70mps and 180mps which even if it is down to my equipment or environment seems to be a long way off 900mps!

 

[c64z86]

WiFi isn't a guaranteed medium for fast speeds unfortunately.

WIFI 5 (That the Smart Hub 2 use) has trouble hitting anywhere near 900mbps over wireless. Realisticly the speeds you can expect are around 400mbps right next to the router.

When you are connected to a disc, this speed will drop even further as the WIFI has to be transmitted to the disc, then retransmitted to your device connected to that disc. This effectively halves the speed already.

There are a  few things you can do to make sure you get a good WiFi speed:

1: Make sure your devices are connected to the 5ghz portion of your Wifi, 5ghz is weaker than 2.4ghz but has higher speeds. Sometimes this can be an option you can find in your settings, other times you will have no option but to stay close to the disc or router to make sure it stays on 5ghz.

2: Use an Ethernet backhaul to connect your discs to your router. This will cut out the Wifi backhaul they are currently using and improve your speeds because the WiFi signal then does not have to be transmitted twice to reach your device.

3: Make sure your devices are up to date. Older devices can have trouble hitting higher speeds.

Also the BT speed test can now be found here: BTW Performance Tester (btwholesale.com)

If you have the BT app for your phone or tablet, you can use it to perform a speed test to your Smart Hub to verify that it is getting the 900mbps. My BT App | Download the My BT app | BT

[imjolly · Accepted solution]

You need to connect to the hub with ethernet cable 5e or greater to run the speed test. Try running fast.com and see what speed you get