G fast speed depreciation

[mkhan155]

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I was wondering if anyone would know why the gfast speeds on my line have dropped substantially. When I first moved into this property a few years back I could get speeds on g fast of up to 145-148mbps download and 15-25mbps upload. Back then my internet speed needs weren't that demanding but now they've gradually increased. I was interested in purchasing g fast for my line but found out that my speed range is now only 120-142 download and 8.4-22 upload. Vdsl2 speeds aren't too bad on my current package. Even property's that are close to the cab that used to get 150mbps speed range now only get 143-144mbps. Would openreach or sky have to upgrade their equipment in the exchange or the cabinet? Also would an increase demand of g fast orders be a factor of the speed drop? Any advice appreciated.

[mae-3]

@mkhan155 

With my own broadband line on G.fast some things I've noticed, in the summer the speed drops by 5Mbps to 10Mbps downstream (2 years in row and increases in winter), further G.fast connections don't seem to have impacted the speed, restarting my firewall needs to be done during the early hours of the morning (1 am to 3 am) for best speed. The upstream has always remained at the maximum which is 50Mbps in my case.

[mkhan155]

@mae-3  Nothings changed in my home. I'm about 40m from the green cabinet. I've noticed a new little g fast Pod thing on the telegraph pole outside my home too. I'm not one to constantly reboot the router either. Would there be a time when openreach re instate the speed in a way? A few months later it'll be ranged almost the same as a fttc connection. My line stats show 6.1db downstream and 13.3 upstream. Line makes noises sometimes but it's probably my handset.

[mae-3]

@mkhan155 

Those noise margins for G.fast are too high and would indicate an issue of some type. The noise margin should be near 3dB on a good line with G.fast both up and down unless at maximum speed for the service and then its spare noise margin.

I've noticed that the speed will move up and down automatically with fast rate adaptation (FRA) by about a few Mbps but for it to gain higher speeds then a reboot is necessary on my own G.fast connection.

The only reason I know that a G.fast pushes up or down the speed by a major amount is my firewall needs rebooting when I do firmware updates; this occurs about once a month the firmware update, so you could try rebooting the router itself as long as its not more often than that month period.

[mkhan155]

@mae-3 

Sorry, I'm currently on a fttc connection. 80/20. I was considering g fast but as I explained the speeds quoted for my line are dropping numbers each month. If I reported this to sky could they do anything? My contract for my current package ends in September so around that time I'm hoping the g fast speeds quoted on my line should be higher.

[TimmyBGood]

@mkhan155 

Speed estimates (which is all they are) will be generated from Openreach data, and may well be more accurate now than when they first appeared.  Realistically you have to accept that G.fast is an inherently more variable technology than FTTP.

[mkhan155]

@TimmyBGood 

What are all the factors that influence the g fast speeds? It's something new compared to fttc. I think I only got it installed in 2016 or 17

[TimmyBGood]

@mkhan155 

G.fast is delivered over existing Openreach copper into the subscribing premises, so all the same variables as FTTC, admittedly over a shorter distance but attempting a higher data rate.

There's little point worrying about a few Mbs either way on the estimates: your calculation should be if the minimum 100Mbs inbound (and hopefully better outbound than now) is worth any additional monthly cost.

[mae-3]

@mkhan155 

In my case, I'm 180 metres from the cabinet and get 240Mbps to 250Mbps downstream depending on the season as said and 50Mbps upstream which is what I was after and the upstream is the most important in my case. And I've found it is reliable with my line and I love the upstream speed! 😀

[mkhan155]

@TimmyBGood 

Becuase it's delivering such fast speeds on ancient copper wires I guess it's prone to faults as it's high frequency. I heard it's being deployed again after a temporary hold

[mae-3]

@mkhan155 

Generally speaking, G.fast is more reliable than VDSL2.

But of course, FTTP is the most reliable in speed terms as it gives maximum speed for the service unless the fibre optic breaks then you get nothing!

In 2 years 3 months, I've had around 10 minutes of unscheduled downtime as measured by SamKnows Whitebox with Zen Internet, and none of it was owning to G.fast broadband line issues.

[TimmyBGood]

@mkhan155 

Areas previously designated for G.fast are having installations resumed, but it's unlikely any more will be specified: it's now recognised to be something of a blind alley in turns of Ultrafast because of the inherently limited maximum speed of the copper portion, when a little more initial effort can embed FTTP infrastructure already capable of 900/100 Mbs service.

[mae-3]

@TimmyBGood 

FTTP is almost unlimited for speed and a single fibre can carry upwards of 178Tbps... The cost of replacing all copper cable in the world with fibre optic cable is 4 trillion dollars and that's expensive. Waveguide transmission technique isn't restricted by maxwell's question and can achieve speeds in excess of 1Tbps in the future.

[mkhan155]

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 decreased again today? The thing is speeds are quoted a little higher on bts dsl checker. I haven't checked speeds from other isps but I'm guessing it will be the same @mae-3 @TimmyBGood 

[Phil8800]

@mae-3 

Got my gfast installed on 25th May 2021. Went for 160/30.

Not bad stats for over 250m from the cabinet.

============================================================================
xDSL Training Status: Showtime
Mode: G.fast Annex A
Traffic Type: PTM Mode
Link Uptime: 0 day: 0 hour: 23 minutes
============================================================================
xDSL Port Details Upstream Downstream
Line Rate: 30.153 Mbps 160.205 Mbps
Actual Net Data Rate: 30.005 Mbps 159.824 Mbps
Trellis Coding: ON ON
SNR Margin: 3.4 dB 9.3 dB
Actual Delay: 0 ms 0 ms
Transmit Power: 4.0 dBm 0.0 dBm
Receive Power: 4.7 dBm 3.0 dBm
Actual INP: 540.0 symbols 549.0 symbols
Attainable Net Data Rate: 30.668 Mbps 224.960 Mbps
============================================================================