Broadband Speed

[neilfd]

Hi there,

Dont know if anyone can help. I have had Fibre for a while now and despite the claimed 500Mbps claimed speed have never received anything like this at a device.  I spoke to Sky further today and they keepinsisting that they read 500+ on their system and that everything id fine. I regularly use Speedchecker or similar and today was getting around 70Mbps. (this other was speedtest as couldnt get speedchecker to workm on the mac today)

This one is speedchecker off my phone.

I have gone onto the router to see if i can check the speed from there but am not sure what the figures are telling me.  I am also getting regular dropouts/ assumed reboots of the router at 02:00.

Can anyone assist?

Thanks

[neilfd]

this was the router stats - didn't show on last post for some reason.

[Mr+Slant]

What are you running the test on?

If its a wifi device then the router stats indicate it is using 2.4GHz and those results are pretty much what I'd expect for anything running on the 2.4GHz band.

[neilfd]

Hi, Yes it is on Wifi.

So are you saying 2.4Ghz Wifi is restricted to 80 odd GHz?  The Mac is only 10-15 feet from the router as the crow flies..

Do I  realistically need to hardwire anything I need a faster speed on and how do I do that if there are only 3 or 4 ports on the hub?

thanks

Neil

[Mr+Slant]

Connect it via an ethernet cable and run the speedtest again. Ethernet is the only test method which is even vaguely reliable.

There are many variables with wifi and its not feasible to diagnose your possible issues remotely with any degree of accuracy.

Edit - yes somewhere around 80-100Mbps is the max I'd expect out of a 20MHz wide 2.4GHz wifi connection these days unless you literally live in the middle of nowhere.

[jamesn123 · Accepted solution]

@neilfd 

Sky Ultrafast is designed to deliver UHD streaming speeds (Around 50mbps) to many devices at once, it is not designed to provide a single device with 500mbps over WiFi. If you want the higher speeds to a single device you need to use an ethernet cable or invest in an expensive 3rd party router that has WiFi 6. 

[michaelmacca82]

Bet you that's not in the small print! I'm lucky if I get 100mbps download! I think it's a joke! 

[jamesn123]

@michaelmacca82 

The small print will quite clearly state the speed guaranteed by Sky is line speed only and therefore only fully obtainable via a cable.

[michaelmacca82]

My point exactly. When you sign up to 500mbps broadband, you don't expect to get less than 100mbps if your lucky! 

If id of been bothered to read the small print before I signed up, I definitely wouldn't have! The way it's advertised is misleading. But I guess that's the reason they're a multi million pound company, and I'm a complaining consumer! 😂 Anyway I'll carry on for my remaining 2 months and find a better deal! 

[jamesn123]

@michaelmacca82 

All ISPs advertise in exactly the same way.

[Dio1969]

I've previously run speed tests and had results up to 300mbps (run from a mobile phone), ran it today and got 53mbps, but the upload was 72.2mbps. Ran an ethernet to the router and got 90mbps on a laptop, despite the sky help bot telling me the guaranteed speed was a minimum of 400mbps. '

I'm confused by the response to the OP's question that seems to suggest these speeds over WiFi are ok?

[jamesn123]

@Dio1969 

They are. Sky dont guarantee more than 3mbps over WiFi. 

Regarding your laptop, it sounds like your ethernet connection has default to 'Fast' rather than 'Gigabit' which is why you are only seeing 90mbps. 

[Dio1969]

@jamesn123 d'oh! Hadn't thought about the restrictions of my Ethernet connection on the laptop (Chromebook)

Still confused why previous speed tests have produced results over 300mbps but now the app returns 50mpbs (download) but a faster upload - which doesn't feel right

[Dio1969]

Previous results from Mobile device

[jamesn123]

@Dio1969 

WiFi conditions change constantly, you may find the speed will be back up to 300 again in a day or so. Its totally dependant on the device you use, time of day, neighbouring WiFi routers, other devices in your home etc.