I’ve just contracted to sky broadband full fibre 500. I expected to get a decent increase in downloa

[Lewisham]

I’ve just contracted to sky broadband full fibre 500. I expected to get a decent increase in download speed. However I haven’t noticed any difference from my previous contract!!! The speed checker says the speed to the router is 500mbs but my download speed is only 50-75 mbs!!! Why the difference? Do I need to change my router?? Please adviseI'm 

[TimmyBGood · Accepted solution]

@Lewisham 

Did you already have full fibre infrastructure at the address?

[Lewisham]

I have FTTP to the premises and my sky checker states that there is 500mbs at the router.. previously my contract was for only 75mbs so I was expecting quite a sped up in downloads but not happening!!!

[TimmyBGood]

@Lewisham 

If you are measuring over WiFi, that may be an inherent limit of the wireless device in use.  My previous phone consistently tested out 500Mbs BT FTTP at 40Mbs (the current one has just registered 170Mbs at three metres from the router)

[Lewisham]

Thanks for that, very interesting and I suppose that even though there is 500mvs coming in to the router, the output is hared amongst the devices being used??? I'm using an iPhone 13 so is there any way of increasing the limits of WiFi speed???

[TimmyBGood]

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@Lewisham wrote:

 I'm using an iPhone 13 so is there any way of increasing the limits of WiFi speed???

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The iPhone 13 is specified as WiFi 6, so should be capable of high maximum speed.  There's no way to increase 'limits' but optimising WiFi through things like router location is possible.  The local wireless environment is a significant factor though.

[Lewisham]

Thanks TommyBGood you've given me plenty to think about!  Just one last thing - are the routers outputs generally capable of any speeds or are they "ganged down" to the contracted speed ?  My previous speed was 75mbs but now it is 500mbs so would expect to get some increase in speed all things being equal??? 

[TimmyBGood]

@Lewisham 

The limit of a Max Hub is theoretically that imposed by the WiFi 6 specification.  Sky supplies that Hub model for their Gigafast (900Mbs) FTTP as well.

[Lewisham]

Thanks Tommy👍  if I could buy you a pint, I would do so!!🍺. I may have to consider putting in a booster to see whether that helps. I have six devices using the  WiFi from time to time ( 2xLaptops, 2xiphone 13, and 2xipads) although they aren't usually on at the same time - usually it's just the phones!!! Suppose that can make a difference - would you think a booster might help ??

[TimmyBGood]

@Lewisham 

Boosters are actually relays / repeaters and are intended to extend wireless coverage to other areas within a property.  Despite the name they don't actually boost speed in the vicinity of the router.

[Lewisham]

Okay Tommy thank you very much for your advice and expertise. It has been most enlightening👍

[Lewisham]

Hi @TimmyBGood.  - just wanted to let you know that I tried my phone next to the router as you suggested and the speed was 500mbs+ but the same test up in the bedroom yielded only 50-75mbs so clearly the closer to the router if using wireless, the better!! Is it a good idea to put boosters around the house in order to improve overall coverage? If so what ones would you recommend ???

[grayerbeard]

I personally do not think that it is worthwhile, for most people, to pay for more than the 145M/s speed because its very fifficult to get more than about 70M/sec to any one device and most use cases you do not need a faster speed. Also even if you connect to a web site or service using a wired connection to the router often you find the site will not send you data at very fast speeds.  e.g if you are downloading programs from BBC iPlayer for playback later.

What I have done is connect some WiFi Extenders and then I can get most of my devices on at least 50Mbit sec. My Broadband Nominally is 140 but inpractice router sees about 120.   So now if I upgraded to 500 only devices right next to the router or on a wired connection would see any increase in speed.

I imagine many people are very dissappointed when they get these high speeds and then cannot get highj speeds on wifi.

[TimmyBGood]

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@grayerbeard wrote:

I personally do not think that it is worthwhile, for most people, to pay for more than the 145M/s speed because its very fifficult to get more than about 70M/sec to any one device and most use cases you do not need a faster speed. 

The good reason is where multiple high bandwidth devices are in use simultaneously: that would typically be for UHD video streaming.  A household with a full complement of Stream pucks might well 'need' more than a 150Mbs broadband connection, even though each individual puck is only using 20-30Mbs.

I imagine many people are very dissappointed when they get these high speeds and then cannot get highj speeds on wifi.

Unfortunately, yes, because ISPs insist on headlining maximum speed rather than actual utility.

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[grayerbeard]

Well ys if four peopl;e in a houshold all need 40M/s so  4  x 40 >> 160.  But that would be unusual.

I remember a long tinme ago being on a ship where the whole ships staff shared a very slow satallite data link.  Most of the time we were OK except when the Captain wanted to listen to the Archers Omnibus on a weekend.