Slow Gigafast Broadband

[jcrossland88]

I'm hoping someone can help me.

I've recently moved house and had Sky Gigafast broadband. I've been consistently getting speeds of 40/50/60mbps when I go on fast.com. I'm supposed to get minimum 600mbps.

I've rang sky who first advisor told me it's because I have 21 devices connected. These are largely alexas, smart plugs and smart meter. We had no PlayStation and only ever have 1 tv on at any time. So I disputed that.

I rang back the next day and got a different advisor who suggested I swap the cable to and reset router amongst other changes, to which I immediately got 680mbps for about 3 hours afterwards so I thought it had worked.

Today, I'm back with these speeds. I'm no expert and the broadband seems very slow for saying it's supposed to be Gigafast. Is there something wrong? I feel there is. Sky have told me they don't guarantee the speed in my home which doesn't sit right with me and that the speed into my house is fine. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm not convinced I'm getting what I'm paying for.

 

[Highlinder]

@jcrossland88  Are you able to run that very same test on a device if you have one that is connected via ethernet cable?

[Chrisee]

@jcrossland88 when you run a speedtest on a devicecthe test returns thecspeed of thecslowest part of the link which in your case is probably the WiFi speed in your home.

The reason why Sky like every other ISP are careful about giving guaranteed speeds over WiFi is that speeds are beyond their control. Wifi speeds are affected by the layout and type of construction of your home plus the level,of interference from other devices and networks. The signals from the hub  lose strength passing through solid objects like walls the denser the material the greater the loss and theyvare complatlly blocked by even thin metal foil let alone a radiator.

Without knowing details of your homexset up it is diffivult to advisectge best solution howevercasca start makecsure your Sky hub is in the best location it can be which is out in the open on a surface above most obstructions. Then work out what speeds you need in practice 44Mb/s is ample for most purposes as for example streaming UHD video to a TV uses no more than 30Mb/s giving the TV 300Mb/s wont make any difference in the slightest.  With that information forum membersxshould be able to give you some options.

The idea these days every device needs 1 Gb/s is absolute rubbish indeed few if any apps can use much overc100Mb/s and download servers rarely allow connections over 500Mb/s. Gigafst connections are more about enabling more users on a single connection oh and boasting in the pub.

[jcrossland88]

Thank you both for your help. I will try the Ethernet cable approach later on.

My house is a new build and they've put the Openreach hub in the cupboard under the stairs, so this is where my router is plugged in. Although I spoke with BT about their Gigafast broadband and they said this wouldn't affect their service to the extent mine is currently being affected by. Speeds as low as 40mbps shouldn't be happening on Gigafast, but I don't know or understand enough about it to argue my case with Sky.

When I initially did the reset the advisor told me to do, I was getting 600mbps + around the house for a few short hours. Then it dropped off again. So something just doesn't feel right.

Any other tips and advice would be great.

Thanks

[jamesn123]

@jcrossland88 

Its very typical of new house builders to put the entry point of broadband in some cupboard tucked away. Because of this WiFi signal often suffers extensively.

What I suspect is happening is your devices are falling back to the 2.4ghz band because the signal strength from the 5ghz band is so weak as it doesnt pass through walls very well. When you did the reset with Sky earlier it would have temporarily tried to force wireless clients onto the 5ghz band but as soon as you moved away from the router, or closed the cupboard door, or the channel became occupied by another router again your devices would have fallen back to 2.4ghz and your speed would have dropped. Realistically you wont see more than around 50mbps over 2.4ghz so this lines up with the speeds you are seeing.

The most obvious solutions are to move the router out of the cupboard or invest in a 3rd party router which has better antenna so it can punch through the walls better. Or perhaps a mesh system that can push 5ghz via a backhaul connection.

[jcrossland88]

This is a brilliant response and thank you for your advice. 

I'll speak to sky, trouble is I have nowhere else I can move the router as they've placed it under the stairs in the cupboard.

I'll have to speak to them about options 

Thanks again for taking the time to help

[Nigelb1972]

The location of your router will definitely be having an impact on your WiFi speeds but they're not guaranteed by an isp, only speeds to the hub are.

We have 500mbps fibre and our router is out in the open and our WiFi speeds vary around the house from 250mbps right up to 720mbps (last night) but the sync speed at the hub sits at 476mbps... 

Our WiFi speed tests are done on a Pixel 6a Pixel 6... 

[jamesn123]

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@jcrossland88 wrote:

I'll speak to sky, trouble is I have nowhere else I can move the router as they've placed it under the stairs in the cupboard.

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What a lot of people do is leave the white Openreach ONT in place in the cupboard, then run a long ethernet cable out of the cupboard into a more sensible position for the router. You could do the job neatly by tacking the ethernet cable to the skirting board using clips.