Ultrafast GFast halves speed on powerlines

[maxmax]

Hi all,

I recently got upgraded to Sky Broadband Ultrafast from Superfast, not knowing it was going to change to GFast.

Now, not only is the internet speed only marginally faster (90mb vs 72mb) and only if on 5Ghz (slower on 2.4Ghz: 35mb) but, as I've been using powerlines to get the full 72mb to the office room, I'm now only getting 30mb.

Even testing powerline next to the Sky Hub, the speed doesn't go past 30-35mb.

Have you experienced it as well? Any tips on how to resolve it?

Thanks!

[TimmyBGood]

@maxmax 

I believe it's been reported before that G.fast broadband equipment (from any ISP) and in-property powerline networking use is not a good combination as powerline adapters may adversely affect inbound speed.  You might want to try removing all the adapters from their mains sockets, reboot the Sky Broadband Hub and then try another speed test (or check your Hub stats before and afterwards)

[maxmax]

Thank you, how should I interpret this?

 

[TimmyBGood]

@maxmax 

The key line there is connection speed, which is only marginally above the minimum 100Mbs for Ultrafast 1.  There's no traffic on 5Ghz WiFi.

[maxmax]

Thanks, annoying that only on 5Ghz can I get close to 90Mb, but on 2.4Ghz I only get 35-40Mb.

I've also switched off Wi-Fi from the Sky Q box as recommended.

Not sure what to do... ask Sky to "downgrade" me to Superfast which was actually faster?

[Chrisee]

@maxmax who recommended turning off the wifi on your Q box? It doesnt make sense as assuming the Q box is connected by ethernet/powerline it will act as a wifi hotspot which won't interfere with the Sky hub. 5GHz wifi is normally faster than 2.4GHz not only because of the greater bandwidth but also because it is far less likely to suffer from inteference from your neighbour's networks. In many homes there is effectively no 2.4GHz channel free from inyerference.

It is unlikely Sky will allow you to go back to a VDSL service as they will have paid an up front charge to Openreach for your G.Fast connection. It is worth testing speeds with the powerline network unplugged as while you complain of G.Fast interfering with powerline speeds the more common issue is powerline affecting G.Fast connection speeds.It is unfortunate the 2 technologies are often incompatable.

[maxmax]

Thanks @Chrisee - the strange thing is that on Superfast (VDSL) on 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi speed was 60-70Mb but on Ultrafast (Gfast) on 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi is only 30-40Mb.

Is Gfast known to lose a lot on 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi? Or is it just the Sky Hub that's performing more poorly compared to my previous TP-Link VR2800?

I cannot use any other router but Sky Hub with GFast right?

[Chrisee]

@maxmax I am not aware of issues between G.Fast and either wifi band.

By far the most likely cause of the reduced speed is interference in theory there are 13 channels in the 2.4GHz band but in practice as a signal on band 6 will cause strong interference on bands 5,6 and 7with someceffect on bands 4 and 8 you can only havev3 or 4 strong signals in the whoke band without interference. Install a wifi analyzer app onto a lap top or phone wander around your home and you are likely to see multiple signals on the same or adacent channels to your home network - unless that is you live 100s of metres from your neighbours.

The 5GHz band is less affected as it does not travel as far so in practice your neighbour's signal is unlikely to be strong enough to affect the signal in your home.

In theory you could use most third party router as long as it had a G.Fast modem stage built in or you buy a router and a simple router. G.Fast modem exist I believe Draytek offer one but they are not cheap or common. One thing I have heard suggested is moving the powerline adapter away from the hub certainly to a different wall plug ideally on a different circuit as that might help.

[TechmanagerMal]

@maxmax 

Be wary of the difference between transfer speed and ethernet connectivity of powerline connectors, mine transfer at 600Mbps but only have 100Mbps ethernet ports.

[maxmax]

Thanks @Chrisee @TechmanagerMal  I'll try switching channels and see if it makes a difference.

I'm a bit puzzled about what to do with the powerlines as that's really the preferred way to get full speed in the office room as there's two of us working on video calls.

[Chrisee]

@maxmax with the powerline adapters experiment with them in different wall outlets to see if you oprimise speeds.