Sponsored Links

Vodafone - 58Mb/s into router 15Mb/s out over Ethernet?

Zeddsded

Casual Member
I’ve had a Vodafone fibre connection for about 3 years now (currently their 70Mb/s package).

The speed coming out of the router has been steadily decreasing since December (I used to get a ping of 13 ms and 35Mb/s to 45Mb/s over WiFi).

Following numerous phone calls Vodafone replaced my router (2 days ago). Unfortunately things are now worse.

The ping is now 26ms and despite seeing 58Mb/s hitting the router, I’m only getting 15Mb/s coming out of an Ethernet connection (about 9 on WiFi).

My router is connected to the master socket. I’ve switched off the WiFi and had only one Ethernet connection out of the router... and 15Mb/s is the best speed I’m seeing (Using speedtest.net as advised by Vodafone). I’m pretty sure that this speed is accurate as I can no longer stream 4K Netflix and even YouTube is buffering!

Vodafone have told me that the router is still configuring itself and to give it another 12 hours. Is this likely or am I being fobbed off until I phone them again tomorrow?

Anyone encountered a similar problem and found a solution?

Many thanks.
 
You are being fobbed off; the ethernet side should be full speed from the start, only the "fibre" side might need a few days to stabilize.

Did you reuse the same ethernet cable?

You could try a different cable and port, but fastest way would be to buy a cheap TPLink router, enter your Voda details and see what you get from it.

I always keep a spare router on hand - just in case.
 
Sounds like classic contention across the Vodaphone network to me, basically they are becoming over subscribed.

We have been getting quite a few transfers to us since the start of the year, from Vodaphone, all reporting similar things. Also seeing similar reports over on Thinkbroadband about contention.
 
Sponsored Links
Sounds like classic contention across the Vodaphone network to me, basically they are becoming over subscribed.

We have been getting quite a few transfers to us since the start of the year, from Vodaphone, all reporting similar things. Also seeing similar reports over on Thinkbroadband about contention.

Thanks Aquiss,

So, before I order a 3rd party modem/router, does this mean that my speed is unlikely to improve even if I swap out Vodafone's kit?

Cheers.
 
You are being fobbed off; the ethernet side should be full speed from the start, only the "fibre" side might need a few days to stabilize.

Did you reuse the same ethernet cable?

You could try a different cable and port, but fastest way would be to buy a cheap TPLink router, enter your Voda details and see what you get from it.

I always keep a spare router on hand - just in case.

Thanks C_C,

I've used a number of different ethernet cables. My Xbox One is connected via ethernet too and I see the same low speeds when I run the Detailed Statistic check on the XB.

Cheers.
 
Thanks Aquiss,

So, before I order a 3rd party modem/router, does this mean that my speed is unlikely to improve even if I swap out Vodafone's kit?

Cheers.

You reported 58Mbps sync to the router. I would be very surprised, even with the included free router that Vodaphone supplies, that the unit is unable to perform to your line speeds, if the bandwidth is available from the network. Even the most basic of routers should at least get 100Mbps to be inline with a product that is able to get 80Mbps. I just can't see that a 3rd party router improving Ethernet speeds for you.

The key test for you will be to do speedtests, outside normal daytime periods, for instance 7.00am in the morning, that should be a quiet period and see if speeds differ to that of peak times. If speeds remain capped out at 15Mbps around the clock, then your line may have a circuit profile applied. Vodaphone, if they know what they are doing, should be able to see that on your circuit and remove it.
 
You reported 58Mbps sync to the router. I would be very surprised, even with the included free router that Vodaphone supplies, that the unit is unable to perform to your line speeds, if the bandwidth is available from the network. Even the most basic of routers should at least get 100Mbps to be inline with a product that is able to get 80Mbps. I just can't see that a 3rd party router improving Ethernet speeds for you.

The key test for you will be to do speedtests, outside normal daytime periods, for instance 7.00am in the morning, that should be a quiet period and see if speeds differ to that of peak times. If speeds remain capped out at 15Mbps around the clock, then your line may have a circuit profile applied. Vodaphone, if they know what they are doing, should be able to see that on your circuit and remove it.

Thanks for the info.

I'm currently looking at 27Mb/s over ethernet, so it doesn't appear to be capped.

I'm currently in conversation with Vodafone again (my daily call).

Cheers.
 
Sponsored Links
Thanks for the info.

I'm currently looking at 27Mb/s over ethernet, so it doesn't appear to be capped.

I'm currently in conversation with Vodafone again (my daily call).

Cheers.

It's very much leaning towards a classic contention situation and their network being busy.

They are very much are in a race to the bottom on pricing to grab marketshare and sadly contention like this is a all too familiar pattern.
 
It's very much leaning towards a classic contention situation and their network being busy.

They are very much are in a race to the bottom on pricing to grab marketshare and sadly contention like this is a all too familiar pattern.

Sadly my contract doesn't expire until 6th Oct '19, so I could be making quite a few more phone calls.

Plus, because the sync speed is 58Mb/s, they are complying with their guaranteed minimum speed.

However, the nice young lady that I've just spent 48 mins on the with isn't happy with how the configuration of my new router went. She says she can see something that doesn't look quite right(?). So we're going to do a hard reset (tomorrow as their system is currently being updated and she can't get to the info she needs), configure the router again, and see if that sorts it.

Fingers crossed (and many thanks for your input).
 
Crossing my fingers didn’t work... 😢

No return call from Vodafone.

I decided to call them back, but obviously didn't get to speak to yesterday's young lady (so back to square one).

We mucked about with a few router settings (totally aimlessly) and I was then asked to run another speed test. Which was coincidentally the one used by ISPReview. Lo and behold I had a reading of 54Mb/s from my 58Mb/s sync speed. However, Speedtest.net was still reporting 15-20Mb/s.

There Vodafone support desk therefore claimed that my problem had been resolved as his speed test suggestion was the accurate one (Not Speedtest.net).

Totally unconvinced by this 'cure' for my problems I went down stairs and attempted to stream a 4K feed from Netflix. Sure enough the image was still fuzzy (Via WiFi or Powerline adapter) . My Ethernet connected Xbox One is also only claiming 20Mb/s when I run the detailed test on there.

I am therefore planning a (rather expensive) test of the system (probably tomorrow) as I've got a tp-link AC2800 on order from Amazon. Vodafone provided my username and password this afternoon, so I'm good to go.

Can anyone explain to me why ISPReview's speed test says everything is fine, when Speedtest.net (originally suggested by Vodafone) says it isn't?

If tomorrow's new router doesn't solve the problem then I guess at least it gives me the flexibility to switch to an ISP that doesn't supply routers come October (Me trying to justify a £180 spend that probably won't work...).
 
Thanks C_C,

I've used a number of different ethernet cables. My Xbox One is connected via ethernet too and I see the same low speeds when I run the Detailed Statistic check on the XB.

Cheers.

I see Mark from Aquiss saying it is almost certainly network congestion; he is probably correct (I have to agree, AQUISS is my ISP!!).

However, having been fobbed off by several other ISPs, including PlusNet (my parents ISP); having a spare router is always a good idea.

PN were capping their speeds and denying it, but by using a more advanced router, I could see the actual line sync and estimated through-put were far above what PN were allowing them.

As soon as I published those results on a public forum, BANG !!
PN tripled their connection speed overnight; blaming it on a "configuration error".
 
Sponsored Links
Oh well. At least I've got a nice shiny black box, if not a quicker internet speed.

Any suggestions on what I might try next?

On a side note, I was Googling Line Attenuation and stumbled across a checker on Speed Guide.net. I put in my 11.1dB figure and was told that I was 800+ metres from my cabinet. Which was surprising as when an Openreach engineer made a recent visit he told me that I was 90 metres from the cabinet (which was pretty close to my own calculation). Is this likely to just be some spurious software estimation?

Many thanks.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2019-02-12 at 11.54.24.png
    Screenshot 2019-02-12 at 11.54.24.png
    44.2 KB · Views: 277
  • Screenshot 2019-02-12 at 11.58.42.png
    Screenshot 2019-02-12 at 11.58.42.png
    48.5 KB · Views: 439
If you have a look over in the Vodafone forums you will see a lot of people with the same issues - It is not really that your ethernet is poor - but the speed of certain traffic from the Vodafone core network is poor.

From a number of tests that other users have conducted there appears to be a couple of issues (although a lot of people just say it is congestion). The first is yes there is some underlying congestion at peak times.

The second seemed to start fairly abruptly in November 2018 when certain traffic (most commonly noted in some streaming and speedtests, but also observed in downloading files, e.g. ISO images etc) of some services to some of the customer base.

Some of those affected are Netflix, twitch and some speedtest sites (including amusingly the speedtest.vodafone.co.uk server) which would seem to be capped, or very badly routed. As mentioned this started suddenly in November 2018 and not just a slow decline in speed.

I have a very stable sync at 64Mbps, no resyncs or excessive errors, ping acceptable at 20ms (monitored with DSLstats and thinkbroadband BQM). Pretty much 24/7 I can achieve the theoretical throughput speed to some services (some speedtest servers, some download sites etc) with some congestion at peak.

However some services, Netflix, twitch, and some speedtest sites, Netflix fast.com never seem to get above 15Mbps 24/7. I really can't believe that congestion would cause all these services to be so degraded at all hours.

Jump on the same services - through a VPN and they achieve expected good results. Speedtesting the speedtest.vodafone.co.uk through the VPN or other broadband achieves good results too!

Unfortunately despite the evidence generally Vodafone CS & tech support will blame your router, not using the test socket, wifi, etc even when the complaint is not the sync speed. They seem to quote a slightly obscure "BT Lancashire Services" speedtest server saying their server has issues. This is on a good route and gets good results (mainly routes over JANET) they even ask users to change DNS to public (e.g. google) ones, although nslookup of Voda's own and public ones resolve the same IP addresses.

Some users raising complaints have started to get responses that Voda are looking into an issue, but no timescales to fix or any public acknowledgement.
 
Oh well. At least I've got a nice shiny black box, if not a quicker internet speed.

Any suggestions on what I might try next?

On a side note, I was Googling Line Attenuation and stumbled across a checker on Speed Guide.net. I put in my 11.1dB figure and was told that I was 800+ metres from my cabinet. Which was surprising as when an Openreach engineer made a recent visit he told me that I was 90 metres from the cabinet (which was pretty close to my own calculation). Is this likely to just be some spurious software estimation?

Many thanks.
Complaining to the Vodafone complaints dept:

.......or if you can without penalty leave.

On speedtest.net try changing the server manually to something like exascale manchester, aql leeds and see if you get better results. Like I've said in my other reply if you have a good sync speed and stability the issue is upstream in the voda network.

🤣That's not a bad speedtest to the vodafone server!! A lot of people get a lot worse!
 
Sponsored Links
Complaining to the Vodafone complaints dept:

.......or if you can without penalty leave.

On speedtest.net try changing the server manually to something like exascale manchester, aql leeds and see if you get better results. Like I've said in my other reply if you have a good sync speed and stability the issue is upstream in the voda network.

🤣That's not a bad speedtest to the vodafone server!! A lot of people get a lot worse!

I just did the speedtest using the exascale Manchester server and got a download speed of 53MB/s...

Now I’m puzzled.

Funnily enough my speed changed in Nov 2018 and I first began calling Vodafone in December.

Netflix is definitely affected, with 4K streams never fully coming into focus (but on other occasions I’ll do a quick check and they work). Game downloads to my XBox One can suffer similar problems with download speeds dropping to single figures.

Just for clarity on one of your earlier comments. We’re you suggesting that my download speeds (for Netflix etc) would be better if I signed up for a VPN?

Many thanks for your comprehensive observations.
 
So IP traffic going over the networks is a bit like the roads, you can take different routes to get to your destination. Different destination - obviously a different route, but for the same destination you could take a few different routes. Different routes can be busy at different times of the day. Some routes are always slow also.

So when you test the "vodafone -London" server it goes one route. This one seems to be slow all the time for some reason.
Speedtest the other servers that get a good result then you are going a different route.
What this does prove is that it is not your router/wifi/ethernet cable or your connection to the cabinet that are faulty so there is no point changing them. It does show that the issue lies somewhere in the upstream Vodafone network.

Using VPN will by the way it works take a different route for the traffic - i.e. it goes to the VPN companies server first (albeit over the Voda network) before going from there to the same destination. The VPN routes don't seem to be as affected by the current issues.

But you shouldn't really have to pay extra to use a VPN to get the service you should expect.
 
So IP traffic going over the networks is a bit like the roads, you can take different routes to get to your destination. Different destination - obviously a different route, but for the same destination you could take a few different routes. Different routes can be busy at different times of the day. Some routes are always slow also.

So when you test the "vodafone -London" server it goes one route. This one seems to be slow all the time for some reason.
Speedtest the other servers that get a good result then you are going a different route.
What this does prove is that it is not your router/wifi/ethernet cable or your connection to the cabinet that are faulty so there is no point changing them. It does show that the issue lies somewhere in the upstream Vodafone network.

Using VPN will by the way it works take a different route for the traffic - i.e. it goes to the VPN companies server first (albeit over the Voda network) before going from there to the same destination. The VPN routes don't seem to be as affected by the current issues.

But you shouldn't really have to pay extra to use a VPN to get the service you should expect.

Thanks for the explanation. To be honest, given my last 2 1/2 months of phoning Vodafone with no progress, I’m happy to explore the VPN route to the end of my Vodafone contract in October.

Can you recommend a VPN?

I’ve been watching some YouTube reviews of VPNs and some appear to be rejected by sites such as Paypal. Apparently VyprVPN doesn’t give such problems (if this is indeed an issue?).

I was planning to try and set up the VPN in the router so that I can stream Netflix from the TV’s app (or indeed any device) without downloading VPN apps onto each device. Does this make sense?

The tp-link AC2800 seems to have a tab dedicated to VPNs.

Thanks again.
 
Hmm, I don't really use VPNs for streaming etc so can't recommend one.

I've not used a TP-Link AC2800 - just check it has the OpenVPN Client on the tab and not just OpenVPN server as that is the wrong way round.
 
Top
Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £24.00
132Mbps
Gift: None
Shell Energy UK ISP Logo
Shell Energy £26.99
109Mbps
Gift: None
Plusnet UK ISP Logo
Plusnet £27.99
145Mbps
Gift: None
Zen Internet UK ISP Logo
Zen Internet £28.00 - 35.00
100Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £15.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
YouFibre UK ISP Logo
YouFibre £19.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
BeFibre UK ISP Logo
BeFibre £21.00
150Mbps
Gift: £25 Love2Shop Card
Hey! Broadband UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Sponsored Links
The Top 15 Category Tags
  1. FTTP (5472)
  2. BT (3505)
  3. Politics (2524)
  4. Openreach (2291)
  5. Business (2251)
  6. Building Digital UK (2234)
  7. FTTC (2041)
  8. Mobile Broadband (1961)
  9. Statistics (1778)
  10. 4G (1654)
  11. Virgin Media (1608)
  12. Ofcom Regulation (1451)
  13. Fibre Optic (1392)
  14. Wireless Internet (1386)
  15. FTTH (1381)
Sponsored

Copyright © 1999 to Present - ISPreview.co.uk - All Rights Reserved - Terms  ,  Privacy and Cookie Policy  ,  Links  ,  Website Rules