How should I improve my BT Broadband Fibre connection speeds (UK)

[Adam-F]

Hi All

I currently have BT Broadband Fibre connection FTTC in the UK.

BT sent out the BT Smart Hub 6 router. Here are the speeds I should be receiving. Connection type: Fibre Broadband (VDSL), Downstream sync speed: 80.00 Mbps, Upstream sync speed: 20.00 Mbps.

In reality my speeds are as follows. Downstream 6.23 Mbps Upstream 17.38Mbps on an Ethernet connection, when it was first installed I received Downstream 56.00Mbps & Upstream 10.00Mbps.

BT Smart Hub 6 Router Specification​

• Wireless protocols: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
• Radio bands: 2.4 & 5 GHz
• Antennae: 7 internal
• Modem: ADSL, ADSL2+, VSDL
• WAN port: None
• LAN port: 4x Gigabit
• USB: 1 x USB 3.0
• RJ11 Port for phone line

My current setup consists of the following, the BT Smart Hub 6 router providing household with a broadband connection, from my master phone line socket RJ11 cable, then I have a devolo DLAN 1200+ Ethernet power line adaptor connected to the router. I then have four more devolo adaptors around the house one been a DLAN 1200+ WiFi Extender which provides the upstairs of the house with a WiFi connection.

I have googled around and found out about DrayTek Ethernet modems, that work with BT fibre connections.

I would like an Ethernet modem that has PoE, so I can power a router through that if this is possible.

I would like a Ubiquiti router, is the UniFi Dream Machine - 2,4GHZ/300MBPS - 5GHZ/1733MBPS 5xGbE RJ45 any good as the reviews on Amazon are mixed?

I would also like something that has advanced networking features like VPN & VLAN support which the BT router doesn't have, I can't currently change my DNS provider at the router level, which also would be nice feature to have.

Please see the following images below for more details.

Thanks for the advice!

Adam

 

[Lob]

It seems you should get 80/20 and you're getting ~6/17?

Start as it comes into the house. Are all cables good, have you tested when directly connected to the BT CPE using a good cable?

Do that and if your download is still bad, call it into BT.

Setting up a capable LAN behind their box would be a next step. That will give you DNS management and more. Do you know if BT does basic IPv4 addressing allowing you simple IPv4 inbound connectivity or is it CG-NAT fronting out IPv6 with shared IPv4 space? What are your remote connection needs?

 

[AlanD]

Your first problem is that the 80/20 speeds advertised are the maxima, not the actual likely to be delivered to your house. To get 80/20, you need to be within a few yards of the cabinet. Between you and the cabinet is a length of copper ( or maybe aluminium) cable, with several joints. The signal degrades with distance, the maximum distance for VDSL from the cabinet is about 1.25km. Further than that, and you will get better speeds from ADSL.

You should check the logs and reports in the BT Hub. In the Syslog ( under Advanced settings), you should be able to see the actual sync speed last time your router reconnected. Some routers will tell you the line length ( mine is 453m from the cabinet), but I don't think the BT Hub does.

If you run a speedtest on the BT Wholesale site https://speedtest.btwholesale.com/ that should give you your speeds, but also the line profile and the "guaranteed minimum" speed. If your results are below the guaranteed minimum ( and I am pretty sure that the 6mb will be), you can take it up with your ISP and they should sort it out.

The readings that you give suggest that you have a line problem. Is the voice line crackly? I would raise it with your ISP.


As far as replacement modems are concerned, I have installed Draytek ones for several customers. They provide good logging, including line statistics every 5 minutes, and these can be captured to a Syslog server. They also provide VPN and VLAN's. The only downside is that they are not cheap, but very reliable in my experience. I am not sure if any models provide POE.

 

[Adam-F]

It seems you should get 80/20 and you're getting ~6/17?

Start as it comes into the house. Are all cables good, have you tested when directly connected to the BT CPE using a good cable?

Do that and if your download is still bad, call it into BT.

Setting up a capable LAN behind their box would be a next step. That will give you DNS management and more. Do you know if BT does basic IPv4 addressing allowing you simple IPv4 inbound connectivity or is it CG-NAT fronting out IPv6 with shared IPv4 space? What are your remote connection needs?

Hi

What's CPE & CG-NAT mean?

The last time I called BT, they said the line into the house was normal and had no issues, when they ran some tests.

I have had two call outs and both engineers said there was nothing wrong with the wiring in the house or the phone line itself.

I just need WiFi upstairs & downstairs for mobile phones.

Thanks

 

[Adam-F]

Your first problem is that the 80/20 speeds advertised are the maxima, not the actual likely to be delivered to your house. To get 80/20, you need to be within a few yards of the cabinet. Between you and the cabinet is a length of copper ( or maybe aluminium) cable, with several joints. The signal degrades with distance, the maximum distance for VDSL from the cabinet is about 1.25km. Further than that, and you will get better speeds from ADSL.

You should check the logs and reports in the BT Hub. In the Syslog ( under Advanced settings), you should be able to see the actual sync speed last time your router reconnected. Some routers will tell you the line length ( mine is 453m from the cabinet), but I don't think the BT Hub does.

If you run a speedtest on the BT Wholesale site https://speedtest.btwholesale.com/ that should give you your speeds, but also the line profile and the "guaranteed minimum" speed. If your results are below the guaranteed minimum ( and I am pretty sure that the 6mb will be), you can take it up with your ISP and they should sort it out.

The readings that you give suggest that you have a line problem. Is the voice line crackly? I would raise it with your ISP.


As far as replacement modems are concerned, I have installed Draytek ones for several customers. They provide good logging, including line statistics every 5 minutes, and these can be captured to a Syslog server. They also provide VPN and VLAN's. The only downside is that they are not cheap, but very reliable in my experience. I am not sure if any models provide POE.

Here is the Technical Log

Product name: BT Hub 6A
DSL uptime: 2 Days, 3 Hours 42 Minutes 37 Seconds
Data rate: 20.00 Mbps / 80.00 Mbps
Maximum data rate: 25176 / 86636
Noise margin: 15.2 dB / 6.9 dB
Line attenuation: 15.2 dB
Signal attenuation: 10.4 dB / 15.2 dB
VPI / VCI: 0/38
Modulation: G_993_2_ANNEX_B
Latency type: Fast Path
Data sent / received: 21 GB Uploaded / 27 GB Downloaded

Please see the attachment for the BT Whole Sale Test Results.

Thanks

 

[AlanD]

The first thing to check is whether the problem is caused by your internal wiring. If so, it is your responsibility and BT will charge about £150 to come and fix it.

You can check this by connecting your BT Hub directly to the test socket in the back of your main phone socket. If you remove the front plate, you will see a standard BT socket inside the box. You will need a ADSL/VDSL filter plugged in to that, and then plug your Hub in and re-run the speed test. Any extension wiring should be connected to the front plate, and by removing that you have ruled out any inside interference.

If the speeds are still slow, report it to BT. The screenshot you sent shows your speed as 0.74mbps, and the acceptable range as 40-77mbps, so you are well outside the acceptable limits. The test socket is the demarcation point - anything inside that is your responsibility, anything outside is BT's.

If testing directly into the wall socket shows an acceptable speed, the problem could be on your telephone extension wiring. If the other phone sockets in the house are not in use, you could disconnect any extension wiring from the back of the front plate. I had this problem some time ago. There were 4 extensions wired in my house ( second phone, Sky boxes etc), but no longer used. Once I disconnected these, the speed and reliability improved dramatically.

 

[MichaelRSorg]

I would suggest avoiding Ubiquiti equipment. The company does not seem to trustworthy.

 

[Lob]

CPE is the kit from BT
CG-NAT is carrier grade NAT, basically the carrier NATs your IPv4 traffic and you have IPv6 available

As pointed out by Alan, make the connectivity as simple as possible and measure the speed using a known good LAN cable. Also ensure that your device is properly set up - have you a friendly neighbour where you can measure your connection speed on their network?

Also try different devices, maybe a mobile device using Speedtest.net's App.

This will help you figure out where the problem might lie.

 

[PHolder]

CPE

More specifically CPE is industry speak for Customer Premises Equipment... anything the ISP (or phone or cable company) supplies to you to use at your home/location with their service.

 

[AlanD]

In Uk, BT try to make it fairly simple. Where your phone line comes in, they will fit a socket, usually NTE5 ( see photo). All "their" wiring is behind this. The demarcation point is the test socket inside the box. Any telephone extension wiring is connected to the front plate. Remove the front plate and you disconnect all the internal wiring, which is the householder's responsibility. If you still get a problem at the test socket, it is their problem. If you get a good connection there, but bad when eth front plate is fitted, it is your problem, but you can legally change your own extension wiring, you don't have to call them in and pay.

 

[Adam-F]

In Uk, BT try to make it fairly simple. Where your phone line comes in, they will fit a socket, usually NTE5 ( see photo). All "their" wiring is behind this. The demarcation point is the test socket inside the box. Any telephone extension wiring is connected to the front plate. Remove the front plate and you disconnect all the internal wiring, which is the householder's responsibility. If you still get a problem at the test socket, it is their problem. If you get a good connection there, but bad when eth front plate is fitted, it is your problem, but you can legally change your own extension wiring, you don't have to call them in and pay.View attachment 391

Thanks I will have a look into testing from the test socket.

 

[Adam-F]

I would suggest avoiding Ubiquiti equipment. The company does not seem to trustworthy.

What gear would you recommend Michael?

 

[Adam-F]

CPE is the kit from BT
CG-NAT is carrier grade NAT, basically the carrier NATs your IPv4 traffic and you have IPv6 available

As pointed out by Alan, make the connectivity as simple as possible and measure the speed using a known good LAN cable. Also ensure that your device is properly set up - have you a friendly neighbour where you can measure your connection speed on their network?

Also try different devices, maybe a mobile device using Speedtest.net's App.

This will help you figure out where the problem might lie.

Thanks for the explanation.

 

[Adam-F]

More specifically CPE is industry speak for Customer Premises Equipment... anything the ISP (or phone or cable company) supplies to you to use at your home/location with their service.

Thanks for the explanation

 

[Adam-F]

Here are the speeds from my Android phone.

23.61 Downstream 19.61 Upstream.

 

[AlanD]

Here are the speeds from my Android phone.

23.61 Downstream 19.61 Upstream.

But is that with your phone on the wifi, or using the mobile phone (4G or 5G) network? Even if it is on wifi, you are still outside the "acceptable range" for your BT connection.

 

[Adam-F]

But is that with your phone on the wifi, or using the mobile phone (4G or 5G) network? Even if it is on wifi, you are still outside the "acceptable range" for your BT connection.

That was on a WiFi connection. I am using the BT main phone socket for my broadband, so which port is used for the test port? Then do I just use my PC to run a speed test?

 

[AlanD]

That was on a WiFi connection. I am using the BT main phone socket for my broadband, so which port is used for the test port? Then do I just use my PC to run a speed test?

Ideally, you use the socket on the back plate - dead centre in the right hand picture, but you will need an ADSL/VDSL filter to plug the Hub into that. Then just connect your PC direct to the HUB and run the speed test again. If you don't have a filter, you will need to attach the front p[late as that has a filter built in.

 

[Adam-F]

Ideally, you use the socket on the back plate - dead centre in the right hand picture, but you will need an ADSL/VDSL filter to plug the Hub into that. Then just connect your PC direct to the HUB and run the speed test again. If you don't have a filter, you will need to attach the front p[late as that has a filter built in.

Okay, I will have ago tomorrow and keep you posted.

Thanks for the help so far.

 

[Adam-F]

Ideally, you use the socket on the back plate - dead centre in the right hand picture, but you will need an ADSL/VDSL filter to plug the Hub into that. Then just connect your PC direct to the HUB and run the speed test again. If you don't have a filter, you will need to attach the front p[late as that has a filter built in.

I ran the master socket test. I got the following results Ping 35ms Download 3.41 Mbps Upload 6.94.