FTTC Download/Throughput Issues

.Griff. · Oct 07, 2010, 15:58:18

A number of people, myself included, have been less than overwhelmed with the download speed, and consistency of it, with our FTTC/VDSL2 connections.

I documented my findings in this thread here - http://www.idnetters.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=21762.0 - and from the speed graphs attached you can see that regardless of time of day or source I downloaded from I was unable to achieve a steady download speed.

Yesterday I replaced the Netgear WGR614 as recommended by IDNet with a Linksys WRT320N which has a more powerful processor, more ram and gigabit ports. I haven't had a chance to do any meaningful tests until this afternoon when I decided to download a 1400MB file via Rapidshare.

This is the speed graph from my previous attempt a few weeks ago using the Netgear -

As you can see the speed fluctuates wildly and taken as an average the file download at about 16Mbps.

This is the speed graph from today's attempt -

Notice the difference? The download speed was consistant and hardly fluctuate from the maximum speed acheivable at all. Six minutes to download 1400MB!

Now whether I just got lucky, whether it was the new router, whether IDNet/BT made a change to their network I'm not sure but I thought it would be wise to create this thread so people can throw their opinions and idea's about.

Steve · Oct 07, 2010, 16:41:55

It does look like the 100mbps Netgear's struggling, can you now reproduce it?

Need to get Bill to install Windows on his new iMac and see how the AEBS is performing.

Rik · Oct 07, 2010, 16:43:46

Technical Ben · Oct 07, 2010, 16:46:14

Wow. That must be a first. The routers cannot keep up with the connection speed! :O
I guess it was bound to happen. 24mps is faster than some processors can manage. I guess the discrete options in these routers are too slow for it.

.Griff. · Oct 07, 2010, 16:52:40

I can't categorically say the Netgear is inadequate but it has been suggested both on here and TBB forums.

Either way I got my new router less than 24 hours ago and today is the first time since I've had this connection that I've been able to download something without the speed bouncing all over the place.

Coincidence? Maybe it is!

Rik · Oct 07, 2010, 16:55:32

But more likely, no it isn't.

Simon · Oct 07, 2010, 17:06:23

If this is proved to be correct, maybe IDNet should be looking at the routers they are supplying?

.Griff. · Oct 07, 2010, 17:10:33

Quote from: Simon on Oct 07, 2010, 17:06:23
If this is proved to be correct, maybe IDNet should be looking at the routers they are supplying?

I notice that this particular Netgear has now been removed from this page within the last few days - https://www.idnet.net/solutions/home/routers.jsp

However if a customer places an order for FTTC then it still appears as an option on the order page.

Simon · Oct 07, 2010, 17:11:35

Tim did say they were changing them

Bill · Oct 07, 2010, 17:50:05

Quote from: Steve on Oct 07, 2010, 16:41:55
Need to get Bill to install Windows on his new iMac and see how the AEBS is performing.

Yeah, right

I doubt tbbmeter would work in a VM anyway, I don't think it accesses the hardware directly but it does make some pretty low level system calls.

Back to the AEBS... One of the reasons I bought it was because all the Ethernet ports, including the WAN port, were gigabit. (Another reason was certified 802.11n wireless.) I'd seen a couple of posts on tbb that indicated 100Mbps ports and 802.11g could struggle on a fibre connection.

Watching the Network tab on Activity monitor, it can handle 4.5MBps (36Mbps) for as long as the far end can supply data at that rate

Holodene · Oct 07, 2010, 19:29:44

I'm tempted to get an ALIX firewall to route my FTTC connection. I don't trust consumer routers.

Steve · Oct 07, 2010, 19:49:44

Quote from: Bill on Oct 07, 2010, 17:50:05

I doubt tbbmeter would work in a VM anyway, I don't think it accesses the hardware directly but it does make some pretty low level system calls.

Quick test on XP sp3 guest OS via Virtualbox 3.2.8 with Mac OS X 10.6.4 as host, tbbmeter is working with NIC in bridged mode.

Bill · Oct 07, 2010, 20:08:59

Quote from: Steve on Oct 07, 2010, 19:49:44
Quick test on XP sp3 guest OS via Virtualbox 3.2.8 with Mac OS X 10.6.4 as host, tbbmeter is working with NIC in bridged mode.

That's cheating, it's not really a VM

I don't have a licenced copy of Windows (and no intention of buying one!), I was thinking more of something like CrossOver.

But along with several other things, it'll have to wait until the credit card recovers from a very heavy month!

Bill · Oct 07, 2010, 20:18:01

Quote from: Steve on Oct 07, 2010, 19:49:44tbbmeter is working with NIC in bridged mode.

Me ignorant- not sure what you mean by "NIC in bridged mode"?

(I know what NIC stands for, it's the "bridged mode" bit I'm asking about)

Holodene · Oct 07, 2010, 20:20:35

Bridged onto his existing network instead of NAT which is usually a new network with a route to the Internet through the host NIC.

Steve · Oct 07, 2010, 20:22:50

Thanks Holodene, it's one of the virtualbox network adaptor setup options

esh · Oct 07, 2010, 21:47:11

There is no reason why tbbmeter would not work as a VM. I run my *router* as a VM.

sof2er · Oct 08, 2010, 13:31:33

Interesting Griff, I know the WGR614 is really bad and I'm thinking of getting the same router you got.

Let me know if you achieve full speed at all times because I mostly even see the speeds drop as low as 6 to 10 mbps around 23:00 to 01:00

.Griff. · Oct 08, 2010, 13:35:40

Quote from: sof2er on Oct 08, 2010, 13:31:33
Interesting Griff, I know the WGR614 is really bad and I'm thinking of getting the same router you got.

Let me know if you achieve full speed at all times because I mostly even see the speeds drop as low as 6 to 10 mbps around 23:00 to 01:00

Hi mate.. I knew you shared the same concerns as me about the Netgear so I'll definitely keep you updated on my findings.

Are you downloading from any specific sources so I can do a fair comparison?

sof2er · Oct 08, 2010, 15:45:49

Not often, but I usually download steam games related stuff and stream alot of stuff aswell. Whenever I have to play a cupmatch I have to make a PPPoE connection because the netgear often gives me 1 to 3% packetloss whereas modem doesn't.

I don't really download a lot but I just check out speed tests at random times to see how it is.

Edit: Using Netgear I have yet to achieve 37 Mbps, I don't usually get more than 30~ mbps....(not to mention latency is 1-2 ms more)

zappaDPJ · Oct 08, 2010, 16:35:52

Due to illness and a the huge amount of stuff I've got going at the moment I haven't had the chance to really pursue the problems I'm having with FTTC. To be honest I was somewhat relieved just to sort out the initial problem I was having with disconnections.

The throughput issue that a number of us seem to be having is odd one, at least I find it so. While the BT Speedtester (when it works) generally returns poor results, they are usually always much better than real world testing. Other speed testers also tend to return higher results. My BT speed tests are generally somewhere around 20 Mbps while my real world speed tests (downloading a file of a known size from a remote server) are on average well below. In fact my average for the last two weeks on two daily tests is 7.85 Mbps.

It seems obvious that I need to eliminate the WGR614 from the equation so I'll try again to connect directly to the BT modem and do some more testing. I couldn't get this to work before but I'll put a bit more effort into it this time.

Rik · Oct 08, 2010, 16:37:10

Let us know how you get on, Zap.

zappaDPJ · Oct 08, 2010, 16:40:46

I will do

.Griff. · Oct 09, 2010, 18:51:59

Nice consistent throughput from Rapidshare again this evening -

Never saw anything like this with the Netgear.

Rik · Oct 09, 2010, 18:54:25

We'll have to try and persuade IDNet to change allegiance.