Gfast constant drops

[Avalon]

Also on a side note why does the router download/upload speed differ to what is showing when i do a speed test btw.
For example in my router it currently says 104063 kbps when i do a speed test via speedtest.net it shows

PING ms
10
DOWNLOAD Mbps
92.51
UPLOAD Mbps
12.73

In the router it shows

Broadband Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 104063 kbps 12867 kbps
Line Attenuation D1(52.4 dB) , D2(0.0 dB) , D3(0.0 dB) U0(0.0 dB) , U1(0.0 dB) , U2(0.0 dB)
Noise Margin 2.6 dB 3.1 dB

In simple terms, you have to allow for protocol overheads, peering/routing, test server load and normal variation, you can’t expect to attain 100% of line sync speed on a remote speed test, but that upload sucks. What are you supposed to be getting?

 

[DataVampire]

Well the engineer turned up. all tested fine did not know what the problem was, i explained and showed him the sky broadband health checker.
He said according to his tests everything was fine ie nothing wrong. he then went off dto do some tests at the pole. 30 mins came back and said sorry buddy. your line is to far away. and you should not have had the g-fast install done in the first place.

I then asked why i was able to order it in the first place and explained i had done the various checks on different isps including bt. and they all said the same yes i can get it i should expect speeds of 135-140 down and 10-30 upload. i explained even sky done the tests and it was all fine.

I will have to be downgraded he said to the 80/20 package. i even asked can i still keep the g-fast install as it is actually faster than my 80/20 i had before he said no.

I am axutaly peeved i get lower latency in games with g-fast it syncs faster just my upload is around 2-5 lower. and this g-fast is actually cheaper than my previous 80-20. i also bought new Ethernet cable and and cabled up around the house.

Just my luck

 

[Ayahuasca]

The soft checks done via the online checkers for gfast are rather poor, the engineer has been able to physically measure the distance of the cable to determine why you're only seeing those speeds.

As an example, my brother was told to expect gfast speeds of around 200 down and 25 up through the online checkers. He only gets around 150/20 on his and has had the line checked by an engineer.

I'm not sure he can make you cancel your contract though, if you're happy with it as is then why would they enforce a downgrade? I know people on gfast connections who only see around 110/10 speeds and haven't been downgraded to standard 80/20 FTTC packages. You could simply argue that you want the reduced latency.

 

[Caged]

You can keep it if you want, you probably won't be able to change providers though as it won't show as an available service in future.

 

[TheGamingGeneral]

Just a final update. We agreed to test the fibre max 1 (150Mb/s) and that has been fine for a week or so now (no disconnects).



I note Wikipedia states:

Distance Performance target

<100 m, FTTB 900–1000 Mbit/s

100 m 900 Mbit/s

200 m 600 Mbit/s

300 m 300 Mbit/s

500 m 100 Mbit/s[20]

I am 340m from the cab so 300 appears to of been too ambitious. When I plug in my postcode on BT or Sky’s website, they only offer the 150 speed, EE are the only ones at the moment that offer the 300 (at least in my area).



EE:

Minimum Fibre Download Speed is 144.7 Mb/Sec

Maximum Fibre Download Speed is 145.6 Mb/Sec

Minimum Fibre Upload Speed is 17.2 Mb/Sec

Maximum Fibre Upload Speed is 27.3 Mb/Sec

Minimum Guaranteed Download Speed is 143.80 Mb/Sec

I am not achieving the min speed, I am typically hovering around the 120/137 (137 appears to be the absolute max) but, there was a few days where I was reverted to 80/20 and was getting closer to 60 on average. So I still consider this as an experiment worthwhile as I've doubled the speed and paying less than I did BT (they gave me a discount for my trouble ontop). For anyone who stumbles onto this thread in future with a similar issue as I said in the OP no one ever seemed to follow so make of this what you will.



God I hope FTTP becomes an option soon

Thanks

 

[bulldog147]

G.fast are a waste of time! Very bad idea by Openreach in the first place. G.fast are fine for those below 150m or less to the pcp cabinet.

 

[RockLobster]

Echo some of the comments here. Had gfast last year, I had terrible problems. 18 engineer visits. At one point I was researching REIN issues myself. I was getting hundreds of drops per day. In the end I had to email Clive Selley (BT Open Reach director) I was reverted back to 80/20 rock solid ever since.

 

[Avalon]

G.fast are a waste of time! Very bad idea by Openreach in the first place. G.fast are fine for those below 150m or less to the pcp cabinet.

Strange, 300m here, 240/35 sync, uptime measured is better than FTTC which in itself was inherently reliable (power cut lasted longer than the UPS battery at one point, cat climbed on faceplate and pulled it out one evening, that was about it other than a re-pull).

 

[Caged]

I'm surprised you're getting that @ 300m, they wouldn't install to one of our sites that is on a 280m long line, even the 160Mbps product.

 

[Sui]

Bad news is I’m getting a gfast install next Friday. The good news is I can see a green cabinet from the window and the checker says >300Mb.

EE are offering their 300Mb package with a guaranteed minimum speed of 300Mb. Will report back once it’s installed.

 

[bulldog147]

Strange, 300m here, 240/35 sync, uptime measured is better than FTTC which in itself was inherently reliable (power cut lasted longer than the UPS battery at one point, cat climbed on faceplate and pulled it out one evening, that was about it other than a re-pull).

What did your dsl checker say? and can you remember what are your downstream line attenuation on FTTC before switch to Gfast. I was surprise u get 240/35 from 300m.

 

[RockLobster]

I'm surprised you're getting that @ 300m, they wouldn't install to one of our sites that is on a 280m long line, even the 160Mbps product.

I was 330m from the cab. Speed was good though - just under 300mbps. I think gfast is more prone to REIN issues.

 

[Caged]

Bad news is I’m getting a gfast install next Friday. The good news is I can see a green cabinet from the window and the checker says >300Mb.

EE are offering their 300Mb package with a guaranteed minimum speed of 300Mb. Will report back once it’s installed.

Are you getting the new Smart Wi-Fi thing from EE?

 

[bulldog147]

I was 330m from the cab. Speed was good though - just under 300mbps. I think gfast is more prone to REIN issues.

I thought Gfast are limit to very shortern line like eg: less than 150m to get maximum speed 330/50 but 330m from cabinet to get less than 300Meg but u didn't stated what speed is given to u.

 

[Ayahuasca]

The length of the line isn't the be-all and end-all with Gfast, my line distance is shorter than Avalon's and I can only get 130/10.

It's why I'm begrudgingly trying Virgin now they're in my area.

 

[bulldog147]

Blimey that's showed why Gfast are very poor

 

[Sui]

Are you getting the new Smart Wi-Fi thing from EE?

Nah, it’s only a 1 bed flat so didn’t feel the need to pay the £10 month extra.

 

[Ayahuasca]

Blimey that's showed why Gfast are very poor

It doesn't show anything really, other than that line length isn't the deciding factor on what speed you'll get. My brother lives in the same town but connected to a different cabinet, his line length is similar to mine and he gets double my speeds :/ I've had an Openreach engineer look at my line for issues and they can't find anything.

I'm sure Avalon is happy with the speeds he's getting on Gfast and probably at a decent price.

 

[Avalon]

What did your dsl checker say? and can you remember what are your downstream line attenuation on FTTC before switch to Gfast. I was surprise u get 240/35 from 300m.

Pass on FTTC stats, I can probably dig some up, but the sync was always at maximum of 80/20, though it did require a re-pull to achieve that and I opted for a pole feed rather than digging up the damaged duct work. In my case the initial clean estimate was 294.7-261.5/21.8-44.9 clean and 229.5-166.7/15.1-30.2 clean low and I was paying £20/m (don't ask), obviously like ADSL and FTTC before it g.fast estimated speeds were scaled down over time as accuracy improved, and in my case some genius builder sunk copper cable direct into a solid concrete floor about 60 years ago without conduit, so I plan to take the master socket back to the external wall at some point, I suspect removing the last 15m or so and an external joint where it comes into the premises will likely push me into the 260/40+ range (highest i've seen is 248/37). Either way g.fast in my case is significantly better than FTTC even on a 300m line.

 

[bulldog147]

I think Gfast follow the same line attenuation as it show past on ADSL2+ line attenuation but less than 2dB than ADSL2+ (openreach estimate for my gfast are 317/50)

Gfast line attenuation:
bcm_xdslctl info --stats
bcm_xdslctl: ADSL driver and PHY status
Status: Showtime
Last Retrain Reason: 0
Last initialization procedure status: 0
Max: Upstream rate = 47432 Kbps, Downstream rate = 249621 Kbps
Bearer: 0, Upstream rate = 47732 Kbps, Downstream rate = 249959 Kbps

Link Power State: L0
Mode: G.fast Annex A
TPS-TC: PTM Mode(0x0)
Trellis: U:ON /D:ON
Line Status: No Defect
Training Status: Showtime
Down Up
SNR (dB): 3.0 3.0
Attn(dB): 30.6 0.0

My past ADSL line attenuation @ 28.9dB getting sync of 8/0.4
My past ADSL2+ line attenuation @ 32.3dB getting sync of 14/1
My current FTTC line attenuation @ 11.1dB getting sync of 80/20
My past Gfast line attenuation @ 30.6dB getting sync of 249/47