topic Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor in Broadband

New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

crossy_1962 — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 08:34:20 GMT

Hi,

I'm on the Fibre 65 package.

We had our main socket relocated on Monday 24th October, prior to this download speeds were 60MB+. Ever since the signal quality has been really poor, unless I'm stood right next to the router the download speeds are really poor and I have been experiencing packet loss also.

Below is a screenshot of the broadband parameters, I believe the download Noise margin should be 6dB or more? Would this explain why the download speed is being affected so much? As the upload speed is always fine when tested.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

Divsec — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 09:13:11 GMT

Hi @crossy_1962 you tag WiFi, what's happening wired?

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

crossy_1962 — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 09:26:38 GMT

Wired speeds are fine, it is only the wireless speeds being affected. Close to the router the wireless speeds are fine, as soon as I go about 20 feet from the router the download speed drops to 5/6mbps. Would the downstream noise margin of 0dB be causing this? As this suggests the signal and noise are the same.

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

Divsec — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 09:37:15 GMT

@crossy_1962 I would guess the culprit is the new location of the socket. Is it very different from the old location? Do you have other electrical equipment near to the router.?

If yes, and possible, try powering them down selectively to identify any interference

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

crossy_1962 — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 10:11:45 GMT

It has been installed next to a power socket so yes that could be the issue. I'm going to isolate the power socket and see if that is causing interference. Can I ask, is the downstream noise margin a measure of the signal to noise margin on the adsl line or to do with the router signal to noise?

The engineer who installed the socket did a line test so surely he would have seen the SNR was poor

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

Divsec — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 11:21:39 GMT

Hi @crossy_1962 I wish I knew is the only honest answer🤔. I hope one of my more qualified colleagues can answer that and we can learn from his answer, thanks for asking the question.

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

nophead — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 16:13:37 GMT

Yes the downstream noise margin refers to the ADSL connection. It is odd that it is zero because in my experience routers disconnect and drop to a lower speed when it is much below 6dB and it couldn't possible work if it was 0, so it looks like a buggy display.

If it is only your Wifi that is affected that it can't be an ADSL issue. The ADSL is converted to digital and then sent to the Wifi, so any noise on the ADSL line doesn't get to the Wifi signal. As long as the wired download rate is good then the Wifi isn't limited by it.

Perhaps use a Wifi analyser app on your phone to see the signal strength and if there are any conflicts with another nearby access point.

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

Divsec — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 12:15:02 GMT

@nophead thanks, what I thought but didn't know, if you get my drift.

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

crossy_1962 — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 14:13:55 GMT

I have just been on live chat with talktalk and the representative tried to tell me that 0dB noise margin is better. I am glad you have backed up my understanding as I knew they weren't correct, although yes it does seem that the display is glitchy.

The wifi speed significantly drops off when I move about 10 metres from the router with no obstructions. They are now sending me a wifi booster, but surely something isn't quite right with the SNR?

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

crossy_1962 — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 14:27:01 GMT

When approximately 10 metres from my router, the wifi analyser seems to suggest my router is over 100 metres away? And I keep losing wifi connection randomly

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

crossy_1962 — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 14:38:48 GMT

I also have the old router here so just decided to factory reset that and connect it up. The noise margin is on 0dB on the downstream on this router too. Both routers are version: FAST 5364-3.T8

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

nophead — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 14:39:11 GMT

Is the router itself free from metal and in its natural orientation? I.e. not sitting on a metal plate or face down or something. Seems odd the signal should be so weak but it was working before it was moved.

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

nophead — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 14:56:14 GMT

A higher SNR number is definitely better. When the line rate is limited by the SNR, as it usually is unless you are very close to the cabinet, the router negotiates a speed that gives an SNR of 6dB and that is the minimum margin for a reliable connection. I had an intermittent line fault for 2.5 years, so I know the numbers well. If it was truly 0, and even perhaps below 5, it would disconnect and reconnect at a lower rate.

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

crossy_1962 — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 15:38:30 GMT

Thank you for your help! It must be a glitch in the router settings but its weird how both routers are doing it.

The router is mounted the right way and away from any interference, I really cant get my head around why the signal quality is dropping off a cliff as soon as I was 10 meters from it

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

nophead — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 15:47:04 GMT

Seems like its antenna is not connected. Is it an external one, or internal?

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

ferguson — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 16:12:59 GMT

@crossy_1962 Have you tried a pinhole reset of the router? Where exactly is it sited?

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

crossy_1962 — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 18:26:03 GMT

Internal

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

crossy_1962 — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 18:26:29 GMT

I have yes with no change

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

Karl-TalkTalk — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 11:10:08 GMT

It is strange that it is doing this with both routers. I've turned off wifi optimisation for the current router, try changing the wifi channels and see if there is one better channel that helps.

Thanks

Karl.

Re: New socket installed, now download speeds are extremely poor

nophead — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 18:07:34 GMT

It is really odd that your Wifi signal strength is so low 10m away. It seems similar to you neighbouring WifI signals and some of my neighbours are stronger despite living in a detached house. Contention with other signals doesn't reduce the measured signal strength, you just need a stronger signal for a decent data rate.

If both routers are the same and there is nothing between your phone and the router then perhaps an issue with your phone. Have you tried another device?