topic Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn in Broadband

Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

BobLauric — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 12:57:31 GMT

Why is my internet connection considerably slower without my VPN...I can't watch a YouTube video without it buffering every 2 mins...I have full fiber...150mbps....I need a fix...

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

fr8ys — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 13:02:47 GMT

Hi,
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You can also add your account number in the private notes field, which only you and the support staff can view.
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Thank you

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

Mandisa-TT — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 14:06:13 GMT

Hi @KeithFrench this is a full fibre customer, any advise will be much appreciated.

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

KeithFrench — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 14:21:21 GMT

Hi @BobLauric

@Mandisa-TT has asked me to help you.

Please can you confirm for me:-

What make/model of router and/or any boosters or mesh nodes that you have?
If an eero solution, in the app, what speeds is it recording by tapping on Internet from the Home tab?
If this is a Sagemcom Wi-Fi Hub solution, please disconnect the Ethernet cable between the ONT & the hub. Then, if you have a laptop or similar, connect a wired device directly to the Ethernet port of the ONT. Please do a speed test from there. What speeds do you get?
Is this normally over a wired (Ethernet) connection or a wireless one?
Does this affect all devices or just this one (if so, what sort of device is it)?
Can you please perform a speed test from this device? What speeds do you get?
A quick confirmation, with the VPN connected, it is OK, but slow when the VPN is disconnected?

Thanks.

The information below is provided by TalkTalk. For confirmation, please contact @Lorrainef, the manager of the TalkTalk support staff on this forum.

KeithFrench is one of our valued Community Stars and can help with a range of issues related to wireless and networking. At times, he may ask you to send him test results via a Private Message to help analyse/diagnose an issue. Although Keith does not work for TalkTalk, he very kindly shares his time and knowledge to help others.

If you need further help or if we need to take any details such as personal information about your account, like phone numbers, account numbers, etc, one of the TalkTalk team will jump in and help out.

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

BobLauric — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 16:57:23 GMT

Hi... yeah so...I have an eero router....I tested all my speed and my signal strength all around my house....speed around 125-140mbps with 3 to 4 bars of signal everywhere...wich is amazing....the problem starts when I want to stream anything in more than 720p .... buffering galore.This thing started like 5 months ago just overnight....now.... the interesting thing is that I have no problem with my connection when I use my NordVpn....I can watch anything in 4k HDR 120fps anywhere in my house with not even a moment of buffering.... solutions?

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

BobLauric — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 17:03:01 GMT

It's all wireless by the way....I have no wired connection on any of my devices....

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

BobLauric — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 17:06:18 GMT

Yeah pretty much all of my devices suffer some sort of buffering...or some type of internet speed fluctuation....

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

ferguson — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 17:30:20 GMT

Have you got any of the eero security features enabled? If so, try turning them off.

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

BobLauric — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 22:08:12 GMT

No...no security features enabled....

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

KeithFrench — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 07:32:07 GMT

Hi @BobLauric

I will not have much time this morning, but I will read through your replies & get back to you this afternoon.

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

KeithFrench — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 08:24:06 GMT

Hi @BobLauric

Just a thought, I have never needed this personally, but is SQM enabled? If not, try enabling it. In the app go to:-

Settings > Network Settings > Network Services > SQM

This is an optional feature that has been called both Gaming & Conferencing or SQM (Smart Queue Management). It is supposed to optimise an eero network for conferencing and gaming. It intelligently shapes how Wi-Fi traffic is queued to reduce latency and limit the amount of bandwidth certain devices use. For busy networks, this can improve the quality of voice, video calls, and online gaming.

Optimise for Conferencing and Gaming makes the most difference when Wi-Fi connections require high bandwidth and low latency. If streaming 4K video, whilst also browsing the web or playing a video game, this is where it might help. While Optimise for Conferencing and Gaming ensures every device still has bandwidth access, you may see slower performance on certain devices.

It is essential that when using this facility, an eero network is not placed in bridge mode.

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

BobLauric — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 09:49:07 GMT

Sqm is on ... it's on since it all started...in fact this are my settings in my eero... I'll attach some screenshots....

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

fr8ys — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 10:15:23 GMT

You've probably already done, but have you tried turning it off. Maybe it's not doing it's intended job, like the advanced security options that people, including me ( @ferguson ?), have turned off.

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

KeithFrench — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 10:30:58 GMT

Do you have more than one eero? If so, you will need Client Steering enabled.

However, time for some diagnostics.. Can you please run a traceroute from a device that is buffering & attach or PM me (to protect your privacy) the results?

As an example, if this were a Windows PC and the video content was hosted on YouTube, from a Command Prompt you would use:-

tracert youtube.com

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

BobLauric — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 23:25:16 GMT

Yeah...I only have one eero...and I don't have a Pc or laptop at the moment...just phone's and the tablet that I use as my "laptop"....

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

KeithFrench — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 07:36:36 GMT

Can you do a traceroute from one of them? You might need a free app for that

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

BobLauric — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 16:15:49 GMT

I did the traceroute...I messaged you privately... come back to me 🙏

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

KeithFrench — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 10:26:27 GMT

I am still waiting for you to PM me the results of your traceroute.

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

KeithFrench — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 10:35:27 GMT

Just in case you do not know how to attach a screenshot, when you send a PM to me, you will see a toolbar at the top, click on the Insert Photos tool:-

Insert Photos tool

Choose the file(s) to insert, then you will see the Size parameter on the right, please set this to Large:-

Set Size to Large

Add a caption to the image & click the Done button.

Re: Internet throttling ,but working fine with a Vpn

KeithFrench — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 09:01:41 GMT

I looked at the tracert @BobLauric that you PM'd me. What I saw there was a total breakdown in the route to the destination IP address/Domain, somewhere in California. It does then reroute later in the tracert & arrive at the destination in a reasonable time. However, of course, the total breakdown would account for the delays that you are getting. I have not seen the particular app that you used for this before and I can't identify what the destination host is.

Your VPN, when connected, will most likely take a different route than the one your router & DNS resolution will go without the VPN connected.

There is nothing wrong with your router or broadband at all, the problem is with some internet backbone routers in California.

To this end, I am going to request that this gets passed by the TalkTalk support team on here, to their Networks team. That team may well want a copy of your tracert, but they will tell you how they want it sent to them.