Replaced router - now download speed has dropped

[mikeyb200]

Hi, my TT Sagemcom router died last week, and has been replaced  by TT with an identical new one. 

With the old router, the download speed I was getting was always above 70Mb/s, sometimes as high as 75Mb/s - using the Ookla speed test. But with the new router, the speed has dropped to no more than 67Mb/s. It's been like this for 5 days now.

Will it eventually return to the previous levels of its own accord, or does TalkTalk need to do something to speed it back up again?

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Thanks 🙂

[mikeyb200]

Will do.

[Chris-TalkTalk]

No problem, please let us know if there's any improvement with the replacement router 🙂

Chris

[mikeyb200]

Many thanks, I appreciate this. 

PS

I should explain - I do a lot of downloading big files in the course of my work, and for me a 10% loss of speed translates directly into 10% more time waiting for my stuff to arrive. As they say, Time Is Money!

[Chris-TalkTalk]

I've ordered the router, it should be with you within a couple of working days

Chris

[mikeyb200]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for offering. I will take you up on this, as I just can't understand why the replacement router is limiting my download speed in the way it is. Surely an identical replacement should perform identically, and it just isn't.

Cheers,

Mike

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi mikeyb200,

I can send another router to test with but I think it's unlikely to make any difference. As ferguson says, it's quite normal for different routers with different chipsets to sync at different speeds

Chris

[mikeyb200]

Yes, I'm still above the minimum guaranteed. The line stats are good. I've also done the turn-it-off-for-30-mins routine.

As you say, let's see what Monday brings.

[ferguson]

I doubt it will make much difference to be honest. I assume your speeds are above the minimum guaranteed for your line? They could only swap it out for another one of the same model. Have you checked the router stats regarding SNR and so on? Have you been restarting it regularly at all? Let's see what the support team have to say when they pick this up again on Monday. 

[mikeyb200]

I've just borrowed my neighbour's Windoze laptop -  which I mustn't be too rude about as it at least has an ethernet port.

I've run 3 speed tests, and the best of the bunch came in at (drum roll....) 66.8Mb/s

So my interpretation of that is that there's something internal to the router that's  limiting its throughput - agreed?

What do you think my chances are of persuading TT to replace the router again?

[ferguson]

Not "dodgy" at all, I understand where you're coming from. But throw the capabilities of different routers and chipsets into the mix along with the other variables and you are still well within expected tolerances. 

[mikeyb200]

Hi ferguson, I realise I'm on slightly dodgy ground complaining about 'only' 66.5Mb/s - but the facts remain that (a) I was doing 6-8Mb/s better before, with a supposedly identical router, and (b) I could instantly get back to that speed again if I threw the new router away and reinstalled my 10-year-old Huawei!

[ferguson]

Wireless throughput is always likely to be less again, in truth your numbers are really not that bad.

And as a MacBook user myself I long ago purchased an ethernet adapter so that I could connect that way if required for testing purposes.

[mikeyb200]

Sadly since Apple decided MacBook Pros didn't need Ethernet I have no choice but WiFi. 

Regarding the firmware version, I don't know. The old router was just over 2 years old, and had had one firmware upgrade, but I didn't think to make a note of what it was. When it died, I couldn't connect to it at all - its Wifi totally packed up.

I was told by the engineer that the new router did a firmware update almost immediately it connected, and I can see it's now on SG4K100174. It also says it is hardware version FAST5364 3.00.

[Xplorer]

@mikeyb200,

Yes, I would expect the maximum download speed to be around 70Mbps for a sync speed of 74.7Mbps.

Are you conducting the tests with an ethernet connection rather than wireless?

Do the replacement Sagemcom modem/router have the same firmware version as the previous one?

[mikeyb200]

Hi Xplorer, I get what you're saying, but this morning the sync speed is showing as 74.7 Mb/s, and it is generally in that ballpark. So my router throughput at 66.5Mb/s seems rather low to me - don't you agree?

[Xplorer]

@mikeyb200,

If the connection is still in sync at 70.9Mbps, as reported by Chris-TalkTalk yesterday, then that download speed is to be expected. [Download speed is lower than sync speed due to overheads.]

Only if the connection is re-established at a higher sync speed would a higher download speed be possible, hence an earlier suggestion about disconnecting for 30 minutes, which you may already have tried without any improvement.

It may just be that the connection sync speed is lower with the replacement modem/router compared to the previous one. I have seen a difference of about 4Mbps between two modem/routers of the same make/model.

[mikeyb200]

Hi Chris,

Just checked speed this morning. Same old 66.5Mb/s.

[mikeyb200]

No, I'm not. But the Huawei router was, and it wasn't running slow. 

[Chris-TalkTalk]

OK thanks, are you using the cable provided with the new router?