Broadband/WiFi speed question

[PeteH66]

I've just switched from Virgin to Sky (mainly due to the ridiculous price increases that Virgin have imposed over the years - been with them since they were Cable and Wireless and they don't seem to care about loyalty and retaining customer when it comes to pricing - sorry, rant for another thread!)

Anyway, we've gone from Virgin 100mbps to Sky Superfast, which according to the Sky router is connected at 79mbps - great.

However, running Ookla Speedtest over Wifi reports a maximum speed of 60mbps - often it fluctuates between 40-50. Wired is a bit better but still not close to 79mbps.

While I get that Wifi knocks a bit off the theoretical max speed of the line, it seems I'm losing a lot of speed. By comparison, running Speedtest when we were with Virgin always gave a result of about 100mbps - why should the Sky router provide a much slower speed? Nothing has changed with regards to number of devices connected or what we use the internet for. Is it just the Sky hub (which is the latest one) is not as good at the Virgin Superhub 3? Or is it that the Virgin broadband was actually a lot quicker than the stated 100mbps, allowing the 100mbps throughput speed I saw at my device?

[megaphone]

Are you connecting via 2.4ghz or 5ghz wifi? The later is faster but often has less range. Check what channels you're using, they may be clashing with neighbours, change the router to a clear channel. Split the 2.4 and 5Ghz SSID if they are not already, give them a different SSID name.

Best way to test is with a cable direct into the router, once you know the actual speed you can work from there to get the wifi correct. If you have a windows laptop, insidder is a good wifi monitoring program https://www.metageek.com/products/inssider/

[PeteH66]

We are connected on the 5ghz band - I've left the router to sort out channels (as I did with the Virgin Superhub 3) - don't really want to split the 2.4/5 bands as we have a couple of Sky Q mini boxes and I understand they use the 2.4 bit for mesh backhaul.

I've connected a W10 laptop using an ethernet cable and still only saw about 62mbps.

As I say, it just seems strange that the speed I'm seeing at my device is a lot slower than with Virgin, despite there not being (in theory) a great difference in broadband speed - bit of a 1st world problem as it's fast enough for what we need but I'm just curious as to why?

[mmm-five]

The quoted 79mbps will be the 'sync speed' or 'access speed'. It's probably mentioned in their Ts&Cs somewhere.

This is the speed between your router and the street cabinet.

Your 'throughput speed' is what you're seeing on your speed tests.

Here's Sky's own info on the subject.

Sky said:

Access line speed:

• The speed and quality of this mainly depends on how far you live from the exchange, unless you’re a Sky Fibre customer, in which case it depends on how far you live from the street cabinet.

Throughput speed: This will naturally be lower than your access line speed as it can be affected by:

• The set-up of your phone, tablet, laptop or any other device. Some devices can handle higher speeds than others – check your devices maximum download speeds.
• The number of apps or web pages that are being used. This include ones being used in the background.
• The number of devices that are connected to your WiFi.
• The set-up of your hub and other equipment in your home.

[megaphone]

PeteH66 said:

We are connected on the 5ghz band - I've left the router to sort out channels (as I did with the Virgin Superhub 3) - don't really want to split the 2.4/5 bands as we have a couple of Sky Q mini boxes and I understand they use the 2.4 bit for mesh backhaul.

I've connected a W10 laptop using an ethernet cable and still only saw about 62mbps.

As I say, it just seems strange that the speed I'm seeing at my device is a lot slower than with Virgin, despite there not being (in theory) a great difference in broadband speed - bit of a 1st world problem as it's fast enough for what we need but I'm just curious as to why?

So your achievable speed is 62Mbps. How do you know your'e connected to 5Ghz? Use insidder to check the channels often they default to the same channels, if a neighbour is on Sky they could be clashing.

[PeteH66]

So the speed that Sky quote is from the exchange to the cab over fibre - the drop in speed is accounted for by the last leg of the journey from the cab to the master socket over copper?

Just trying to work out how Virgin manage to deliver the actual speed they quote - is it down to the coax cabling they use to deliver broadband to the house?

[PeteH66]

megaphone said:

So your achievable speed is 62Mbps. How do you know your'e connected to 5Ghz? Use insidder to check the channels often they default to the same channels, if a neighbour is on Sky they could be clashing.

You can see the frequency in Chromebook settings

[thebraketester]

Ours is about 9% down on the quoted maximum connection speed, when checked over wifi.

[megaphone]

PeteH66 said:

So the speed that Sky quote is from the exchange to the cab over fibre - the drop in speed is accounted for by the last leg of the journey from the cab to the master socket over copper?

Just trying to work out how Virgin manage to deliver the actual speed they quote - is it down to the coax cabling they use to deliver broadband to the house?

All ISPs quote 'up to' speeds as they cannot guarantee speeds, it's reliant on crappy old copper cable and throughput at the exchange etc plus the telephone cabling in peoples houses is often cack, crappy extensions and no filters in place.

Virgin run their own network so have more control, they also use better copper co-ax. Even they quote 'up to' but often exceed this, I'm sure as a marketing tool. I'm on Virgin 100Mbps and get 109 when I test, so I'm getting a bit more for nothing.

Saying that, my Virgin speeds have been all over the place this weekend, just tested and am getting 22Mbps.

[megaphone]

PeteH66 said:

megaphone said:

So your achievable speed is 62Mbps. How do you know your'e connected to 5Ghz? Use insidder to check the channels often they default to the same channels, if a neighbour is on Sky they could be clashing.

You can see the frequency in Chromebook settings

OK well all you can do is check the channels are clear, is the router well positioned, out in the open? The Sky router is not great for Wifi, you could try another Wifi Access point and switch off the Sky WiFi, thing is this may screw up you TV.

[PeteH66]

megaphone said:

OK well all you can do is check the channels are clear, is the router well positioned, out in the open? The Sky router is not great for Wifi, you could try another Wifi Access point and switch off the Sky WiFi, thing is this may screw up you TV.

No problem, the sky router is actually better positioned than the virgin superhub was - I thought the superhub didn't have a great reputation whereas the latest sky router seems to be ok - interesting the amount of speed you lose compared with the headline speed you're sold! Was spoilt with virgin I guess, although in practice I've not noticed a difference for browsing or YouTube type stuff - might notice it for streaming catch-up TV etc.

[Road2Ruin]

Most people would never use 60Mbps. Even multiple HD streams or 4k don't get near it. Even when downloading files the bottle neck is elsewhere in the internet.