Poor Spark fibre performance

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hamiltonlad

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

Topic # 165497 11-Feb-2015 17:26

Been on fibre in Hamilton (Eastern side of the river) for a couple of months now. I have to restart my fibre kit every couple of days, I get really bad performance, like today I am getting a 0.4Mb download (using sparks speed test server, can't even get to speedtest.net).

Any other Tronites having issues?

Calls made to Spark result in being told it's my wifi (it's not) or my connection is setup correctly, since the service profile shows I am on the 30/10 plan.

I had zero issues with VDSL and should have stayed on it, Spark want to charge me disconnection and setup fees to return to VDSL.

argh!

PeterReader

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Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 1235835 11-Feb-2015 17:26

Hello... Our robot found some keywords in your post, so here is an automated reply with some important things to note regarding broadband speeds.

If you are posting regarding DSL speeds please check that

- you have reset your modem and router

- your PC (or other PCs in your LAN) is not downloading large files when you are testing

- you are not being throttled by your ISP due to going over the monthly cap

- your tests are always done on an ethernet connection to the router - do not use wireless for testing

- you read this topic and follow the instructions there.

Make sure you provide information for other users to help you. If you have not already done it, please EDIT your post and add this now:

- Your ISP and plan

- Type of connection (ADSL, ADSL2, VDSL)

- Your modem DSL stats (do not worry about posting Speedtest, we need sync rate, attenuation and noise margin)

- Your general location (or street)

- If you are rural or urban

- If you know your connection is to an exchange, cabinet or conklin

- If your connection is to a ULL or wholesale service

- If you have done an isolation test as per the link above

Most of the problems with speed are likely to be related to internal wiring issues. Read this discussion to find out more about this. Your ISP is not intentionally slowing you down today (unless you are on a managed plan). Also if this is the school holidays it's likely you will notice slower than usual speed due to more users online.

A master splitter is required for VDSL2 and in most cases will improve speeds on DSL connections. Regular disconnections can be a monitored alarm or a set top box trying to connect. If there's an alarm connected to your line even if you don't have an alarm contract it may still try to connect so it's worth checking.

I recommend you read these two blog posts:

- Is your premises phone wiring impacting your broadband performance? (very technical)

- Are you receiving a substandard ULL ADSL2+ connection from your ISP?

I am the Geekzone Robot and I am here to help. I am from the Internet. I do not interact. Do not expect other replies from me.

cbrpilot

682 posts

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Spark NZ

Reply # 1235846 11-Feb-2015 17:31

PM me your details and I can make sure that everything on our end is good.

Also can you post here some information about your setup? I.e. which router you are using, how many devices are connected to it?
Which speedtests you've run at which times of day to which speedtest servers off which device?

My views are my own, and may not necessarily represent those of my employer.

Zeon

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Reply # 1235874 11-Feb-2015 17:55

Just for testing's sake - if you use a cable what performance results do you get vs. wifi at the same time of day to the same server?

hamiltonlad

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 1235883 11-Feb-2015 18:06

All wifi turned off, cat6 from fibre modem to MacBook, 0.45Mb down, 7Mb up.

cbrpilot

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Spark NZ

Reply # 1235985 11-Feb-2015 20:17

I will be able to take a look at your connection from our network point of view when I'm in the office tomorrow, but based on your descriptions, I do not expect to find anything amiss.
Has this issue just started? How long have you had fibre?
Do you have another computer in the house to test from?

My views are my own, and may not necessarily represent those of my employer.

Talkiet

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Spark NZ

Reply # 1235990 11-Feb-2015 20:22

And although everyone will jump down my throat for suggesting this... Can you run a speedtest.net test from your smartphone over wifi? Normally suggesting testing over wifi is bad, but at 0.7Mbps it's worth trying it just to see if you're getting bad performance from the one Mac.

Cheers - N

hamiltonlad

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 1236029 11-Feb-2015 20:44

Tested from 2x MacBooks, 1x Windows 7, appletv, Samsung smart tv, archlinux dev PC.

I don't do speed tests over wifi, simply because wifi is just a big hub ;)

Mobile data couldn't be used, spark mobile issues.

Speed test.net applet would render, took 15 mins or so for the spark one to render.

hamiltonlad

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 1236030 11-Feb-2015 20:46

Oops, Apple tv and Samsung tv were wifi only, so the connection was all pants for them.

Fibre for two month now I think, problems since day one, modem restarts at least 2 a week, which seems to improve it from time to time, but not this arvo. Connection speed is back to 25Mb now