Fibre MAX Naked Broadband - what speed should I expect?

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ABPH011

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#243572 18-Dec-2018 20:51

Hi,

I have a Fibre MAX Naked Broadband connection with Spark and have had it for about ~ 18 months.

I am on Auckland's North Shore.

I'm a bit of a geek and I like monitoring all sorts of stuff. Playing with SNMP and recording the uptime of the AppleTV - that sort of stuff, so needless to say measuring my internet connection just came naturally. I've been downloading a 100Mb file from Atlanta on the US east coast every 5 minutes since I first got fibre. (Incidentally that's been amazingly stable @ around 35 seconds barring a spike here and there.) Couple other odds and ends.

The above should tell you I was eagerly on board when the SamKnows exercise started, and my WhiteBox has been running happily for some time. There was a few days in the begining of December when it got stuck, but other than that it's been running.

My Whitebox has been reporting a download speed of about 130Mbps average for download and just over 200 for upload. I had just assumed this was due to the fact that SamKnows is based in Europe (I thought) and so thought I would leave it until there are people to compare my speed with. Therefor I was quite surprised when I saw images on this website of people getting much higher speeds than I am getting. When I asked the question on another thread on this website I got both "your speed sucks" and "nothing wrong with that" kind of responses.

So now my question is simple: what do you think?

I am happy to add any more information you might need to give a view.

I have an open case with Spark to investigate.

Footnote: I did what I call "the basics" already - which is to remove all my own equipment from the equation. I still have the Spark router here is it's box - so that came out with some new cables and everything connect Ethernet Gig only. Swapped the cables and tried again just for good measure. Restarted everything, factory reset on the router, restart again, etc. That made no difference. I get the same measurements regardless.

Speedtest.net - to Spark Auckland server for the last 2 days:

From my SamKnows Whitebox -

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

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#2147388 18-Dec-2018 20:54

What do you actually get to Spark speedtest.net servers?

Another user reported completely inaccurate results with the samknows device

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ABPH011

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#2147392 18-Dec-2018 20:58

For some reason the graphs I posted are not showing up. Trying to work through that now.

The answer your question : same results - there is no appreciable difference.

Will keep trying to get the graphs included.

UPDATE: Got them now - it likes jpgs better :-)

dfnt

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#2147394 18-Dec-2018 21:01

Did you upgrade from a prior fibre plan?

Could be a profile issue

ABPH011

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#2147399 18-Dec-2018 21:08

dfnt: Did you upgrade from a prior fibre plan?

Could be a profile issue

I did. The 200 plan also if I recall correctly - which might not be a coincidence. I don't recall exactly the speed I had, but I did have a slower fibre connection before going with the MAX option.

I was hoping for that (just a simple profile issue) - and when Spark closed my ticket quite quickly without contacting me I hoped that was it - but nothing changed.

Might still be that - but if it is - they have not found it.

hio77

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#2147409 18-Dec-2018 21:18

ABPH011:

I'm a bit of a geek and I like monitoring all sorts of stuff. Playing with SNMP and recording the uptime of the AppleTV - that sort of stuff, so needless to say measuring my internet connection just came naturally. I've been downloading a 100Mb file from Atlanta on the US east coast every 5 minutes since I first got fibre. (Incidentally that's been amazingly stable @ around 35 seconds barring a spike here and there.) Couple other odds and ends.

I can almost certainly say there is nothing wrong with your connection, both those graphs don't indicate a profile issue.

so the simple questions..

1. What's your router?

2. What is the endpoint that PTRG graph is to? Based on the above, I'm suspecting it's a download file from the US, not local testing?

Edit:

i may have misinterpreted that graph compared to what it's now been updated to.

if your using the zpeter speedtest app like mentioned here, It's single threaded.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

hio77

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#2147411 18-Dec-2018 21:20

ABPH011:

I was hoping for that (just a simple profile issue) - and when Spark closed my ticket quite quickly without contacting me I hoped that was it - but nothing changed.

Might still be that - but if it is - they have not found it.

You would have got a notification saying, We think your problem is resolved.

Please reopen your ticket if your still having issues - With a link to the tracker that will allow you to do that.

I can almost certainly say, the fault went to chorus, they checked their profile and marked the ticket as completed. At which point, automation takes over rather than a Spark Rep closing your ticket.

#include <std_disclaimer>

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dfnt

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#2147420 18-Dec-2018 21:22

Can you provide a screenshot of a speedtest.net run to a Spark server closest to you, from a device that isn't a probe?

And what are the specs of the device you're testing from, wired I'm assuming not wifi.

The fact of the matter is with the right equipment you should be able to easily achieve 900/400 on Spark Fibre Max to their speedtest servers

Linux

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#2147424 18-Dec-2018 21:24

Only test using Ethernet

John

Jase2985

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#2147486 18-Dec-2018 22:22

"100Mb file from Atlanta on the US east coast every 5 minutes since I first got fibre."

for the love of all things, why? its rather excessive dont you think?

shk292

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#2147546 19-Dec-2018 08:34

Jase2985:

"100Mb file from Atlanta on the US east coast every 5 minutes since I first got fibre."

for the love of all things, why? its rather excessive dont you think?

Kind of like filling your bath up every hour to make sure the water flow rate is OK

SpartanVXL

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#2147559 19-Dec-2018 09:15

Jase2985:
"100Mb file from Atlanta on the US east coast every 5 minutes since I first got fibre."

for the love of all things, why? its rather excessive dont you think?

Why not? It's not a scarce resource that needs to be shared with all the unlucky people still on 6Mb/s ADSL :)

No harm in doing so, especially if testing the capability of the line. It's there to be used.

Talkiet

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#2147564 19-Dec-2018 09:24

shk292's analogy was the best. doing a 100MB download every 5 mins to check speed is dumb. By all means schedule a test (I do, but I initially ran the test hourly, and after a few weeks turned that down to 4 hourly).

As for the OPs problem - If he can do the following test:

- Windows machine (Please specify machine specs and windows version and if you have any SW firewalls running. Include the ethernet chipset type)

- Ethernet connected to Huawei 659b

- no other machines running or tests happening (Yes, disconnect the rest of your network and take the Samknows probe out temporarily)

- Use the Speedtest windows app

- Test to ONLY the spark Auckland and Spark Christchruch Speedtest servers (WN is due for an upgrade - it'll almost certainly still give great results but worth focusing on the others)

then I will have a look from our side. Please PM me your account number, current IP address and the test IDs of the speedtests you ran.

I'm not going to look into it myself unless you can test according to the above conditions.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are the product of my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

Jase2985

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#2147633 19-Dec-2018 10:15

SpartanVXL:
Jase2985:

"100Mb file from Atlanta on the US east coast every 5 minutes since I first got fibre."

for the love of all things, why? its rather excessive dont you think?

Why not? It's not a scarce resource that needs to be shared with all the unlucky people still on 6Mb/s ADSL :) No harm in doing so, especially if testing the capability of the line. It's there to be used.

no its not scarce yet, but its GPON, 1x 2.5Gbps download connection is shared by 12-16 people, assuming if everyone decided to spend 7 minutes every hour doing a speedtest it would quickly saturate that link. not to mention what ever else they would be doing on the net.

even once an hour is excessive, couple of times a day would tell you all you need to know.

BarTender

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#2147649 19-Dec-2018 10:30

Jase2985:

SpartanVXL:
Jase2985:

"100Mb file from Atlanta on the US east coast every 5 minutes since I first got fibre."

for the love of all things, why? its rather excessive dont you think?

Why not? It's not a scarce resource that needs to be shared with all the unlucky people still on 6Mb/s ADSL :) No harm in doing so, especially if testing the capability of the line. It's there to be used.

no its not scarce yet, but its GPON, 1x 2.5Gbps download connection is shared by 12-16 people, assuming if everyone decided to spend 7 minutes every hour doing a speedtest it would quickly saturate that link. not to mention what ever else they would be doing on the net.

even once an hour is excessive, couple of times a day would tell you all you need to know.

It is a scarce resource, if everyone across the country was doing it then Unlimited plans would immediately disappear and 500GB/1TB/2TB plans would come out.

Being intentionally wasteful is the reason why we can't have nice things.

and

hio77

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#2147653 19-Dec-2018 10:33

BarTender:

It is a scarce resource, if everyone across the country was doing it then Unlimited plans would immediately disappear and 500GB/1TB/2TB plans would come out.

Being intentionally wasteful is the reason why we can't have nice things.

Although in the day of 4K streaming, for a larger household it's quite easy to do well over that.. bring on 10gpon and 100g links everywhere ;)

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