Broadband Download Speed Question?

[bluesjunior 43]

Not really an AirVPN problem, but being an AirVPN customer I regularly visit these forums and know that there are some very savvy users here and decided it was worth a chance to see if I can resolve a broadband problem I am having.

 

My ISP here in the UK is Virgin Media. I had the 100MB broadband as part of a bundle, ie TV-Phone-Broadband. As we rarely watch tv much anymore, last week I dropped the TV and took just the Broadband and phone option but doubled the broadband from 100MB to their maximum option of 200MB. They did the changeover remotely and I could see that now we just had the freeview TV channels.

I tested the broadband on speedtest .net and found that I was only getting the same as before ie 95Mbps on download and 7.2Mbps on upload. I phoned them and after talking to one of their broadband team he said that the problem was with my Virgin Superhub 1 router. Apparently it cannot support more than a 100MB connection speed. He arranged to send me the newest router, the Superhub 2 which was the correct one for my package. The router arrived yesterday, I installed and activated it only to find that although my upload speed had doubled to 12.3Mbps my download speed remained at the same speed of approx 95Mbps. I went back on the phone and the very helpful technician did some tests but nonetheless it remained on approx 95Mbps download and 12Mbps upload. He arranged for one of their engineers to give me a home visit this morning.

The engineer arrived at 08.30am this morning and we went through the problem. He did a number of tests showing me that there was in fact nothing wrong with the Superhub 2 router as it was getting between 185 & 204Mbps download speed on his testing equipment. He said that the problem must be somewhere in the Windows7 setup. I thought perhaps it was my Realtek Ethernet Controller that was the problem and updated it to the latest drivers from 16th of October 2015, but it didn't help. Can anyone here offer any insight into what could be causing this "bottleneck" for want of a better word?.

[eyes878 43]

Are you testing over WiFi or Ethernet?

[bluesjunior 43]

I am testing over ethernet but the virgin tech tested it over both wi-fi and ethernet and got the same result.

[rickjames 106]

What I would try:

-Verify the tech's results by speed testing with a different computer.

-Try a different network adapter if that's possible.

-Try something like the TCP Optimizer and set the slider @ 100+Mbps http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php

 

 

Edit:

Could also try and disable RDC

On the below page look for: Remove RDC ( Remote Differential Compression)

http://www.sysprobs.com/windows-7-network-slow

http://cdn.sysprobs.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/rdc.png

[zhang888 1066]

I would recommend creating some Ubuntu live-USB (A very easy task to do) and checking there,

this will save you the hassle of reinstalling the OS or getting another machine if you don't have one.

 

This will give you an exact extra measurement you are now missing, which is either hardware,software,

or network.

Also, don't rely only on speedtest.net results, use a server that is as near as possible to your ISP,

preferably hosted there.

Check this page for example, your ISP seem to host large files exactly for this kind of tests:

http://www.virginmedia.com/testmyspeed/manual.php

[go558a83nk 362]

I'm confused by the different unit usage - megabit or gigabyte, which is it?

[bluesjunior 43]

I'm confused by the different unit usage - megabit or gigabyte, which is it?

Sorry I've changed it now, It should have all read Mbps.

[kbps 29]

Are you sure that your computer motherboard supports gigabit ethernet.  This is essential to get speeds above 100mbps from your new router.

 

Some information here that might help you.  

[lostboy 0]

Hi. Can you run your check from here http://speedtest.btwholesale.com and advise. Just tick the box and run, doesn't matter that you are not on BT .

[bluesjunior 43]

Sorry guys I thought this thread was dead. The problem is solved. It was my Buffalo router was the problem along with a new Cat6 cable. The router was only capable of 10/100 and the old cable although it was Cat5e I think it must have had some sort of loose connection. Anyway I disconnected the router and put the Virgin Superhub 2 back on Router mode and I was getting around 170Mbps and the NIC had reset to Gigabit from 100Mbps. The new cable arrived and as soon as I plugged it in, reset the box I was getting 208Mbps straight away on an open line. When I use AirVPN that decreases to around 90Mbps.

[flat4 79]

Just curious, what is the average cost of gigabit connection per month in Europe. I don't live in a major US city but i heard from friend that do that is between 80 to 150 USD.

[Valerian 20]

With my provider it's £60 a month ($92).

[bluesjunior 43]

I just changed my package with Virgin here in the UK. We had a "Bundle" package ie, TV+100Mbps Broadband+Landline telephone over their Fibre Optic cable network. For that we were paying £85pm approx. As we have the HD Freeview channels built into the TV and neither me nor my wife watch much TV anymore as we tend to use Netflix more lately and I use the PC for a whole lot of things and the missus uses her tablet & ephone. We decided to cancel the Virgin TV package and renew our contract with just the landline telephone and broadband but upgrading the broadband to their maximum service of 200Mbps. After we got it all settled the new package is costing me £49pm. The landline on its own costs £16 but we get a huge amount of free landline calls between 0600 - 1800, Mon - Fri and 24hr over the weekend. Call it £20 for the phone all in that leaves £29 for the 200Mbps broadband service including unlimited downloads. I check these things out and in our area anyway Virgin can't be beat, they have the edge over all their competitors due to their vast cable network.

[flat4 79]

I live in a rural area but not so remote, we have LTE coverage and some towns have fiber connection. I pay 71.75 pounds/110 USD for 30mbits down and 3mbits up.

 

So I am jealous of the folks that have more than that and pay less than I do. 

[eyes878 43]

I live in a rural area but not so remote, we have LTE coverage and some towns have fiber connection. I pay 71.75 pounds/110 USD for 30mbits down and 3mbits up.

 

So I am jealous of the folks that have more than that and pay less than I do. 

I'm getting 75mbps down 20mbps up for £40, the cost varies a lot.