Sudden drop in SamKnows RealSpeed to router

[betaspin]

https://samknows.com/realspeed/ tests to my Hub 5x usually show download speeds of 1140-1142 Mbps (I am on the Gig1 Full Fibre package). However, since yesterday evening the tests to the hub struggle to achieve more than 250-300 Mbps. I have rebooted the hub a couple of times, including power off/on, but the realspeed downloads to the hub remain slow. I have spoken to Virginmedia support who could not notice anything on their end. Fast.com speeds have dropped from the usual >1Gbps to about 500 Mbps, and https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest is pitiful, 35 Mbps single thread and 230 Mbps multithreaded. Any suggestions on what might be wrong and how to proceed (and convince Virginmedia to have a proper look at this) would be much appreciated. 

[betaspin]

Further decline this evening. Nothing has been fixed despite the promise from the hub 5x support over the phone on Tuesday that the problem in the York area (in YO23 and YO32 and perhaps elsewhere in York) would be resolved within 24 hours. Could a VM staff member have a look into this, please?

[newapollo]

Hi @betaspin 

It might be an issue with the optical cable since you are on an  XGS-PON and using the hub 5X

Have you used the online /service-status function? You can also a run a test on your equipment from there. 

If nothing is showing  you could also try the automated Service Status number  0800 561 0061.  This often gives details of more local issues down to postcode level.

Out of interest have you tried a different ethernet cable in the hub 5x's 10 Gbps port?  Also check the desktop's NIC settings as in the screenshots below and make sure they are maximised for your connection.

EEE Max support speedspeed and duplex

[betaspin]

Thanks @newapollo. The online service status and 0800 561 0061 do not show any problems in my area. However, the hub 5x support acknowledged a problem in York over the phone on Tuesday a promised a 24h fix. I have just reset the hub 5x to factory defaults using the VM online trouble-shooter and this did not lead to any improvement. I am sure that there are no internal networking problems, as RealSpeed runs the test on the hub directly, without passing through the internal network. A problem with a dirty optical connector somewhere is a possibility but there is another user in the York area, @AidyM, who is reporting a very similar issue. Another guess is a routing issue or incorrect MTU somewhere.   

To add to the confusion, here are a couple of current speedtests which make me think that a VM York routing issue affecting a number of sites, including SamKnows (RealSpeed) is the most likely explanation.

[newapollo]

Hi again @betaspin 

I'm based in Middlesbrough and have just tested my Gig1 connection using ookla, including two of the same servers you used for comparison, and no issues from this end. (aql Leeds comes up as my automatic server)

aql leedsbytemark yorkexa bradfordrazorblue leeds

[betaspin]

Thanks, @newapollo. This is an indication that the problem is a local one. It has been observed in YO23 and YO32 and I hope that VM will be able to do something about it. This could happen sooner rather than later if one of the VM staff members here would be prepared to help. For the record, I have tried all servers available in the Ookla speedtest app and the only one that gives the expected download speed is Exa Networks Limited Bradford. None of the other servers manages to achieve more than a 100 Mbps download, but all provide the full upload speed of just under 110 Mbps.

Btw, I have never been able to achieve your download speeds from aql Leeds, Bytemark Hosting York and razorblue Leeds which seems to suggest that the way in which I am connected to the VM network has been less than optimal even when I thought that everything was working normally and RealSpeed was giving a download of ~1140 Mbps to the hub.  

[AidyM]

No surprise but, I'm getting similar results with Ookla speed tests - download speeds of around 100Mbps and an upload speed of almost 110Mbps from all servers, except for razorblue which gave me a 430Mbps download. The Exa server isn't in my list to try.

[betaspin]

For some reason, Exa is no longer available in the browser version of the Ookla speed test. However, it is in the standalone app, I have it in the Windows, macOS and iOS apps. 

[betaspin]

And I can confirm that there is nothing wrong with the aql Leeds speedtest server and the problem is somewhere in the VM network in York as this is what I am getting this morning from the University of York:

VM staff members, could you please help?

[AidyM]

Exa on the Windows app:

razerblue on the Website:

razerblue on the Windows app:

All the other servers on the Windows app are similar to this:

[betaspin]

Thanks for checking and I wonder what more could be needed to confirm that there is a VM problem in York that needs to be sorted out. The substantial increase in the ping times for servers other than Exa and razorblue (which is also affected but not as much as other servers) suggests a routing problem.