YouFibre

[throwaway4372]

I would be amazed if the YouFibre network was congested to the point you were being dragged down to 10Mbps.

If you're trying to terminate the contract due to degradation of service there is no chance they're going to take your Wi-Fi speed tests.

It's their provided router, if it doesn't work it's their problem, wifi is part of the service I'm paying for.

Edit: BQM doesn't work btw, guess it isn't compatible. No data shows up.

Edit2:

Found the issue.

Again, wasn't an issue with BT. So if it is a wifi issue it's still a case of switching back to BT. Or I guess getting another router, but that should be at the ISP's expense not mine.

...aside from the speeds randomly dropping to 10Mbps? Have you done a spectral analysis to see what's going on when the issue hits? It could be some kind of interference.

A what now? And why should a customer need to do this? Again, BT didn't have this issue.

Set up a MySpeed on a local wired machine. Wire up the PC and leave the laptop wireless. When the issue presents on the WiFi device(s), test from the wired PC.

Could in theory try to rule out the wifi, bunch of faff though, maybe at the weekend. Not sure I have all the wired gear anymore either, haven't needed it for years. It's a rummage through the garage storage boxes job.

You can switch back to expensive, asymmetric BT if you like, it's no skin off anyone else's nose.

Sure feel like I'm getting blamed for this ISP being trash, but w/e.

That said, you're throwing the baby out with the bathwater here. Have you an alternative router to try? Get some cables connected and your problem will likely vanish unless it's a faulty router or ONT (less likely).

No I don't have a spare router. Again, wifi is part of the service, and it worked with BT. I don't want to have to be wired, especially for a laptop, which is supposed to be portable lol, the whole point of having a laptop is being able to sit elsewhere in the house rather than being glued to a desk.

 

[Rainmaker]

Sure feel like I'm getting blamed for this ISP being trash, but w/e.

Who on Earth blamed you? You're coming across awfully entitled and bratty, whether intended or not. Everyone else on YouFibre is pulling symmetric multi-gig with 1ms ping and no issues at all. For such an easily resolved 'issue' you're not half making a meal out of it. I'm oot.

 

[Caged]

I wasn’t aware YouFibre sold any packages with Wi-Fi guarantees, news to me if there’s been a commitment made there.

 

[throwaway4372]

Who on Earth blamed you? You're coming across awfully entitled and bratty, whether intended or not. Everyone else on YouFibre is pulling symmetric multi-gig with 1ms ping and no issues at all. For such an easily resolved 'issue' you're not half making a meal out of it. I'm oot.

Yeah I'm out too tbh. I'll test wired when I get time then maybe the discussion can advance.

You're coming across like nvidia/amd/intel fanboy for youfibre, not open to the possibility of them being at fault because most people don't have issues. I'm just a customer using the product as sold, so it can't possibly be my fault.

You refer to easily 'resolved', I assume you mean going wired, but going wired isn't a resolution for me or for most people - some devices only make sense wireless (laptops, phones), those connections need to be stable. (but again I think discussing wifi is a red herring, the issue occurring at peak times suggests wan at fault)

When it works the service is great, the wifi signal is strong, the speed is 150/150 5ms, no issue with that. It's just the stability at peak times is so bad that I can't do normal stuff such as streaming video or web browsing. It's like buying a new car and the wheels fall off on the way home.

I tried myspeed, but it's just a speed tests periodically, so it isn't going to catch all these dropouts that last a few seconds every few minutes, unfortunately.

 

[ChrisD.]

You're blaming the ISP for wifi performance but they don't provide a wifi guarantee. Interesting.

 

[throwaway4372]

You're blaming the ISP for wifi performance but they don't provide a wifi guarantee. Interesting.

I'm blaming them for instability, and they do provide a speed guarantee.
"You are using wifi therefore your internet won't work for a few seconds every few minutes" is not a good position to take, but as things stand it's just forum users taking that position, haven't heard that from youfibre.
Just to be super clear, we're talking wifi connections a few meters from the router, it's not like a victorian house or anything, the wifi signals are strong.

 

[ChrisD.]

they do provide a speed guarantee.

6.2 Network average speed. The network average speed is the download speed (throughput) that at least 50% of our customers can expect to obtain during ‘peak times’ (12 noon- 2pm). The actual speed and performance of your Service will depend on various things, some of which are outside of our control. Using Wi-Fi enabled devices makes it easier to access our Services across your devices but will mean a slower Service speed than if you were using an Ethernet cable due to limitations of Wi-Fi technology.

They do, but then go on to say that using wifi will be slower. It sounds like wifi interference to me, test it with a cable as mentioned.

 

[Rainmaker]

Look, @throwaway4372 I was tired last night and cba with nonsense. If you'd posted that you needed help, what you'd tried so far and asked for a hand people would be falling over themselves to help you. All you've said is 'Wah, my WiFi is slow so it's my ISP's fault. I'm going back to another ISP'. All that happens there is you get a different router and end up on a slower connection. You can easily try a different router, and a wired connection, on YouFibre. 'Oh but BT worked OK'. Well maybe your neighbour got new lights, maybe your microwave started leaking, maybe the adapter in your device went duff...

You have literally bought a Ferrari, and now you're crying there's ice on your road and blaming Ferrari for it because your car is sliding around on the road. You say the Eero shows full speed at the router - that's the ISP's job done. Nobody's being a fanboy, they're pointing out that your connection is, in your own words, full speed. The fact you have some issue locally with WiFi isn't the ISP's fault or issue. You might have a faulty router, swap it out. Plug in a wire and stop worrying either way. Get a separate AP. Change channels. Loads of things you can try, but 'it's not the customer's job to help themselves, wah, so I'll go back to BT'. That's why everyone's just shrugged and said 'Cool, you do you'.

 

[throwaway4372]

They do, but then go on to say that using wifi will be slower. It sounds like wifi interference to me, test it with a cable as mentioned.

Will do, had to order stuff, must have got rid in a garage clearout.
The thing about the language used is they're talking about speed, it's not like I'm using an old version of wifi that just can't meet the speed of the connection, which I think is the scenario they're covering themselves for. The speed is good, when stable.

Look, @throwaway4372 I was tired last night and cba with nonsense.

ok np

You can easily try a different router, and a wired connection

it's just a cost thing, the whole point of switching was to save money. and I could end up buying stuff and it still isn't stable (which is what I expect to happen). this can quite easily become more expensive and slower than my old connection, which is obvs annoying.

The fact you have some issue locally with WiFi isn't the ISP's fault or issue.

respectfully disagree, imo they provide the router and use wifi as a selling point in their marketing material and therefore they need to deliver (obvs wifi has limits, but my usage is optimal conditions)

 

[Rainmaker]

Your frustration is understandable, absolutely. I'm just pointing out that you're pointing that frustration at us. We're not paid to perform customer service, we're more like acquaintances in the pub. Nobody here is going to deal with people having emotional strops when their product isn't working how they'd like. When you're calling folks fanboys and throwing your toys out of the pram, you're just going to get shrugs all around and left to it.

Your last post was more reasonable, hence my replying. WiFi is a dark art at the best of times. Chipset interoperability, local conditions, other people and all sorts can and will affect it. What's perfect today could be trash tomorrow. That's just WiFi for you. Your initial refusal to help yourself because it's not your job left us saying 'Well it's certainly not mine!'.

Try changing the channel if you can, reset the adapter on your laptop, try a different band and/or channel width and/or power output. A scan of the WiFi in your house from a phone really will give you the best picture. Your Ferrari works fine, you're just going to have to either grit the icy road (change your wireless settings), or drive on a different one (Ethernet instead, or a new router).

If all else fails, go back to YouFibre's web chat, explain you think you have a faulty router, and hope you get a different model or at least a working one in exchange. I understand trying to save money and the frustration a poor WiFi experience has given you. Downloading a WiFi scanner and doing some reading is free, and it's ultimately on you to help yourself. We can only point you in the right direction. You could easily go back to BT and have the same issue. Maybe a driver has updated on your device, maybe it's a neighbour. Don't rush to blame a connection you've already admitted works fine at router level. That proves it's not YouFibre's fault.

 

[throwaway4372]

Don't rush to blame a connection you've already admitted works fine at router level. That proves it's not YouFibre's fault.

I don't think that's proven, I think it just recovered quickly so by the time I tested the router it was working.

I got back on the web chat, seems it's easier to get through in the morning, but it's cost me working hours to do that, anyway... their next troubleshooting step was to disable ipv6 on the eero. Doesn't sound like a good move to me, but no choice but to see if it helps.

 

[GregI]

Have to agree with others who mentioned interference, especially microwaves. Peak times = people at home cooking food or similar.

Now you may be wondering why it didn't happen on BT. What I've learned about the Eero is it realy likes to go on 2.4 Ghz. The BT hub likely keeps on 5 Ghz and thus no interference. An easy way to check this is if YouFibre has access to Eero Plus/Secure. Home page > Security and privacy > Wi-fi radio analytics. It will show total busyness/interference for both bands.

 

[throwaway4372]

their next troubleshooting step was to disable ipv6 on the eero. Doesn't sound like a good move to me, but no choice but to see if it helps.

As expected the issue occurred like clockwork at peak time again, so I reverted that change.

@GregI might be on to something, I remember preferring 5 Ghz with the BT hub, it might have even let me turn off 2.4 Ghz, or exposed two seperate networks for me to select the one I want - can't remember exactly.

What I can remember is my PC wifi used to be connected to the BT hub at 866 Mbps, which I think is just wifi 5 speed.
When it dropped earlier I checked the wifi speed and it was in the 143 - 287 Mbps range.
I switched on the laptop to test with, and it was in the 271 - 287 Mbps range.
At that time a speedtest result was about 50 Mbps down on pc + laptop. (should be 150 Mbps)

I noticed that closing the web browser which was streaming video caused the pc wifi to adjust speed, it went to 1.4 Gpbs before settling at 865 Mbps.
I did the same thing on the laptop and it settled at 1.8 Gbps.
Unfortunately I didn't think of the 2.4 Ghz vs 5 Ghz thing until after, so I didn't see if it was on 2.4 Ghz when the issue occurred.

I looked for a way to force 5 Ghz in the eero, but that seems to not exist, there's a steer setting which is on, but it's not guaranteed. Potentially this could be the answer of why the eero is much worse than the BT hub for me. I have set pc+laptop to prefer 5 Ghz in Windows, maybe that'll help, have to give it some time to see.

 

[GregI]

I looked for a way to force 5 Ghz in the eero, but that seems to not exist

Unfortunately they implemented it really poorly to a point you basically can't. You have to have the business package with Eero (monthly charge) to separate the bands.

I know earlier in the thread you did mention the main reason for swapping was due to lower cost and investing in a router that can separate bands does defeat that purpose. However if you factor in the no price hikes of YouFibre you probably come out saving cash still. You also might want to see if YouFibre will swap the Eero with something else. From what I remember they also supply customers with an Arris router which does allow band separation. I doubt YouFibre will want to lose you as a customer due to a router so give it a try on live chat.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

The Eero speed test doesn't use a lot of data so it could be going through in-between issues. Could be a bad external splice, another poster had similar symptoms each ONT on the splitter gets all the traffic so it could be struggling when load goes up from all your neighbours traffic. First thing to do is rule out wireless and directly connect a device as it would be unlikely a wifi issue would knock you down that much only at peak times especially when right in front of it. I can get a full gig on wifi from a Eero 6E

 

[maj]

Enabling Client Steering in Network Settings may do what you want to make devices pick 5 over 2.4.

 

[throwaway4372]

Enabling Client Steering in Network Settings may do what you want to make devices pick 5 over 2.4.

it's already enabled
It seems like devices are picking 5 consistently.
PC had the issue this morning (not peak time), defo on 5, so I'm thinking it's not a 5 vs 2.4 issue.
Wired gear arrived today, so might set that up later.

 

[sgavan]

My Virgin media contract is ending mid June and considering Youfibre, review and speed seem good so may give it a go.

 

[Bobcat]

it's already enabled
It seems like devices are picking 5 consistently.
PC had the issue this morning (not peak time), defo on 5, so I'm thinking it's not a 5 vs 2.4 issue.
Wired gear arrived today, so might set that up later.

Could this be a channel issue as someone else mentioned, you can download an app to your mobile to carry out a wi-fi scan showing what channels your router is using along with what your neighbours channels are too, it could be that the previous BT router you had was using specific channels that you didnt have interference with, but the new Youfibre router is now using different channels which is causing you issues, could be overlapping with other channels, does the Youfibre router allow you to change the channels in any way ?

 

[Bobcat]

My Virgin media contract is ending mid June and considering Youfibre, review and speed seem good so may give it a go.

My VirginMedia contract is up and i have Youfibre 2000 being installed tomorrow morning (YEY), my VirginMedia link is still live and i plan on running that for the next 30 days in parallel to Youfibre (i work from home), im hoping my install goes well

Edit - My install this morning went really well with no issues at all, they allocated me the "FAST5599" WiFi7 Router which looks like a bit of a beast, i wont mess with the connections at the moment though as WFH and will remain on my VirginMedia connection through the next few days whilst the Youfibre settles and does the negotiating on speed etc, at some point in the next week or so i will give my 30 days notice to Virginmedia, never thought i would see the day but alas the time has come to move on!