Thanks. I’m using a TP-Link TD-W9970 modem/router and a Ubiquiti AP Lite access point. Maybe the £30 router just isn’t powerful enough. It is very stable though.
BT Infinity & FTTx Discussion
- Thread starter michellez
- Start date
Thanks. I’m using a TP-Link TD-W9970 modem/router and a Ubiquiti AP Lite access point. Maybe the £30 router just isn’t powerful enough. It is very stable though.
Can't say I've seen it to that extreme on FTTC but the older BT FTTC modems had built in upstream QoS that limited any one connection to 90% of available bandwidth or something like that which did prevent that - the newer BT supplied routers I don't believe have it by default.
What speed is your BT FTTC? 70/20 VDSL, 40/10 VDSL or 20/5 ADSL?
What client(s) are you using?
Assuming all your WiFi is going through the access point then you’re limited to 100Mbps by the ports on the TP-Link modem/router/access point but that should still be fine for FTTC.
Do you have many IoT devices?
That's good news, anything that speeds up the process the better. I still don't expect to be using FTTP for many months yet though. Once we've got a full fibre network across the country it's going to be a big boost I think. Working from home should be a lot less frustrating and more viable. No brainer really, reduces pollution, traffic congestion, wear and tear on the roads, travelling costs and time. I'm quite enjoying it and the dog loves it
My FTTC profile is 80/20 VDSL but it only syncs at 52/10.
Client as in PC? They're Windows 10 laptops.
Yeah everything is going through a single AP AC Lite. I don't have many IoT devices. A Nest thermostat, Audio Pro C3 portable speaker and EV charging point (which has been powered off since August) is all that I can really think of. There are 7 devices (2 laptops, 3 phones, Nest and iPad) connected to the AP at the moment which is probably 90% of the devices we own.
EDIT: I also have an Apple TV 4K but that's plugged directly into the TP-Link router.
Last edited:
A friend of mine who also uses Plusnet just ran a test for me.
He was able to ping 8.8.8.8 consistently, stream YouTube and browse websites whilst he was uploading to Google Drive and maxing out his upload. The difference between his test and mine is that he is using ethernet and the Plusnet router. I might try the Plusnet router again but here was a reason why I stopped using it a few months back (probably the lack of custom DNS servers). Wish I could remember what it was.
Good to know, thanks!
Time to look for a router that's as stable as the TP-Link WD-9970, and doesn't have expensive Wi-Fi capabilities included.
I just did a very quick test, and the results are similar:
- Ethernet - Whilst uploading at 10mbit/sec, I could watch YouTube at 1080p and 1440p but it would buffer. Browsing the web was painful but it did work. Ping times to 8.8.8.8 ranged from ~450-600ms
- On Wi-Fi via the Ubiquiti AP AC Lite - YouTube would buffer more often and browsing was horrible, but it still uploaded at 10mbit/sec. Ping times to 8.8.8.8 were in the 1200ms+ territory. It must be noted that this old laptop I'm testing with only has a 802.11n Wi-Fi card.
Are you uploading on the same machine as watching youtube?
Just sounds like the upstream bandwidth is being exhausted - even things like youtube streaming will still need to send some packets back to request next blocks etc.
If it's a separate machine you are uploading from, I'd set up an upstream bandwidth limit of say 8000kbps, which should leave some breathing room for any other traffic:
See chapter 9 of the manual below:
https://static.tp-link.com/2020/202001/20200114/1910012731_TD-W9970_UG_REV4.0.0.pdf
It's the same machine. As I mentioned above, a friend of mine was able to max his upload out and watch YouTube and browse simultaneously whilst maintaining a ping of ~25ms. The difference is that he's using the Plusnet router and ethernet.
What kind of Wireless N card is in the laptop? At best that’s running a 75Mbps and I bet it’s not running at it’s best depending on where you are relative to the access point.
Is the access point ceiling mounted?
Any chance you could run iPerf on that laptop?
Is the access point ceiling mounted?
Any chance you could run iPerf on that laptop?
It's an Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205. The AP is ceiling mounted.
Bear in mind that the issue isn't specific to this laptop. When I've uploaded from my new Dell work laptop my girlfriend has almost murdered me because her Teams calls go to crap.
All roads are pointing towards the router being overwhelmed. Unfortunately I can't access the statistics page from the router's web interface because it loads a blank page when I try.
It's not overwhelmed, it's just crap and not doing any kind of traffic prioritisation. The fact the manual doesn't even mention QoS suggests the hardware probably isn't capable of it.
Edit:
To prove or disprove - try watching youtube on 2nd device whilst uploading from your laptop, should still stutter.
Then rate limit your laptop to say 9500kbps upstream as mentioned above - with even ~500kbps remaining I bet youtube on a 2nd device will be fine
Last edited:
Ouch, you're hurting my £30 router's feelings
In fairness, it may be bargain basement but my god is it stable. The damn thing will hold a connection for months and months on end.