1000 Red - Not getting anywhere close to what they are selling

[NITRO1250]

Hello everyone,

Pardon this message in English. I'm an expat.

I've been a Telekom customer with VDSL for 6 years now without problems. However, I am unable to get any higher than 50/10 for the next years unless, as Telekom told me, I can move to a new apartment or into the abandoned house across the street which can get 100/40. So, that is not ideal.

Last week I checked on Vodafone (yes I am aware of the KDG issues I've heard with their cable over the years) but I figured I would give it a try. I don't need to disconnect my Telekom system and can run a closed test with 1 powerful desktop PC with the standard router for testing only.

The router (Arris) came Saturday (06.04) and wasn't too bad to hook up online. However right from the start I was only able to get barely 40% of the bandwidth down as they said I would. And it was inconsistently inconsistent about it as well. I mean, it would start at around 100mbit, crawl up slowly to 400mbit, and then round out maybe at 300mbit. Upload was no different. During the evenings (after many tests randomly during the day), the speeds were, predictably, slower. 100-200mbit maximum down. So that's 10-20% of the speed Vodafone is selling me.

Sunday I called their support line. After some back and forth about if I am using wifi (WLAN) for my tests, if I have restarted the router, etc (the usual level 1 questions), support said that they will call me back Tuesday night (yesterday) to troubleshoot with my line. Monday came and an SMS was sent that stated that there is a fault on their side and they will fix it.

Last night at 20:00, I receive an SMS that the problem is fixed and everything is fine. I immediately ran another speed test and of course, yes it was more consistent, but it was still consistently bad.

VodafoneIsShit.PNG

This was taken right after they said that it was working just fine and fixed. What scares me is how bad the upload is. That's less than half of what I am getting with Telekom.

Immediately I returned to Vodafone tech support by phone to find out what is going on. They of course did the usual WLAN question, but then said they would send someone (one of the usual crews for fixing the lines) to my neighborhood and see what the problem is. I'm still waiting for this to happen or to receive any notification.

This morning I am getting 300-400mbit down and 20-46mbit up on average after several speed tests. So, clearly in a non peak hour of the day, the speeds are no where near what they are saying I should be getting.

DOCSIS information:

Downstream Channel(s)
Channel ID Channel Type Frequency (MHz) Modulation Rx. Power (dBmV) SNR/MER (dB) Lock Status
33 OFDM 167~324 256QAM 3.2 39 YES
0 OFDM 0~0 UNSUPPORTED 0.0 0 NO
2 SC-QAM 146 256QAM 3.1 39 YES
3 SC-QAM 154 256QAM 2.9 38.6 YES
4 SC-QAM 162 256QAM 3 38.6 YES
5 SC-QAM 602 256QAM 5.1 40.4 YES
6 SC-QAM 618 256QAM 3.7 39 YES
7 SC-QAM 626 256QAM 4.7 37.6 YES
8 SC-QAM 642 256QAM 4.6 39 YES
9 SC-QAM 650 256QAM 4.2 40.4 YES
10 SC-QAM 658 256QAM 4.7 40.4 YES
11 SC-QAM 666 256QAM 4.4 40.4 YES
12 SC-QAM 674 256QAM 4.9 39 YES
13 SC-QAM 682 256QAM 5.6 40.4 YES
14 SC-QAM 690 256QAM 4.5 39 YES
15 SC-QAM 698 64QAM -2.6 35 YES
16 SC-QAM 706 64QAM -2.3 34.9 YES
17 SC-QAM 714 64QAM -1.3 35.5 YES
18 SC-QAM 722 64QAM -1.1 35.7 YES
19 SC-QAM 730 64QAM -0.4 35.7 YES
20 SC-QAM 738 64QAM -1.7 35 YES
21 SC-QAM 746 64QAM -2.9 34.4 YES
22 SC-QAM 754 64QAM -2.4 34.9 YES
23 SC-QAM 762 64QAM -2.4 34.9 YES
24 SC-QAM 770 64QAM -2.9 34.4 YES
25 SC-QAM 778 64QAM -2.8 34.9 YES
26 SC-QAM 786 64QAM -2.6 34.9 YES
27 SC-QAM 794 64QAM -3.1 34.4 YES
28 SC-QAM 802 64QAM -3.5 34.4 YES
29 SC-QAM 810 64QAM -3.3 34.9 YES
30 SC-QAM 818 64QAM -3.7 34.4 YES
31 SC-QAM 826 64QAM -3.5 34.4 YES
32 SC-QAM 834 64QAM -4 34.4 YES
1 SC-QAM 138 256QAM 3.1 39 YES

Upstream Channel(s)
Channel ID Channel Type Frequency (MHz) Modulation Tx. Power (dBmV) Ranging Status
6 SC-QAM 52 32QAM 45.8 SUCCESS
8 SC-QAM 36 32QAM 45.8 SUCCESS
7 SC-QAM 46 32QAM 45.8 SUCCESS
5 SC-QAM 59 32QAM 47.8 SUCCESS

Test environment setup:
1x Desktop PC (8700k, gigabit Intel wired ethernet, m.2 Samsung 970 Evo --- basically as high end for gigabit speed as possible) hooked up with the stock yellow cat5e cable into LAN1 with the Arris modem/router using the stock white adapter from the wall over the standard stock included white cable.

If there is anything I should be checking, let me know. I've been out of the cable internet world for years now and there could be something else I should be doing. If Vodafone should also be doing something, please let me know what I can have them do.

Full disclosure, I have 12 days to cancel the contract I ordered. That would be at the latest on Monday next week. What concerns me is that at not any point in time did I receive the service they said I would get. Should I cut and run or stay with it?

I work in professional IT so if there is anything I should be doing, just let me know in straight terms and I'll do it. This ISP upgrade is part of a larger project at home. I have a pile of Ubiquiti Unifi devices waiting to be installed in my rack should this Vodafone internet issue sort itself out.

Thanks for any feedback of tips that any of you can help with!

[robert_s]

However right from the start I was only able to get barely 40% of the bandwidth down as they said I would. And it was inconsistently inconsistent about it as well. I mean, it would start at around 100mbit, crawl up slowly to 400mbit, and then round out maybe at 300mbit. Upload was no different. During the evenings (after many tests randomly during the day), the speeds were, predictably, slower. 100-200mbit maximum down. So that's 10-20% of the speed Vodafone is selling me.

How did you come up with these measured speeds? What applications/tests/servers did you use?

Last night at 20:00, I receive an SMS that the problem is fixed and everything is fine. I immediately ran another speed test and of course, yes it was more consistent, but it was still consistently bad. VodafoneIsShit.PNG

The server you used there appears to be incapable of delivering Gigabit speeds:

[ externes Bild ]

Please go to https://www.speedtest.net , click on "Change Server", type "Vodafone" and select one of the "Vodafone Kabel Deutschland" ones, e.g. in Frankfurt. This server is capable of delivering full gigabit speed:

[ externes Bild ]

[NITRO1250]

However right from the start I was only able to get barely 40% of the bandwidth down as they said I would. And it was inconsistently inconsistent about it as well. I mean, it would start at around 100mbit, crawl up slowly to 400mbit, and then round out maybe at 300mbit. Upload was no different. During the evenings (after many tests randomly during the day), the speeds were, predictably, slower. 100-200mbit maximum down. So that's 10-20% of the speed Vodafone is selling me.

How did you come up with these measured speeds? What applications/tests/servers did you use?

Last night at 20:00, I receive an SMS that the problem is fixed and everything is fine. I immediately ran another speed test and of course, yes it was more consistent, but it was still consistently bad. VodafoneIsShit.PNG

The server you used there appears to be incapable of delivering Gigabit speeds:

[ externes Bild ]

Please go to https://www.speedtest.net , click on "Change Server", type "Vodafone" and select one of the "Vodafone Kabel Deutschland" ones, e.g. in Frankfurt. This server is capable of delivering full gigabit speed:

[ externes Bild ]

Hello Robert,

Thanks for the quick reply. I am using the Speedtest application on Windows 10.

I'll adjust the server and see while going directly to the Speedtest website. Part of me was wondering which servers could deliver gigabit speeds...

Anyway, no dice with the Vodafone server in Frankfurt. Something else is borked... Even so, if the internet speed was functioning properly with the other server, then I would have gotten in the 700mbit range which would have been fantastic! However, no. Not the case.
[ externes Bild ]

I just got off the phone with Vodafone. They sent an SMS that they need to make a technical appointment with me. So I called and then they stated that they don't need the appointment in the end as it is a network disruption. Which... is really funny since they just told me last night that everything is fixed.

[robert_s]

Thanks for the quick reply. I am using the Speedtest application on Windows 10.

To rule out any possible quirk in your Windows 10 setup, you could also try using a "live Linux", e.g. booting Ubuntu from a USB stick, and running browser speedtests in Ubuntu.

[NITRO1250]

I don't have a recent bootable Linux distro handy so I'm just making a new one right now with Rufus. I'll report back with updated links after a new speedtest from the live CD option after boot.

[NITRO1250]

sigh...
[ externes Bild ]

Ok, it would appear strongly that I have some troubleshooting to do on my PC. It is only 8 months old since being built, but this is now outside of the KDG forums.

Thank you for a sanity check sir! I haven't worked low level support scenarios like this in ages. Good call on the live USB!