Inconsistant speeds during large downloads

[Spastro]

Hello community.

Does anyone know of a new NBN tpg file speed test? There used to be a file for ADSL back in the day that you can monitor your download speed.

I'm finding that I'm connecting at over 90megabit of my 100megabit connection which is great. And speedtest.net indicates that as well however if I'm downloading large files or streaming content I find that the actual speed varies quite inconsistantly. It's been getting pretty bad over the last few months.

Anyone else noticed this? Ican go from 40megabit stream to 20 to 10 back to 40 and so on. All in the matter of seconds which causes playback to buffer.

I have tried over cable and wifi on multiple devices as well as using both the archer built in wifi and my cisco meraki wifi kit.

Any ideas what's going on ? Or there is a large tpg test file I can download to test my actual download connection speed.

Cheers

[BasilDV]

Hi @Spastro

Welcome to TPG Community!

We were able to locate your account using your community details and tested the line, but unable to detect any fault.

Is the issue time specific or its random? Is it more likely to happen in the evening or morning?

Who is your main router? Is it the TP-Link or Cisco?

BasilDV

[Spastro]

Hey @BasilDV 

Router is the original Archer VR1600v. Internal wifi is disabled on that unit. 

Have a Cisco Meraki buisness grade AP plugged into the the archer for wifi at home. Although for testing i have tried uising the original onboard wifi chip in the archer as well as Cabled. 

Ive noticed the issue mostly at night and accross weekends. Although i cant do to much testing during week days as im at work till about 7pm most nights. 

Speed test always have excellent speeds at or close to 90megabit. 

However when downloading large files or streaming highres content via youtube / netflix or any streaming service i notice that the speeds are constantly varying instead of holding a stready bandwidth. This causes issues in buffering. 

I also use VPN, speeds whist connected to VPN has also dropped considerably using OPENVPN/udp. 

Whilst connected to VPN i note that i hardly go over 20megabit.

I have taken my mobile and connected to my mates wifi connection and connected my VPN to test if the vpn providor was the culprit  however it seemed to be working fine on a different ISP. 

Thanks for the help. 

[Will]

Hi @Spastro,

Since you just recently mentioned having a VPN, can you clarify if you were able to test the connection speed while using VPN but without the Cisco router connected?

Regards,

Will

[Spastro]

Hi will 

As mentioned in the previous post. 

Router is the original Archer VR1600v. Internal wifi is disabled on that unit. 

I Have a Cisco Meraki buisness grade AccessPoint plugged into the the archer for wifi at home.

Although for testing i have tried uising the original onboard wifi chip in the archer as well as Cabled. 

I have tested with my laptop plugged straight into the archer router supplied by tpg. great speedtest.net speed but varying speeds whist downloading and streaming. even more so when vpn is connected which i use accross all my devices. 

this issue only started over the last  few weeks. 

Is there any throttling on OPENVPN/ UDP ports?

[Will]

Hi @Spastro

To check this case further, we need to perform real-time testing. We'd like to organize a call back with our Technical Team to assist with the tests. Can you PM us your best contact number and preferred time for a call?

For your reference: How do I private message (PM) in the community

[Spastro]

Hey mate.

I'll be OS late next week for 10 days so I will organise something when I get back.

I can confirm now the main issue is with openvpn on UDP ports 1194, 8080, 9201, 53

Tested both on and off and against all those ports. Serious issues whilst connected to any of those.

I have some significant speeds now when I have swapped to open vpn TCP.

In the mean time can you guys check if there is any issues going on with that protocol and ports on the connection ?

Cheers

[BasilDV]

Hi @Spastro,

Thanks for the information.

We'll check the ports on our end and provide you updates once available.

Have a safe trip and advise us once you are ready to be contacted for further tests.

Regards,

BasilDV

[Spastro]

Thanks so much. That would be brilliant.

[BasilDV]

Hi @Spastro,

The Port 53 is typically used for DNS. May we know the type of file are you Downloading using this Port? Also, if how big it is?

Regards,

BasilDV