New 1 Gigabit Plan Reduced To Previous 100mbps
New 1 Gigabit Plan Reduced To Previous 100mbps
Hey everyone!
About a month back I switched to the faster 1 Gigabit NBN FTP plan.
At first, everything seemed normal, but after a few days of testing my internet speed, I noticed I was getting around 800mbps. No adjustments or settings changes needed—just connected and used the new plan right away.
My modem was already compatible with 1Gb (TP Link AC1200), so I didn’t think much about it. I assumed it was just a quick setup for better speeds.
A week later, while playing a game on Steam, I realized my speeds matched what I had before the upgrade.
After chatting with my ISP (TPG), the technician performed a reset and everything seemed to work again.
I kept monitoring daily for a week or two, and then noticed it dropped back to my old speeds again.
I checked their website for any outages or network issues in my area, and it looks like there have been problems there recently.
My question is: does this affect what I’m experiencing? Could it be related to the recent outages or could it be something with my own setup?
I just wanted to confirm before making any changes.
Thanks!
I guess it could be the ISP being stupid but when you see this it is almost always a cable issue. Although there are some other things like broken ports in equipment I would still say 99% of the time it is a bad cable.
Be nice if ethernet cables just completely failed. What you find though is they can work intermittently or they can work on some devices and not others. The largest issue is there are massive amounts of fake cable sold because of the cost of copper metal. Those flat cables tend to the most common. They have wire that is much too thin to meet the standards. Since they do not follow the standards it is hard to say if they will work with all equipment. Again this is kinda random because some equipment tolerates out of spec cable better than others.
It appears you have a number of ethernet cables in the path. PC---eth1---router--eth2--wall(this is ethernet also)--wall---eth3--NBN
Does your router show you the speed the ports are running at. Many have menus and/or you might be able to tell by the lights. This will give you idea which cable to check first.
If it is in the section going from the router to the NBN box you might just buy a couple new cables and swap out the short patch cables. Maybe take the router and plug it directly into the NBN box with a short cable just to test. You could also plug your PC into the NBN box. Mostly you would do this test to be sure the ISP did not do something stupid and drop your plan to 100mbps.
If it is the in wall cable things become more complex. Luckily it is very rare for the wire itself to fail it is almost always the ends. If you have keystone jacks on the ends you might just remove the wire and cut a bit off and repunch it into the wall jack. If it has RJ45 plugs crimped on the end it is a bit more of a challenge. You could of course just attempt to put new end on the cable but it likely would be simpler to buy some keystone jacks. Keystone jacks are much easier for beginners since you just match the wire colors up and you can do 1 wire at a time. RJ45 you must know the correct pattern of colors and manage to get them all aligned and have them not move when you crimp the end on. It takes a bit of practice to put rj45 ends on.
I just connected the ethernet cable to the nearby port for craps and giggles, and now I'm seeing the speeds I'm paying for. Got 876mpbs on a speed test, which is what it should be. What does this mean?
I've been using the old ethernet port for years. Could the port be damaged from wear and tear? Even though it's just plugged in with the router, I haven't noticed any problems. I'll keep watching to see what happens.
Many small factors might be responsible for this issue. I noticed that adjusting the cable slightly can resolve the problem, but it doesn’t work at all in a fraction of an inch where it connects. This happens with several cables. It’s likely there’s some minor damage inside the port. In other cases, the cable end shifts slightly sideways in the jack, which prevents a proper connection. There are also instances where the device functions well for a while before problems arise, possibly due to metal expansion or heat affecting the components. However, in most situations, the cable itself is likely faulty. The problem usually appears when the wires inside one end pull out slightly, increasing resistance.
You adjusted a cable, which might affect any of the 8 wires that could break temporarily. This issue is likely to repeat. Use a fresh, commercial, 100% copper, 24GA cable instead.
I don't believe anyone has discussed this before, though I think it's important to clarify or expand on it. There was an older Ethernet standard that operated at 100mbps using only four wires instead of the full eight, and it worked faster than 1gbps. Because of this limitation, if a cable or connection isn't good, you might only get slower speeds or just a few pairs. That's why the initial suggestion was to use a fresh, proper cable.
Thanks for the updates. I'll monitor the situation and adjust the cable if needed.
In my past troubleshooting attempts, it often seemed like a trivial fix that resolved the problem.
I'm puzzled by how a support reset restored it after a long time. I haven't handled or modified the cable before.
A port can handle some deviations before indicating issues. Then it warns "too many errors, slow it down." Resetting clears the error tally. The cable is near its limits; occasionally the interference or crosstalk stays within acceptable ranges. As @bill001g mentioned, adjusting resistance might resolve the problem. I've observed temperature spikes in TX (up to 120°F in an attic) leading to gigabit failures and fallbacks. Otherwise, it performs adequately at gigabit speeds. It's not a major concern.