How can I get full 8 Gbs speed using HH4000 using PPPOE?

[Princetopher]

I've been using Bell's latest 8Gbs internet service as a promotion offered in my area almost 2 years ago. Definitely overkill but the promotion was too good to pass up.

As I was investigating an unrelated Asus router's AiMesh network issues, Asus asked me to do a sanity check to verify speeds from HH4000 to Asus' latest gaming router and I found I was getting half of the speeds I've been paying for almost 2 years for! After further investigation, found it was unrelated to Asus hardware.

After the Asus AiMesh issue was fully resolved, I'm now left with this internet speed issue of never getting full 8Gbs.

Some important details:

1. All firmware is latest on all devices
2. HH4000 (connected 10g port) to (CAT8 cable) to Asus BE98 Pro (connected 10g port)
3. HH4000 onboard Speedtest (~8Gbs speeds) and Asus BE98 Pro onboard Speedtest (~4Gbs speeds)
4. Nothing else is connected to the router when performing the speed test. Just 1:1, HH4000:Asus router
5. Sanity check: HH4000 (connected 10g port) to (CAT8 cable) to Sonnet Echo Express (connected 10g port) to (Thunderbolt 3) to HP 360 laptop (Thunderbolt)
6. HH4000 onboard Speedtest (~8Gbs speeds) and HP laptop Speedtest (~4Gbs speeds)
7. After escalating the issue, Bell Level 2 put my residential HH4000 into bridge mode (as I heard this would help remedy the PPPoE overhead) but didn't make any improvements to the internet speed

Has anyone found a way to get FULL 3Gbs/8Gbs speeds from HH4000 to 3rd party router or found a workaround or is this a known Bell/PPPoE limitation?

If not, why does Bell offer 8Gbs residential service if they know that their users would never reach these posted speeds? 

[Vanadiel]

If the onboard speed test shows 8/8 then the profile is correct.

That leaves the 10G port. Going by half the speed based on your description, it sounds like it's possibly operating in half duplex mode.

Also, when talking about PPPOE are you talking about using PPPOE on the Asus router, or are you talking about PPPOE in the home hub 4000? If you are establishing your own PPPOE connection using your B1 username and password on the ASUS, your limitation is due to the ASUS not having the processing power for a PPPOE connection at 8/8. This is very common with consumer equipment.

And then I would also check the capabilities of the speed test location, as they could be limited to 4 Gbps although unlikely still possible

[Princetopher]

So I should clarify some items:

• Prior to putting into bridge mode, I updated the 10g port to FULL Duplex/10g with the same results where Ethernet speeds were reduced by half.
• With the help of Bell's Level 2 tech support, performed another test where they reduced my service to 5Gbs and unsurprisingly found the speed test was reduced to half and only have ~2.5Gbs. When it returned back to 8Gbs, reduced to ~4Gbs and again, 3Gbs halved to ~1.5Gbs.
• Asus and Bell support, could not configure in any manner to get any speeds beyond 4Gbs which is why I had read putting into bridge mode (which is typically reserved for business clients) would help as the PPPoE service had such overhead and bridge mode would be a straight passthrough (I'll find the link) but alas, the exact same results 
• Here is example of an <older model> Asus router using their own ISP fiber service that was able to process 8Gbs, where I have Asus' latest gaming router and can't get 8/8 (https://www.reddit.com/r/ASUS/s/UTzKtW4aXA) so it's clear that Asus routers are capable of processing and testing these speeds 
• When Rogers was my ISP, I've never experienced this symptom or halving speeds from modem --> Asus router when testing using Asus' onbaord speed test (again, confirming Asus is not the culprit). 

Forgive me as I'm fairly technical but not an expert in networking. 

Is there another way to connect to HH4000 to obtain the full 8/8 connection? Asus and Sonnet multigig adapter (using TB3) seem to have the capabilities which points to Bell's device/software. 

After canvassing Bell forums I realize that this halving is a common problem with using PPPoE to make the connection to HH4000. So is there another way to get the 8/8 connection using HH4000? Bridge mode doesn't seem to resolve this

[Vanadiel · Accepted solution]

So going by that, I am going to say you are establishing a PPPOE connection using your B1 username and password with the Asus router. 

I would simplify this and simply use the 10G port of the home hub 4000 in regular DHCP mode. It should provide 8/8 speeds. If you have a PC with a 10G port you can connect directly and it should provide 8/8 connectivity (DHCP).

There's no true bridge mode possible because of the PPPOE connectivity. Unless you are with Bell Aliant, as they do not use PPPOE.

[Princetopher]

That was the test with the Sonnet multigig adapter (Asus router out) and same results:

HH4000 10g port (DHCP) --> Sonnet adapter 10g port (no b1 connection) --> TB3 --> HP laptop (TB3 port) = same ~4Gbs speed test (from 3 different sites)

* also performed these same tests using Alienware gaming laptop instead of HP laptop = same results 

* also swapped HH4000 for a new one = same results 

[Vanadiel]

What is the LED color of the Sonnet Adaptor on the ethernet port?

[Princetopher]

I'll have to try the test again and check

If it's showing 10g connection light pattern instead of <10g light pattern then it's safe to assume Sonnet is in fact making a 10g connection?

Would there be another way to test if the lights are showing up as 10g connection that I'm getting 8Gbs other than using TB3 (I've also used TB4 cable) --> laptop?

[Vanadiel · Accepted solution]

10G ethernet network card is the easiest way to verify connectivity when directly linked to the 10G port on the home hub.

Alternatively using the Asus router and connecting directly to the 10G port of the home hub and using DHCP instead of PPPOE should also show 8/8 speeds.

[Princetopher]

Yes definitely going to run the same tests using 10g nic to be 100% certain 

[Princetopher]

I just remembered that I also bought TP Link's latest BE985 Mesh routers (with 10g port) thinking it was the Asus routers but again = same 8Gbs halving (~4Gbs speed) using their onboard speed test app + laptop connecting to other 10g port = all same results 

[DasNet · Accepted solution]

it shouldnt do this at all, i have a 3gbps line from bell, and run it through the 10GB port to an opnsense router via a 10gbps card, and then out on a out on a SFP+ card to my switch. no speed loss to anything in the house, save my wifi which i limit to 1gbps as its just my phone and tv streaming on it.

make sure your DMZ settings are proper in the HH, this can cause a halving issue.

also seperate your router onto its own IP range and disable DHCP on the HH or it will interfere and cause halving.

as an example, bell's modems are typically 192.168.2.1, so use something like 192.168.1.1 as your routers internal ip for example do not mirror thier internal ip or it can break it like this aswell.

[tp007]

PPPoE speed limit less than 1GB, even though my speed 3 GB up/down. Issue started after switching account (Same speed). Before with giga hub modem, now with giga hub 2.0 modem.

Before I get 2.5 - 3 GB... now, less than 1 GB.. all I change b1# and password. 

Already called support few time with no luck... devices connected with 10G. 

If anyone has any ideas. 

Thanks for the help

[Vanadiel]

Check your link speed on the 10 Gbps link.