1.6gb very slow today

[Pezz82]

Had Great reliable service over the last year but today the download speed has dropped from 1.6Gbps to 50Mbps, when I called they said it was a know issue with "the package" whatever that means, not a local issue. Anyone else have the same? 

[Cstarks]

I would argue the update regarding open reach as a a lie. 

Message from

 

Debbie suggests they don't know

Let's be transparent here EE.

[kjw_kjw]

Another 1.6gbps user here, I was capped at about 35/125 now after connecting their hub (never used it until today) and now capped at 30/10 yay 🙂

I thought this was supposed to be a premium product with premium support, told by the helpdesk (after nearly 40minutes I might add) that nothing can be done over the weekend.

Shambles comes to mind.

[Jxx]

Thought I'd share what I've found in case it helps - this is entirely EE's problem to fix, nothing we can do our end.

I'm on 1.6Gbps too, completely dead since yesterday. Not even getting the 50Mbps some of you are seeing, just total authentication failure.

Had a quick look at the router logs and spotted it's failing at the CHAP authentication stage - basically the line connects fine to EE's equipment but when it tries to log in with my credentials it just gets rejected. Tried the various username/password combos, all rejected.

Remembered those old BT engineer test credentials from way back (bt_test_user@startup_domain) and thought I'd give them a go - they authenticated instantly. No actual internet obviously since they're just test accounts, but proves the line's fine, their equipment's fine, it's just our actual customer accounts being rejected by their authentication server.

Been to my neighbours who are also on EE but different speed tier - theirs works absolutely fine. My guess is they've migrated the 1.6Gbps tier to a new system and our accounts somehow got left behind. They're probably running a batch fix overnight Sunday, which is why they're saying Monday.

The support saga:
Support blamed Openreach, then Wholesale, then the website said an engineer fixed it (nope), then told us we can't complain (took ages for them to realise customers are actually allowed to), now saying Monday morning and "it's a line issue".

Tried explaining the authentication stuff and just repeatedly got told "no it's a line issue dear" - pretty sure I could've said the router was still in the box and they'd have replied 'yes that'll be a line issue'. Called it quits there.

Is anyone else seeing CHAP authentication failures in their logs, or getting any connection at all? Sounds like some of you are at least getting 50Mbps so might be different flavours of the same issue.

Either way, it appears to be their authentication/provisioning system that's broken. Nothing we can do our end, just waiting until tomorrow I guess.

[Cstarks]

Yep I see authentication issues in my logs (https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Broadband-Landline/1-6-package-down-since-yesterday/td-p/1601691) . I tried to explain this also on the phone but they weren't interested. Nor is anyone on the forum it seems.  You'll likely get useful replies such as call EE 😂 

[Jxx]

Glad (well, not glad, but you know what I mean) that more people are seeing the CHAP authentication failures too - at least it confirms it's not just a couple of us being unlucky.

My theory on what's happened (based on what we're all seeing):

EE use a RADIUS server - basically a database that checks your username/password when you connect, then tells the system what speed you should get (1.6Gbps, 500Mbps, etc).

I believe they've done some kind of update or migration for the 1.6Gbps tier (support kept mentioning a "New IT team" dealing with it, which suggests system changes) and it's gone wrong:

- Some accounts migrated/updated but with incorrect settings → you authenticate fine but get throttled to 50Mbps instead of 1.6Gbps
- Other accounts (like ours) didn't migrate properly → system has no record of us, authentication just fails completely

Could be database corruption or a config error instead, but the "New IT team" comment and the fact it's only affecting one specific package tier makes me think it's more likely an update/migration that's been botched.

The "Monday morning" fix is probably them running a batch job overnight to re-provision all our accounts properly.

That's my theory anyway - fits with everything people are reporting (only 1.6Gbps affected, two different symptoms, specific timeline). Either way it's definitely their backend, nothing we can do except wait for them to sort their mess out.

Hopefully this is helpful so that people don't spend all night trying to fix their internet. 😅

[Cstarks]

EE should hire you (likely you're better than this going by your post) . It's the best theory so far and actually helpful.

If they did do an upgrade and it went wrong why no rollback or monitoring thereafter. It would seem a very poor change process. 

[Pezz82]

This seems logical I would be surprised if it's not the issue, 

[spacedyemeerkat]

Fantastic posts, Jxx. Thank you.

And let's not forget they have previous on a not dissimilar issue. That one went on for weeks. Not an apology anywhere,

[Cstarks]

😲 That's bad! Can't say I'm surprised with the lack of engagement with this lssue. 

[EDC1988]

Well I'm glad I found this, when I called EE their support was non existent apparently their systems are down so they could not check my account. 

I thought I was going mad I never expected EE to mess up like that, an outage maybe but a speed cap to 50mbps?. I could see nothing wrong my side my dreammachine pro was showing no errors just some latency issues earlier in the day, I even resorted to setting up the smarthub just to check if it was the same.