FPT Internet connection

Have no idea what the provider is in our apartment.
But yes have noticed a slow down

The concrete walls thing is a genuine reason, easy way to tell is download from google or itunes an app called wifi analyser.
Runs this app where you thimk you are getting a poor signal or speed and it will show you signal strength and also neighbouring networks.

Neighbouring networks is usually the cause ad they overlap your own network and cause interference and then a drop off in speed.

If you see over lapping networks on the same channel then you would try changing the channel number on the router (laptop and ethernet canel required) to a less congested one.

Most modern routers have two seperate networks or SSID ...

2.4ghz is slower but works on longer ranges
5ghz is much faster and works over shorter distances.

If you have issues using 5ghz then change to the 2.4 ghz one and see if its any better.

If the problem only occurs the further away from the router you are then i suspect its more likely a neighbouring network causing the issue.

Mi ship at cantavil sells wireless range extenders... this might be all you need.  MI shop is addictive

The government slows down Internet connection throughout the country to discourage rumour spreading, fear creating, conspiracy discussing, etc. on the subject of coronavirus.

This practice happened several times before, most recently during the week of multi-city protesting last year.  When the targeted issue ran its course, the regular speed returned.

We use our own mobile hotspot whenever the connection is slow in the building; it helps somewhat.

goodolboy wrote:

Anyone with FPT noticed their internet connection has slowed right down in the last month or so. Its driving me nuts, could it be because all the schools are closed & lots of kids at home using up band width?

Had the "engineer" over to check it out & he said that everything was fine but the concrete walls of the apartment were too thick,  (funny it worked fine a month back & there has been no concrete added since then). Then he advised that we should switch the internet box off once every month to stop the box overheating!! WTF. Then he said I should make sure that the box should be exactly upright not at an angle & that would also help!
Any ideas apart from stripping some concrete of my apartment walls?

I learned some time ago that the Vietnamese version of Broadband is achieved by Duck taping two carrier pigeons together.
Have tried all sorts over the years, endless visits by 'engineers' ( a term that I would at the very least consider ambitious ), a whole variety of routers and providers etc etc. A couple pf months back I switched to a $45 a month deal with VNPT and the service has improved averaging around 110Mbps for both up and download. Still drops occasionally to half that some evenings but for the most part not so bad although I still struggle to receive complex drawings which can at times take forever. As far as concrete width is concerned then providing your laptop or whatever is in the same room as the router I fail to see how it makes any difference. But no doubt there is someone on here who understands more than I do that can provide an explanation.

Thanks to you all for the help & various explanations. I will now answers some of the questions.

1.........I am sitting using my laptop & or smart phone like 2 meters away from the router with no wall between me & the router.
2.........I am using FPT as my TV & internet provider, changed to them from MyTV cos I wanted BBC & their internet connection was even worse than FPT.
3.........Internet seems to get worse in the afternoon.
4.........My GF & me both have 4g from Mobi on our phones & use it sort of OK in the apartment & better than FPT although still seems slow.
5..........FPT was actually OK up till about 1 month back when it shut down for about 2 days & when it came back thats when I saw the difference.
6.........When I try to get access to one of my overseas investment sites it wont let me get into it & used to before the shut down, but funny thing is if I use a VPN cheater I can get into it.
Thing is, might be I am asking too much cos I want to stream movies from KODI without them being like jerky & it used to work fine but not now!

Long story for sure but any more ideas after seeing this would be appreciated.

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Have no idea what the provider is in our apartment.
But yes have noticed a slow down

The concrete walls thing is a genuine reason, easy way to tell is download from google or itunes an app called wifi analyser.
Runs this app where you thimk you are getting a poor signal or speed and it will show you signal strength and also neighbouring networks.

Neighbouring networks is usually the cause ad they overlap your own network and cause interference and then a drop off in speed.

If you see over lapping networks on the same channel then you would try changing the channel number on the router (laptop and ethernet canel required) to a less congested one.

Most modern routers have two seperate networks or SSID ...

2.4ghz is slower but works on longer ranges
5ghz is much faster and works over shorter distances.

If you have issues using 5ghz then change to the 2.4 ghz one and see if its any better.

If the problem only occurs the further away from the router you are then i suspect its more likely a neighbouring network causing the issue.

Mi ship at cantavil sells wireless range extenders... this might be all you need.  MI shop is addictive

Thanks for taking time to analyse the problem jlgar, can you advise/guide a total internet thingy novice  how to change from 2.4ghz to the 5ghz setting please?

goodolboy wrote:

Thanks to you all for the help & various explanations. I will now answers some of the questions.

1.........I am sitting using my laptop & or smart phone like 2 meters away from the router with no wall between me & the router.
2.........I am using FPT as my TV & internet provider, changed to them from MyTV cos I wanted BBC & their internet connection was even worse than FPT.
3.........Internet seems to get worse in the afternoon.
4.........My GF & me both have 4g from Mobi on our phones & use it sort of OK in the apartment & better than FPT although still seems slow.
5..........FPT was actually OK up till about 1 month back when it shut down for about 2 days & when it came back thats when I saw the difference.
6.........When I try to get access to one of my overseas investment sites it wont let me get into it & used to before the shut down, but funny thing is if I use a VPN cheater I can get into it.
Thing is, might be I am asking too much cos I want to stream movies from KODI without them being like jerky & it used to work fine but not now!

Long story for sure but any more ideas after seeing this would be appreciated.

Have had the same problem with movies so on advice downloaded them onto disc which takes a while but let the whole process run by itself whilst I was doing other things, and then watched them after.
Not sure if that works with Microsoft Windows as I use Apple IOS but I guess it may be worth a try.

Open a google page and search ADSL speed test.

Ideally you need a server close to you as possible to get the most accurate speed test.

The test will run three tests
Latency or ping measured in milliseconds.. the lower the better. Anything under 30 for a provider based HCM is good

Next download test measured in Mbps
Followed by upload again measured in Mbps

Let me know what results you get and we can troubleshoot from there.

If you connect via WiFi then channel selection manually would be a possible cure

As an afterthought... Have you checked to see if your laptop is downloading updates ? On Windows 10 this happen in the background and can make your laptop slow as well as your internet connection. Older versions of Windows it was more obvious that updates were being downloaded.

Also worth trying a different browser... If using Microsoft edge or internet explorer try using Chrome and see if anything changes

Jlgarbutt wrote:

As an afterthought... Have you checked to see if your laptop is downloading updates ? On Windows 10 this happen in the background and can make your laptop slow as well as your internet connection. Older versions of Windows it was more obvious that updates were being downloaded.

Also worth trying a different browser... If using Microsoft edge or internet explorer try using Chrome and see if anything changes

Chrome mate & thing is its slow on my smart phone & my GF smart phone same same

I would go with original suggestion and run a speed test. If you can connect your laptop directly to the router by cable and then again via wireless.

If you get much higher speeds on cable then it's a wireless issue.

If both are slow then could be a problem with the router .

Does anyone else in your building have the same problem

Jlgarbutt wrote:

I would go with original suggestion and run a speed test. If you can connect your laptop directly to the router by cable and then again via wireless.

If you get much higher speeds on cable then it's a wireless issue.

If both are slow then could be a problem with the router .

Does anyone else in your building have the same problem

OK will give it ago hard wired & let you know, but thing is when me & the GF use our phones through the router "wireless" its slow same as the laptop, but when we change "wireless" to Mobifon 4g internet the phone connections to the internet are OK so seems to me its the router but will give the wire a try & get back.
On another note, if I go to FPT & upgrade if possible to a faster connection & obviously pay the extra is that a guarantee that it will actually be faster do you think? thanks for your patience by the way

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Open a google page and search ADSL speed test.

Ideally you need a server close to you as possible to get the most accurate speed test.

The test will run three tests
Latency or ping measured in milliseconds.. the lower the better. Anything under 30 for a provider based HCM is good.................[b]average 11.77

Next download test measured in Mbps..........average 36.76#

Followed by upload again measured in Mbps...........average 15.52

Let me know what results you get and we can troubleshoot from there.

If you connect via WiFi then channel selection manually would be a possible cure

None of those speeds looks unreasonable or particularly bad.

Do you have more issues browsing some sites than others ?

A sustained power cycle might refresh the IP address.

Switch off the router for 30 minutes - this should give the router plenty of time to release the existing IP address. Then when you switch back on the ISP will allocate a new dynamic IP address.

If your phone's work fine outside the apartment on another WiFi network then it's definitely a local issue.

Jlgarbutt wrote:

None of those speeds looks unreasonable or particularly bad.

Do you have more issues browsing some sites than others ?

A sustained power cycle might refresh the IP address.

Switch off the router for 30 minutes - this should give the router plenty of time to release the existing IP address. Then when you switch back on the ISP will allocate a new dynamic IP address.

If your phone's work fine outside the apartment on another WiFi network then it's definitely a local issue.

Inside & outside the phones work ok on Mobifon 4g.
Tried connecting to the router with a cable & pretty much the same.
I really think its something to do with the amount of users in the apartments since the schools have shut. GF spoke to next door & her kid is now on internet 24/7 anyways will try switching it off for 30 min as you say & give you an update, spending far too long on this Forum these days anyway & now just watching CNBC & Bloomberg is making me totally depressed that last 4 days

I have a similar issue with web pages taking forever to load.  It's not a speed thing, it's always "waiting for xxxxx" what ever the website is.  Speeds themselves are fine.  I wonder if it's just US websites like news sites taking too long.  I know that parts of Fox News are not available in "my area".  Would it help if I had a VPN?

Internet speeds are good.  Just checked Speedtest.net

Ping 3
Download 75 MB/s
Upload 67 MB/s

I did load that WIfi Analyze from the early post and it does show all of the channels as 1 star except the one it suggested to change to which is 4 star.  The problem is I can't figure out how to change the router channel as I have no idea who made the router.

Let me know how you get in.

Mobile networks work differently hence the performance gap.

All standard networks use ADSL or copper wire technology and have a contention ratio. So in theory your maximum bandwidth could be shared with upto 50 other users. Depending on the contention ratio in place by the ISP.

Fibre or cable works differently and has either a zero or very low contention ratio

You could wait until gone midnight and try then. By this time I would like to think kids would be asleep.

The other bandwidth hogs are bit torrents. But seeing as movie and music content is freely available by other means I would discount these.

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Let me know how you get in.

Mobile networks work differently hence the performance gap.

All standard networks use ADSL or copper wire technology and have a contention ratio. So in theory your maximum bandwidth could be shared with upto 50 other users. Depending on the contention ratio in place by the ISP.

Fibre or cable works differently and has either a zero or very low contention ratio............... its Fibre

You could wait until gone midnight and try then. By this time I would like to think kids would be asleep. ..........will do, thing is when the schools are open its always better in the morning, then gets slower afternoon & evening.

The other bandwidth hogs are bit torrents. But seeing as movie and music content is freely available by other means I would discount these.

Thanks so much for your time with this.

SteinNebraska wrote:

Internet speeds are good.  Just checked Speedtest.net

Ping 3
Download 75 MB/s
Upload 67 MB/s

That's speed measured with a local vietnamese server. On speedtest.net select a server from the same region as the sites you're having issues with. You can also try running "ping -t cnn.com" from the command line (if you're on windows, but there must be a very similar command for other OS), see if there are any failures. You could have a high bandwidth, but if your connection drops frequently for very short periods, you might experience that as slow browsing...

Open a command line and try pinging google.com

Four results will come back all measured in ms lower the better.

Any failed packets points towards a provoke with the pc. But I think you mention before it's phone's as well

SteinNebraska wrote:

I have a similar issue with web pages taking forever to load.  It's not a speed thing, it's always "waiting for xxxxx" what ever the website is.  Speeds themselves are fine.  I wonder if it's just US websites like news sites taking too long.  I know that parts of Fox News are not available in "my area".  Would it help if I had a VPN?

Internet speeds are good.  Just checked Speedtest.net

Ping 3
Download 75 MB/s
Upload 67 MB/s

I did load that WIfi Analyze from the early post and it does show all of the channels as 1 star except the one it suggested to change to which is 4 star.  The problem is I can't figure out how to change the router channel as I have no idea who made the router.

Worth noting some sites with looks of ads or media showing on the page can be slower on some browsers than other.

www.planetf1.com on internet explorer is a pig.. on Chrome or edge works much better

Guessing overseas news sites might also be media rich contents

Ha ha🤣 Why not just knock the walls right on down?

dbrutter wrote:

Ha ha🤣 Why not just knock the walls right on down?

Its them Gremlins again, they have a lot to answer for!!

Try changing to a different broadcast channel on the router. I think the default is channel 6.

Routers are supposed to look for the best or least congested channel when they set up. A power recycle would also do this, but the be 100% sure you can do this using an Ethernet cable and laptop.


On the underside of the router should be a sticker showing username and password for the router - not to be confused with the as the WiFi.

If you have the above information connect to the router with the Ethernet cable. Open a browser page and enter 192.168.0.1 this is the most commonly used up address for local access to a router.

It should prompt you with username and password.

If it does then look for wifi settings and clock on the tab.

Under WiFi you will see channel or channels depending what spec router you have

2.4ghz are numbered 1 - 11 you can safely change this to another channel and then save.  Without seeing which channels are the busiest in your immediate area this will be trial and error. WiFi analyser app will show you channels used and where they overlap.

5ghz channel numbers are much higher and can also safely be changed using the above process.

Again save or confirm and the router will then reboot.

I noticed my internet was getting slow recently. Especially in the evenings.

I checked my internet settings and found that my DNS servers under IPv4 settings was blank. Must have been because of a recent update, IDK for sure.

Anyway I reset them to 1.1.1.1,9.9.9.9,8.8.8.8 and the problem went away immediately.

You also need to set the 'Method' to Automatic(DHCP) adresses only. That's not the default setting.

I use Linux but you should be able to edit your DNS servers under IPv4 settings on your machine and on your router. IDK if you can do that on a phone.

You can also google these three servers to see if they are still the best ones to use. They have worked great for me for years now. Especially 1.1.1.1.

FYI Your OS really has nothing to do with your internet access.

I use FPT.

Hope this helps!

VietCanada wrote:

I noticed my internet was getting slow recently. Especially in the evenings.

I checked my internet settings and found that my DNS servers under IPv4 settings was blank. Must have been because of a recent update, IDK for sure.

Anyway I reset them to 1.1.1.1,9.9.9.9,8.8.8.8 and the problem went away immediately.

You also need to set the 'Method' to Automatic(DHCP) adresses only. That's not the default setting.

I use Linux but you should be able to edit your DNS servers under IPv4 settings on your machine and on your router. IDK if you can do that on a phone.

You can also google these three servers to see if they are still the best ones to use. They have worked great for me for years now. Especially 1.1.1.1.

FYI Your OS really has nothing to do with your internet access.

I use FPT.

Browsers can and do make a huge difference when sitting the met.. some are much faster than others. IE support has been dropped so any newer plug ins will not always be backward compatible.

Also... Go Do a clean install of Windows 10... Then reboot and try to use the machine for the first couple of hours.  MS make the OS carry out numerous large updates before you finally get to use the laptop or PC without background updates hogging CPU time and bandwidth on your connection.

Unusual circumstances but it DOES happen
.. I'm guessing that's why you went for a Linux distro ?

Google DNS was a trick we used to use with PS4 slow downloads,

Hope this helps!

6.........When I try to get access to one of my overseas investment sites it wont let me get into it & used to before the shut down, but funny thing is if I use a VPN cheater I can get into it.

Report this to FPT.  Your ISP is required to fix access problems.

I had a similar problem accessing a credit union in Seattle.  It was a routing table error in a backbone node somewhere in Oregon, but using a VPN got around it until it was corrected.

Ideally when testing your speed, you want to be connected to the server sending the content, but for sure you want one close to the content provider.

My first ISP here (Ben Cat) would give me the speed I bought when accessing any site in Vietnam, but only one-third that speed when connecting outside Vietnam.  I switched as soon as VNPT was available here, and got speed I bought (or more) up and down.

Read the contract you have with FPT.  I will bet somewhere in it you will find "based on shared access" or similar.  That means when few computers are using the path, speeds are higher (up to the cap for which your contract is written).  When many are using it (as noted in the afternoons), the path is busier and speeds to you are slower.  The analogy is a multi-lane highway.  When few vehicles are on the road, one can go the posted speed limit.  When lots of vehicles are on the road, everyone sharing the road must slow down.

ADSL is always router-to-headend so no sharing.  The headend is a concentrator also, so many connections may feed into it and sharing the upstream path capacity.  Fiber is similar, except the connection is to another router upstream where each connection gets a share of the path capacity.

I once had a problem with a computer I bought in HCMC.  I had the in-home maintenance at that time, so a "technician" came to fix it.  Since I have been in IT since 1964, I know a lot about computers and software.  He and I discussed the problem, and I rejected all the balogna he kept trying to give me.  Finally he called someone for help.  My Vietnamese wife overheard him say, "I can't tell him that - he knows too much!"  He ended up taking the computer into the shop and got it fixed. 

I have since come to realize I have helped train several other technicians, or at least let them know when they didn't know how to fix a problem.

Travelfar wrote:

I once had a problem with a computer I bought in HCMC.  I had the in-home maintenance at that time, so a "technician" came to fix it.  Since I have been in IT since 1964, I know a lot about computers and software.  He and I discussed the problem, and I rejected all the balogna he kept trying to give me.  Finally he called someone for help.  My Vietnamese wife overheard him say, "I can't tell him that - he knows too much!"  He ended up taking the computer into the shop and got it fixed. 

I have since come to realize I have helped train several other technicians, or at least let them know when they didn't know how to fix a problem.

Now that sounds just about right

Mr. Jugblebutt,

TBH I have no idea what you're talking about.

DNS 1.1.1.1 is a fairly recent DNS that doesn't track the websites you visit. That claim may or may not be true but it is faster.

Google's 8.8.8.8 has been around longer but it is not a 'trick' it is something people have been using for a long time. It is a proven method for getting faster results on the internet.

1.1.1.1 is newer and faster still.

As for the browser making a difference, yeah it can but I made no claim that it didn't. I did say that the OS doesn't make any difference. OS=Operating System. OS is not a web browser.

I switched to Linux around the time Microsoft 7 came out.
I have used Firefox for a couple decades. The day I started using Firefox instead of Internet Explorer was the last time I ever had a virus on my Windows system. 

With all due respect your response to my post actually isn't.

Changing your DNS is a time honoured, proven method for increasing your internet access regardless of what browser or OS you use.

I have been actively pursuing security for my system since the early 90's. Adopting Linux Mint Mate ended those concerns. I don't live in a cave. I am not a hermit. I assure you I was very active with others on EFL message boards sharing info to secure systems and even the odd fix if I knew one. In that spirit I posted in this thread to help out the OP.

I don't know what his problem is. From what I've read so far neither does anyone else. But I did have a similar problem and resolved it by fixing my DNS. I've actually had this problem a couple times before after installing a newer version of Linux Mint Mate and forgetting to set my DNS to the ones that I provided above.

I would suggest the OP try it. You can't break anything. Those DNSs are absolutely legitimate If that fix doesn't work then call FTP. I have had a few instances over my 10+ years with FTP here where my internet slowed down. My VN wife called them. They told me to unplug the router for about 20 seconds and then plug it back in. That has also worked. When it didn't they sent out a tech. That worked. Sometimes they tell us that are working in the neighbourhood and that the disruption will end after some hours. Usually all the neighbours know that already.

I no longer spend my Fridays running antivirii, anti-trojans, defragging and I don't even remember all the programs we used to run to clean up the Windows IE mess. There was a program that monitored and gave you control over what programs on your computer could access the internet. It was all a giant PITA.

Nowadays when I hear about a Linux issue I find that I already got the update.

So here is my advice:
1. Change your DNS as I outlined in my previous post.
If that doesn't work then unplug the router for about a minute.
If that doesn't work then call FTP. You will have to unplug the router again. Just do it.
If that doesn't work then they'll send out a tech.

If they are servicing wires or equipment in your area they will tell you that when you phone them and give you an estimate of when they'll be done.

If none of this works then pay FTP for a faster connection.
If that doesn't work then take your PC to a shop.
I haven't read a single post here that suggests anyone has any idea of how to help you with this problem.

I apologize if anyone is offended.

I don't know anything about the FPT thing.

I have a Roku 3 modem that is ethernet wired here in my apartment in Vũng Tàu.

Every now and then, like now, I'll be watching YouTube or Netflix and it just freezes up.

So I picked up my Android phone on Wi-Fi and it's freezing also.

However, when I turn off the Wi-Fi on my phone, it screams over Vinaphone data.

For what it's worth...

Read again... Not just his pc but his smart phones also have the same issue so going to a pc shop with his pc won't fix that.

Everyone else listed steps to try and identify the issue. Most of these steps would have been the same questions a pc shop would ask also. As is the same scenario with FPT

Often helps to read the whole thread..

Sounds like he should set the DNS on his modem and call FPT. Helps if you read individual posts too.

goodolboy wrote:

how to change from 2.4ghz to the 5ghz setting please?

If operating properly, your router is putting out both signals simultaneously.  To change go to wherever you choose wi-fi connections on your laptop (in iOS this is System Preferences, I forget what it is in Windows)  and just select the 5 gHz channel.  Often the passwords are the same, but they are probably inconveniently located on the bottom of the router.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

I don't know anything about the FPT thing.

I have a Roku 3 modem that is ethernet wired here in my apartment in Vũng Tàu.

Every now and then, like now, I'll be watching YouTube or Netflix and it just freezes up.

So I picked up my Android phone on Wi-Fi and it's freezing also.

However, when I turn off the Wi-Fi on my phone, it screams over Vinaphone data.

For what it's worth...

TV connection is good, absolutly first class, Youtube can be a bit jerky, seems to depend what time of day it is & forget streaming.
Its internet connection thats the problem even using phone through the FPT router its chronic slow, when I go over to Mobi 4g on phone its fine.

VietCanada wrote:

Sounds like he should set the DNS on his modem and call FPT. Helps if you read individual posts too.

If you read the first post you will see FPT have already been out to my apartment. Best he came up with was the concrete walls were too thick even although I am sitting less than 2 metersfrom therouter with only fresh air between my lap top, my phone & GF phone!
Again read my post!!! No point taking my laptop to  the shop its fine, 2 phones & laptop slow through FPT router sort of tells me the common point is the router or problem at FPT end
Posting all these fixes & getting into technical battles is no good to me as I would need a degree in computer science to understand half of it & I am a self confessed dummy on that front🥱

Anyways dont want to sound ungrateful as all of you have tried to help solve the problem ...so a big thanks to all.....now heading down the FPT shop to "try" to get some sense there. Past experience with any service providers has not been good, after they get the cash, any problems they will just try to fob you off with any excuse! 

Cant remember if I mentioned this bit, but this slowness seemed to coincide with 2 factors

1......FPT had 2 days mysterious down time 2 months back
2......I renewed my 6 months subscription round about this time too.

goodolboy wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

I don't know anything about the FPT thing.

I have a Roku 3 modem that is ethernet wired here in my apartment in Vũng Tàu.

Every now and then, like now, I'll be watching YouTube or Netflix and it just freezes up.

So I picked up my Android phone on Wi-Fi and it's freezing also.

However, when I turn off the Wi-Fi on my phone, it screams over Vinaphone data.

For what it's worth...

TV connection is good, absolutly first class, Youtube can be a bit jerky, seems to depend what time of day it is & forget streaming.
Its internet connection thats the problem even using phone through the FPT router its chronic slow, when I go over to Mobi 4g on phone its fine.

Yeah, it seems the problem is with ISPs, not phone data providers.