topic Re: Intermittent connection dropout in Broadband

Intermittent connection dropout

wilton1968 — Wed, 04 May 2022 11:06:34 GMT

I am hoping someone can help me or PlusNet with an issue I seem to be experiencing on an intermittent basis recently

On occasions I have noticed that I lose my wireless connection where the blue status bar on the front of the router changes to orange for a minute or so before the connection is restored and it changes back to blue. I have been fortunate enough to be one of those people who, throughout COVID, I have had to work onsite in the office rather than at home however my wife has not had the pleasure of being in office and has had to work from home. Her job means many online meetings which, initially, was not an issue and the connection seemed to be pretty stable, however, recently she has noticed it intermittently dropped out during the day and could be during an important meeting (as it was a couple of days ago) and I have noticed it does it in the evening also. There is no time window when it will drop and will not drop, to our knowledge, every day but we don't sit in front of the router watching it all day so it is possible it does but we don't actually notice it. The connection has been great up until recently and the only thing that has changed was the router when we renewed our contract approx 1 year ago

As it is an intermittent fault I do feel the issue may lie with the router rather than wiring and wondered if you are able to check your end to see if anything appears. The 2 occasions when I noticed it dropped was approx 13:30 on Sunday and 21:30 last night but it may be more frequent than this. I haven't plugged my old router back in to test or done a phone test with the test socket but this will be the next course of action for me

Could PlusNet please check to see if there is anything showing up on the line as it is likely to get worse rather than better which isn't ideal with my wife working from home

Many thanks

Re: Intermittent connection dropout

adamwalker — Thu, 05 May 2022 11:48:17 GMT

Hi there @wilton 1968,

I'm sorry about the disconnections you've been experiencing, whereas our logs are showing that the connection is dropping quite frequently line tests aren't showing us any obvious causes. Can you try following the checks shown here as your next step please? https://www.plus.net/help/broadband/connection-troubleshooting/

Re: Intermittent connection dropout

Townman — Sat, 07 May 2022 15:15:41 GMT

"On occasions I have noticed that I lose my wireless connection where the blue status bar on the front of the router changes to orange for a minute or so before the connection is restored and it changes back to blue."

The mention that the router lights change colour means that this is not a WiFi problem but a broadband issue.

What self help tests have you done? You indicate that this is an intermittent issue, so there is more than a fair chance that when tested, Plusnet will not be able to identify (encounter) an issue.

Broadband is not going to work well if the "phone" line is not working properly.

Please perform a quiet line test - dial 17070 select option 2 using a corded phone plugged into the test socket behind the face plate of the master socket. It should be silent. A noisy phone line (or no dial tone) will have a marked adverse impact on the performance of broadband.

If the line is noisy or there is no dial tone, then a PHONE LINE fault needs to be raised with your phone provider. If this is PlusNet, you can report a fault on line using the button below. From the Q&A list, choose the one which matches the problem, 'open' the 'section' and click the trouble-shooter link. NB: If you receive a failure message (rather than a log-in prompt) then log-in to the user portal in a different browser tab and attempt to use the trouble-shooter again.

Phone Faults

Can you correlate the drops to the use of the telephone?

Re: Intermittent connection dropout

wilton1968 — Sun, 05 Jun 2022 12:09:08 GMT

Good afternoon

Apologies for the lengthy delay getting back with an update. I have swapped my router back to my old fibre router that is connected to the BT Openreach modem. As far as I could see in the 3 days it’s been connected I’ve had no issues with drop outs as no messages have appeared and all lights appear to remain green. What have I checked:

Phone line clear
Cables plugged in correctly
No micro filter used as have a double socket master socket
Close to wall but same spot as old router and not had any issues before
Service status checked
Home phone hardly used but not affected
Reset not carried out as it generally works fine
No specific times it drops - it can be fine all day then suddenly drop 3 or 4 times in an hour

I feel the issue might be with the router as nothing else seems apparent but Plusnet may be able to confirm. I currently have the latest router back in place that I have an issue with and so far no issues but will update in the next day or so

Hope this information helps identify the issue

Re: Intermittent connection dropout

wilton1968 — Sun, 05 Jun 2022 12:19:22 GMT

Hi

For your information, the current router has been plugged in for approximately 5 minutes and the connection has already dropped but, as previously, automatically reconnects

Thanks

Re: Intermittent connection dropout

Townman — Sun, 05 Jun 2022 16:22:11 GMT

"I have swapped my router back to my old fibre router that is connected to the BT Openreach modem."

That's an important clarification, without which we are at risk of giving inaccurate advice.

What routers do you have?

If you have a VDSL router (for example a Plusnet Hub One) then connect it direct to the telephone and ditch the BT Openreach Modem. The less technology involved here, the easier it is to locate the problem. The BTOR modem does not provide access to the line stats which are essential to understand what is happening here.

Do the QLT tests frequently - noise can be intermittent.

Re: Intermittent connection dropout

wilton1968 — Sun, 05 Jun 2022 16:55:45 GMT

I do have my VDSL router connected and NOT the BTOR modem

Re: Intermittent connection dropout

Townman — Sun, 05 Jun 2022 18:37:12 GMT

Ah then your previous post was a bit ambiguous.

Can you please post the line stats.

Re: Intermittent connection dropout

wilton1968 — Sun, 05 Jun 2022 19:35:05 GMT

Unfortunately, I don’t know what you mean by ‘the line stays’ or where I get them! Pleas can you advise. Thanks

Re: Intermittent connection dropout

Townman — Sun, 05 Jun 2022 21:15:15 GMT

Look at the help desk page.

Re: Intermittent connection dropout

jab1 — Mon, 06 Jun 2022 06:59:05 GMT

@wilton1968 To expand on @Townman 's message above, just in case you don't know how to find it:

For the Hub One -

Navigate from the Home Screen to Troubleshooting > Helpdesk

For the Hub Two -

Navigate from the Home Screen to Advanced Settings > Technical Log > Information