topic Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed... in Broadband

Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

Suarez — Sat, 12 Nov 2022 08:08:41 GMT

Hi,

I have been experiencing issues with my connection for roughly 1 week. I was hoping the situation was temporary and would improve, but it has not.

Symptoms:

Speed is normal, but often slows to a crawl, and then sometimes disconnects. Seemingly at random.

This is happening across all my devices. These devices include computers, phones, games consoles, set top boxes (Sky Q, Nvidia Shield) and a few other things. My devices are both wired and wireless - it does not make a difference to the issue.

Just one example; when playing on Playstation 5 online, I will suffer lag and poor connection warning. Then it will say I am not connected. But my connection is still active. This is a symptom replicated on computers, phones, (wireless) and set top or Android boxes (wired). It would seem parts of the device will work, but others will not. ie certain websites will load, certain apps will work etc etc. The issue appears to correct itself after a short period (5-10 minutes) and then happens again.

Things tried:

Restarting all devices.

Restarting all network equipment.

Restarting router.

I have conducted speed tests when connection fully working and I am getting my usual speeds.

I had not made any changes to equipment, setting or devices before the symptoms started. Next door neighbour had a new telephone wire installed by BT engineer just before my problems started. And a new internet service. I do not know if related or coincidence.

I'm hoping someone can help me fix this issue or suggest what I can do next.

Thank you.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

jab1 — Sat, 12 Nov 2022 08:33:46 GMT

@Suarez

First thing to check: Is your phoneline clear? Dial 17070 (preferably from a corded phone), select option 2. Once your phone number is confirmed, there should be silence on the line except for the regular 'Quiet Line Test' message - any other noise, report a PHONE problem via: https://www.plus.net/help/report-a-problem/phone/

If the phone test passes, report a broadband problem via: https://www.plus.net/help/report-a-problem/broadband/

Let us know the result - if the tests come back as clear but you still have a problem, we need to investigate further.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

Suarez — Sat, 12 Nov 2022 11:13:11 GMT

Thank you.

Phone line seems clear.

I'm reporting the problem now via text bot.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

Townman — Sat, 12 Nov 2022 14:41:58 GMT

Random disconnections point to an intermittent issue. Be sure to do the QLT as advised by @jab1 at the time of a disconnection.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

Suarez — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 15:16:16 GMT

So this issue dramatically improved on Saturday. I once again had perfect service. It was great. All devices (wired and wireless), all services.

It was fine all Sunday then returned Sunday night.

Looking at the broadband status on the router it doesn't actually seem to be disconnecting. It's just like the connection speed grinds to a halt or is blocking certain sites/services.

You'll get 100% connection to some sites/services etc whilst others will just refuse to work citing no internet connection - this would be on the same device. ie. Disney+ wouldn't work, Netflix would be fine. Again, the issue resolves after a short time and then occurs again.

It must be some kind of routing issue or something? Could this be related to next door neighbours new telephone line installation at all?

At this point, I've done a few Quiet Line Tests and it is always quiet. I've gone through the text troubleshoot. But still same issue occurs.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

jab1 — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 15:33:37 GMT

@Suarez I appreciate you say the router status appears OK - anything strange in the logs at those times, although I doubt it?

Really needs someone with a greater understanding than me, because I admit to being stumped.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

Suarez — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 16:55:24 GMT

I'm looking at the event log but I'm not sure what would be considered strange to be honest, considering I never look at it.

I see quite a bit of this type of thing;

16:48:04, 14 Nov.	BLOCKED 1 more packets (because of Spoofing protection)
16:48:03, 14 Nov.	BLOCKED 4 more packets (because of Spoofing protection)

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

jab1 — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 17:01:56 GMT

Without seeing the whole log, I can't really comment - we would need to see the other messages around those.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

Suarez — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 17:04:55 GMT

So I was hoping this would eventually correct itself. But no. Its still very bad.

Many things unusable because of the slow speed (even though I get full speed when using other services or devices). It seems specific things are affected, it doesn't matter if wired or wireless. Like, on the same devices I can use Netflix as normal whereas Disney Plus will take 20 clicks to get a tv show to load. I can download an update on the PS5 at lightening speed, but a game will constantly disconnect or tell me my connection is poor and so on. I really don't know what is going on.

Could this be related to a BT engineer doing something when they installed a new wire to next door? Literally all of this started to happen right after that.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

Suarez — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 17:13:30 GMT

Sorry, thought I'd posted the event log. Seems like the forum throws back an error. I've attached in notepad.

This is from today. Had issues all today. Mostly trying to use SKYQ boxes - apps, search either don't load or really slow. Broadband connections on and off on the SkyQ box (network connection fine). Internet okay on other devices during the same time.

All very intermittent.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

jab1 — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 17:13:55 GMT

Have you reported a broadband fault, as advised earlier?

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

Suarez — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 17:17:07 GMT

Yes, I did the text fault checker. It said line seemed clear and suggested restarting router. Which I'd already done (but did again anyway). No change. Obviously already restarted all my devices and network equipment too.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

jab1 — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 17:18:18 GMT

That event log suggests one of your devices (quite possibly the SKY box) is causing the error. Disconnect them all, adding them back one at a time, and see which starts the problem.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

Suarez — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 17:25:24 GMT

Thanks. I appreciate the help.

Can you tell me where in the log it suggests this, as I might be able to match up the MAC or IP address?

And how would it cause this?

Thank you.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

jab1 — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 17:29:17 GMT

It looks like the culprit could be the HS100 device, but why it should be causing the problem I don't know - depending on what is, it could be anything.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

Suarez — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 17:32:10 GMT

Hmm, HS100 is a smart plug. TP Link Kasa brand, does nothing more than turn on and off via the TP Link app. I have about 20 of them.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

jab1 — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 17:34:12 GMT

Well, maybe one of them is faulty - but it does seem to be the catalyst for the errors.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

Suarez — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 17:40:00 GMT

Okay. I am unable to switch everything off now, but tomorrow I will physically unplug all HS100 devices and report back. All are working without issue, but maybe one of them is l doing something.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

Suarez — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 17:43:15 GMT

Just one more thing if I may? Is it possible to identify the possible offender by MAC address using the log? As I can see the MAC address of all plugs in thee Kasa app. Thanks again for the help.

Re: Drop outs and occasional very slow (unusable) speed...

jab1 — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 17:49:18 GMT

ac:84:c6:59:6b:c9 is one, but I suspect there are others (KC-)