topic Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops in Broadband

Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

Rybenuk — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 20:30:30 GMT

Once again expereincing an issue with standard broadband.

For the last couple of months I`ve been experiencing constant drops in connection(internet light goes out on router and then connection restarts a few minutes later). This was happening exactly the same time last year in Dec 2021 and Jan 2022 following poor weather.

Once again i replaced the router but still getting the odd drops. However what is annoying is that im now struggling to obtain the speeds i was once getting. Last year when Openreach came to property to test they found nothing wrong, replaced the master socket with a more up to date faceplate filter one and even stated that i was able to achieve 17mbps due to my localtion near the exchange.I got this for a short time. Im now barely getting 1-2mbps....

Im guessing that ever since the regular and random drops, my bandwidth has been drastically throttled due to the "unstable connection"?

Can this be looked into and fixed as i dont want to keep getting less than my guaranteed minimum of 5. Occassionaly I am able to obtain up to 7mbps, but nowhere near consistantly and never near what i was getting last year of around 12-14.

I still believe that this ongoing issues is caused by the ancient phonecables outside attached in a spider web to the sole pole outside. Any bad weather we have at this time of year (which is regular due to my location), the internet drops regularly and then slows down but i still think my bandwidth has been throttled right back.

Again to confirm from last year`s procedure:

Things i`ve tried with no effect:

1. Test socket quiet test - No issues, seems fine?.

2. Replaced RJ cable with new one

3. Replaced router with another brand new ASUS one (still not received my new plusnet router despite being told i would get one even from last year?)

4. Replaced all ethernet cables with new ones to PCs.

Not sure how to remedy this now as it all points to a fault on the outside line that only Plusnet/Openreach can look into.

I can provide screen shots of all the speed tests I`ve done over the last few weeks to show how bad its becoming if required. Sometimes my DL is actually lower than my UL speed(which has always been dire)

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

jab1 — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 20:46:27 GMT

If your phone is OK, report a BROADBAND fault via: https://www.plus.net/help/report-a-problem/broadband/ , although it will not get picked up until tomorrow, now.

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

Rybenuk — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 21:53:32 GMT

Thanks, gave it a try and got the automatic Bot that said "This Is Fine" as i managed to be running at 5mbps at the time (up from a 0.75 mbps when I posted initially - it took five minutes to even get onto Plusnet site for example) and said that my equipment must be at fault - which i dont believe it is as everything is new and had been working correctly prior to the constant drop/reconnect cycles - For example on 29th Dec i had 20 drops and reconnects between 19:15 and 22:15. It was heavy rain that night.

So will need to see if I can speak to an actual person to explain a bit more.

I still think that bad weather related and poor/ageing phone lines caused the drops which in turn caused me to be bandwidth throttled.

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

jab1 — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 07:47:43 GMT

@Rybenuk What modem/router are you using - it would be interesting to see your stats/error log?

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

Rybenuk — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 08:54:37 GMT

H, I was using the generic Plusnet router through the latter half of last year, but swapped across to an Asus RT-AC51U in January to see if it would sort the cobstant drops experienced in Nov and Dec(thinking it was a dying Plusnet router - I've had a number of these and they don't last) .

Early in 2022 when experiencing same issues when Open reach were called out, I was using another Asus router(same model) to see if the issue was caused by the Plusnet router. The Asus one then popped during summer due to lightning strike and had to go back to Plusnet one.

Either way the connection seems to drop constantly over December so bought another brand new Asus router, and while the random drops seem to have reduced, my bandwidth has dropped from average of 12mbps daily in 2022 to never getting higher than 7mbps now, dropping to under 1mbps at times. Its frustrating as its not reliable. Barely getting 2g mobile, we rely on broadband.

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

jab1 — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 09:24:31 GMT

OK, can you post the stats and error logs, if you can find them - to be honest I am expecting this to be a BT/OR network issue.

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

Rybenuk — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 10:38:17 GMT

I'll take a look at my router page and in the network section and post (I assume the dB etc will be useful?). Not seen any error logs on the router though but I'll have another look.

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

Rybenuk — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 19:38:02 GMT

So booted up PC tonight and yes back to 2-4mbps - nothing downloading or updating. Thats my speed now straight after booting up. Down from 12-13ish last year and before the massive amounts of connection drops.

Which logs would be beneficial here?

On my Asus router log page ive got:

General Log

Wireless Log

DHCP leases

Routing Table

Port Forwarding

DSL Log

Connections

Access Log

No Error Log as far as I can see?

Router firmware is up to date also but i dont think its this router thats causing the issue as my Plusnet router gave me the same speeds before i swapped it after the drops/reconnects episodes.

Just did a number of speed tests - Ookla, Google, BTWholesale ones and all coming up with below guarateed min - all below 5mbps currently.

This is off my account page(im not getting these speeds currently - I was last year before the drops/reconnect)

Product: Unlimited (Contracted)
Estimated Download Range: 8 - 16Mbps
Estimated Upload Range: 1Mbps
Minimum Guaranteed Speed: 5.9Mbps
Current Line Speed (Download): 17.4Mbps

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

jab1 — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 19:41:28 GMT

Start with the General log, connections and the DSL log. I have no Asus experience, from reports I've seen from this brands models in the past, they are not the most helpful for trouble-shooting purposes

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

Mustrum — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 19:43:55 GMT

It would also be useful to know what modem/rouer you are using, you mention an Asus RT something, which needs a modem?

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

Rybenuk — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 22:18:00 GMT

Will do, i`ll get them and attach here. I take it its safe to post logs of router?

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

Rybenuk — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 22:09:48 GMT

apologies, got it wrong it's an ASUS DSL-N16 N300 modem router.

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

Rybenuk — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 22:17:23 GMT

The DSL log isnt actually a log it seems, just a page. Im assuming the max rate of 6752kbps is my DL speed? As that seems to tie in with what im seeing on speed tests when it hits the highest amount:

	Downstream	Upstream
TCM(Trellis Coded Modulation)	On	On
SNR Margin	17.0 dB	7.0 dB
Line Attenuation	8.5 dB	6.5 dB
Path Mode	Interleaved	Interleaved
Interleave Depth	16	4
Data Rate	6464 kbps	704 kbps
Max Rate	6752 kbps	888 kbps
Power	13.5 dbm	12.0 dbm
INP	1.5 symbols	2.0 symbols
INP-SHINE	-	-
INP-REIN	-	-
CRC	0	0

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

jab1 — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 07:46:44 GMT

@Rybenuk Assuming you are on an ADSL connection - from those figures - there is something seriously wrong somewhere. If they are correct, you are quite close to the exchange, which should give you much higher connection and data rate speeds, and your downstream SNR is horribly high.

If you have a landline telephone, can you perform a Quiet Line Test - dial 17070 and select option 2. There should be no noise on the line at all.

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

Rybenuk — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 20:28:27 GMT

Thanks for taking a look. I do remember when Openreach were here last time, they said that due to how close i was to the exchange (under 150m) i could be getting at least 17 which they manged to give me (no idea how) whicjh I thought great, thats makes sense, the cab is probably a stones through away and i did get that once they left. But that only lasted a short time and settled back to around 11-13..

I just tried a quiet test using master socket and even lifting the handset i was getting high pitched constant static on the line which lasted about two minutes (couldnt even hear the dial tone), then suddenly stopped and managed to get a faint dialling tone to do the quiet test. There is something definately wrong with the line, the line has crackles and pops on it, although nothing like the high pitched static just before it. I even thought that it was a faulty phone handset, and tried adjusting the cable etc but its never used so dont think its that.

I even recorded it briefly to make sure i had a note of it.

Im pretty sure the lines are damaged/corroded/water ingress somewhere from my outside wall to the cab. It has to be that surely? There is no way im going from a maxmimum of 17 down to 1-2 under normal conditions?

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

jab1 — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 20:32:53 GMT

@Rybenuk Report a PHONE problem via: https://www.plus.net/help/report-a-problem/phone/ .It won't get picked up until tomorrow at the earliest now, but should ensure the matter is looked into.

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

MatthewWheeler — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 08:45:09 GMT

Hi @Rybenuk

I'm really sorry for how long it's taken to get back to you. We've been quite busy recently so it's taking longer than we'd like to reply.

After testing your line this morning I've found an external fault which has been raised to our suppliers for further investigation.

As soon as we know more we'll be in touch

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

Rybenuk — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 07:12:04 GMT

Thanks for raising this is a fault. I'm pretty sure that the cabling outside is to blame. I'm now pretty much without Internet since weekend (down to under 100kbps speed)

I managed to take a look outside and the ancient box and cabling into property makes me think the whole infrastructure of wires outside are in desperate need of updating - the logo on the box hasn't been in used since British Telecom were a thing back in 1991 I think, so I'm guessing that this thing is better part of 30 years old.....

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

Rybenuk — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 23:36:41 GMT

This is still not been resolved?

Ive had less than 100kbps download speeds for a week now, essentially no internet, impossible to do any speedtests, check email - ive just managed to get into emails only to find Plusnet have been emailing me (which i wasnt receiving! - why wasnt i texted as that was how i intiiated the fault?) and said that everything is now fixed - Its clearly not!

Now that i know the line has been looked at i reset my router and Im still barely getting half of what i was getting before (still barely 6mpbs on a line that can according to my information provide 17.4 mbps which according to Openreach last year was what I should be getting considering im less than 150m from the cab)

Can someone please look into this and tell me why my speeds have dropped from what i was getting last year(over 12mbps) to struggling to getting to 6mbps now?(seems a bit convenient that my guaranteed minimums are stated at 5.9 and i`m "just" getting 6 currently) Has Plusnet now reduced thier bandwidth on Unlimited ADSL broadband down to the minimums as the estimated line speed is 8-16,which is actually what i was seeing up to the end of last year until the drops/reconnects.

if this is not resolved, i`ll be looking at cancelling my account with Plusnet as this is getting frustrating. I was actually considering upgrading to Plusnet Fibre with the current promotion as the speeds are dramatically faster, id love to have 50-69mbps with a min of over 40 - however, if its FTTC then what is the point as no doubt the local cabling wont provide that speed, considering it cant sustain even basic ADSL broadband?)

I still believe due to the constant drops in December i`ve now been throttled right down to the minimums on my connection? Again ive not seen any confirmation from you on why those disconnects happened? Can you at least confirm that frequency of the drops over that period - last time I was sent a graph type image to show all the connection drops?

Also not sure why Openreach have not come and physically taken a look at lines outside is beyond me - I`ve attached a picture to show how bad the BT equipment is at this property - can you say that this is acceptable condition, can something like this that is so old even connect to a faster Fibre network like this?

Re: Broadband Speeds and Constant Drops

Rybenuk — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 23:49:31 GMT

This is now what I`m seeing on my router DSL page, which has changed since last time:

	Downstream	Upstream
TCM(Trellis Coded Modulation)	On	On
SNR Margin	15.0 dB	6.0 dB
Line Attenuation	8.5 dB	6.5 dB
Path Mode	FastPath	FastPath
Interleave Depth	1	1
Data Rate	8128 kbps	992 kbps
Max Rate	11296 kbps	1096 kbps
Power	13.5 dbm	12.0 dbm
INP	0.0 symbols	0.0 symbols
INP-SHINE	-	-
INP-REIN	-	-
CRC	0	0