topic Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks in Broadband

Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

Spiralofdoom — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 14:40:39 GMT

I am in a similar situation to HPsauce (and live in the Holmfirth area if anyone else in this neck of the woods also has an ongoing similar fault - I understand from OR that at least one person does).

Went on holiday 18 June, all well with internet. Returned on 6 July to solid orange light on HubOne. No-one in house whilst away.

And so the dance with PN customer services began ... round and round we go and no-one takes responsibilty. Promises to update me, call me back, etc all unfulfilled. 2 engineers appointments missed, 1 Qube and 3 OR engineers actually visited. Had a new HubTwo delivered last week, another new HubTwo on order after today's visit. Broadband definitely reaching hub (OR tried both). OR have even checked telephone exchange and cabinet today, but still no internet. Now 3 weeks since we reported the outage.

Supposedly with CAT team now (managed to get it escalated this week - that in itself was a struggle), but have no way of contacting them direct.

It seems like we'll never find the source of the fault let alone fix it.

I feel so helpless and it's affecting my mental health. Currently relying on paying for BT hotspot, but refuse to do online banking etc via on open connection, so not a full substitute for our PN broadband.

We're on copper and our landline is fine.

We have been with PN for internet since 2010 and phone/internet since 2015, so not new customers, not changing from copper to fibre, nothing like that. Simply left our house empty for 2 1/2 weeks!

Any thoughts on how to get some positive action?

PS Just remembered - Plusnet did ring us once - to ask how the service was going now it's fixed. They got short shrift.

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

jab1 — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:06:38 GMT

@Spiralofdoom Sounds horrendous.Just out of curiosity, I assume you, and/or the engineers have tried connecting direct to the test socket (using a filter)?

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

Spiralofdoom — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:13:08 GMT

I assume so, but who knows? You'd hope one of the 3 OR engineers would do this. I didn't watch their every move and question everything they did - and I'm not technical.

Broadband definitely reaching hub. Per one engineer - it's at the gate but the gatekeeper won't let it in.

One OR engineer replaced our old (2003) master socket used with a splitter ,and replaced with a new one so we no longer have splitter.

Thanks for interest.

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

MisterW — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:16:49 GMT

solid orange light on HubOne

Solid orange is an authentication problem!

Probably a BT wholesale routing/radius problem. These seem to take a lot of sorting out...

@Spiralofdoom if you're up for a little more fault finding ( it MIGHT make resolution quicker! )

Try changing the broadband username/password in the Hub as follows:

First try:-

Username: bt_test_user@startup_domain
Password: (leave blank)

If that gives a connection then disconnect and try :-

Username: bt_test_user@plusdsl.net
Password: (leave blank)

Let us know the results

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

Spiralofdoom — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:20:09 GMT

I'm reluctant to try this because I'm not technical.

I can tell you that all 4 engineer have been through a process of changing user names and passwords on both hubs and we still have no success - including today.

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

jab1 — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:21:05 GMT

I understand your frustration, believe me. Fortunately, I do have some basic knowledge of how the phone/broadband service works, and on the odd occasion I have needed an engineer visit, have been able to ask the right questions/understand what they are doing.

What colour is you Hubs light, and what does your Hub show on these pages?

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

jab1 — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:22:44 GMT

@MisterW Thanks - must have missed that 'solid orange light'.

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

RichardB — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:23:13 GMT

Hi @Spiralofdoom

Sorry to hear of Plus-nets failure to fix your service.

Is the Three mobile network any good in your area (both in terms of coverage and speeds)?

Three's Smarty offshoot will sell unlimited data for £16 pm and no contract.

https://smarty.co.uk/

You can cancel when you no longer need it.

Regards

Richard

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

MisterW — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:31:21 GMT

I can tell you that all 4 engineer have been through a process of changing user names and passwords on both hubs and we still have no success - including today.

Did any of the Openreach engineers contact OR Engineering DCoE ? If so did they manage to get to 2nd line support ?

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

Spiralofdoom — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:36:33 GMT

Today's engineer did ring BT - got sent straight back to PN - so I guess the answer re 2nd line support is No.

Previous engineers - don't know.

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

Spiralofdoom — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:38:19 GMT

Solid orange light

Status: disconnected

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

jab1 — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:44:28 GMT

Not unexpected - but it was worth asking.

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

MisterW — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:46:13 GMT

Today's engineer did ring BT - got sent straight back to PN - so I guess the answer re 2nd line support is No.

I'm afraid that's typical, these sort of issues do have the initial look of an ISP or router problem. It needs a determined engineer to get through to 2nd line who can diagnose the issue properly. You would have thought that after 3 engineers, that would have happened but who knows!. Problem is, that all an ISP can do is hand the fault back to OR...

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

jab1 — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 16:21:20 GMT

@MisterW Not disputing what you say about the solid orange light - but my reading of the description of this status on the Hub2 suggests slightly different, in that the suggested remedy is 'connect your computer or a device to your hub and follow the on-screen instructions to get connected. If this doesn't work, press the reset button to initiate a factory reset'. Solid orange on the Hub1 is an authentication error.

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

Dan_the_Van — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 16:43:14 GMT

Solid orange on the Hub1 is an authentication error.

With the Hub One the broadband light b would also be illuminated solid

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

jab1 — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 16:48:53 GMT

I thought the OP was using a Hub2?

EDIT: Forgot he came back to a Hub1, but 'the same result on a Hub2' suggests something else?

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

Spiralofdoom — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 16:57:25 GMT

OR engineers have tried both hubs at PN request. HubOne is solid orange with the little red/orange b sign. HubTwo solid orange. Been variously told by OR it's an authentication issue, in sync but won't start session, PPP problem. PN has marked this down as a whole host of other faults including Noisy line.
Because no-one takes ownership, we keep ending up back at square one.
I do not do social media, I've never used a forum before, but I can see others have similar issues with PN and in desperation have come on here.
I appreciate everyone trying to help, but really would like a PN employee to pick this up and champion my case.
I just don't know what to do next.

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

jab1 — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 17:02:26 GMT

@Spiralofdoom If the Hub1 behaves as you say above, then quite possibly it is an authentication problem, which is up to PN/OR to sort out between themselves.

You mention them claiming 'a noisy line' - have you checked a phone for any noise on there?

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

Spiralofdoom — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 17:10:56 GMT

Call me old fashioned, but we use the landline a lot! No problem at all, clear as a bell.
Yes, it is up to OR/PN to sort it out between themselves, but they've failed spectacularly to date! And the customer has no way to escalate within PN or with OR. My head is hurting from banging it against a brick wall!

Re: Another blackhole- fault not fixed after 3 weeks

willcutforth — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 17:15:00 GMT

Afternoon @Spiralofdoom ! This sounds like one big mess. Due to it being with the Higher faults guys I'm not going to muddle things up with them but I am going to send an email to get an update for you from them so that we can get some more traction for you and I will keep an eye on this to make sure the train keeps on rolling. I am so sorry about how the ordeal has been handled.