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Frequent broadband disconnections

Smokesignals
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎16-01-2020

Frequent broadband disconnections

Hello all,

For the last 2 days my broadband has been frequently disconnecting itself. Sometimes it goes off for 10 minutes and other times it goes off for up to an hour.

Please could someone look into this?
15 REPLIES 15
BD
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,359
Fixes: 86
Registered: ‎24-04-2017

Re: Frequent broadband disconnections

Hi @Smokesignals, thanks for getting in touch and I'm sorry to hear you're having connection issues as of recent.here
I've had a check of the connection and there definitely seems to be something out of place somewhere given the amount of disconnections we can see occurring on the graph below:



However, our tests aren't picking up exactly what's causing the issue so we will have to do some troubleshooting to start ruling things out.

I'd recommend starting with basic checks here.

And if that doesn't help the next thing would be to rule your internal wiring out by plugging the connection into your test socket which is under the faceplate of your master socket and seeing if the drops stop. This rules out internal wiring, face plates and extension sockets as being the cause. How to locate the test socket and set your connection into it can be found here.
Given the frequency of the drops, if it's not clear if the test socket check has helped then it may be worth leaving your conenction in this set-up for 24-48 hours to make sure.

If the problem still persists from here we will go down the route of raising a fault.

Let us know how it goes.

Smokesignals
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎16-01-2020

Re: Frequent broadband disconnections

Hi @BD,

Thank you for your reply. I have done all the standard checks, changed the filter, swapped cables for new ones etc. and I’m also plugged directly in the test socket.

I’m already using a replacement router which plusnet sent me.

Openreach were at my property to check for a different fault on the 21st of January and that fault turned out to have nothing to do with my equipment and was either a BT or Plusnet issue. The master socket was updated to the newest version while he was here and all the other sockets in the house were disconnected from the circuit at my request and I had a pretty decent connection from that day until this Friday so that completely rules out internal wiring issues.

I hadn’t changed, adjusted or otherwise interfered with the router or anything else since then so I’m absolutely convinced it has nothing to do with my end.

I’m not sure if this is relevant but may be worth mentioning... My speeds are far higher than I am used to since I switched to plusnet. I am in a very rural location, very far from the exchange and for the past few years with BT the highest stable speed was around 6mbps but it rarely, if ever, failed but now I’m apparently getting 10mbps which I thought was impossible on the old technology leading to the property. Is it possible that plusnet are exceeding the capabilities of this circuit? I was under the impression that 6mbps was the limit for my property.

The other thing worth mentioning is that the drop outs tend to happen when a new device tries to connect... for instance when Call of Duty is trying to connect to their servers, a Fire Stick turns on, a laptop turns on or when a mobile phone tries to connect to the router. As soon as any of this happens it disconnects the broadband completely. It happens through WiFi or through Ethernet connection.

That being said, it still drops out when there isn’t anything connected at all so there is something strange going on.
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Frequent broadband disconnections

Cheers for getting back to us, this would definitely be worth investigating further with our suppliers. Please report a new fault with us over at http://faults.plus.net and let us know here when you've been able to do that. 

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
Smokesignals
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎16-01-2020

Re: Frequent broadband disconnections

Thank you @adamwalker,

New fault reported.

Cheers
Smokesignals
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎16-01-2020

Re: Frequent broadband disconnections

Hi all,

It does seem to be working now, I haven’t noticed any disconnections today
Beyhive
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 722
Fixes: 44
Registered: ‎25-02-2019

Re: Frequent broadband disconnections

Hi @Smokesignals, glad to hear it is working well now.

I have checked your connection and it has been stable with no disconnections in the past 3 days.

Let us know if anything changes please.

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Faris
 Plusnet Help Team
Smokesignals
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎16-01-2020

Re: Frequent broadband disconnections

Hi @Beyhive,

Thank you for checking that, and thank you to all for your assistance!

I’ll be in touch if anything changes, fingers crossed it was just an anomaly.

All the best
Beyhive
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 722
Fixes: 44
Registered: ‎25-02-2019

Re: Frequent broadband disconnections

You're more than welcome @Smokesignals,

Have a lovely evening.

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Faris
 Plusnet Help Team
Smokesignals
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎16-01-2020

Re: Frequent broadband disconnections

Good morning all,

The disconnects appear to be happening again.

I had a handful of issues yesterday and today it seems to be getting worse.

Again it seems to happen when a device or app initially tries to connect. For instance, I turn the PlayStation on and I get fully disconnected when it tries to reach the PlayStation network (Both the Internet and Broadband lights go out on the router) then it reconnects. But I get disconnected again as soon as Call of Duty (or any other game/app) tries to connect to their own servers.

It does seem to disconnect itself at random even when there are no devices connected as well, but it’s almost guaranteed to drop out and re-connect if I switch on any device that needs to use the internet.

I’m not an expert but I’m reasonably clued up with technology so I don’t think this is an issue that I am causing.

Thank you for any help that may shed some light on this issue.
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Frequent broadband disconnections

Hi there, 

 

According to our logs it looks like the connection settled down again over the weekend:

image15813270841775

 

Did you use your devices much over that period? If not we could be looking at a router issue but if so we can obviously look at replacing it for you. 

 

 

 

Moderators Note: Fixed image.

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
Smokesignals
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎16-01-2020

Re: Frequent broadband disconnections

Thanks, yes it did seem to settle down shortly after I posted.

I was home all weekend and so was the rest of the family, we all used various devices and I didn’t notice any particular issues.

I don’t really know what to say to be honest, I’ve only been with plusnet for a month and it’s been very inconsistent. I feel like I’ve expended too much effort on problems already so I’m going to just hope that it is a problem that will rectify itself over time. I think I will probably cancel if it continues to be a problem even if I am held to ransom with cancellation fees.

Thank you to all for your time and effort, you have far more patience than I do!
RandallFlagg
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,915
Fixes: 75
Registered: ‎11-01-2018

Re: Frequent broadband disconnections

 

Thanks for the update, @Smokesignals

 

Please just let us know if there's anything else you need.

 

Best wishes

 

Dave

Smokesignals
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎16-01-2020

Re: Frequent broadband disconnections

This is still happening.

I’ve given as much information as possible already so I have nothing more to add.

I don’t wish to be rude but is there anything actually being done about this?!

I appreciate that someone has looked at this and provided graphs showing the disconnections, but all that has done is confirmed what I already know i.e that I’m being frequently disconnected.

I also appreciate that intermittent faults are difficult to identify, but I don’t think it is my responsibility to find out what the fault is, plusnet are the experts after all. I must reiterate that I am plugged in the test socket, cables have been swapped, filters changed, I’m on my second router already and I’ve had my master socket replaced by openreach in the last month - it really is plusnet’s problem, not mine.

Is requesting a cease & re-provide of my circuit an unreasonable request at this point?

I’ve had so many problems since I joined plusnet on 14/01/20, the first problem being on day 1, 4 hours uptime and then no connection at all for 7 or 8 days which turned out to be a simple issue that had nothing to do with my equipment or anything internal to my property which was ultimately fixed remotely by an openreach man on the phone, and now the frequent phantom drop outs with no fix suggested or attempted.
Smokesignals
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎16-01-2020

Re: Frequent broadband disconnections

I think a solution to this has been found. I spoke to someone on the forum when I was querying how to cancel my contract and they mentioned a relatively rare occurrence which turned out to be consistent with my situation. As I mentioned in my second post in this thread regarding the limitations of this circuit, the capabilities of the circuit were indeed being exceeded.

Trying to push up to 14mbps (According tech support tests) through this line seemed to be causing a lot of errors and ultimately making the router reboot all the time. This circuit has never been able to achieve anything more than 6mbps without failing, that’s not plusnet or BT’s fault really, it’s a 400 year old house in the middle of nowhere and it is considerable distance from the exchange... but, my minimum estimate was less than 2mbps so it was optimistic to try pushing more than 5 times that through.

After calling tech support and requesting that the circuit is capped at 6mbps it seems to have solved it.