Line fault still not fixed after 3 months - is this normal for Plusnet?

[#1]

@Flummoxed It’s odd to explain. I take it this was on a PC plugged into the router using an ethernet cable? Were you able to run a speed test at the time you had these issues? Also, did you experience this across any other devices?

[#2]

All the tests I have reported were done on a PC connected to the router via ethernet cable.

Here is the general scenario:- I click on a link to a web page and the dot in the left of the 'page tab?' starts moving left and right, indicating that the page is trying to load. if that dot keeps moving after a few seconds and the page doesn't load, then I know something has gone wrong. Sometimes the page eventually loads and sometimes I get a 'cannot load' message. When this happens, I tend to run a speed test to confirm the connection status. Most of the time, the speed test result is a fraction of the normal speed - sometimes even as low as 0.05 or so, which often triggers the time out message. If if run the speed test, say 10 times in quick succession, the results are very variable and can range anywhere between 'timed out' and 3Mb. Occasionally, a red cross appears in the network status icon when the connection has dropped completely and I get a message saying 'cannot connect to network'. Then, usually within a few minutes it is working again, albeit at a variable speed.

I asked before about variable speeds: the router's status page has been indicating a steady sync speed of 6.35 all morning and online speed tests give a regular result of between 5.35 and 5.4, which tells me everything is rock solid at the moment. Some days, if I do a series of speed tests, the results come in at anywhere between, say 3.2 and 5.7 (Edit:- but at the same time, the router's status page shows a steady, healthy sync speed).

To answer your last question:- Yes, this happens across all devices, including my wife's PC (also connected via ethernet cable) and the kids phones which are on wifi.

[#3]

To illustrate the variable speeds I keep getting:-

I have just done a series of 10 speed tests in a row and the results were as follows:-

3.03, 2.89, 3.04, 3.20, 3.21, 2.98, 3.29, 2.92, 3.69, 5.38 (Edit: note that all these tests were done on my PC while no other devices were switched on)

It seems to be stable again now at about 5.38, but throughout the dips, the router status page was showing a sync speed of 6.35.

Can anyone give a possible explanation for this?

[#4]

Thanks for the additional information @Flummoxed 

I think it's worth arranging another engineer when you're next around as it seems there's still something wrong with the infrastructure if you're getting a fluctuating throughput like that.

I've also checked your usage from yesterday and today too and this doesn't seem overly high which may explain this.

Having said that I've reduced the SNRM on your line down to 6dB which should go through within the hour.

Can you let us know how it goes from now on?

[#5]

Thank you for resetting the line again. It does seem to have improved the sync speed, which is as good as we have had recently at 7.3. This translates to a speed test result of around 6.2 and it does feel as if it is more stable, since I haven't noticed so many sub 3.0 drops in the last three weeks.

This morning, I have been getting really steady speed test results - all between 6.16 and 6.23, but every few minutes one comes in completely outside that range, the last one a couple of minutes ago was 4.15. I don't really know if this is happening every day, because I only do a test when I notice a web page not loading properly, which usually happens when the speed drops well below 3. I can see form the router's status page that we had a total disconnect one week ago, but I haven't noticed any other significant outages in the last couple of weeks.

My feeling is that this may be how the line has always been, so in a way it meets my level of expectation, but there clearly must be a problem for these dips to keep happening. So yesterday, when I couldn't load a web page and the speed was less than 2, I sent a message to customer services requesting another engineer's visit. I am hoping that since we have already had three visits, this one will be escalated so that a senior engineer can finally attend. However, I really don't understand how the fault can be diagnosed if the line is stable as it is today when he attends.

[#6]

Thanks for getting back to us @Flummoxed I'm sorry to see you're still experiencing connection problems.

I've booked an engineer appointment for 17-12-2019 between 8am and 1pm, and I've also emailed our suppliers escalation team requesting this is escalated with the field operations manager for a senior multi-skilled engineer to attend.

Unfortunately as you've said if your speeds are stable while they're there, it's possible that their tests may not find anything wrong but they should be able to carry out quality checks along the line.

I've moved your fault ticket 192879595 to my own workflow so I'd be able to keep a closer eye on this for you.

Let us know how the appointment goes.

[#7]

That's very kind of you. I will report back after the engineer's visit on 17th.

[#8]

No problem, fingers crossed it goes well!

[#9]

"I have just spoken with a very helpful guy in the faults team, who actually told me what speeds were logged at the times when I had done speed tests that came in below 2Mb. It seems that while I was seeing these dismal speeds, my router was actually getting well in excess of 3Mb."

The sync speed and the usable DATA speed are far from being the same.  Line noise (as is evident by the high SNRM) will mean that there is need to retransmit DATA a number of times over the available sync speed.  Thereby the EFFECTIVE DATA speed will be somewhat less than the raw sync speed.

Further, the IP profile which governs the maximum DATA speed on ADLS is 88.2% of synch speed.  Therefore with a sync speed of 6.2Mbps the best data speed will be 5.47Mbps and that is before accounting for protocol over heads.

In situations such as this, looking at the router stats is far more informative which discloses what the raw line synch is doing.  However it is often of little use to look at them just once as a spot measure - constant monitoring using the likes of router stats can be very illuminating … if the router in use facilitates easy access to the stats.  Take a look at the RS link below.

[#10]

Thanks for that information, Townman. I did look at the link, but to be honest, at first read it went over my head.

The engineer who visited yesterday was the same one who came previously! He did run a series of tests from the router and master socket, which he felt all showed a good line with no significant issues. Actually, it has seemed virtually trouble free for the last couple of weeks, so I am happy with things as they are and am grateful and slightly embarrased for all the recent help and support we have received.

Hopefully, all the line resets etc have cleared the previous issues and I won't need to raise this again. Still wish I understood and learned from what caused all the problems, but touch wood that is all history now!

Thank you Anoush and team for pursuing this on my behalf. I must acknowledge that my experience with Plusnet customer services has surpassed anything I used to get from Talk Talk or BT.

[#11]

Thanks for your post back @Flummoxed 

I’m happy to see your service is working OK now and it seems to be a mystery regarding what fixed the fault but it’s good to see it’s sorted. 

No problem with regards to the help from us, we’re always happy to help in any way we can and thanks for your kind words. 

Fingers crossed all is well moving forward but feel free to let us know if there’s ever anything else you’d need help with. 

[#12]

Back to black I'm afraid.

We seem to have had a couple of disconnects in the last few days and the sync speed is back down to 1.15 at the moment. Download throughput in the last hour has been ranging from .014 to .89, which is basically unusable, but oddly, the upload throughput is much better and almost at it's normal level of .7.

The Engineer thought the line was actually very good and clean considering the distance to the exchange, so surely there is an explanation for why this keeps happening?

[#13]

Thanks for getting back to me @Flummoxed 

I'm sorry to see your connection and speeds are dropping again.

I've tested your line and while the tests aren't showing any definitive causes I can see your speed has dropped to about 1mbps. Unfortunately to investigate further we'll need to arrange another engineer visit. 

However I can see they've mentioned on the fault report that if you continue to experience problems for us to arrange another engineer at least 2 working days in advance and their case management team will carry out an investigation.

Could you reply to the ticket 192879595 or the text we've sent with when you'll be free for another visit? I've passed the ticket to my colleagues on my team to follow up once you've responded as I'm about to leave the office now until Friday.

Apologies for the inconvenience caused. 

[#14]

Has the possibility of REIN been considered?

[#15]

@Townman It's possible it's REIN but it wouldn't change how we'd handle the fault.

REIN cases can only be opened by an engineer I'm afraid.