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Recurring Connection Problem

Dom
Grafter
Posts: 277
Registered: ‎09-03-2010

Recurring Connection Problem

Hi all,
I wanted to mention that we seem to be having troubles with our line again. For the last couple of months we've had an up and down service, although after raising a fault with you guys, and getting a couple of BT engineers out to look into things, our connection seemed to stabilize and the problem sorted itself out.
However, for the last week or so, we've been experiencing the same problems as before - the connection drops momentarily and then reconnects - and the result is that it's syncing at lower and lower line speeds. Our "normal" download speeds would be 1.6Mbps, and upload speed 0.38Mbps. Here are a couple of speedtests from a little while ago:


And some details from our router:

The last disconnection was about an hour ago as far as I can tell.
We thought we'd sorted this out once and for all, yet changing all of the hardware, using the BT test socket, new filters, and getting BT to change the wire pair that we're using all the way back to the exchange hasn't sorted the problem out.
We're just not sure what to do any more...
14 REPLIES 14
Dom
Grafter
Posts: 277
Registered: ‎09-03-2010

Re: Recurring Connection Problem

Also, as the pingtest suggests, our line quality is A grade, which seems weird if we're having so many disconnections. That confuzzled me slightly. The speedtest is actually quite good compared to what we've been having over the last few days. We've gone down to 0.65Mbps at some points.
Dom
Grafter
Posts: 277
Registered: ‎09-03-2010

Re: Recurring Connection Problem

Been disconnected again today, at some time between 8am and 11am I think. Anyone any idea on what might be causing it (and what we can do to fix it)?
jojopillo
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 9,786
Registered: ‎16-06-2010

Re: Recurring Connection Problem

HI Dom,
The first thing I noticed was that you are on ADSL2+ which, considering you have such a long line, may actually be the main cause of the instability. What I would recommend is we put you on to ADSL1 (which would take 24 hours) as opposed to raising a fault which could take 72 hours. My guess is it will stabilise your line. It is up to you though, so just let me know what you want to do.
Jojo Smiley
Dom
Grafter
Posts: 277
Registered: ‎09-03-2010

Re: Recurring Connection Problem

Hi Jojo,
Sorry for the stupidly late reply!
The thing with going back to ADSL1 is that we had the same problems while we were using that service as well. We had a 1 Mbps line that we'd had for a few years, and then things started to go a bit haywire and we were always getting disconnected. After a couple of Faults being raised with yourselves, nothing really seemed to fix the problem. Then (in March 2010 I think) our local exchange was upgraded and we were automatically put on ADSL2+ and that actually seemed to sort out the stability issues for a while. We went from a shoddy 1 Mbps connection to a stable 1.6 Mbps.
We were really happy with that (considering how far from the exchange we live) but after about 2 months, we started to get the instability problems again, which we've had ever since.
I'm sure that ADSL2+ might be more unstable than ADSL1 over the distances we need in most cases, but as we had the problems using ADSL1 as well, it makes me wonder if really is ADSL2+ making our line unstable. As I say, when we first switched to ADSL2+ things were great for weeks!
spraxyt
Resting Legend
Posts: 10,063
Thanks: 674
Fixes: 75
Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: Recurring Connection Problem

I assume what Jojo meant was that you would remain on 21CN but your service profile would be set to ADSL1 rather than ADSL2+. I think that means an entry is changed in BT Wholesale's systems but nothing changes in the exchange. You would still be on different hardware from that used for maxADSL which gave trouble.
My suggestion is to give it a try.
David
David
jojopillo
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 9,786
Registered: ‎16-06-2010

Re: Recurring Connection Problem

Hi Dom,
If you didn't want to try that I could maybe do an SNR reset, which will bring the downstream SNR back down to 6dB as opposed to the 16dB it is currently. This could push your sync rate up significantly, but with such a long line this may go back up again and may not be the solution. Looking at your connection logs below it doesn't seem too bad. Are the disconnections on wednesday ones you instigated or are they just drops you weren't aware of?

Jojo Smiley
Dom
Grafter
Posts: 277
Registered: ‎09-03-2010

Re: Recurring Connection Problem

Hi Jojo,
As far as I know, the Wednesday disconnections weren't ones we did ourselves (certainly the ones between 5 and 6am!) so there must have been some other cause for them.
Our line (and download/upload speeds) do seem to have settled a bit more over the last few days, although I just happened to check my router yesterday evening and a couple of hours beforehand (at roughly 4:30pm if I remember rightly) it had disconnected of it's own accord.
Perhaps we can try the SNR reset then. I know you said it may well go back up again given how long the line it, but it's worth a try if it's not too much trouble.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Recurring Connection Problem

You might be able to force ADSL1 in your router settings - worth a try if you can.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
jojopillo
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 9,786
Registered: ‎16-06-2010

Re: Recurring Connection Problem

Hi Dom,
I'd be happy to reset the SNR but while the line is still dropping it would probably be a waste of time. How is your line set up. Are you currently in the test socket? Have a look here for some troubleshooting tips and see if they help. Once the line stays stable I would be happy to do it for you.
Latest logs:-

Jojo Smiley
Dom
Grafter
Posts: 277
Registered: ‎09-03-2010

Re: Recurring Connection Problem

Hi Jojo,
Again, thanks for all the help. We've been plugged into the BT test socket since before the BT engineers came out to us, so that's a few months now I think.
I've run through the list that you linked to, and we performed all of those checks last time the BT engineers came out to us. We unplugged all phones etc, replaced the filters with shiny new ones, and tried another router (that we knew was working). I even replaced my network card and cable on the off-chance they were causing problems.
After saying that the line had stabilised over the last few days, the connection dropped at least three times yesterday evening. I woke up this morning and it had also disconnected at around 6am this morning. It may have disconnected since, but I've been at work so I can't check.
It only seems to be a momentary disconnection - just long enough to disconnect people from their online games, YouTube videos etc, and then reconnects.
jojopillo
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 9,786
Registered: ‎16-06-2010

Re: Recurring Connection Problem

Hi Dom,
In that case I would definitely advise you to raise a fault as it shouldn't drop like that especially after you've done all the checks.
Jojo Smiley
Dom
Grafter
Posts: 277
Registered: ‎09-03-2010

Re: Recurring Connection Problem

Yeah perhaps I should, although it didn't seem to do much good last time. The BT engineers came and went, then some time passed and the ticket was closed without a resolution.
Got disconnected at 5pm this evening again. Sad
jojopillo
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 9,786
Registered: ‎16-06-2010

Re: Recurring Connection Problem

Hi Dom,
Yeah definitely raise it and I'll keep an eye on its progression for you.
Jojo Smiley
Dom
Grafter
Posts: 277
Registered: ‎09-03-2010

Re: Recurring Connection Problem

Hey hey,
The bill-payer gets home this weekend so I'll get him to raise a fault etc.
Been disconnected a couple of times in the last hour or so, so I thought I'd do a BT speedtest just for the lulz. Attached results.