Slow broadband and occasional drops

[#1]

@Townman I've done a couple of quiet tests on the line today. It's mostly silent for a minute or two followed by a noise that reminds me of an old modem or fax machine for a couple of seconds. That's when I notice the broadband light flashes and the connection to the internet goes down. My BT master socket is in the middle of my old flat. The cable is fed from outside through the front door attached to the wall until it reaches the middle room/lounge and connects to the master socket. I don't see any other cables coming out the back of the master socket but I have no idea. There's so many random cables in this old flat that I have no idea what's what. It was like this when I moved in nearly 2 years ago.

@OskarPapa thanks, I'll have a look at the online form although the threat of being charged for an engineer visit really puts me off.

[#2]

@jab1 

Hi John,

Given the line tests are not showing anything to point an engineer at yet - I'd like to see if we can find a pattern here so as to have something to focus on - confirmation of intermittent noise would be a fab start point!

[#3]

It's mostly silent for a minute or two followed by a noise that reminds me of an old modem or fax machine for a couple of seconds. That's when I notice the broadband light flashes and the connection to the internet goes down.

@198kHz 

The data modulation breaking into the audible range … what does that suggest to you please?  Line card in the exchange or something else please?

[#4]

@Townman OK, I see where you're coming from, and bow to your greater knowledge. Just trying to help a fellow user who is prepared to engage when they are offered help.

[#5]

@jab1 @Townman I'm very grateful for all you help.
The only other router I have is my old sky one from before Plusnet
It's a SR102-Z Sky Hub. Do you think I could use it instead of the Plusnet one?
I'm trying my best to get this fixed but I'm a bit behind with technology

[#6]

Hi John,

Not so much greater knowledge (no need to bow!) just that I know sometimes BTOR engineers have difficulty finding properties … let a lone an intermittent fault.  Plusnet line testing is showing nothing, so an engineer might attend and find nothing AT THE TIME of inspection.

If the user can find evidence of intermittent noise, there is an angle the engineer can be pointed at.  Hearing modulation tones on a quite line test is a particular form of line noise which I hope someone else might know what is likely to cause this.

My not so well informed view is that given that the modulation frequencies are way above the audible spectrum, this might be harmonic noise, which I hope will have a specific cause.

[#7]

A quick Google of that router suggests that it is locked to Sky - so no dice!

[#8]

Kevin, thanks for that explanation -I get where you're going with the engineers, although I seem to be blessed with brilliant ones round here.

Thanks for your input, as always - I continue to learn.

And I was going to suggest that sky router would be no good, next.

[#9]

So, I used https://www.plus.net/my-account/tools/phone-troubleshooter/ to check the line again for noise and, even though my phone is now unplugged from the socket, the test disconnected the internet. So now I know it's not my phone's fault but a problem with the line.
I'll go ahead and ask for an engineer to check it out as I've tried everything from my side.
Thanks everyone for help and suggestions. I'll keep you posted

The automated test didn't find a fault but there was a lot of noise on the line earlier on.

[#10]

@OskarPapa

I've replied to your ticket to book an engineer. Thanks

[#11]

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@Townman wrote:

@198kHz 

The data modulation breaking into the audible range … what does that suggest to you please?  Line card in the exchange or something else please?

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If it is that, I'd say maybe an HR joint with rectifying properties.

Given the OP's comments about intermittent noise and Fax-like sounds, I'd favour low insulation somewhere along the external route - highly unlikely to be within the exchange.

[#12]

@Mjan I've booked the engineer appointment for Friday 21/06/2019 between 1pm and 6pm.

If you're or anyone else is interested here's a copy of our testing:

xDSL Status Check Test Outcome :

Test Outcome	:	Pass
Description	:	OK.
Circuit Sync Status	:	Circuit In Sync

NTE Detail :

Power Status	:	NTE Power On

Upstream Link Info

Loop Loss	SNR Margin	Errored Seconds	Hec Errors	Cell Count	Speed

12.1

5

0

0

565510

312

Downstream Link Info

Loop Loss	SNR Margin	Errored Seconds	Hec Errors	Cell Count	Speed

22.5

2.3

0

N/A

13884198

4023

Downstream BIP Interface Data

Current Line Rate	Line Rate Change TimeStamp	Maximum Stable Rate Recalculated	Profile TimeStamp	Maximum Stable Rate	Fault Threshold Rate	Interleaving Flag

3537

19/06/2019 11:45:40

N

04/06/2019 04:03:48

2272

1817

A

[#13]

Not a pretty sight, that Radius log, @Gandalf , and from what I've seen earlier in this thread, the d/s speed is atrocious - no doubt DLM trying to stabalise things?

[#14]

@Gandalf 

Thank you for this - looks ugly!

I also note the marked change in DS attenuation - that's now three figures for the line.  Do BTw stats record a history for this metric?

[#15]

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@jab1 wrote:

Not a pretty sight, that Radius log, @Gandalf , and from what I've seen earlier in this thread, the d/s speed is atrocious - no doubt DLM trying to stabalise things?

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Aye by the looks of it.

@Townman wrote:

I also note the marked change in DS attenuation - that's now three figures for the line.  Do BTw stats record a history for this metric?

Yup. Some RRT(Reactive Repair Tool) data below:

Hope this helps.