So frickin angry right now

[#1]

My PN broadband is broken and has been for about a month.
I phone PN, raise ticket, BT fix something, line comes up a couple of days later, line goes down again, I phone PN, raise ticket, BT fix something, line comes up a couple of days later, line goes down again, and repeat...
Sample of router log file ..
Fri, 1999-12-31 24:59:59 - Router start up
Sat, 2000-01-01 02:12:18 - Initialize LCP.
Sat, 2000-01-01 02:12:18 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Sat, 2000-01-01 02:12:24 - CHAP authentication success
Sat, 2000-01-01 02:12:45 - Send out NTP request to time-g.netgear.com
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:34:26 - Receive NTP Reply from time-g.netgear.com
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:44:05 - LCP down.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:44:12 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:44:12 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:45:12 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:45:12 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:45:29 - Administrator login successful - IP:192.168.0.250
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:46:12 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:46:12 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:47:12 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:47:12 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:48:12 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:48:12 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:49:12 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:49:12 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:50:12 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:50:13 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:51:13 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:51:13 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:52:13 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:52:13 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:53:13 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 11:53:13 - LCP is allowed to come up.
I have had a guy from BT Openreach to the house to test the line.  He said it was perfect and had zero errors which he had never seen before.
I have bought a new router (DG834N) which cost £100.
I have spent hours in a queue to PN waiting for an agent.  Never less than 20 minutes wait and frequently longer.
I saved all my annual leave (20 days) for the summer.  I have 1 week left but going away tomorrow so effectively today was going to be last day I had to play online.
And I pay £50 a month for this.
..
As I was typing this my connection and flicked back on.  But for how long?

[#2]

Ha.  Came back up and went down 10 mins later.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:15:22 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:15:22 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:15:28 - CHAP authentication success
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:25:58 - LCP down.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:26:05 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:26:05 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:27:05 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:27:05 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:28:05 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:28:05 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:29:05 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:29:05 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:30:05 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:30:05 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:31:05 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:31:05 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:32:05 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:32:05 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:33:06 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:33:06 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:34:06 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:34:06 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:35:06 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:35:06 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:36:06 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:36:06 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:37:06 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:37:06 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:38:06 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:38:06 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:39:06 - Initialize LCP.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:39:06 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:39:12 - CHAP authentication success
Fri, 2007-08-17 15:40:39 - Administrator login successful - IP:192.168.0.104
Guaranteed to go down again at a moments notice. 

[#3]

Go into your router
on the left, under "Maintenance" select "Router Status"
scroll the centre pane right the way down and select "Show Statistics"
Please post:
Connection Speed
Line Attentuation
Noise Margin
for both upstream and downstream.
It sounds like a BT line fault, but these figures should at least start the fault finding process
Barry

[#4]

I don't think this will help much.
Connection Speed  0 kbps  0 kbps
Line Attenuation       db         db
Noise Margin               db         db

My connection is down at the moment.
I had about 6 hours of connection yesterday.

[#5]

Can you post the details when you are connected then and watch for changes like SNR dropping.
Also as you appear to have a netgear router, download routerstats from here which can then log your changes and yo can see the status of various line stats to see if you spot any pattern like SNR going very low.
I take it you are running the latest firmware for your router. If not I suggest you do that.

[#6]

I reported to PN that my connection was down again.  They said they would ask BT to turn on interleaving (might take 1 day but could take up to 5 days to do this).  I went away for 9 days, arrived back last night and my connection is still down.
I checked my router log and it showed zero connections during this time.  It's the worst it's ever been.
And what has PN done during this time?  Not much , it seems.  It's my responsibility to inform them if my connection is STILL down even if it never came back up again.  Heaven forbid that anyone actually monitors the work that is meant to be done and sees that it hasn't worked and refers it back to engineers.
If I am starting to sound a little bitter, it's because I am.

[#7]

Hi there,
I would definitely agree that the wording is a touch on the vague side.  I'd be far happier if it recommended you to monitor your connection once interleaving had been applied to see if it had made any difference.
However, as you had been away, we wouldn't have been able to make much progress during this time as it would involve you needing to retest your connection, which I'm not sure whether or not you would have been able to do from where you are.
Please don't get me wrong though.  It's clearly not been a good experience for you (obviousoly) and I'm really sorry that you're feeling pretty fed up about it.  I'll get one of our faults guys to pick this up for you and get onto BT asap.

[#8]

that's what i like about you James you know how to speak to people.

[#9]

Although you may not be able to do this, can you possibly try a different router?,  I had a netgear DG834G and it was perfect before I was maxed. After Max I had endless problems mainly due to a low SNR. I did hear that this netgear was notorious for reporting low SNRs and resyncing, but saying that some people swear by them for longer lines, some people have no end of issues (like me).  I moved to a different make of router ( speedtouch 585), and have had no issues since, and a rock solid line. Just saying it might be worth a try if you can do it.

[#10]

Ahaaa.. I come back home tonight and I have a connection.
This is my router log file:
Fri, 1999-12-31 24:59:59 - Router start up
Sat, 2000-01-01 01:26:41 - Administrator login successful - IP:192.168.0.250
Sat, 2000-01-01 12:55:15 - Initialize LCP.
Sat, 2000-01-01 12:55:15 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Sat, 2000-01-01 12:55:21 - CHAP authentication success
Sat, 2000-01-01 12:55:35 - Send out NTP request to time-g.netgear.com
Tue, 2007-08-28 07:44:29 - Receive NTP Reply from time-g.netgear.com
Tue, 2007-08-28 07:46:15 - LCP down.
Tue, 2007-08-28 17:10:34 - Initialize LCP.
Tue, 2007-08-28 17:10:34 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Tue, 2007-08-28 17:10:41 - CHAP authentication success
Tue, 2007-08-28 22:32:33 - Administrator login successful - IP:192.168.0.250
I rebooted my router before I phoned PN last night.
Zubel, here are the connection stats:
ADSL Link              Downstream    Upstream
Connection Speed    7616 kbps       768 kbps
Line Attenuation 17.0 db     31.5 db
Noise Margin           15.9 db       6.0 db
They don't mean anything to me.
Peter, I shall download the app and see what it reports.  Not tonight though.  The router is running the latest firmware 1.01.06.
Penfold, I did in fact have a DG834G which was fine and working perfectly for 2 1/2 years on PN when the problems started.  I phoned PN, BT faults and then I concluded (incorrectly) that it was to blame and replaced it with a DG834N (for £100, but I am not complaining about that).
James, to have someone listen makes all the difference in the world.  I don't know if you have any influence on the situation.  No doubt you will say that PN had this in hand and were dealing with it.  But thank you any for taking the time to reply (and that goes to all of you).
I am finding this situation really frustrating.  I don't know if I will still have a connection tomorrow, but time will tell.
If I sound a bit emotional it's because I have just come home via the pub where I have been drowning my broadband sorrows.  Isn't alcohol wonderful?

[#11]

in all fairness you should be credited for the downtime and seeing as PN are now BT they wont need to claim it back off BT
it's technology playing up again. not nice for you or PN as im sure they wanted it firxed asap. However with BT in the loop too they have their hands tied most of the time, LLU will solve all this  - i can see ISP's housing their own LLU gear in their own exchanges or buildings, taking BT out of the process. Trust me when an ISP has direct control over their equipment it makes a hell of a difference.
GLad to hear you got it sorted bud - and yes it is a wonderful thing!

[#12]

It's good to hear your connection is working correctly now, I've just had a look at your account and can't see any dropouts for the last 15 hours.

Quote

and seeing as PN are now BT they wont need to claim it back off BT

-We were bought by BT retail, not wholesale. Therefore any problems with the physical line still have to go to the same place as other ISPs, there isn't any favouritism for anyone.

[#13]

Rod,
Something that might interest you (glad to hear it's working btw).
ADSL Link                Downstream    Upstream
Connection Speed    7616 kbps          768 kbps
- This is the speed at which you are connected with the exchange at.
Line Attenuation    17.0 db        31.5 db
- This is generally an indicator of how far from the exchange you are.  Anything over 60dB indicates a long line.
Noise Margin              15.9 db          6.0 db
- Yours is rock solid.  Anything higher than 6dB will indicate either previous problems or a higher level of "noise" on your telephone line.