Annual visit to the Forum due to resetting broadband connections

[#1]

Good evening to everyone in the forum.

I seem to have an annual re-occurring problem with my broadband connection.

Current speed is 20Mb/s down and 7mb/s up which is not true.. :-). This us using Plusnet's checker, from a MacBook over wifi.

Over the last few weeks I have used the text Ai to run the tests and do a refresh.  No fault is found but the problem continues to manifest itself by very slow speeds, signal degradation and buffering in streams.  This occurs on phones, TV, PCs, Macbooks.

Over wifi and via ethernet cable.

I've changed all the cables and moved the router closer to the main BT socket.

I can attach the two files - event log and information log - if needed.

Open to suggestions as to how to fix or do I get a ticket raised.

Thanks.

[#2]

@KenMavor Those two sets of data would help greatly.

[#3]

Can you please also attach the result of an Ethernet (wired) test, using https://www.speedtest.net/ .

[#4]

Tuesday 26h May at 7.49pm

8.03 down and 0.87 up.

Ping up 2175ms and down 344ms

That's more like it!!  🙂

No-one else using the router during the test.

Switched off all other devices like TV and other streaming devices.

Still have cameras etc connected.

Two files attached.

[#5]

[#6]

A quick look at the event log reveals a lot of DSL drops, which will upset DLM, and unless someone with more knowledge wants to contradict me, I reckon your D/S SNR is too low, given the reported attenuation.

[#7]

It's almost as if the better and warmer weather causes a problem every year.

[#8]

Although it may appear so, I don't, personally, think that is the case. As I said above, because you are on quite a long 'final mile' of copper from the cab, your SNR is, IMO, too low to handle any minor blips in the connection, hence your DSL drops.

[#9]

Agreed re the final mile.

That's always been the problem but for some reason it seems to go into melt down about once, or twice, a year. If fibre isn't being rolled out to our area anytime soon, and I don't think it is, regardless of what Openreach says I may have to look at another option when my Plusnet deal comes to an end.

[#10]

What other options do you have?

[#11]

A guy along the road from me has a communications company that uses microwave connectivity. He has placed antennas and dishes up the back of my house but at present I dont think there is line of sight. I'm going to have a chat with him and see what he can do for us. Can't ever see fibre being laid along our road. The cost recovery would be minimal. 12 houses to serve along our road. 3 already have microwave connectivity which is stable and fast. Unsure of any upfront costs and ongoing costs.

[#12]

Fair enough, but check costs.

[#13]

@KenMavor @jab1 

Looking at the line stats, not really any variation in the sysn speed.

This is from 2025

15:18:13, 20 Sep. DSL Link Up: Down Rate=23023kbps, Up Rate=1273kbps; SNR Margin Down=3.1dB, Up=6.0dB

This is from 2026

03:51:12, 26 May. DSL Link Up: Down Rate=23591kbps, Up Rate=1269kbps; SNR Margin Down=3.1dB, Up=6.0dB

There is evidence of DSL link down over the past months, problem is not are not that constant, two happened around the same time of the day, can you think of an electrical event which might have happened at these times?

08:30:37, 25 May. DSL Link Down: duration was 85464 seconds
08:45:45, 24 May. DSL Link Down: duration was 124187 seconds

The last one in the event log might have been DLM activity

03:50:36, 26 May. DSL Link Down: duration was 33876 seconds

Do you have a landline phone? 17070 option 2 to check for noise.

It's not an unreasonable thought for the heat to cause this issue, as a wire join/connection might have become a "Dry Joint" and become high resistance due to a build up of oxidation, you are on a long line which is also not helpful.

You could look at getting a 4G LTE modem/router, some very competitive packages, but they are subject to mobile phone reception.

[#14]

@Dan_the_Van Thanks for your comments. I understand what you are saying, but I'm still a little surprised at the D/S SNR, given the attenuation figures quoted.

[#15]

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@jab1 wrote:

Although it may appear so, I don't, personally, think that is the case. As I said above, because you are on quite a long 'final mile' of copper from the cab, your SNR is, IMO, too low to handle any minor blips in the connection, hence your DSL drops.

---

It's probably a combination of the long copper line and the summer weather... around sunset and sunrise there is much more Electromagnatic interference in the hot weather.  I used to be on a 1mile fttc line and always suffered more in the summer - driven by the EM interference and the impact of the DLM software trying to reduce speed to get the line stable... it was always much better in winter.   We were able to move to FTTP about 4 years ago and it's a complete game changer - so much better.