Broadband connection problems

[#1]

I've been suffering poor performance of my Broadband for several months now. It started off with internet radio and TV streaming buffering a lot, that has now improved but quite often web page requests result in nothing being returned. My wife has lost several work emails via gmail as they weren't saved as drafts but more importantly surfing has become almost impossible at times as you need to constantly reload to get anything to come up.

I've had a ticket open with Plusnet for several months now. They keep saying the line is stable, there are no problems, etc, etc. Occasionally they decide they need to tinker with the SNR which does nothing to improve the connection but does slow it down. They have also several times suggested I need an engineer to visit but when I try and book one the ticket ends up getting closed.

I've tried several modems, several ADSL filters, the problem has followed me with a house move and shows across a range of wireless and wired devices.

Personally, this sounds like an issue with the new network but when I raise this with support they say no, it must be my line or equipment is faulty.

Are there any tests I can do to prove this one way or the other, and, more importantly, is there any way I can get out of the 24 month contract they conned me in to signing up for if the performance doesn't get better any time soon?

[#2]

Hi there,

Sorry to see this has been an issue for a while.

I can see someone tried to get in touch around midday and updated the ticket requesting times for an engineer visit. It's definitely still open so can you please respond?

Here's a link to access and reply to the ticket directly https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=view_question&id=141923125

Let me know here when you have and I'll make sure we follow up on that straight away.

[#3]

My main concern is that if this is, as I suspect, an issue with the new network, then no matter how many engineers come out they won't fix it, but I will get billed each time they come out and find nothing wrong with my line.

As the tests you can do at your end indicate no problem with the line and when I get a connection things download fast enough I suspect the line is actually OK.

The only indication I get of any problem is that my modem is reporting a quite high number of upstream errors but even that could be an indication the modem is requesting data but the Plusnet network isn't sending it.

[#4]

Having the same problems. My connection has never been good since moving to the new network. I often have SNR figures that go from -10 to +342456 then of course the line drops. Everything checks out OK so PlusNet say.

[#5]

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@sghughes42 wrote:

The only indication I get of any problem is that my modem is reporting a quite high number of upstream errors but even that could be an indication the modem is requesting data but the Plusnet network isn't sending it.

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Upstream errors in your DSL stats are an indication that data sent by your modem did not arrive successfully at the exchange. Your modem will be constantly sending empty cells if you don't have any actual data to send, so the error counts in DSL stats don't actually depend on usage.

I have been on the new network for a while, I've not noticed any particular problems with it.

What modem/routers have been tried?

[#6]

My usual model is a TPLink Archer D20, this is where I'm getting the error stats from. I've gone back to the old Plusnet-supplied Technicolour router but this doesn't seem to offer the same level of stats.

Both modems have the same problems with inability to access web pages at times.

[#7]

Perhaps try manually setting some DNS servers on your computer and see if that makes any difference. You might as well enter the Plusnet DNS servers in the computer's settings - 212.159.6.9 and 212.159.6.10 - the idea is to test if it's a problem with the router.

The Technicolor should actually be able to provide stats with greater detail than most modern TP-Link models, you may have to click on "More details..." or similar.

[#8]

@sghughes42

I'll set myself a reminder to check in with you after the engineer visit.

[#9]

OK, I've tried putting the DNS setting in on Windows and I can't tell if it might have made a small improvement but I'm still getting pages slow to load or failing to load. Does that rule out my hardware as a problem, or are there any other things to check?

[#10]

@adamwalker

The date you selected for the engineer to visit is not suitable. I've updated the ticket but I'm trying here as well just to make sure you get it as I don't want them coming with no-one here.