Connection instability since ADSL2+ upgrade

[#1]

Hi, I requested an upgrade from ADSL Max to ADSL 2+ back in January (link to thread https://community.plus.net/t5/Broadband/ADSL2-Upgrade/td-p/1509519). 

I noticed quite a big difference in speed straight away (which has been fantastic), but unfortunately also noticed more regular connection drops. I left everything alone for a few weeks for any line training to take place. Since I was still getting connection drops after this time, and my router has this functionality (Billion BiPAC 8800NL), I manually increased my SNR from what was 6.0db at that time up to 9.0db. I experienced a small decrease in sync rate but I believe the SNR increase did help with line stability at the time.

These more frequent drop-outs have been liveable up until now, but particularly over this weekend and the weekend previous - my connection was dropping once every 10-15 minutes over a period of 2 hours or so. Also worth mentioning is the drop-outs seem more frequent during bad weather.

I've reset my SNR in the router back to auto to see if it would make any difference and I'm now noticing it's around 3.0db which is interesting - I'd never previously seen it go lower than 6.0db.

I was wondering if it would be possible for someone to look into this for me?

Many thanks

Mode	ADSL_2plus
Traffic Type	ATM
Status	Up
Link Power State	L0
	Downstream	Upstream
Line Coding (Trellis)	On	On
SNR Margin (dB)	3.1	5.7
Attenuation (dB)	33.0	20.9
Output Power (dBm)	19.8	12.1
Attainable Rate (Kbps)	15336	985
Rate (Kbps)	15138	1195

[#2]

Hi @DJWoodward,

I'm sorry to see you've been experiencing these issues. I've tested the line and I can see that the connection is definitely dropping out, however we aren't seeing anything that seems to be causing the issue. Before we do anything else, it's best to make sure that our troubleshooting guide has been completed as running through these checks will more often than not resolve these kinds of issues.

To run through some troubleshooting, click here including connecting your router into the test socket as explained here and then raise a fault to us at http://faults.plus.net if you still experience problems.

[#3]

Hi there,

I hope I'm okay to dig up this thread. I know it's old, but felt it was still relevant.

This problem was solved shortly after posting and I'm pleased to report that my connection has not dropped since, so thank you very much for that! However one thing I did notice following the fix is that my upload speed appears to be stuck at about 500kbps (446k sync) instead of the previous ~1,000kbps. I was wondering if it would be possible for someone to look into this for me?

Many thanks

[#4]

HI @DJWoodward

Thanks for getting back in touch.

I've reset the line profile for your line and this should kick in after a few hours - you'll just need to reboot the router.

Hopefully the upload speed will improve to previous levels, however, if this isn't the case there won't be a great deal more we can do as the estimate for your line (reported by BT) is "Up to 1mb/s" so any fault we raise to address the upload speed will be rejected as "within estimates".

Hope this resolves things for you.

Best wishes,

Dave

[#5]

@RandallFlagg That's a rather poor response regarding the upload speed. I would suggest that the upload is capped at around 440kbps which used to be a common problem with Plusnet ADSL2+ circuits and needs to be uncapped by ordering the appropriate upgrade from your suppliers

[#6]

From what I can see @RandallFlagg's reset had gone through, but the line sync is still around 0.4mbps

There's no real definitive way of knowing whether the line is provisioned on a capped upstream speed, because that information doesn't show on the order details after we've placed it.

Going through the modify process, the option is defaulting at "Uncapped" which indicates it may already be uncapped, because it usually defaults at "448kbps"

That said I've put the order through to modify the service to an uncapped upstream anyway, switching interleaving off in the process as that's known to cause speed problems.

@DJWoodward, could you let us know how your upload speeds look on Tuesday?

[#7]

Apologies, I only just noticed the replies today!

I reset the router a couple of days after Randall's reply but I was still syncing at 448kbps up. I've also noticed a few disconnects since.

I first noticed the drop in upload way back when I created this thread, it was syncing at around 1mbps up following the ADSL2+ upgrade, but I had a couple of incidences where the line would disconnect and be unable to sustain a connection for a period of about an hour or so before coming back, hence this thread. I figured the upload had dropped to 448kbps temporarily in an effort to stabilise the line during that time, but I've never seen it go any higher since.

But yes, unfortunately still syncing at 448kbps up! Downstream sync seems a little higher though, and the downstream SNR seems quite low. It's usually around 6db, perhaps this would explain the disconnects. Connection looks to have dropped out twice actually whilst writing this!

	Downstream	Upstream
Line Coding (Trellis)	On	On
SNR Margin (dB)	3.3	27.4
Attenuation (dB)	33.5	21.3
Output Power (dBm)	19.9	12.1
Attainable Rate (Kbps)	15196	1199
Rate (Kbps)	14918	447

[#8]

Hi @DJWoodward,

I've taken a look into this issue today and I can see that the connection appears to have intermittently dropped out over the last couple of days. This may be related to the lower than usual Upstream Sync Rate that you are currently achieving as such I would ask if you are able to go through the troubleshooting guides that were linked in my original reply to the thread a few months ago, which can be found again here and here.

Hopefully we can find what's causing the connection to drop out by going through these troubleshooting steps, but if you are still  experiencing any problems afterwards, just drop us another response on this thread and we'll investigate further.

[#9]

Hi AJ,

The slow upstream sync has been an issue since April, and I have only been experiencing the connection drops since RandallFlag reset my line profile on Friday, though the drops seem to have gotten more frequent over the last few days. I've also noticed my downstream sync is a little higher and the SNR has reduced to 3.0db. I've made no other changes to my setup during this time.

[#10]

Hi @DJWoodward

I've made a amendment to your profile which should help your upstream - can you let us know how this pans out over the next day or so? 

In regards to your actual connection - nothing is flagging as incorrect when we test from this side, as @TheMightyAJ said, however, if you notice further degradation shout up straight away. 

Thanks,

MoR

[#11]

Hi @MasterOfReality

I've been checking my router stats over the weekend and rebooted the router today, nothing has degraded as such, but it looks like the connection's continuing to drop-out occasionally and there's been no improvement on upstream sync either. SNR margin is still quite low.

	Downstream	Upstream
Line Coding (Trellis)	On	On
SNR Margin (dB)	3.3	27.2
Attenuation (dB)	33.5	21.3
Output Power (dBm)	19.8	12.1
Attainable Rate (Kbps)	15452	1211
Rate (Kbps)	15190	447

[#12]

We're seeing a lot of drops recorded too. I'd report a fault next, let us know when you have. 

[#13]

Hi @adamwalker,

I was about to report it as a fault today, but I a look at my stats earlier today and the upstream sync seems to have increased!

So thank you to all, will be very happy if it stays that way!

However I am still experiencing connection drops. Just an observation, and I know I keep banging on about it, but could this be down to the low SNR margin? It's just that my line had previously been very stable all summer at around 6dB prior to @RandallFlagg resetting my line a couple of weeks ago. That's the only thing that seems to have changed, and it was only following this line reset that I started experiencing connection drops.

	Downstream	Upstream
Line Coding (Trellis)	On	On
SNR Margin (dB)	3.4 <--	9.1
Attenuation (dB)	33.5	21.2
Output Power (dBm)	19.7	12.1
Attainable Rate (Kbps)	15628	1108
Rate (Kbps)	15194	1119 <--

[#14]

Glad to see your upstream speed has increased!

Regarding the connection drops I've nudged the SNR target up to 6dB now, let us know if you continue to experience issues.

[#15]

@Gandalf

I thought I'd give it a couple of weeks, I'm pleased to report that the upload speed is still good! Though unfortunately I'm still experiencing connection drops.

It is a weird one. My line had been great all summer, I had seen continuous connections up to 60 days! But now it seems to be dropping at least once every 24hrs.