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Connection issues.

sturose
Grafter
Posts: 36
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎09-09-2013

Connection issues.

I've been with plusnet for about 8 months now, the first five to six months seemed to pass without issue but for the last couple of months my connection just seems to drop randomly several times a day.
I am on FTTC and have the dreaded Technicolor TG582n router which I believe to be worse than abysmal!!! (Seems like a common viewpoint)
Occasionally I will get 5-6 hours without any dropped connection but when it starts it doesn't seem to stop. Worst time was around 10-15 drops over just a few hours. Just yesterday (Sunday 8th September) I must have had about 9-10 disconnects in approx 5 hours.
I did open a support ticket but it was determined that as my connection was only dropping up to 3 times a day this was considered acceptable, I am certainly getting more than 3 per day and I was with BT Infinity for about 2 years before I came to plusnet and never in all that time did I have any connection drops that I noticed. I personally do not consider even 3 times a day to be acceptable, an occasional drop maybe once every few weeks or months maybe.
I can't find my previous support ticket so I tried to open a new one but I am getting:
There's been a problem
Please try using the Broadband Troubleshooter again in a short while. If you continue to have problems please contact our Support Team for help.

every time I start the troubleshooter so what use is that!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am starting to regret my decision to save a few quid by moving my broadband. I need a stable connection as there are 5 people in my house that use the internet at all different times of day and night, my son runs a game server from his PC 24/7 which is being constantly disconnected!
If I cannot get these disconnection problems sorted soon I will have to consider an alternative ISP.
16 REPLIES 16
bobpullen
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 16,869
Thanks: 4,950
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Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Connection issues.

Sorry to hear you're having problems Sad
Quote from: sturose
I did open a support ticket but it was determined that as my connection was only dropping up to 3 times a day this was considered acceptable, I am certainly getting more than 3 per day and I was with BT Infinity for about 2 years before I came to plusnet and never in all that time did I have any connection drops that I noticed. I personally do not consider even 3 times a day to be acceptable, an occasional drop maybe once every few weeks or months maybe.

I agree. Three drops a day isn't acceptable. I expect there's a temporary problem with the troubleshooter as I'm not aware of any service-wide issues at the moment. Keep at it and bump this thread tomorrow if you're still unable to get it to play ball.

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵

sturose
Grafter
Posts: 36
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎09-09-2013

Re: Connection issues.

Quote
I am sorry to hear of your ongoing issues with your connection. I have checked your connection and I am unable to see a significant amount of drops. Our records show only 3 drops in connection the day before this was raised to us which is perfectly normal for any connection.

This was the response from my support ticket which I have now managed to locate. I don't believe it to be normal for any disconnections if there are no faults either in the area or on the line.
I was advised to connect my PC directly to the BT modem for testing purposes but this is not really an option as there are currently 3 laptops, 3 tablets, 5 mobile phones, 3 PC's, 4 games consoles and my sky box that needs to connect to the router at various times of the day (I have a large family!) so running an internet connection without a router is not a viable option. My PC is also located approx 30ft away from the master socket.
Thanks for the speedy reply though.
chrispurvey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 5,369
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎13-07-2012

Re: Connection issues.

We've got your fault ticket, it seems it was an error from the automated testing that is kicked off when a fault is raised. Our faults team will pick this up and be in-touch.
Quote
I was advised to connect my PC directly to the BT modem for testing purposes but this is not really an option as there are currently 3 laptops, 3 tablets, 5 mobile phones, 3 PC's, 4 games consoles and my sky box that needs to connect to the router at various times of the day (I have a large family!) so running an internet connection without a router is not a viable option. My PC is also located approx 30ft away from the master socket.

The only reason for this is to rule the router out of the equation.
sturose
Grafter
Posts: 36
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎09-09-2013

Re: Connection issues.

I understand that this is the reason but unfortunately it is not possible for me to do this.
I will try another router temporarily if I can dig one out that I can use with my internet. The only ones I have are BT HH3, I don't like using the home hub though because I don't have as much control over internet content, I use open dns but you can't change the dns servers in a HH3.
sturose
Grafter
Posts: 36
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎09-09-2013

Re: Connection issues.

Most of the day today things have been going quite well but guess what, just a few seconds ago 1st disconnect of the evening. Took about 5-10 minutes to re-connect.
Wonder how many times tonight????Huh
Just managed to finally run the troubleshooter and apparently my connection is stable.
If that is the case then the problem must be the router as when I am disconnected all the lights on the router go off apart from the 1st one, they then take between 5 & 10 minutes before all four lights are back on and the internet is usable again.
I'll have to go rummaging through my garage to try and find one of my old BT routers to test with, if it is the router I hope PN have alternatives to the TG582n because the wireless signal from this router around my house is p**s poor!!!
sturose
Grafter
Posts: 36
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎09-09-2013

Re: Connection issues.

19.07 pm another disconnection!
sturose
Grafter
Posts: 36
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎09-09-2013

Re: Connection issues.

22.50 AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!
3 a day normal for any connection my ar*e!!!!!
Getting pee'd off now.
chrispurvey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 5,369
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎13-07-2012

Re: Connection issues.

Sorry to see that, there's obviously an issue here. Our faults team will be in-touch and we'll be need to investigate this further.
sturose
Grafter
Posts: 36
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎09-09-2013

Re: Connection issues.

Started early today! 15.54.
No contact from faults team yet. Can't find my other router ATM so I can't determine whether that is the problem.
EDIT: 16.54 disconnect again
2nd EDIT: 19.21 down again. I am logging all the disconnections here so that PN can see what is happening my end even if isn't showing up on your system.
3rd EDIT: 21.05 down.
sturose
Grafter
Posts: 36
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎09-09-2013

Re: Connection issues.

New post to bump back up:
21.45 another disconnection.
5 so far today and probably more to come!!!
sturose
Grafter
Posts: 36
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎09-09-2013

Re: Connection issues.

Borrowed a BT Hub 3 from a friend, connected yesterday around lunch time.
Set up Internet connectivity monitor on my PC. In 24 hours only 1 disconnection which was caused by me when setting up a wireless device.
Looking very promising, seems like it is the router that is causing the problem.
What alternative routers do plusnet supply apart from the TG582n because as stated earlier and according to lots of unhappy PN customers this router is a pile of ****!!! I do not want one of these as a replacement. I'd rather buy my own (although I don't see why I should have to).
nanotm
Pro
Posts: 5,756
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Registered: ‎11-02-2013

Re: Connection issues.

hmm that sounds like a lot of devices to have simultaneously running on the Thompson I found the max mine could handle was 8 active devices before it started acting funky
to be honest I gave it about 4 hours of giving me a headache and reverted to using my trusty billion 7800 (not 7800n)
when I swapped to fttc I did exactly the same thing.
then I looked into the problems (because I had a stable internet) and discovered that in common with a lot of cheap routers there only designed to handle up to 8 clients without a problem but going over that limit can start causing problems.
it might sound like stupidity but I would hunt around for a good deal on a decent router, preferably from a supplier who will take it back should you discover its not what you need (amazon are pretty good in that regard although some of the market place suppliers leave a lot to be desired) 
just because your paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you
sturose
Grafter
Posts: 36
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎09-09-2013

Re: Connection issues.

They don't all run at the same time but at times we can have 3 laptops, 3 PC's and a games console running.
The BT HH3 I'm using at the moment seems to be able to handle it just fine. It did when I was with BT and it has done for the last 36 hours. I prefer not to use the HH3 though as I stated because of my lack of control over internet content. I can't set each individual wireless device up with opendns servers because it wouldn't be practical with my kids being teenagers so a 'root' solution is better for me.
Any suggestions for a decent, reasonably priced router that I have full control over and can handle my rather congested network?
chrispurvey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 5,369
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎13-07-2012

Re: Connection issues.

Your connection is certainly looking better with the other router:
<img src="http://community.plus.net/visualradius/generated/image13793394919033.png"/>
The TG582n is the only router we supply, I can arrange for a replacement if you would like me to?