Continuos connection drops

[#1]

Hi,
since the last problem blamed on the line upgrade back in april we have had very good and stable connection (full history here http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,95015.0.html) however in the past two weeks the line has been really bad and the connectioon keeps dropping. It might com back at some point but often it doens't and at times it comes back for 2-3 seconds and as soon as i try to load a page (even this forum) goes down again.
I have noticed the stats are fairly stable:
ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 15008 kbps 445 kbps
Line Attenuation 23 db 7.5 db
Noise Margin 6 db 24 db
however the noise margin falls to 4 than 3 than 2 db and eventually we loose connection.
I have not raised a ticket yet as i allready know the answer: we need to book an engineer, he will come around see nothing wrong with our wiring (as the last 3 times) and leave until someone allegedly visit the exchange but even for that we need to be at home, still a mistery to me.
Can this be due to congestion on the exchange?

[#2]

It definitely won't be congestion, that doesn't affect whether you're in sync with the exchange or not. If sync is lost then there's definitely a fault somewhere - either at the exchange, on the wiring between the exchange or your premises.
If the fault is still apparent with the router plugged into the master socket (or ideally the test socket behind the master socket front plate) with everything else that's normally plugged into any other sockets removed, then it's either a line fault or the router. If you can test another router in the same situation to rule that out, then it's definitely a line fault - please raise it to us via the troubleshooter at http://faults.plus.net and we'll get it sorted for you
Hope that helps,

[#3]

Hi,
would you be able to post a graph of the last line connection stats? we are experiencing problems still and it got particularly bad in the last 3 days (disconnected every 5-10 minutes). We also got a brand new router but didn't solve the problem.

[#4]

Have you tried it in the test socket inside the master socket? PN will want you to put it there and leave it in there while they run some tests anyway.

[#5]

been there, done that, got the tshirt and it's also lost all the color by now luckily for all the times we have been there i got plenty spares.
all i need is a connection/disconnection table

[#6]

Have you raised a fault now?

Quote from: Matt

If the fault is still apparent with the router plugged into the master socket (or ideally the test socket behind the master socket front plate) with everything else that's normally plugged into any other sockets removed, then it's either a line fault or the router. If you can test another router in the same situation to rule that out, then it's definitely a line fault - please raise it to us via the troubleshooter at http://faults.plus.net and we'll get it sorted for you

[#7]

here you go: <img src="http://ccgi.psmith12.plus.com/visradius/generated/image13269696026672.png" />

Quote

been there, done that, got the tshirt

I'd consider logging the fault now as the connection does seem to be dropping still.

[#8]

thank you adam, unfortunately we have logged faults before and our main issue is that bt is asking £130 for the engineer intervention which didn't solve anything as you can see. The engineer pointed out that the issue is with the line but all we could do was either spend the money the have a new line installed or hope for this one to break completely so it had to be replaced
the fear is that by raising another fault we will get another engineer out which will get here while there is no problems and charge us another £130...

[#9]

I hope you didn't actually pay the £130!
Was that charge levied as a result of Plusnet calling out the engineer?

[#10]

I'm sure I don't need to tell you this but if you don't we can't do anything about it. Potential engineer charges are £60 now. If you've connected into the test socket and tried an alternate router and filters you've pretty much ruled out the risk of a charge.

[#11]

no we have a dispute open with them, the engineer came in october and they only charged us at the end of december so we are waiting for a response.
on top of that is the issue of having to take 2 days off work as they will only let you book those ridiculous time slots of 5 hours each and you have to give them 3 slots...
adam as i said we have done all the required troubleshooting before and no solution. we have tried with 4 routers, left in the master socket for over 2 weeks while all the tests have been done. replaced the filters twice, replaced the wire that connects the router to the socket etc...
exact words from the latest engineer that visited us: i understand the frustration because i keep getting this kind of calls. i get there and the problem is solved but than reappears and goes. unless it is happening while i' m on the spot there is nothing i can do. it might be an old line and unless it breaks completely you will still get this kind of problems.

[#12]

having consulted the person whose details are in the contact list i have now raised the fault. Unfortunately i doubt much can be done as told before we have experienced the same problems in the past. Again we are in the same situation and i think the next thing we'll be told is that we need to book an engineer's visit which mean taking time off work waiting for the guy to arrive and leave with nothing done and than wait for another bill to come through...

[#13]

I can understand you feeling jaded about this if you've been here before but an engineer being unable to identify a fault upon visiting you really isn't the end of the road. It often means we can then escalate the fault further and make sure more specific checks are carried out at the exchange or on the local phone network as appropriate.
I've just checked and can see that a colleague of mine on the faults team has already started dealing with it for you, the ticket should be updated shortly.
Come  back to me if you feel like things aren't going anywhere as I can intervene if it helps.

[#14]

hi adam,
as expected we received the following:

Quote

I have checked our connection logs and there are a lot of 'user requests' which indicate either the end user is turning the router on and off or the router is dropping the connection itself. I cannot see any history on the account to suggest a different router has been tried so before an engineer visit we would advise testing an alternative. If you do not have this available then we can send you a new one on a deferred contract. This means that you would not be charged for the router if you were to stay with us for a further 12 months however if you opt for this and circumstances changed then you would be charged for the router when leaving which is £40. If all possible checks have been done then please reply to this message with 3 available timeslots for an engineers visit. The available timeslots are weekdays either between 8am & 1pm or between 1pm & 6pm. If the fault is with your internal wiring or equipment a charge of £60 may be applied.

i'm not sure how the reords are kept but we have so far tried 3 different routers(d-link, netgear and now a brand new TP-Link).
Yesterday the line seemed a bit more stable but how long will this last for is not for us to know.
As stated before, this is the same condition under which we had an engineer visit in october and for which now BT is charging us.

[#15]

BT don't charge directly for the engineer visits though, assuming that was a broadband fault too that would be handled by ourselves.
I'm sorry if the person who responded over looked that, I've passed that information back to the faults team so someone will be getting back to you again soon.
PS if you do need to take this further with us an engineer visit would be the next appropriate step so do let us know on the ticket if you can be available for that.