Disconnections and slow speed
Barry,
Brilliant investigative work!
There is a lot below to think about... so you might want to print it out and cross off the bits when you've done / considered them.
I think there are a number of things going on here, which together are contributing to a problematic experience.
1. Noise on the line - this can come and go, it might not be there all of the time, which rather fits with you perception of intermittent disconnections and at times difficulty in reconnecting. Have you noticed any correlation between incoming or out going calls and the internet disconnecting. Or for that matter an incoming call making the internet reconnect? Either of these circumstances point to a circuit fault. When you have connectivity problems or very slow performance, re-do the quiet line test. Is PlusNet your phone provider?
2. Switching the router off "when you do not need it" will not help at all in the circumstance where there are other issues giving rise to disconnections. It will cause the line management system (DLM) to raise the SNRM and depress the synch speed. It having been 15dB before Chris did the reset is clear evidence that your line has been aggressively managed by the DLM. We need to avoid this happening whilst trying to fix other issue.
3. I'm a bit concerned by the marked difference in the line's attenuation - in effect it means that the line's (electrical) length changed between the first stats (before SNRM reset with the router in the normal location) and those when in the test socket. The final set (back in the normal location) show the same higher attenuation as that reported in the second set. Really do need Chris' expertise on this one.
4. Your internal extension wiring is doing you no favours. The fairly good 7446kbps seen at the test socket has been knocked back to 4095kbps at the end of your extensions - both at a similar SNRM. This needs to be addressed after any line issues have been fixed.
5. From the information provided, I cannot tell if you are on 20CN or 21CN service and if the latter which modulation is in use. If you are on 21CN then somewhere along the way from here to being fixed, uncapping you US rate should be considered for the job list.
I would suggest the following as a move forward plan - as ever everything is subject to DCT (PlusNet) approval / confirmation...
1. Can you live with the router and a phone plugged into the NTE5 test socket for a good while (we might be looking at two weeks!)? This will eliminate all of your internal wires / sockets etc. from the problem and anything that is left is likely to be a BTOR issue. Use the filter which gave a better noise level.
2. Can you please leave the router switched on 24x7?
3. Either phone PN support or run the broadband trouble shooter here - http://faults.plus.net - I suggest that you report slow speeds, as the "disconnections" route "bails out" if at the time of testing you are connected OK
When the line has been given a clean bill of health we can return to the other matters.
Question - Is you other line's NTE5 in the location where you really want your router? If the answer is yes, then it might just be possible to get BTOR to swap the drop wires IF the do a site visit. It might mean fiddling with your extensions to switch them to the other NTE5, but it will mean that you can have the router where you want it and it being connected direct to the NTE5.
Kevin
Brilliant investigative work!
There is a lot below to think about... so you might want to print it out and cross off the bits when you've done / considered them.I think there are a number of things going on here, which together are contributing to a problematic experience.
1. Noise on the line - this can come and go, it might not be there all of the time, which rather fits with you perception of intermittent disconnections and at times difficulty in reconnecting. Have you noticed any correlation between incoming or out going calls and the internet disconnecting. Or for that matter an incoming call making the internet reconnect? Either of these circumstances point to a circuit fault. When you have connectivity problems or very slow performance, re-do the quiet line test. Is PlusNet your phone provider?
2. Switching the router off "when you do not need it" will not help at all in the circumstance where there are other issues giving rise to disconnections. It will cause the line management system (DLM) to raise the SNRM and depress the synch speed. It having been 15dB before Chris did the reset is clear evidence that your line has been aggressively managed by the DLM. We need to avoid this happening whilst trying to fix other issue.
3. I'm a bit concerned by the marked difference in the line's attenuation - in effect it means that the line's (electrical) length changed between the first stats (before SNRM reset with the router in the normal location) and those when in the test socket. The final set (back in the normal location) show the same higher attenuation as that reported in the second set. Really do need Chris' expertise on this one.
4. Your internal extension wiring is doing you no favours. The fairly good 7446kbps seen at the test socket has been knocked back to 4095kbps at the end of your extensions - both at a similar SNRM. This needs to be addressed after any line issues have been fixed.
5. From the information provided, I cannot tell if you are on 20CN or 21CN service and if the latter which modulation is in use. If you are on 21CN then somewhere along the way from here to being fixed, uncapping you US rate should be considered for the job list.
I would suggest the following as a move forward plan - as ever everything is subject to DCT (PlusNet) approval / confirmation...
1. Can you live with the router and a phone plugged into the NTE5 test socket for a good while (we might be looking at two weeks!)? This will eliminate all of your internal wires / sockets etc. from the problem and anything that is left is likely to be a BTOR issue. Use the filter which gave a better noise level.
2. Can you please leave the router switched on 24x7?
3. Either phone PN support or run the broadband trouble shooter here - http://faults.plus.net - I suggest that you report slow speeds, as the "disconnections" route "bails out" if at the time of testing you are connected OK
When the line has been given a clean bill of health we can return to the other matters.
Question - Is you other line's NTE5 in the location where you really want your router? If the answer is yes, then it might just be possible to get BTOR to swap the drop wires IF the do a site visit. It might mean fiddling with your extensions to switch them to the other NTE5, but it will mean that you can have the router where you want it and it being connected direct to the NTE5.
Kevin
Hi Adam,
Thanks for the update - at least he's got a good profile on the scope of the issues now.
@Barry,
Good luck, do let me know how you get on with this.
Thanks for the update - at least he's got a good profile on the scope of the issues now.
@Barry,
Good luck, do let me know how you get on with this.
Barry,
These figures are VERY interesting and largely positive, but there may be more to be achieved yet - lets hope the PN faults team find something else to look at. As I've said previously I think you have several issues.
The new noise margin figure is higher that the previous (this is good) - i conclude that background noise became present between the last restart and the time you took the before stats. We might need to return to this.
The above combined with the 50% improvement in synch speed strongly suggests that the pick-up of whatever noise there is around has ben reduced by disconnecting the bell wire. Please make sure all your phones still ring!
The increase in the US noise margin is also positive and supports the view that noise pick up has been reduced.
The increase in attenuation is disconcerting, but might be a limitation of my understanding / a facet of how the router measures the attenuation. Your router does not report modulation type - I'm guessing that a change in modulation / tone usage could change the attenuation figure - it us this figure which determines the expectation for line speed - @43dB it might be 6.3Mbps on a 20CN service or 7.9Mbps on a 21CN service. Did you try to check what is available to you here - http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/adslchecker.php ?
Your line is now much improved if it remains stable, it might be capable of doing a bit better, will need to keep a watch on things and see what PN find.
Kevin
These figures are VERY interesting and largely positive, but there may be more to be achieved yet - lets hope the PN faults team find something else to look at. As I've said previously I think you have several issues.
The new noise margin figure is higher that the previous (this is good) - i conclude that background noise became present between the last restart and the time you took the before stats. We might need to return to this.
The above combined with the 50% improvement in synch speed strongly suggests that the pick-up of whatever noise there is around has ben reduced by disconnecting the bell wire. Please make sure all your phones still ring!
The increase in the US noise margin is also positive and supports the view that noise pick up has been reduced.
The increase in attenuation is disconcerting, but might be a limitation of my understanding / a facet of how the router measures the attenuation. Your router does not report modulation type - I'm guessing that a change in modulation / tone usage could change the attenuation figure - it us this figure which determines the expectation for line speed - @43dB it might be 6.3Mbps on a 20CN service or 7.9Mbps on a 21CN service. Did you try to check what is available to you here - http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/adslchecker.php ?
Your line is now much improved if it remains stable, it might be capable of doing a bit better, will need to keep a watch on things and see what PN find.
Kevin