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Dropping connection

JaneD
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎23-06-2014

Dropping connection

Despite numerous engineer callouts we still have an intermittent noisy line with the broadband dropping  connection far too frequently.
Looking at our router stats the SNR margin appears to be set at 6dB yet the broadband cannot achieve stability at this level.
Can we have the margin increased to 9 or 12dB as at this stage we would prefer stability over throughput.
Kind regards.
15 REPLIES 15
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Dropping connection

Sure, happy to give that a try for you.
I've submitted a DLM reset for 9db on the downstream which should take effect shortly.
Let us know if this helps.
BTW I decided to run some line tests too as I could see we worked on a couple of phone faults for you last year, those tests passed fine indicating no problems with that.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
JaneD
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎23-06-2014

Re: Dropping connection

Thanks Adam.
Download margin is now 9dB and connection has been stable throughout the weekend.
The noise problem is very intermittent and as far as we can tell follows periods of rain or damp weather.
In the past by the time an engineer is booked and on site the noise spikes have abated so the source is unable to be located.
If we encounter further disconnects I'll monitor the margin with routerstats to see if we can narrow down the when and whys.


JaneD
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎23-06-2014

Re: Dropping connection

Unfortunately we are once again syncing at 3dB downstream.
With this reduced headroom we are once again suffering too frequent disconnects.
Any chance we can be put back on 6 or 9 dB margin once again?
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Dropping connection

Quote
Any chance we can be put back on 6 or 9 dB margin once again?

As you're seeing disconnections we'd need to focus on that first as adjusting the SNR without doing that would make things worse.
Please report a fault with us at http://faults.plus.net and we'll get you sorted.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
JaneD
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎23-06-2014

Re: Dropping connection

Well we had no disconnects and very few FEC/HEC errors when it was at 9dB. It was only when the sync was reduced again to 3dB that the frequent disconnects started again.
Anyway weve raised yet another fault with Plusnet.
No doubt the engineer will arrive, say he cant find any problem, drink our tea, eat our biscuits and then say if we dont agree that he fixed the fault we will have to pay  £100.
JaneD
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎23-06-2014

Re: Dropping connection

Rather than an engineer visit the fault team have put us on a target 15dB download SNR margin.
We are now running Routerstats lite to give us a indication of the frequency and severity of the noise when/if it returns.
An incoming call caused the small spike(*) down in the upstream margin on the following graph. The downstream margin was unaffected.. Other than that the graphs have been similarly flat throughout day and night for the last couple of days. Waiting for the next big downpour to see if that is causing the problems.
(*) Small on the graph. A 4dB change in the SNR is fairly huge.
cedlor
Grafter
Posts: 687
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎02-04-2015

Re: Dropping connection

Hi JaneD is it still steady - quite a few of us have seen upSNRM spikes on incoming calls
JaneD
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎23-06-2014

Re: Dropping connection

Nice and steady for the past week.
Today we had a big noise spike around 4pm that caused a disconnect.
That's caused us to resync at a lower speed and even higher SNR margin (looks like we are now on a target margin of 21dB).
Now to see if this noise starts repeating like prior times or is a one off.
JaneD
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎23-06-2014

Re: Dropping connection

Lots of noise spikes on both up and down streams on Saturday. night through Sunday morning causing multiple disconnects even with such a high SNR Margin.
Phone line become crackly too. From Sunday afternoon we are back to nice flat SNR graphs.
There was lots of driving rain Friday and Saturday, although we need more data to confirm this is causing the line to become so susceptible to noise.
JaneD
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎23-06-2014

Re: Dropping connection

It now seems most likely that our problems are related to rain getting into BTs network somewhere
It rained heavily overnight 2016-02-29 and into the morning of 2016-03-01 here.
From 16:30 the noise on the phone line increased markedly and our SNR margins started spiking up and down with some 30 disconnects since despite the SNRM set to 9dB.
Through yesterday the phoneline was barely usable with this level of noise.
Today the noise has abated somewhat but is still present on the line despite it being sunny and calm.

Is there any chance of getting a competent engineer to fix this problem please?

JaneD
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎23-06-2014

Re: Dropping connection

Well we had an engineer visit Wednesday.
He fitted a Mk3 faceplate and disconnected our internal extension wiring and has told plusnet the problem is fixed.
However Incoming phonecalls now disconnect broadband and intermittent noise is still audible on the line
.Below graphs show SNRM as I use 17070 for both quiet line test and ringback services, with the ringbacks disconnecting the broadband more than 50% of the time.
the long disconnect was my fault as I disconnected the router power supply as I swapped phones to rule out handset behaviour.
cedlor
Grafter
Posts: 687
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎02-04-2015

Re: Dropping connection

If your ticket is still open go back and tell PN its not fixed  and that there is still intermittant noise on the line.
If its closed then report as a new fault http://faults.plus.net  
Is the snrm still at 9? or is it up at 12?
JaneD
Dabbler
Posts: 24
Registered: ‎23-06-2014

Re: Dropping connection

The problem is intermittent.
When its noisy both phone and broadband are badly affected to the point where they become unusable.
When its not noisy the phone line and broadband are fine.
Rain makes the occurences more frequent but it comes and goes on a random schedule.
Seeking advice elsewhere it seems there is likely a joint starting to show high resistance somewhere on the line.
AIUI, the engineer did get a HR fault on one of his tests but wasnt reproduced on another test.
We now wait for the noise to come back then need to get onto plusnets faults dept and hope their line tests pick it up.
Its quite possible the joint gets worse over time or fails completely so eventually it will get fixed.
The attached graphs show the intermittent nature yesterday. Long periods of minimal FEC errors, no CRC errors and stable SNRM. Then the line gets noisy and its all over the place.
Do note the FEC and CRC graphs are logarithmic!
runhare
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 556
Thanks: 69
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎09-10-2007

Re: Dropping connection

YOur problem is very familar to me and has occured many times for me and those I support . Really you need a tenatious engineer who is prepared to spend a whole day focussed on fixing your problem!
As has been suggested elsewhere, a good way to record the line condition is to sign up for a SAM KNows white box. That way you get 24/ 7 stats without having to run a computer to monitor the router status.
https://www.samknows.com/meet-the-whitebox