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First failure for a month, line problems

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hitchhiker43
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First failure for a month, line problems

I try to be fair to ISP's but today was a bad example of poor behavior!

After running for a month I got cut off about 16:50 and according to DSL stats this was because of a line failure (SNR to 0) although the phone was still working, while waiting to see if it would recover started the call process to tech support as we all know that is longgggggg recovered and went down again...after 30 mins Pnet answered.

I reported the fault and asked if they were doing line tests etc answer no, after a while could see disconnection, at this time I had only 2dB and almost no service, immediately told me I should only be getting 1-3Mbps despite the fact the link has been running around 5Mbps for several years! Basically wasn't interested in investigating anything and said only thing they could do was crank up the target SNR on the DLM.

 

What a waste of time, hiding behind so called achievable rates for the line and threatening to make my situation very bad if I persisted in complaining. I told the wretched person they didn't know what they were talking about and please leave the DLM settings alone that were carefully crafted some years ago to make this long line stable.

I don't think I will ever waste my time calling your award winning support ever again unless the line totally fails but I shall certainly store up my experiences ready for the next round of ISP renewal selection.

 

Here is the disturbance I have suffered so far today presumably kicked off by grubby OR fingers in a junction box somewhere, however the snr seems to have somewhat declined and I am wondering if the slowly increasing penetration of FTTC for those closer to the cabinet has anything to do with it. This line normally runs at 4.5db snr (or 6 if you are looking at the DLM).

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): Changed thread title at request of OP.

Tp-link W8960n on longgggggggg line!
37 REPLIES 37
ejs
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Re: First failure for a month, line problems

I don't think any ISP is going to start investigating a "fault" the instant your DSL experiences a drop. What if it was just some one-off thing that you'll never know exact the cause of? Then it would be a waste of anyone's time investigating it as a fault.

hitchhiker43
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Re: First failure for a month, line problems

Well actually I was calling the ISP to find out if they were doing anything, it wouldn't be the first time I have been plagued by line tests or DLM resets! As for wasting time, I am paying them for it and I also consider waiting 30 minutes plus on the phone a waste of my time too, touche sir!

Tp-link W8960n on longgggggggg line!
ejs
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Re: First failure for a month, line problems, disgusted with Plusnet telephone support

Sorry, but you're not paying for a service that's guaranteed to never ever be interrupted.

hitchhiker43
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Re: First failure for a month, line problems, disgusted with Plusnet telephone support

Dear me what a sad person..... I am paying to have my questions answered reasonably without someone becoming defensive and making unreasonable assertions.  As for you I think your enough to persuade me I am wasting my time here too as you seem to have similar attitudes obviously people are not allowed to make any comments without attracting your so called expert unwanted opinions....goodbye!

 

If this site had the facility to block you I would, however it seems not..............

Tp-link W8960n on longgggggggg line!
RealAleMadrid
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Re: First failure for a month, line problems, disgusted with Plusnet telephone support

I actually think @ejs has made perfectly valid responses to your posts, I don't know what you are expecting from a low cost consumer internet connection but you are in dreamland if you are expecting an always on service with an instant response to any problems. You would need to pay orders of magnitude more for what you seem to be wanting and I guess from your attitude I don't think you are prepared to pay for it.

Townman
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Re: First failure for a month, line problems, disgusted with Plusnet telephone support

Fix

@hitchhiker43,

Are you here looking for assistance or just wanting to vent?

Looking at the SNRM graph you posted, the SNRM was chronic and shows some of the hall marks of RFI / REIN or it could be a line fault giving rise to poor A-B balance.

Have you checked the line for noise?

Please perform a quiet line test - dial 17070 select option 2 using a corded phone plugged into the test socket behind the face plate of the master socket. It should be silent. A noisy phone line (or no dial tone) will have a marked adverse impact on the performance of broadband.

If the line is noisy or there is no dial tone, then a PHONE LINE fault needs to be raised with your phone provider. If this is PlusNet, you can report a fault on line using the button below.


 Lines do deteriorate and in those circumstances the DLM will act in an attempt to deliver stability.  Sometimes on long lines in good weather we might well see performance well above expectations.  I see 5.5Mbps at 3dB on my expected sub 3Mbps line, using a TG582n with the firmware update.  If things went a bit pear-shaped I might have to accept a slower speed at 6dB to maintain stability.

You can shout as much as you want at people around here trying to help you - other customers or PlusNet staff alike - but no amount of shouting (or ISP changing) is going to alter the distance between you and the exchange and the quality of the copper (or is it aluminium) wire which connects the two.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

hitchhiker43
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Re: First failure for a month, line problems, disgusted with Plusnet telephone support

Venting really! It get's frustrating being on a long line at times, takes a lot of TLC Smiley

QLT test normal (no hum, no crackles).

Having people at Pnet, OR or here who blunder around with no understanding just makes matters seem worse.

Anyway life in the countryside is very nice apart from that!

Tp-link W8960n on longgggggggg line!
Townman
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Re: First failure for a month, line problems, disgusted with Plusnet telephone support

If you want help to look at the possibility of you having REIN - just ask. As I noted, I did not like the look of that SNRM plot.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

hitchhiker43
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Re: First failure for a month, line problems, disgusted with Plusnet telephone support

That's very kind of you Smiley This situation has history.... I first started recording it trying to make sense of it way back in 2014!! Many issues have been fixed over the years and the line is a lot better than it was. REIN in this village is a serious problem, it is sufficient to blot out radio 5 completely sometimes for hours at a time but the BBC has no interest.  We have overhead power cables (and telephone) and for a long time my BT drop cable was in contact with the power cables for several 10's of meters, this combined with it being old fig8 grey stuff didn't help. BT/OR changed that last year and the internal wiring to the master socket is CAT5. I stopped taking snr plots a while ago because I didn't think there was anymore that could be done, most times the REIN drops are in the order of 1.5dB and my settings can cope with that without dropping the link although as you saw recently sometimes the REIN drop is extreme and knocks out synch.

I will monitor the snr for a few days and see if I can get some up to date REIN plots, I think the old ones are probably past there sell by date Smiley

I have had one idea, when the drop cable was replaced so was the master socket, prior to that the star wiring to the extensions was passed through a filter at the master, this no longer happens due to the bright sparkling new master and the extensions are filtered as standard at there outlets, this means the REIN could be entering the CW1308 star wiring that as you know is only very lackadaisically twisted. This may be a challenge as said bright sparkling thing has lever operated IDC contacts, apparently I was one of the first in the area to get it Sad

 

Thank you for your interest, when I have some REIN plots I will post them here.

Tp-link W8960n on longgggggggg line!
Townman
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Re: First failure for a month, line problems, disgusted with Plusnet telephone support

Star wiring can be a real pain. However if each leg of the star has two twisted pairs with a few crimps you can convert that to daisy chain configuration. Do though make sure that the wire ends in the IDCs are as short as possible - and of course that the bell wire is not connected.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

ejs
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Re: First failure for a month, line problems, disgusted with Plusnet telephone support

Openreach MK4 filtered faceplates are available to buy, often they are sold together with the NTE5C.

I would not expect star wiring to make much difference for a long ADSL line, and even if you could convert all the extension wiring to one long chain, in theory that may actually make things worse. Assuming the modem is connected at the master socket, then converting all the extension wiring to one long chain would make the bridge tap longer, so it would have a worse effect on lower frequencies.

Townman
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Re: First failure for a month, line problems, disgusted with Plusnet telephone support

In which case may be the answer is to invest in a multi handset DECT cordless phone kit ... and dispense with the extension wiring all together?

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

ejs
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Re: First failure for a month, line problems, disgusted with Plusnet telephone support

There is also the REIN filter in the filtered faceplate which might still be desirable, even without any extension wiring. I don't think the REIN filter in the faceplate makes a drastic difference, but it may help a little.

Townman
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Re: First failure for a month, line problems, disgusted with Plusnet telephone support

Is REIN filter on the otherwise unfiltered DSL 'side'?

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.