Getting a lot of drops. Does plusnet throttle users?

[#1]

I have been playing (and streaming to Twitch) games on a game streaming platform (GForce Now) on my week off, which has meant I have consistently been using a LOT of download and a LOT of upload capacity and it was absolutely fine for a week or so - but in the last two days I've been disconnecting seemingly every 5 or 10 minutes. This is extremely non-viable.

Router isn't more than a year or so old, connections are fine.

When I run speed tests (when it's online), speeds are what they should be.

Tried leaving it off overnight, but no better in the morning.

Wondering if they're seeing this traffic as "suspicious" or "greedy" or something and hitting me with this. Idk.

No previous problems.

[#2]

@alexrpm PN don't 'throttle users as such, but how much have you used over the past week? Are you sure your connection hasn't been dropping?

[#3]

I have been using internet a lot. A lot, a lot. It's been a week off work and I've been playing Starfield, several hours a day, and it has been fine until yesterday. Haven't had any issues like this before, it's completely out of the blue. I'm a heavy internet user at home. I would have noticed drops like this before, just from internet browsing. I had it drop while I was even making my post here.

Edit: Aaaaaaand it dropped out when I hti reply to this. Had to click "resend" when it came back up. It's bad.

[#4]

Which router are you using? A screenshot of the Error log would be useful.

[#5]

Hi, it's a Hub Two.

I have looked at the event log but am not qualified to really understand what constitutes an error or what the symptoms point to.

Most references to errors are my inputting an incorrect saved admin password a couple of times but one stands out.

Short snippet of event log from one specific drop beginning at 19:33:58 after a short reprieve:

19:34:54, 07 Oct. PPP: LCP up
19:34:54, 07 Oct. PPP LCP Receive Configuration ACK
19:34:54, 07 Oct. PPP LCP Send Configuration ACK
19:34:54, 07 Oct. PPP LCP Receive Configuration Request
19:34:54, 07 Oct. PPP LCP Send Configuration Request
19:34:54, 07 Oct. PPP: Received PADS
19:34:54, 07 Oct. PPP: Sending PADR
19:34:54, 07 Oct. PPP: Received PADO
19:34:54, 07 Oct. PPP: Sending PADI
19:34:49, 07 Oct. PPP: Sending PADI
19:34:44, 07 Oct. PPP: Sending PADI
19:34:39, 07 Oct. PPP: Sending PADI
19:34:36, 07 Oct. DSL Link Up: Down Rate=52699kbps, Up Rate=4709kbps; SNR Margin Down=4.9dB, Up=5.5dB
19:34:34, 07 Oct. PPP: Sending PADI
19:34:29, 07 Oct. PPP: Starting PPP daemon
19:34:28, 07 Oct. WAN Auto-sensing detected port DSL WAN
19:34:00, 07 Oct. SIP WAN DOWN
19:34:00, 07 Oct. WAN Sensing Auto sensing Complete, interface selected
19:33:59, 07 Oct. WAN Sensing Auto sensing Running
19:33:59, 07 Oct. WAN connection WAN2_INTERNET_PTM disconnected.[ERROR_NO_CARRIER]
19:33:58, 07 Oct. PPP: Stopped PPP daemon(0,1,5)
19:33:58, 07 Oct. PPP LCP Send Termination Request (User request)
19:33:58, 07 Oct. PPP: IPCP down
19:33:58, 07 Oct. PPP: LCP down
19:33:58, 07 Oct. DSL Link Down: duration was 913 seconds

[#6]

OK. From that it looks like a BT/OR network issue. To further investigate:

For Community members to be able to help, information from these sites, as screenshots, posted as pictures within the topic, not as attachments:-

BT Broadband Availability Checker (obscuring your phone number), where a landline phone is no longer supplied or known use the address version BT Broadband Address Availability (obscuring your address)

BTW Performance Tester - Over a wired (Ethernet) connection if at all possible, please report the 'ADDITIONAL DIAGNOSTICS'. This test is recommended to be performed with only one device connected.

Sight of the broadband connection status from your Hub (with the 'Username' obscured) would also be of help.

Click link  for Plusnet Hub Home Page

For the Hub One -

Navigate from the Home Screen to Troubleshooting > Helpdesk

For the Hub Two -

Navigate from the Home Screen to Advanced Settings > Technical Log > Information

Where the phone line is still active, it may also be a good idea to report the results of a Quiet Line Test - dial 17070 option 2 from a (preferably corded) phone. After the confirmation of your phone number, there should be total silence apart from the regular 'Quiet Line Test' announcement. Any other noise - report a PHONE fault first.

If you are unsure about any of the above, please just ask - I am happy to help.

[#7]

Hi John, no, all you have written has been extremely clear.

Only thing not possible there is corded phone test.

When I run speed tests everything seems fine when online.

There was an uptake in of DoS "port scanning" and "spoof"ing warnings in the last two days (relative to a surprisingly clear several months), but only early morning really, not during more recent outage. From what I've read, these are pretty normal.

Thank you for all your time, help and swift replies.

Very much appreciated.

[#8]

OK Alex. If you can provide the requested information, it would be appreciated. If you don't have a corded phone, you can still run the test from a DECT one.

[#9]

Alrighty, these are what I've got. Download speeds do seem slower than they were. I'm sure I was pushing 8mbs download speed before, now getting 6. But not drastic stuff. My bill reminds me: "Estimated download speed: 64 - 72Mbps"

This is ethernet & only one device connected.

[#10]

Sorry for the late reply, but I got distracted last night. From what I can see above, and with reference to the earlier error log snippet, I suggest you report a Broadband fault to PN, using this link: https://www.plus.net/help/report-a-problem/broadband/

[#11]

@alexrpm 

For your future reference, your hub screenshot shows that you are syncing at a speed, (55 Mbps), significantly lower than the "Downstream Handback Threshold", 71/67 Mbps, from the third screenshot.

If I saw that consistently on my line, I would be straight on to Plusnet, (as @jab1 has advised).

[#12]

Not at all, John.  I am only grateful.

[#13]

Thanks, I'm still learning things. Sync speed on this boot up today was 75.

Haven't stress tested anything yet though.

Last night my up-speed in a speed test was something like 15% of what it should be. Madness.

Will contact PN directly if there is recurrence, but you guys have been very helpful.

[#14 · Accepted solution]

@alexrpm From what we have seen, I can confidently say there will be a reoccurrence - I respectfully suggest you use the link I provided to report a problem, but please let us know the response you get.

[#15]

@alexrpm I can see an appointment is booked for tomorrow. Please let us know how it goes.