Intermittent BB outage

[#1]

@longshanks67 

In the earlier chapter of this saga, you stated...

@longshanks67 wrote:

The hub 2 light during outage is orange, access control rules ( ? ) are not set. Also  up until 10 days ago I was using a hub 1 which had this same problem of the orange light during outage.

Do you still have it?

If yes, it could provide a great deal of helpful diagnostics.

It is VERY unlikely that there is an issue with the router; replacing it is just one of the nugatory BTOR mandated requirements before they will send out an engineer.

Also from that part of the saga, the issues being observed between 8pm and 8am give weight to the possibility of RFI, which will be very obvious with router stats monitoring.  Its "pictures" (graphs) can speak a thousand words!

This graph shows an example of a line behaving fairly nicely until a disconnection event, after which it exhibits susceptibility to RFI.

[#2]

The hub one was returned too Plusnet as was requested. 

[#3]

Hello and thanks.

I'm  not sure if full fibre is available for me, during the many conversations with Plusnet reporting my outage issues it was never mentioned or advised.

[#4]

Oh, that is most unfortunate!!  There are very limited uses for old Hub Ones ... but your situation is one where having one would be of incalcuable invaluable.

Many years ago I had issues having similar symptoms to those you describe.  Following several engineer visits and the issue remaining unresolved, I started to use router stats.  It showed clearly that there were issues somewhere at specific times.  With RFI you can either locate and remedy the source or reduced the susceptibility to the interferance.

Reduce susceptibility:

• Ideally, remove all telephone extension wiring and plug the router into the master socket
• Ensure that the circuit is fault free - keep reporting faults (as intermittent) until BTOR find the bad joint or have firm evidence that xDSL is not being lost (Plusnet's graphical radius log might help with that)

Locate the source:

• Keep a diary log of when it happens and when it abates
• Attempt to correlate that with ANYTHING electrical in the house being switched on / off OR put under STRESS**
• When it happens wander around the house and switch stuff off (unplug it from the mains socket) and note if the behaviour changes (might take two minutes to turn from solid orange to solid blue

** In my situation, I eventually found two significant sources of RFI...

• CCTV camera PSU 'brick' (switched current transformer) which was on all day long ... became stressed during the hours of dusk when the IR illuminators kicked in - important to note nothing looked awry with it - all worked fine - it was the very last thing I switched off, as it fell into "it could not possibly be this ... but I cannot think of anything not tried" - the noise graph immediately fell flat
• WCML passing (long) Pendelinos - my d-side 'crossed over' the main line - coupled with other factors the noise spike of the passing train could drop the connection - when other issues were fixed, I could determine the direction of the train from the shape of the spike

... if only you still had that Hub One!!!  Where in the UK are you?

[#5]

@Townman  wrote:

... Where in the UK are you?

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If we knew @longshanks67 's postcode, then someone could check whether full fibre is available,

either from Openreach or an AltNet (non-Openreach full fibre network).

I include AltNets because It appears that @longshanks67  is open to the possibility of changing providers, given that on 24th June 2026 he said here -

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@longshanks67 wrote:

This is getting rediculous.

We have been a customer for 18 years but I am looking to jump ship and am looking at other BB suppliers.

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[#6]

I live in Kent the. Medway towns post code ME8 9SL

[#7]

Only looking at what Openreach can supply in that postcode -

Houses 22, 23, 24, 25, 31 and 32, can get "WBC FTTP"

Houses 1 to 21, 26 to 30, 33 to 38, and 40 to 54 can get "FTTP on Demand"

and for some reason house 39 appears to be unknown to Openreach.

For Plusnet to provide you with full fibre, you'd need to be in one of the houses with access to "WBC FTTP"

[#8]

@longshanks67 

Looking for AltNet (non-Openreach) full fibre networks at your postcode, you have two providers available -

You have a local company based in Bekesbourne near Canterbury - Vfast Internet 

and CityFibre who have widespread coverage across England.

[#9]

Vfast Internet

Entering your postcode in to their availability checker, the following packages are available directly from them,

along with the option of porting your existing phone number to their "Digital Voice" phone service.

[#10]

CityFibre

Entering your postcode in to their availability checker, it says -

[#11]

With CityFibre, they install the full fibre network, but you choose your broadband and phone package from ISPs that offer services using the CityFibre optical network.

See the full list of ISPs here - https://cityfibre.com/homes/broadband-providers 

This means you can move between CityFibre associated ISPs, and include whatever extras, such as VoIP phone services, that best suit your circumstances.

Click on the attached image to see the CityFibre recommended ISP packages - and scroll to zoom in to see the detail.

[#12]

@longshanks67 

Assuming that you don't have significant exit fees if you were to leave Plusnet sooner rather than later,

I would recommend going to Zen full fibre broadband and choosing the speed package that suits your budget,

and add Zen's "Digital Voice" telephone package, and get them to 'port' your existing landline number to their phone service.

By using Zen's phone service, when the upgrade is complete, you just unplug your existing phone handset from the BT master socket, and instead plug it into the phone socket on the Zen router.

Below are Zen's broadband package pricing for your postcode, via the CityFibre full fibre network -

[#13]

Thanks, food for thought

[#14]

Many thanks for your input.