Intermittent loss of connection

[#1]

So it would be worth going back to some basics:

If PN are not seeing any drops in synch, and your line is performing to expectations, then sending an engineer would cost you £65 if as expected they find no fault.

What are your expected speeds on the DSL Checker? Does it say that FTTC is available?

Another option for monitoring your line could be Sam Knows - the send you a box which will provide stats on your line. Not my favoured solution I must say, I have not been impressed with their technical ability, and can add a lot of usage to your line. Speaking of which, have you checked your usage, how much are you using per day? Can your line cope with it?

Unfortunately these days, the more you know about the services you have, the better you are able to deal with these kind of issues. People rely on being able to use these services, but getting the best out of them can be challenging, especially when the facilities are not capable of meeting your needs! 

[#2]

I'm more than prepared to pay the £65, however Plusnet are refusing point blank to send anyone unless I 'prove' there is a problem. It appears the only proof they will accept is the online BT speed test - and they can't understand when I point out that I can't run an online test when the problem is web pages not responding.

FTTC is available (so is FTTP apparently!) and the speeds I get via speed tests pretty well match the expected speeds, I'm getting 12 down and 1 up against a range of 4-24 down but with an expected speed of 12. I was getting faster at this address (around 17 down) and on the same line before we had to temporarily move out but the wiring was all replaced and checked by an Openreach engineer with a new master socket so hopefully that won't be the issue. Even if it is I have no way of checking wiring to the master socket and I've replaced everything beyond that.

The Plusnet usage page isn't working for me but usage can't be much - we are both out at work all day and tonight, for example, the first couple of pages I tried to load on logging in failed so usage at that point would have been almost zero for the day. We don't do much. No gaming, only SD streaming (NowTV) and mostly just web browsing. Nothing that should tax the connection and nothing that did tax it up until last August when all of a sudden everything just went haywire.

[#3]

The trouble is that a "no fault found" outcome from an engineer visit will cost Plusnet much more than the £65 that you would pay.

[#4]

While I understand that, is it really acceptable to leave me with a faulty service that they won't attempt to fix? I'd accept that outcome if they then let me leave without penalty but they can't provide a fully working service but also want to charge me to move to someone who can provide a working service.

[#5]

What good would going to another provide do, if there is a fault with the copper then you'll still have the same fault regardless of provider.

[#6]

Well, I'd rather hope another provider would be prepared to send an engineer out to fix any problems I'm having.

Assuming it is a problem in the copper and not Plusnet's net network not being able to cope with demand still.

[#7]

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@sghughes42 wrote:
I should comment that NowTV / Youtube seems not to suffer these problems any more, just web browsing, internet radio (TuneIn Radio) and the odd mobile app.

That's probably the oddest part of your description of the problem, anything affecting the line would affect everything. Have you tried using different DNS servers? Have you tried pinging an IP address, such as the easy to remember 8.8.8.8 while the problem is occurring?

The other problem with sending out an engineer when there's no evident fault, is that the engineer will run their tests, find no problem, change nothing, and leave. Sending out an engineer will not necessarily fix anything.

[#8]

That is one of the reasons I'm wondering if it is the Plusnet WMBC - I remember reading somewhere that one of their tweaks was to manage traffic such as streaming services to minimise the impact of the lack of capacity on the majority of their customers.

I've tried pinging and traceroutes to services such as eBay and google, plus I've change the DNS to the google ones and it makes no difference I can tell.

The real issue with doing any tests is that the problem occurs seemingly a random (albeit at times of the day which would be busy - another pointer to WMBC issues) and tend to resolve themselves within a couple of minutes or less so actually catching it and being able to run a test isn't easy.

I did have the ThinkBroadband tester set up but as I'm not on a static IP that doesn't work so well.

And I do realise an engineer is unlikely to find anything but it would be nice to at least try and rule out an wiring / cabling / hardware / cabinet issues before giving up and accepting a flaky service.

I've been with Plusnet since 2013 and since 2014 in this property. We had to move out for 6 months last year due to a flood. Before that and for the first few months in our temporary accommodation we had no issues and better speeds than I'm getting now. The problem followed us in the house move which again suggests not wiring, and the master socket and wiring to the pole was changed as part of the house restoration. If anything it should be better now as previously the router was on an extension, now it's direct in to the (relocated) master socket.

[#9]

The idea of pinging an IP address is that it doesn't use DNS, so if it works, but websites don't load, that would imply a DNS problem.

How did you change the DNS servers? Sometimes configuring the computer to use public DNS servers directly can bypass problems with the DNS server in the router firmware.

All Plusnet customers are on WBMC, I'm not really convinced there's anything to suggest the problem is somehow WBMC related. Plusnet's traffic management only really has any effect when you're doing more than one type of activity on your line at the same time, it's not about managing a lack of bandwidth for all their customers at Plusnet.

[#10]

As I mentioned earlier, the progressive traceroute I did showed some very slow hops within the Plusnet / BT network and the odd packet loss. However Plusnet haven't commented on that information which I have provided several times so presumably it tells them nothing. (Or tells them what they already know and don't want to admit)

I changed DNS on my router and on my PC.

The initial problems I got happened just about when Plusnet started migrating people and had massive issues. I didn't find out how to tell if I'd been migrated until too late to tell if that was the cause of the problems I was seeing unfortunately. I don't think it is traffic management, I think the WBMC simply can't cope with the volume of traffic being put through it and occasionally loses packets. The per-user traffic management will kick in if you are doing more than one thing, but the overall capacity of their network to route traffic is what I have the impression the problem may lie.

But this is why I want an engineer to come out and check the basics so I can rule them out first. I've done what I can with new hardware and cabling so if Plusnet are as adamant as they are that there are no issues with their network then the problem must be between my master socket and the exchange somewhere.

[#11]

It really makes no sense for it to be simply a case of WBMC not being able to cope with the amount of traffic, because that would imply this problem affects everyone, but it appears to be just you.

How recently have you tried the Technicolor router? I think the Technicolor might be better for investigating the problem.

[#12]

I've not used it in the last few weeks. I can dig it out again but what benefits would a 4 year old, fairly basic modem give over a much newer, higher spec one?

There seem to be plenty of reports on here and elsewhere of people have connection issues at peak times. It is certainly not as bad now as it was so they have got on top of it and most people probably put up with the level of inconvenience as it's getting to the point where while not idea it can be lived with.

[#13]

I've read lots of people endlessly complaining about slow speeds, or just slow speed test results, but very few people complaining about periodic intervals of being completely unable to load webpages.

TP-Link firmware is of fairly poor quality, at least the Technicolor provides better stats, the Technicolor firmware has its own quirks, but they're fairly well known. The higher spec aspects of the TP-Link, like gigabit Ethernet and ac wireless, seem fairly irrelevant to the problem.

[#14]

I have also been suffering intermittent loss of connection over the course of last two weeks, was fine before that since June 2016.

Luckily I have two phone lines/Internet connections ............