Intermittent slowdown / drop out of broadband - can someone check my line?

[#1]

Hi all, 

I've had issues with our broadband slowing to a crawl and occasionally dropping entirely. I managed to speak with someone from PN using the online chat service recently and things have only become worse. I was told my line was "fine", but I'd like a second opinion...

I've run tracerts to www.bbc.co.uk during these periods:

C:\Windows\System32>tracert www.bbc.co.uk

Tracing route to www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.244.26]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms dsldevice.lan [192.168.1.254]
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 * * * Request timed out.
4 1182 ms 1188 ms 1256 ms be3-3104.psb-ir01.plus.net [195.166.143.136]
5 1444 ms 1449 ms 1383 ms core1-BE1.southbank.ukcore.bt.net [195.99.125.130]
6 1619 ms 1642 ms 1740 ms peer2-et-3-1-0.redbus.ukcore.bt.net [62.172.103.193]
7 1435 ms 1473 ms 1562 ms 195.99.126.73
8 * * * Request timed out.
9 * * * Request timed out.
10 1691 ms 795 ms 255 ms 132.185.254.109
11 1026 ms 1365 ms 1258 ms 132.185.255.148
12 1492 ms 1534 ms 1455 ms bbc-vip145.telhc.bbc.co.uk [212.58.244.26]

Trace complete.

This is actually a fairly "good" example, typically the ping are 2-3s.

Normally, the same tracert looks like this:

C:\Windows\System32>tracert www.bbc.co.uk

Tracing route to www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.244.67]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     2 ms     2 ms     2 ms  dsldevice.lan [192.168.1.254]
  2     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  3     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  4    28 ms    28 ms    27 ms  be3-3104.psb-ir01.plus.net [195.166.143.136]
  5    28 ms    28 ms    27 ms  195.99.125.134
  6    28 ms    29 ms    29 ms  62.172.103.199
  7    28 ms    29 ms    28 ms  195.99.126.73
  8     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  9     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 10    28 ms    28 ms    29 ms  ae0.er01.telhc.bbc.co.uk [132.185.254.109]
 11    28 ms    28 ms    30 ms  132.185.255.148
 12    35 ms    37 ms    31 ms  bbc-vip112.telhc.bbc.co.uk [212.58.244.67]

Trace complete.

Any help with this would be great! Cheers 

[#2]

Update - as of about an hour ago our broadband is completely down. The internet light on the Router (Sagemcom 2704n) is red and static.

Edit - fixed this issue by changing my password. The original issue still hasn't been addressed though.

[#3]

Sorry to hear that.

It looks like the connection is now down alltogether.

I'd recommend raising a fault here so we can investigate further.

[#4]

Hi Matthew, 

Thanks for your response. It's very likely you've tried to look at the connection whilst I was cycling the router which is why it was down. I'll raise the fault through the link you've provided. 

Cheers

[#5]

Our tests are showing your line to be more stable recently. How are things now?

[#6]

Hi Gandalf - the line is considerably better now, haven't had any slow downs or drops that I'm aware of. Should I leave the router plugged into the test socket for now, or am I okay to switch back over?

Cheers

[#7]

Glad to hear that.

You can move your router back to where it was, but if the problem returns I'd recommend using the test socket moving forward as the problem may then appear to lie with the internal wiring of the property.

[#8]

Hi Gandalf - we're experiencing the same issues as before, with intermittent slowdowns. As far as I can tell, the connection isn't dropping completely, but pings are 2-3s when carrying out the usual tracerts. Could you check the line for me please? Cheers

[#9]

Line tests aren't finding a definitive cause of the problem, but something does seem out of place somewhere as the SNR (signal to noise ratio) margin is fluctuating quite a bit while maintaining a 3dB target. Is your router still plugged into the test socket?

[#10]

Hi Gandalf, thanks for the quick reply. We're connected to the test socket at the moment.

[#11]

Hi @dkferguson,

Thanks for confirming that you're connected to the test socket at the moment. I've tested your line again today and the test is showing errors on the downstream and is indicating that the SNR margin is currently set too low for the level of interference on the line.

xDSL Status Check
Circuit ID:	CBUK96530518	Service ID:	BBEUXXXXXXXX
Telephone NO.:	NA	Test Executed On:	23-08-2018 09:27:30

xDSL Status Test Summary
Sync Status:		Circuit In Sync
General Information
NTE Status:		NTE Power Status:	PowerOn	Bypass Status:

	Upstream DSL Link Information	Downstream DSL Link Information
Loop Loss:	15.8	28.5
SNR Margin:	16.0	3.1
Errored Seconds:	0	1
HEC Errors:	0
Cell Count:	697745	44096318
Speed:	888	19661

Maximum Stable Rate (KBPS):	13632	Fault Threshold Rate (KBPS):	10906
Mean Time Between Retrains (Seconds):	43051	Mean Time Between Errors Upstream (Seconds):	7827
Indicative Line Quality:	A	Mean Time Between Errors Downstream (Seconds):	227
Custom Thresholds
MTBR_RED:	MTBE_RED:
MTBR_GREEN:	MTBE_GREEN:

I've adjusted the SNR margin now to try and stabilise your connection and resolve the performance issues. Please monitor your connection over the next few days and let us know if you continue to experience these issues.

[#12]

Hi Emily, thanks for adjusting the SNR. Unfortunately we haven't noticed any improvements so far. Is there anything else that can be tried?

Cheers,

Daniel

[#13]

Hi @dkferguson

I've just been taking a look over your original trace routes you sent. Please can you provide me a new one of your current speed, and please run a speed test on your line as well.

Make sure you are doing these with an Ethernet cable instead of wireless, so that we can rule out any wireless issues.

[#14]

Hi Dean, 

Apologies for the late reply - I'd misplaced my ethernet cable and it's taken a while to find. 

The connection has been a lot more stable over the last week, although we're still getting some issues.

"Good" tracert:

C:\Windows\System32>tracert www.bbc.co.uk

Tracing route to www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.249.215]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  dsldevice.lan [192.168.1.254]
  2     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  3     *        *       43 ms  137.hiper04.sheff.dial.plus.net.uk [195.166.143.137]
  4    59 ms    49 ms    56 ms  be3-3104.psb-ir01.plus.net [195.166.143.136]
  5    27 ms    27 ms    26 ms  core1-BE1.southbank.ukcore.bt.net [195.99.125.130]
  6    27 ms    27 ms    28 ms  194.72.16.100
  7    28 ms    29 ms    34 ms  195.99.126.73
  8     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  9    63 ms    56 ms    59 ms  ae1.er01.lbh.bbc.co.uk [132.185.254.138]
 10    77 ms   140 ms    52 ms  132.185.252.126
 11     *       28 ms    28 ms  bbc-vip153.lbh.bbc.co.uk [212.58.249.215]

Trace complete.

"Bad" tracert:

C:\Windows\System32>tracert www.bbc.co.uk

Tracing route to www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.249.209]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms     1 ms     1 ms  dsldevice.lan [192.168.1.254]
  2     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  3     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  4  2982 ms  1683 ms  1947 ms  be3-3106.psb-ir02.plus.net [195.166.143.140]
  5  1067 ms  1083 ms  1155 ms  195.99.125.142
  6  1820 ms  2020 ms  1256 ms  194.72.16.106
  7  2475 ms   773 ms   530 ms  195.99.126.73
  8     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  9   886 ms   900 ms  1312 ms  ae1.er02.lbh.bbc.co.uk [132.185.254.142]
 10  2160 ms  2306 ms  2423 ms  132.185.252.130
 11  2245 ms   777 ms   250 ms  bbc-vip147.lbh.bbc.co.uk [212.58.249.209]

Trace complete.

I ran a speedtest using Ookla whilst the connection was "good": http://www.speedtest.net/result/7609830041

I couldn't even load the webpage to run a speedtest when the connection was "bad"...make of that what you will! 

Thanks for your help,

Daniel 

[#15]

Hi @dkferguson,

I've taken a look into this today and when running tests on your line and viewing your connection everything appears to be up and running at a stable rate. As the issue is intermittent and is affecting performance, the issue may be an internal one and I was wondering if you have been able to notice any correlation or pattern behind the issues when they do occur and if you have noticed any sort of pattern, does it line up with anything else in the property being turned on or off or being connected to the network?