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Multiple DSL Dropouts between 11pm and midnight

Spruance
Grafter
Posts: 173
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎03-02-2008

Multiple DSL Dropouts between 11pm and midnight

I have been online most of this evening on my desktop PC and have also accessed the Internet from time to time during the day via the smart TV all without any problems whatsoever. Then at around 11pm (on 20th March 2014) I began to have loading problems on web pages and noticed that I was intermittently offline for a few minutes and then it came back and then went off again. This happened repeatedly throughout the hour so what it has done to my line profile stats goodness only knows. I checked my PC for malware (it was clean) and rebooted the Technicolor router and the PC but nothing made any difference, until that is the stroke of midnight since when everything has been perfectly ok again.
Since I don't expect that Technicolor programme their routers to go into meltdown-mode between 11pm and midnight, I suspect that this problem stems from maintenance work at the exchange (EMBOSTO), on which I have so far drawn a blank. Perhaps someone could investigate this possibility?
16 REPLIES 16
Pettitto
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 6,346
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Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Re: Multiple DSL Dropouts between 11pm and midnight

Hi Spruance,
I'm sorry to hear of the problems you've encountered on your connection. Are you connected now? Our graphing seems to show otherwise:
<img src="http://community.plus.net/visualradius/generated/image13953985468201.png"/>
I've made some changes to some of the settings on your line to help increase it's stability. These changes should take effect within the next 30 minutes or so. Please let us know if you have any further issues at all.
Spruance
Grafter
Posts: 173
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Registered: ‎03-02-2008

Re: Multiple DSL Dropouts between 11pm and midnight

Thanks for the prompt reply Chris.
After midnight last night the line reconnected for around 20 minutes and then dropped again and as it was quite late I decided to call it a day. I did happen to notice after shutting down the PC that the Internet light on the Technicolor TG582n router wasn't lit, although the Broadband light was.
I had to go out this morning but did happen to notice that the router's Internet light was still out first thing this morning (but Broadband light on) and this remained the case when I returned home at around 12:30pm upon which I did a router reboot via the power button on the reverse, which now appears to have set things straight again as the log shows that there have been no further dropouts since.
Just lately I have noticed that my upload speed has been deteriorating and has at times been as low as 500kbps, and I fully expected that after all of the outages overnight that both upload and download would have been affected further.
However, having just run tests via Speedtest.net and also the more extensive tests available via BBC iPlayer I seem to have the best set of results I have seen in quite some time, which adds to my theory that last night was down to BT OpenReach's handiwork. If it turns out to have been my router, then why is it ok again now? It hasn't been switched off apart from ten seconds last night and this lunchtime to reboot, and as mentioned previously it is permanently connected to the BT Test socket as that seems to deliver the most reliable connection.
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
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Re: Multiple DSL Dropouts between 11pm and midnight

I don't think we'd ever be able to say what caused that I'm afraid.
Glad to see the connection is still stable now but I'd definitely keep an eye on it.
<img src="http://community.plus.net/visualradius/generated/image13956520112038.png"/>
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
Spruance
Grafter
Posts: 173
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Registered: ‎03-02-2008

Re: Multiple DSL Dropouts between 11pm and midnight

Unfortunately this problem has returned with exactly the same pattern as before.  Sad
I have again experienced multiple DSL outages sometimes after as little as 20 minutes. It has just gone again as I am composing this message (00:38hrs 06 April 2014), and this appears to have had a marked effect on my download/upload speeds. At one point download was as low as 0.61Mbps ( managed to get BT Wholesale Speedtester to work for a change).
At the moment the connection is almost unusable as I just don't know when it is going to drop out next.
I did notice that after my line was 'tweaked' the router stats showed a max possible download of just over 14Mbps but since the problem has resurfaced that has gone back to over 16Mbps. Line has dropped again (00:42hrs-06 April 2014), so just waiting for a brief working window before I hit 'Post'.
Perhaps someone could have another look at this issue?
Many Thanks.
Jaggies
Aspiring Pro
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Registered: ‎29-06-2010

Re: Multiple DSL Dropouts between 11pm and midnight

Perhaps your target SNR has dropped to 3dB after a period of stability? Can you post your router stats?
Spruance
Grafter
Posts: 173
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Registered: ‎03-02-2008

Re: Multiple DSL Dropouts between 11pm and midnight

Not much to see as I have just had another bizarre incident (*).....

DSL Connection
Link Information

Uptime: 0 days, 0:06:11
DSL Type: ITU-T G.992.5
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 888 / 15,927
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/MB]: 626.15 / 3.00
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.7 / 0.0
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 14.7 / 29.5
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 15.5 / 3.2
System Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / ----
Chipset Vendor ID (Local/Remote): BDCM / IFTN
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 17 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 2 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): -
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 26 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 1,137
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 3
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 175
I have had a busy day so didn't get a chance to go online until around 9:15pm, although I did happen to notice earlier this evening that I had solid green lights for broadband and internet on my Technicolor TG582N router so thought this would bode well for later.
(*)Before I switched on the PC I put the (Sony Bravia) Smart TV on and watched a couple of You Tube videos with no problems whatsoever but when I then turned on the PC it showed that I was offline. What's more I couldn't even log in to the router without first doing a router reboot. Even then it still showed that my DSL connection was down and it was several minutes (and a PC reboot for good meaure) later before it came back on again. The Smart TV also lost connection for the same extended period after the reboot.
The part that I found most curious was how did the Smart TV (with its built-in wireless card) manage to stream videos from the router when the adjacent PC wouldn't even bring up the router log-in page?
Jaggies
Aspiring Pro
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Re: Multiple DSL Dropouts between 11pm and midnight

Quote
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 15.5 / 3.2

Your target SNR margin appears to be 3dB, so if you see dropouts in the evening, it's likely to be because your actual SNR margin has dropped below zero. On the other hand, if you can access the interwebs via wireless but not by ethernet as you describe, it could possibly be a faulty router - have you another one you can try?
Pettitto
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
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Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Re: Multiple DSL Dropouts between 11pm and midnight

Hi Spruance
Is this issue still happening, if so, how often? Does it only happen at a particular time at night/day?
Quote
The part that I found most curious was how did the Smart TV (with its built-in wireless card) manage to stream videos from the router when the adjacent PC wouldn't even bring up the router log-in page?

It's most likely that you had already downloaded to the content ahead of you watching it so you were able to continue streaming even though there was a slight blip. I imagine the connection wasn't down for long which is why your streaming wasn't affected.
Spruance
Grafter
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Registered: ‎03-02-2008

Re: Multiple DSL Dropouts between 11pm and midnight

Generally speaking I tend to be online from mid to late evening until 1am/2am as I am retired and also something of a night owl. During the daytime I would normally only use the Smart TV or download on demand content via Sky+ so I don't know what a standard pattern of behaviour would be as far as the PC/Internet goes.
However, at the time of my second error report (above) at the worst point the connection was dropping out every 5 minutes, and the problem seems most prevalent in the hour either side of midnight, which I suppose, might just coincide with maintenance work at the exchange. Yesterday I was only able to get online with the PC by rebooting the router (via the power switch on the reverse) and this does seem to be becoming a rather more frequent requirement so I suppose it may just be a hardware fault.
NB: Both the PC and the smart TV and for that matter both Sky+ boxes are all on a wifi connection to the router which is located downstairs in the hall and plugged directly into the master (test) socket. Ethernet connection is not really practical although I do have a long ethernet cable which I can use for fimware updates but it is not long enough to reach for normal use (trip hazard etc). This is why I was puzzled by the disparity (of connectivity) between the PC and Smart TV as they are literally side-by-side in the upstairs back bedroom.
At the moment all seems well and the router hasn't lost DSL connection since just after 2am today according the the stats. Unfortunately I don't have a spare router as Plusnet supplied the current one as a replacement for a Thomson 585v7 which failed previously.
Spruance
Grafter
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Registered: ‎03-02-2008

Re: Multiple DSL Dropouts between 11pm and midnight

Apologies for the double post but since 9pm I have lost connection three times - so far - in just ten minutes so it looks like another 'fun' night ahead. Tongue
Oddly enough on the most recent disconnection, the computer was telling me that I was online whilst the router said that it could detect no broadband connection. During this period I was being bounced back to the router log-in page within a matter of seconds. (see attachment)
Jaggies
Aspiring Pro
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Re: Multiple DSL Dropouts between 11pm and midnight

All the computer is showing is that it is connected to the Wireless, which is independent of the router's connection to the internet.
If you haven't already done so, raise a fault at https://faults.plus.net/.
Pettitto
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 6,346
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Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Re: Multiple DSL Dropouts between 11pm and midnight

Hi,
I think Jaggies advice is pretty sound here Smiley
It looks as though the connection is being lost at some point beyond the router which we could do with investigating. If you could raise a fault on the above link, we'll be able to get this investigated further for you.
Spruance
Grafter
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Registered: ‎03-02-2008

Re: Multiple DSL Dropouts between 11pm and midnight

Ok will follow the fault route as suggested.
Things have settled down a little, insofar as I have only lost connection once this evening, but prior to recent events I have had weeks on end of uninterrupted connection time so something is amiss somewhere.
Many thanks for your assistance. Smiley
Spruance
Grafter
Posts: 173
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎03-02-2008

Re: Multiple DSL Dropouts between 11pm and midnight

Just by way of a short follow up...
I was surprised to receive a call this morning (it being Easter Saturday  Shocked ) from a BT Openreach engineer who said he was on his way to sort out my reported line fault. On arrival shortly afterwards he said that he had identified a definite fault on my line and then spent two hours tracking it down to an underground cabling fault which he has now rectified. He also very kindly installed a new BT faceplate which he said would effectively cease my broadband at that point and prevent any possible interference from the (supposedly previously disconnected) upstairs extension socket.
Early test results are very encouraging.  Smiley
(NB: Fault ticket ticket also apprised).