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New Router

valart
Grafter
Posts: 418
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎09-10-2007

New Router

I have a BT 210 Voyager most of the time I do not have many problems it is only when the weather is really bad that my connection drops,I could have problems if I needed it for business but I am retired so I just use the internet as a hobby.I just wondered if I got a better router would it act better if I have these bad weather problems.
12 REPLIES 12
HPsauce
Pro
Posts: 6,998
Thanks: 146
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Registered: ‎02-02-2008

Re: New Router

Hi Valart, probably not, at least not significantly.
The commonest cause for such problems is "less than ideal" home phone wiring.
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: New Router

HP is right, another router is unlikely to make a significant difference, worth checking your internal wiring is upto spec. and not picking up unnecessary interference. If it's weather related isn't it more likely to be the BT line? Valart do you have overhead or underground line to you? What type of bad weather makes it worse and is it worse at any particular times of day?
Post some Router Stats (Advanced......Status > Broadband Line) that will give us a feel for what sort of line characteristics you have.
Regards.
prichardson
Grafter
Posts: 1,503
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: New Router

Quote
If it's weather related isn't it more likely to be the BT line?

In some cases yet, though these are normally the more serious ones, such as minor changes in weather causing a major disruption.
Bad weather is always going to have a negative impact on the connection. That's a given due to the very nature and exposure copper lines will see externally.
The change can be anything from a few kbps lost sync speed, an increase in the number of disconnections (or rather, a decrease in the average uptime may be a little more accurate and descriptive) and an increase in mean-time-between-errors.
Some lines will suffer from each of these more than others down to the normal aspects of Broadband such as line length, exposure, cable quality and the likes.
That said the majority of weather related problems are down to internal cabling, equipment and setup as noted.
Why?
Well often it's not upto the best standard and normal weather alows it to work normally, but add in the inbalance of the weather, and hey presto, instant havoc.
As above, you are never going to get aware with "no impact", but can gain absolute "minimal impact" for which you will not notice the change.
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: New Router

Well my internal wiring is not quite what it ought to be, but I'm too busy with other things and lazy at this moment to sort it especially as it's not having any significant impact on my BB performance. We have had a lot of foul weather lately, we also suffer power dips periodically and none of this has affected my line quality. In fact I have never dropped a connection except when we have had power dips. Mind you I had previously kicked the you know what out of BT when I last had line problems, and I now have the best line I have had in 20+ years. With my knowledge and background I think I am likely to know when I have line problems.
samuria
Grafter
Posts: 1,581
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Registered: ‎13-04-2007

Re: New Router

If the router is old then a new one may have better filters and more up to date firmware and things like ADSL2. There may be a slight improvement due to the better filtering and it may hold the line better.
It often comes down to the line I know lots who have tried all sorts of routers and often you can get a cheap one which seems to suit the line better than a dear one.
A new one may have better firewall and security as well
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: New Router

Lets try and establish what the problem actually is before jumping to conclusions.
prichardson
Grafter
Posts: 1,503
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Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: New Router

Unfortunatly in this case, one of the only ways to avoid jumping that way is to go that way.
The alternative is a fault report which is unlikely to locate anything and given it is already reported as most serious during bad weather, will probably take a long time to detect.
Thus, this puts this in the category that it may result in an engineer, which is turn given the above, not find anything, resulting in the dreaded no fault found and a applicable charge, which frankly will have allowed you to buy 4 modems.
maranello
Pro
Posts: 1,267
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Registered: ‎11-01-2008

Re: New Router


I would suggest that there are plenty of low or nil cost options that could be tried out before spending out on a new router, and I'm surprised that Phil Richardson would suggest this as a cost-effective alternative to reporting a fault. In fact, I would have expected him to suggest the broadband faults checker, since this runs through all the logical tests such as swapping filters, connecting to master and/or test socket, unplugging phones, etc. If you need to test an alternative router you could either try borrowing one from a friend for a few days, or ask plusnet to send you one on loan for this purpose.
I am still in the process of trying to track down the cause of my intermittent connection fault, and have had excellent support from contributors to this forum, both from plusnet staff and especially the Bright Sparks.
In relation to the 'no fault found' charge that is levied for a BT engineer call-out, I'm not sure if the charge is applicable if the engineer finds no fault on the line, or if he must confirm if the fault lies on the customers' side of the master socket. Going through all the checks logcally and systematically can provide confidence that there are no internal wiring or hardware issues, but this doesn't help much if an intermittent fault does not manifest itselt on the day of the engineer visit. Some guidance on this from plusnet would be appreciated.
The most important thing you need, however, is patience, and the second is persistence.
My other car isn't a Ferrari
Merlin
Grafter
Posts: 92
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: New Router

I suffered this sort of intermittent problem a few years ago.  A few times a year during particularly bad weather I would lose adsl sync.  After a day or two I would start to see sync coming back for short periods which increased in duration until after maybe another couple of days all was back to normal.  I went through all the fault logging with PN who could not find any problem.  In the end I rang BT to report a line fault, perhaps I did fib a bit by saying I had a faint, crackle of hiss on the voice connection.  They checked the line and reported all ok but said if I wanted an engineer to call it might cost me £125 if the problem was on my side of the master socket.
I took the plunge and after a few days a supervisor from the local exchange rang to arrange the engineer visit.  I talked to him about my problem and he said yep I think I know what is wrong it is quite a common problem.  The engineer visited and confirmed that all was ok on my side of the BT master socket (not surprising really as I have no internal wiring as phone & router are connected to the master socket)
The engineer said he would check the local roadside cabinet and at the exchange and would be back in 2 hours.  He was and said that all should now be ok, he also told me that the one thing he could not check was the main air filled multicore cable between the exchange and my village as that was a different BT section.  I was not charged anything for the work.
Anyway everything has worked fine since then, even in the worst weather so the moral is be persistent with BT even when they try to put you off with warnings of big charges.
valart
Grafter
Posts: 418
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎09-10-2007

Re: New Router

I would like to thank you guys who responded to my problem regarding losing my connection when there is stormy weather, it really only happens when there is thunder and lighting about, in fact the last time it happened my wife called out and said that the Sk tv channel had gone down I think that was good enough proof so it is no much point in checking the wiring and other elements.
MauriceC
Resting Legend
Posts: 4,085
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: New Router

I've just been through a bad patch with my Broadband connectivity.  I'm a fair distance from the exchange (4 Km) in a rural setting with overhead lines, but usually had a good consistent 1.6 Meg throughput - Yup I'm still on the fixed 2Mb service Undecided
Anyways, a couple of months back things started to deteriorate, lots of drop-outs and reduced throughput mainly in the evening - did all the usual checks of filters, plugging into main BT socket etc, but nothing conclusive found.  Then last week things took a serious turn for the worse, unable to keep the connection up for more than 10 minutes MAX!  This resulted in an edict from SWMBO - "Fix it or else!"
Did a round of the usual checks again and decided that it just must be the Router!  Borrowed one from a mate, set it up and Bingo!  Line speed back to what it was and drop-outs back to normal for this area. 
So going back to Phil's point - if you have (or can borrow) a spare Router it worth a try.
Maurice

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

prichardson
Grafter
Posts: 1,503
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: New Router

Quote
I would suggest that there are plenty of low or nil cost options that could be tried out before spending out on a new router, and I'm surprised that Phil Richardson would suggest this as a cost-effective alternative to reporting a fault.

Actually, it is a cost effective suggestion.
1x router/modem = ~£30
Versus
1x £169.20 for an engineer to rule everything out and bring it down to the final option which is the modem, plus still hvaing to add ~£30 for said replacement.
If you read my response in context of the whole thread (hense the lack of quote in the reply), you will see the suggestion that it is more likely going to be the line at fault.
I agree hands down that no doubt there are other steps to take, both before purchase of a new modem and after. But that in no way removes attempts to try an alternate modem as means of testing before pushing the line fault route.
Quote
In relation to the 'no fault found' charge that is levied for a BT engineer call-out, I'm not sure if the charge is applicable if the engineer finds no fault on the line, or if he must confirm if the fault lies on the customers' side of the master socket

That is exactly what a no fault found result is. Also presented as a nother common response of "right when tested" (though this normally appears in remote testing).
An engineer should in almost all instances only be testing from the test socket on the line with his own equipment. If he is unable to replicate the problems, then it is indeed the case that no fault has been found.
Engineers are not tasked nor trained to test the customers internal cabling. This is their own property and if they want a professional opinion of this, they should look towards a private telecoms, electrical or alarm engineer for assistance on this.
BT SFI engineers are their to look at the BT network, not the customers.
Before we go down the "well why wont they test it" route. I too would love to see this and trials are underway for engineers to start doing this. Don't expect it soon as it is going to involve a shed load of training and process changes within BT. Something which is going to prove hard.
Not just that, it's also going to cost more. It will be modular bassed in that you pay only for the modules (services if you like) that you want.
You has a core module, external module and internal module. You then have time bands as well, starting with 2 hours going upto unlimited hours (though I very much doubt you will see that happen).
Unlike the current fixed fee method, it's time related charges. A core fee with a minimum of 2 hours paid time, for each module performed (though from memory, the external module time will form part of the external).
The engineer will always start with the core module, then the external (if chosen) and move on to the internal. Only the modules then engineer does (and have been picked) will be chargeable.
So, say we pick all modules and the engineer finds the problem externally, he wont move onto the internal. Now as the problem was external it is no longer chargeable, however the customer can elect for the engineer to perform the internal module anyway, so charges will apply for the core and internal modules only.
I digress though.
So overall, don't be so keen to throw what I have said out. Just because I did not add in details about other routes to be taken, which indeed they should, it doesn't invalidate it. It's nothing more than another step within the chain.