No internet twice this week

[#1]

I've decided to begin a new thread over this one. The other of mine is getting too long. Twice this week (Monday, I think, then yesterday, Wednesday) I've got up in the morning to find when I put on my computer/smart TV/phone on wifi there is no internet connection. Not that I've much time to use it most mornings but when I wanted to, it wasn't there. All the lights were on, on the router, the wifi connection was fine, but there was no connection to the server. I have to say that I'm starting to get a bit fed up. Plusnet have just raised the price of my landline calls package and now, despite the helpful and gratefully received advice I've received in past months on this forum, in getting my broadband speeds up and stabilised, I am getting the impression that the service just isn't reliable. Yesterday I had enough time and the presence of mind to log into the router Gateway and take some readings, which I copied and saved. When I came in from work late, on both occasions when the service was down in the morning, it had resumed in the evening by the time I came home.
Here are the stats I took when the internet was down -
EVENT LOG
Sep 16 11:33:33 LOGIN User admin logged in on [HTTP] (from 192.168.1.65)
Sep 16 11:29:59 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.94
Sep 16 10:29:09 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.94
  Sep 16 09:28:19 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.94
Sep 16 09:21:59 CONFIGURATION mbus igd sync successfull
Sep 16 09:21:56 CONFIGURATION mbus atomic sync successful
Sep 16 09:12:20 CONFIGURATION mbus igd sync successfull
Sep 16 09:12:16 CONFIGURATION mbus atomic sync successful
  Sep 16 09:08:28 LOGIN wireless station [00:1c:bf:96:d4:06] can't get authorized.
Sep 16 08:58:35 CONFIGURATION mbus igd sync successfull
Sep 16 08:58:32 CONFIGURATION mbus atomic sync successful
Sep 16 08:27:28 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.94
Sep 16 07:26:38 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.94
Sep 16 06:25:47 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.94
  Sep 16 05:24:57 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.94
  Sep 16 04:24:07 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.94
Sep 16 04:23:04 PPP link up (Internet) [XXXXXXXX]
Sep 16 04:23:01 PPP CHAP Receive success (Internet)
Sep 16 04:23:00 PPP CHAP Receive challenge from rhost JUNOS (Internet)
Sep 16 04:22:59 PPP CHAP Receive challenge from rhost acc-aln1.lmm (Internet)

Sep 16 04:22:40 PPP link down (Internet) [80.189.199.78]
  Sep 16 04:22:34 xDSL linestate up (ITU-T G.992.5; downstream: 8614 kbit/s, upstream: 756 kbit/s; output Power Down: 20.4 dBm, Up: 12.2 dBm; line Attenuation Down: 44.5 dB, Up: 24.0 dB; snr Margin Down: 6.2 dB, Up: 5.0 dB)
  Sep 16 04:22:05 xDSL linestate down
  Sep 16 04:21:46 xDSL linestate down
  Sep 16 04:04:53 FIREWALL icmp check (1 of 1): Protocol: ICMP Src ip: 58.49.148.144 Dst ip: 80.189.199.78 Type: Destination Unreachable Code: Port Unreacheable
Sep 16 04:02:31 FIREWALL icmp check (1 of 1): Protocol: ICMP Src ip: 94.23.43.201 Dst ip: 80.189.199.78 Type: Destination Unreachable Code: Port Unreacheable
Sep 16 03:34:26 FIREWALL icmp check (1 of 2): Protocol: ICMP Src ip: 179.94.83.14 Dst ip: 80.189.199.78 Type: Destination Unreachable Code: Port Unreacheable
Sep 16 03:23:16 SNTP Synchronised to server: 212.159.13.50
Sep 16 03:13:58 FIREWALL icmp check (1 of 1): Protocol: ICMP Src ip: 179.82.127.115 Dst ip: 80.189.199.78 Type: Destination Unreachable Code: Port Unreacheable
Sep 16 02:25:34 CONFIGURATION mbus igd sync successfull
Sep 16 02:25:29 CONFIGURATION mbus atomic sync successful
Sep 16 02:23:16 SNTP Synchronised again to server: 212.159.13.49

Sep 16 02:05:50 LOGIN wireless station [00:1c:bf:96:d4:06] can't get authorized.
Sep 16 01:45:57 CONFIGURATION mbus igd sync successfull
Sep 16 01:45:54 CONFIGURATION mbus atomic sync successful
Sep 16 01:23:16 SNTP Synchronised to server: 212.159.13.49
Sep 16 00:23:16 SNTP Synchronised to server: 212.159.6.10
  Sep 15 23:43:21 FIREWALL icmp check (1 of 1): Protocol: ICMP Src ip: 94.23.97.102 Dst ip: 80.189.199.78 Type: Des

DSL CONNECTION
Link Information
   

Uptime: 0 days, 7:12:25

DSL Type: ITU-T G.992.5

Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 756 / 8.614

Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [MB/MB]: 58,51 / 373,87

Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12,2 / 20,4

Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 24,0 / 44,5

SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 4,3 / 6,5

System Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / ----

Chipset Vendor ID (Local/Remote): BDCM / TSTC

Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 9 / 0

Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 1 / 0

Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0

Loss of Link (Remote): -

Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 1.261 / 0

FEC Errors (Up/Down): 303.807 / 5.048

CRC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 28

HEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 219

INTERNET - 
View more...
   

Link Status: IPv4 connected

IPv6 disconnected

Type: PPPoA

Uptime: 0 days, 7:12:25

IPv4 Address: XXXXXXXXX

Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [MB/MB]: 52,55 / 328,58






CONNECTIVITY CHECK 
This page enables you to perform a connectivity check on an Internet service of your Technicolor Gateway.
Choose an Internet service and click the button to launch the tests.
   

Internet Service to Check:  Internet 




Test Results
      DSL
      ATM
      PPP
      IPv4
X  IPv6
      No IPv6 address configured for this Internet service.
X  Internet
    Connectivity to IPv4 Gateway (195.166.130.217)
X  Connectivity to DNS Server 1 (212.159.6.9)
X  Connectivity to DNS Server 2 (212.159.6.10)
The ticks and crosses haven't copied so I've put the crosses in the right places myself. I don't know if I have a 'tick' somewhere in my keyboard settings but I'm not looking for it right now.
THEN YESTERDAY EVENING THE INTERNET WAS BACK ON AND THE RESULTS WERE THIS -
RECORDED EVENTS
  Sep 16 21:18:37 LOGIN User admin logged in on [HTTP] (from 192.168.1.65)
Sep 16 20:48:37 CONFIGURATION mbus igd sync successfull
Sep 16 20:48:33 CONFIGURATION mbus atomic sync successful
  Sep 16 20:32:59 SNTP Synchronised to server: 212.159.13.50
  Sep 16 19:32:59 SNTP Synchronised to server: 212.159.13.49
Sep 16 18:32:59 SNTP Synchronised to server: 212.159.13.50
  Sep 16 17:32:59 SNTP Synchronised again to server: 212.159.13.49
Sep 16 16:45:23 IDS proto parser : tcp null port (1 of 1) : 119.9.107.180 195.99.41.36 40 238 TCP 44722->0 [S.....] seq 1347404257 ack 0 win 65535
  Sep 16 16:44:59 CONFIGURATION saved by TR69
Sep 16 16:32:58 SNTP Synchronised to server: 212.159.13.49
Sep 16 15:33:21 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.135
Sep 16 14:32:31 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.135
Sep 16 13:31:40 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.135
Sep 16 12:30:50 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.135
Sep 16 11:38:47 CONFIGURATION mbus igd sync successfull
Sep 16 11:38:43 CONFIGURATION mbus atomic sync successful
Sep 16 11:33:33 LOGIN User admin logged in on [HTTP] (from 192.168.1.65)
Sep 16 11:29:59 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.94
Sep 16 10:29:09 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.94
Sep 16 09:28:19 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.94
Sep 16 09:21:59 CONFIGURATION mbus igd sync successfull
Sep 16 09:21:56 CONFIGURATION mbus atomic sync successful
Sep 16 09:12:20 CONFIGURATION mbus igd sync successfull
  Sep 16 09:12:16 CONFIGURATION mbus atomic sync successful
  Sep 16 09:08:28 LOGIN wireless station [00:1c:bf:96:d4:06] can't get authorized.
Sep 16 08:58:35 CONFIGURATION mbus igd sync successfull
  Sep 16 08:58:32 CONFIGURATION mbus atomic sync successful
Sep 16 08:27:28 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.94
Sep 16 07:26:38 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.94
Sep 16 06:25:47 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.94
  Sep 16 05:24:57 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.94
  Sep 16 04:24:07 SNTP Unable to contact server: 198.18.1.94
Sep 16 04:23:04 PPP link up (Internet) [XXXXXXXXX]
Sep 16 04:23:01 PPP CHAP Receive success (Internet)
  Sep 16 04:23:00 PPP CHAP Receive challenge from rhost JUNOS (Internet)
Sep 16 04:22:59 PPP CHAP Receive challenge from rhost acc-aln1.lmm (Internet)
Sep 16 04:22:40 PPP link down (Internet) [80.189.199.78]
Sep 16 04:22:34 xDSL linestate up (ITU-T G.992.5; downstream: 8614 kbit/s, upstream: 756 kbit/s; output Power Down: 20.4 dBm, Up: 12.2 dBm; line Attenuation Down: 44.5 dB, Up: 24.0 dB; snr Margin Down: 6.2 dB, Up: 5.0 dB)
Sep 16 04:22:05 xDSL linestate down
  Sep 16 04:21:46 xDSL linestate down
Sep 16 04:04:53 FIREWALL icmp check (1 of 1): Protocol: ICMP Src ip: 58.49.148.144 Dst ip: 80.189.199.78 Type: Destination Unreachable Code: Port Unreacheable

DSL CONNECTION
Link Information
   

Uptime: 0 days, 16:58:03

DSL Type: ITU-T G.992.5

Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 756 / 8.614

Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [MB/MB]: 60,33 / 385,05

Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12,2 / 20,4

Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 24,0 / 44,5

SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 5,0 / 5,9

System Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / ----

Chipset Vendor ID (Local/Remote): BDCM / TSTC

Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 9 / 0

Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 1 / 0

Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0

Loss of Link (Remote): -

Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 1.310 / 0

FEC Errors (Up/Down): 600.083 / 12.924

CRC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 94

HEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 868


Internet 
Connection Information
   

Link Status: IPv4 connected

IPv6 disconnected

Uptime: 0 days, 16:58:27

Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [MB/MB]: 53,98 / 338,19

Username: XXXXXXXX@plusdsl.net

Password: XXXXXXXXX

Remember Password: Yes

TCP/IPv4 Settings
   

IPv4 State: Enabled

IPv4 Address: XXXXXXXXXX

Primary DNS: 212.159.6.9

Secondary DNS: 212.159.6.10

TCP/IPv6 Settings
   

IPv6 State: Enabled


TEST RESULTS
    DSL
    ATM
    PPP
    IPv4
  X IPv6
  No IPv6 address configured for this Internet service.
  Internet
  Connectivity to IPv4 Gateway (195.166.130.217)
  Connectivity to DNS Server 1 (212.159.6.9)
  Connectivity to DNS Server 2 (212.159.6.10)
All ticks except the IPv6.
Thanks,
Mick

[#2]

Quote

All the lights were on, on the router, the wifi connection was fine, but there was no connection to the server.

Are you able to try a cabled connection when the wifi isn't working? I'm interested if that's causing the problem.

[#3]

No, I didn't try a cabled connection when the internet was down, because I didn't have time to set up my laptop under the stairs (where the router is) and it didn't occur to me that it was necessary but I'm happy that the wifi was 100% - the signal strength indicator on the three devices I tried said so, and if the wifi had been down then I wouldn't have been able to log into the Gateway over the wifi and do the stats.
For some reason that I don't understand, because digital broadband is beyond me, the service wasn't there. There was a connection to the 'Internet' but no connection to the server.
That's Dell laptop, LG TV and Blackberry phone that all connect to Plusnet over wifi quite happily yet yesterday morning (and Monday) there was nothing. The phone said 'Plusnet' when the wifi was turned on (and I turned off the phone signal so that didn't receive the internet that way) and the browswer said 'unable to connect with server' when I tried the Google homepage.
The TV said 'Service not configured'. By evening it was all there again without doing anything.
The 'Chrome' browser on my laptop said 'Unable to connect with server' when I tried to get any web page other than Google, the homepage of which evidently was saved in the cache.
If it happens again I'll plug the cable in but I expect it to make no difference.

[#4]

It looks like the DNS problem, that has been reported before occasionally. I think it's some problem with the Technicolor router, that may be encountered when using the Plusnet DNS servers, and possibly some other condition(s) such as having a not absolutely perfect ADSL connection. The problem only seems to affect a very small number of people.
There are some ways to workaround the problem.
One way is to change some DNS settings on the router: http://npr.me.uk/changedns.html
The disadvantage of this is that it requires using telnet, and entering complicated commands. You don't even have to use different DNS servers (such as Google DNS or OpenDNS), you could use "method 2" with Plusnet's DNS servers (212.159.6.9 and 212.159.6.10).
Another way is to change the settings on each device, manually setting some DNS servers. This has the disadvantage of having to re-configure each device.
Background information:
DNS is what converts names like www.bbc.co.uk into IP addresses (numbers) that computers use. A bit like a telephone directory, when you have a name, and need to find their phone number. If DNS isn't working, not much else will work, because converting the name to an IP address is the first thing that needs to be done to open a website.

[#5]

Thanks for the link. That definitely looks like something that needs printing off if I need to use it. And presumably I can only perform these operations while the internet is fully working?
I think for now it is a case of leave it and see what happens. If it is just the odd glitch now and then I suppose I can live with it, but as you can imagine, having zero access to my emails and the world wide web for many hours two alternate mornings in one week, was not really something that left me feeling pleased and with a warm glow inside.

[#6]

The operations can be performed at any time, you don't need Internet access. But you will need to note down the instructions before hand and the IP addresses of whichever DNS servers you want to use.

[#7]

Okay thanks.