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Novice needs help

deserter
Hooked
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎16-02-2019

Novice needs help

Hi, I've just switched to Plusnet, but it's not been a great start. We have already had a weak connection for some reason, but at the moment it is borderline unusable. We have an ADSL connection, and I've done a speed check which says it has 8.5 download speed. However, the connection is perpetually dropping in and out, sometimes for long periods. On the router the broadband light is constant green, but the internet and wifi buttons are constantly flickering. Where do I start? TIA!

13 REPLIES 13
cyrilclark1
Rising Star
Posts: 230
Thanks: 15
Registered: ‎22-01-2012

Re: Novice needs help

As you are a new customer I suggest you phone Plusnet Technical Support: 0800 432 0200.

You may, depending on the time of day have to wait a bit, but once through I have always found the support agents to be courteous and helpful.

I hope this will sort out your issue.

JayG
Pro
Posts: 1,145
Thanks: 143
Fixes: 6
Registered: ‎30-10-2011

Re: Novice needs help

Are the problems you are experiencing  only happening when using devices connected wirelessly?

deserter
Hooked
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎16-02-2019

Re: Novice needs help

Thanks the problem is worse for WiFi - I have tried via ethernet and the connection was more stable but not totally.

JayG
Pro
Posts: 1,145
Thanks: 143
Fixes: 6
Registered: ‎30-10-2011

Re: Novice needs help

The reason I asked is that it's normal for both the internet and Wifi lights to flicker as they send and receive data - the fact that your broadband light stays green suggests the connection itself is not dropping.

The following link might help you get the best possible Wifi signal, although it has to be said that if you're using the Plusnet-supplied Sagemcom 2704n router it's not exactly brilliant in the Wifi department:

https://www.plus.net/help/broadband/getting-the-best-wifi-signal/

deserter
Hooked
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎16-02-2019

Re: Novice needs help

Ok, first thing I notice is that it wasn't plugged into the master socket. Not sure how much of a difference that will make, but have moved around so I'll see how that goes. Ta!

deserter
Hooked
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎16-02-2019

Re: Novice needs help

OK, so that hasn't done the trick. 

 

As it stands, I think we can say it isn't working properly. Couldn't log in to Netflix last night; web pages taking up to 3-4 minutes to connect; Xbox isn't connecting. I think the possible causes are as follows:

Broken connection to Broadband - I don't think this is it. The green light on the router is solid, and most problems are of the form "DNS server not responding" or similar, which I think isn't the broadband (external) connection;

 

Broken wifi - not sure about this. Ethernet wasn't much better, although I haven't tried much on it, as we don't have a long enough Ethernet connection.

Poor set up - don't think this is it, as I have had problems when sat right next to the router. I am trying to work through the link in the post above, but the third step is a bit technical for me.

Inadequate router - I'm wondering if this is it. It is that SageM router that comes free with plusnet. We had a free Talk Talk router that we used before; we still had problems then but not on this scale.

 

Can I adapt the Talk Talk router in some way to see if that works better? I may need to shell out for a decent router - any recommendations for £40 or so?

JayG
Pro
Posts: 1,145
Thanks: 143
Fixes: 6
Registered: ‎30-10-2011

Re: Novice needs help

I may need to stand (grovel?) corrected but I believe your Talk Talk router will be locked to Talk Talk and can't be used with another ISP.

Many people seeking a better router (including me) have opted for a BT SmartHub  (FTTC version) which is available for £20-30 on Ebay.

Before you do that I suggest downloading 'WIfi Analyser' on to a tablet or smartphone to find out whether your router has actually selected the best channel for your location, and manually changing yours if necessary (1,6, or 11 are the preferred options.)

You don't want to be spending money if the problem lies elsewhere (even the 2704n should work OK on Wifi if you're sat right next to it, and TBH it worked just about adequately for me throughout most of my relatively small house.)

RandallFlagg
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,915
Fixes: 75
Registered: ‎11-01-2018

Re: Novice needs help

 

Hi @deserter

 

You can see the last 7 days of your connection here.

 

As you can see, there are a significant number of drops in connection, however, some or all of these may be a result of you rebooting the router etc.

 

If the light on the router remains green when the lack of connectivity occurs, I'd suggest that this is more likely to be a wifi or router issue, however, that depends on how many of the drops in the image I've shared are genuine - if you haven't been rebooting the router, it's likely you have an internal connection issue and I'd suggest connecting your router to the test socket as described here.

 

If the drops are being caused by you rebooting the router, I'd suggest undertaking the wifi troubleshooting you've been provided by my colleague via the ticket on your account here.

 

Obviously, if you can try another router that would be beneficial as it will help us to narrow down the cause of your issue.

 

Let us know how you get on.

 

Best wishes

 

Dave

ThePillenwerfer
Rising Star
Posts: 52
Thanks: 23
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎09-01-2018

Re: Novice needs help

I've successfully used a TalkTalk-branded Huawei HG533 router on PlusNet.

deserter
Hooked
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎16-02-2019

Re: Novice needs help

Thanks Dave, that's really useful information. I can see one or two of those drops are when I've rebooted, but there are plenty of times when we've had no connection which aren't included here - for instance Saturday night, when I tried and failed to watch something on Netflix, but was completely unable to login.

 

We seem to have made some progress by switching channels - I tried 1 and 6 as per the guidance and then 8 as a random number and actually channel 8 seemed to be the best one. Managed to watch a couple of programmes last night with only a handful of interruptions, most of which were for a few seconds.

 

I am going to buy a new BT router - with Talk Talk the service was usable but interrupted quite often. Once I've got that I'll set up and see if that makes a significant drop. It does seem to be a wifi / router issue - for some reason we seem to have a weak service in my area (fibre isn't an option), but I don't know anyone that has it quite as difficult as I seem to.

Gandalf
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 26,563
Thanks: 10,265
Fixes: 1,599
Registered: ‎21-04-2017

Re: Novice needs help

Thanks for getting back to us.

Keep us posted and let us know how things go.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
deserter
Hooked
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎16-02-2019

Re: Novice needs help

Ta I'm just about to buy a BT smart hub 6 which I believe is compatible with Plusnet ADSL - any reason why I shouldn't?

JayG
Pro
Posts: 1,145
Thanks: 143
Fixes: 6
Registered: ‎30-10-2011

Re: Novice needs help

None at all, but make sure you buy the right (FTTC) version (I went for the 'business' variant which allows you to specify DNS servers, although I haven't felt the need to do that yet.) Worth separating the 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wifi bands as in reply #66 in this thread:

https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Smart-Hub-6-Variants-and-Performance/td-p/1504366