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Packet Errors

Fat_Leonard
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Registered: ‎23-03-2021

Packet Errors

Good morning, Here's a snippet of my router's current connection statistics. Comparing it to previous results I've posted here, there seems to be a reason for the slowness of our connection! Is anyone able to assist me in tracking it down?

 

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jab1
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Re: Packet Errors

@Fat_Leonard Looking at that, there are a couple of things that stand out, apart from the packet loss, and most probably the reasons for it (1) your uptime is very low (2) your D/S SNR is way too high. Which modem/router are you using?

John
Fat_Leonard
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Registered: ‎23-03-2021

Re: Packet Errors

Thanks for looking, @jab1. I don't know about the uptime reason. The router is 'always on'. I guess the errors mean the connection is dropping and being reacquired. The router is a TPLink Archer VR2800. Further information: we are a long way from the cabinet in a rural area, and the last time I spoke to a Plusnet engineer, the attenuation is consistent with the expectation from this distance. Previous problems have been down to issues like damp connections on the poles away down the valley. When working normally, we get 4-5Mbps and low latency, perfectly adequate for online games. I've attached another screenshot from June this year which is a bit more like what I'd expect to see.

jab1
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Re: Packet Errors

Fair enough, @Fat_Leonard I still think there is a BT/OR network issue involved here. My suggestion, for what it's worth, is to report a Broadband isse via https://www.plus.net/help/report-a-problem/broadband/

Just a thought - is your phone line free of problems - dial 17070, select option 2. You should here nothing after the confirmation of your phone number except the regular 'Quit Line Test' announcement.

John
Fat_Leonard
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Re: Packet Errors

Yes, the SNR Margin is very off compared to what I've been told we should expect. With the high winds we've seen recently I wouldn't be surprised if there's a problem with the line down the valley as it runs through trees all the way.

I have tried a Quietline test and there is a faint, consistent background hiss (nothing like the crackling and fizzing I've heard during previous faults) but it did drop out to complete silence for a fraction of a second several times while I was on the line. It was quite similar to listening to the runout groove on an LP, but irregular.

 

I've followed the link you supplied, but can't see how to report a problem. It's changed since I last did so, and the only option is 'text HELP to...' rather than open a ticket. That's not great when you don't have any mobile signal in your house!

jab1
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Re: Packet Errors

OK, no mobile signal is a bit of a problem 😉 In that case, I suggest you raise a fault via:https://faults.plus.net , suggesting to them that you suspect a BT/OR network issue.

Please let us know the result - if they say there isn't one, we may have to approach this in a different way.

John
Fat_Leonard
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Re: Packet Errors

Thank you - that page looks a lot more familiar! I got through most of the checklist until 'plug into the master socket' and recalled that the master socket is behind an MK4 filter plate. We only have the master socket and no other extensions. I replaced the filter plate with a dangling microfilter and have had a download consistently at 500KB/s for the last couple of hours. I wonder if the filter plate is to blame.

I will leave off reporting a fault and see how it behaves overnight. It would be nice to have such an easy fix!

jab1
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Re: Packet Errors

OK . Report back tomorrow morning.

Can you post your current DSL stats, please?

John
Fat_Leonard
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Re: Packet Errors

The connection has been much more stable since my last post, with the dangling microfilter in place instead of the filter faceplate. A large game download was happy at 500KB/s for a whole day. Here are the latest DSL stats reported from the router. Interestingly, the connection says it's been active for only four hours. However, you can see the number of lost packets has only increased slightly since my initial post. The only other thing that stands out to my untrained eye is that I recall that when I last had a conversation with an engineer, he expected our downstream SNR margin to be more like 6.4dB.

Any conclusions to draw from all this?

jab1
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Re: Packet Errors


@Fat_Leonard wrote:

Any conclusions to draw from all this?


Yes - you are still losing xDSL connection. Does your router produce any readable error logs?

John
Fat_Leonard
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Re: Packet Errors

Yes, and I've exported it to the attached text file. Thank you John.

jab1
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Re: Packet Errors

Looking at that log, you are losing xDSL,personally, I would use https://www.plus.net/help/report-a-problem/broadband/ to report an issue.

The faceplate could be a contributory factor, but I doubt it is the main one, considering you have bypassed it.

John
Fat_Leonard
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Re: Packet Errors

Thanks again, John. I've raised a fault. Let's see what their tests reveal...

jab1
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Re: Packet Errors

Keep us informed.

John
Fat_Leonard
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Re: Packet Errors

Well, John, they said nothing was showing as wrong on their tests. They re-profiled the line (I think that's the phrase) to 6dB SNR margin and sent a new Plusnet router to test. As ours is not one of theirs they couldn't read the data from it. However, now I've connected it I don't have the variety of information that our one has, nor its Guest Network capability.

Before changing over, it was unclear whether the packet loss had improved in the short time, but the download speed is now consistently about 6000Kb/s. I'm keeping an eye on it, and will probably reinstate the other router soon in order to do so better.

Thank you for your assistance.