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Question..?

kevinneilldsl
Grafter
Posts: 127
Registered: ‎08-03-2012

Question..?

Hi yesterday my area had a really bad storm thunder and lighting heavy rain, my speeds really droped i usually get 3.5 mbps .. but i did a PS3 connection test yesterday and was getting 1.1 mbps. I tryed Restarting but no luck... few hours later my speeds returned to 3.5... And everything seems better now. Basically just need to know can bad weather affect your internet? Do i switch my Router off if its Really heavy rain?Huh
4 REPLIES 4
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
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Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Question..?

I was once observing an old Speedtouch broadband modem during a thunderstorm.  Every time there was a lightening strike the lights went out; indicating a loss of sync.  If that happens too many times in a short period the equipment in the telephone exchange concludes you have a bad line for broadband and takes measures to stabilise it.  These measures reduce your broadband speed and can potentially affect your speed for weeks afterwards.  So it is best to power-down your router during a thunderstorm.       
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
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Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Question..?

Weather can affect your connection but you'd have to be pretty unlucky and in most cases apart from thunder and lightning other fault conditions would have to exist first.
For example if there are issues with the points where phone cables are joined together (i.e at the telegraph or cabinet) then they might cause issues during hot weather (which I'm sure there's no point worrying about for another year) or in wet weather.
High winds can also be problematic for some overhead cables too but as said you'd have to be unlucky for those to be in such a state as to where it could cause a noticeable problem.
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 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
quelquod
Pro
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Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: Question..?

I was bothered by low speeds during heavy rain for several years. Normal connection was around 5Mb and could drop to below 1Mb and sometimes drop out altogether. Played havok with the BRAS. Eventually my phone died and Openreach were called out. The arrester on the nearest telegraph pole had finally failed after slowly disintegrating over the years. Seems it had been getting soaked during heavy rain and reducing the line's performance (though not troubling the phone). No problems whetever after replacing it and now I'm on fibre the same line supports 37Mb rain or no rain.
I think you're right about rain only being a problem if there is a preexisting fault Adam, but the fault itself may only be noticeable during rain. Catch22.
Democracy - 3 wolves and a lamb voting about what to have for lunch!
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Question..?

Quote
but the fault itself may only be noticeable during rain. Catch22.

Surely living in the UK means that would provide plenty of provable evidence of such an issue Smiley
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team