Replacement Router (ADSL)

[#1]

Hey @Dan_the_Van that's an interesting catch ...

With regard to noise on the line, we did have issues with that ( crackling ) some time last year; Plusnet were able to see that, and it was resolved by OpenReach tinkering up on the pole opposite my house

After that, things settled down for some time, until this bubbled up in Nov/Dec last year - I ended up buying the new TPLink VR400 to try and eliminate the issues

wrt the landline itself, we barely ever use it, and the disconnection/reconnection issues arise regardless of whether we're anywhere near the phone ( it's a BT Dect box that just sits in the corner feeling unloved )

Similarly, in terms of the LAN, there's a few Ethernet connections into the back of the VR400, from various bits of kit, including my Mac Mini, a relatively ancient Ethernet-over-Powerline box etc.

Now I think of it, the EoP box .... hmmm, if there was something "spiking" there, that could take down the VR400 but I'm not sure whether that'd lead to the DSL link yoyo ....

That may be another avenue of exploration .....

Fun Fun Fun

[#2]

Sometimes ringing the phone can change things - but don't answer.

The application of the ring voltage will clean out dodgy connections.  Worth a shot ?

With a PN router they can run a bit more remote diagnostics as well, so handy to have one even if you rarely use it

[#3]

@mwwagain That suggestion will work - usually - for a short time, but it is not a final solution.

[#4]

It is though solid proof the BT circuit is at fault.

'My internet only works for an hour after I dial myself'

[#5]

@mwwagain @jab1 I'm definitely tempting fate by saying this, but there's been no outage since PN switched the DLM Stability Profile last night, from Standard to Stable.

I'm keeping an eye ( several eyes actually ) on the router logs, but ... so far, so good - and this is with the same old TPLink VR400.

That's the only change that's been made since yesterday ... time will tell, and having the PN router will be a good backup

Again, let's see how it goes

Thanks again  

[#6]

---

@mwwagain wrote:

Sometimes ringing the phone can change things - but don't answer.

The application of the ring voltage will clean out dodgy connections.  Worth a shot ?

---

Or just dial the landline test number, 17070 and request a Ring Back Test (option 2?)

[#7]

Definitely continuing to test fate but, thus far, no more issues similar to what I was seeing on Friday, prior to calling PN.

This was then: -

2026-03-13 14:17:43 [5] System: DSL Link Down
2026-03-13 14:17:49 [5] System: DSL Training
2026-03-13 14:18:07 [5] System: DSL Link Up us/ds 832/5248 kbps Type ATM Annex A
2026-03-13 14:18:27 [6] PPP: ppp1 sent [CHAP Response id=0x1 <40c92a1f3e7e1b1cd6e8df63200ce832>, name = "davidmhay@plusdsl.net"]
2026-03-13 14:18:56 [5] System: DSL Link Down
2026-03-13 14:18:59 [5] System: DSL Training

Looking at a log that I downloaded this AM, that's been running since 06:35 Saturday, when I cleared the logs: -

cat ~/Downloads/log-march15am.txt|grep -i system

<NOTHING>

Similarly, for a log that I downloaded this PM: -

cat ~/Downloads/log-march15pm.txt|grep -i system

<NOTHING>

Now perhaps the issues decided to take the weekend off OR the DLM change actually did something.

PN support are going to call me tomorrow, and I'll see what, if anything, they see at their end, in Radius logs

Crossing my fingers and toes ....

[#8]

Thank you for keeping us updated @david_hay.

My fingers and toes are crossed for you too.

It's great that a Plusnet support guide is going to give you a call.

Please get back in touch to let me know how that goes and if you need any further help.

Chris S

[#9]

Thanks @Chris_S alas I "spoke" too soon, having seen a slew of disconnect/reconnect messages over the past 24 hours: -

grep -i dsl ~/Downloads/log.txt

2026-03-15 16:18:16 [5] System: DSL Link Down
2026-03-15 16:18:20 [5] System: DSL Training
2026-03-15 16:18:26 [5] System: DSL Link Down
2026-03-15 16:18:30 [5] System: DSL Training
2026-03-15 16:18:45 [5] System: DSL Link Down
2026-03-15 16:18:50 [5] System: DSL Training
2026-03-15 16:19:08 [5] System: DSL Link Up us/ds 832/5280 kbps Type ATM Annex A
2026-03-15 16:19:29 [6] PPP: ppp1 sent [CHAP Response id=0x1 <ee43abe3b5688d2b73cfb4974c02bec7>, name = "redacted"]
2026-03-15 17:20:32 [5] System: DSL Link Down
2026-03-15 17:20:36 [5] System: DSL Training
2026-03-15 17:20:42 [5] System: DSL Link Down
2026-03-15 17:20:45 [5] System: DSL Training
2026-03-15 17:21:00 [5] System: DSL Link Down
2026-03-15 17:21:05 [5] System: DSL Training
2026-03-15 17:21:24 [5] System: DSL Link Up us/ds 800/5312 kbps Type ATM Annex A
2026-03-15 17:21:43 [6] PPP: ppp1 sent [CHAP Response id=0x1 <fcb1288b807067bb6cdc9b6b536ff6ea>, name = "redacted"]
2026-03-15 18:00:11 [5] System: DSL Link Down
2026-03-15 18:00:15 [5] System: DSL Training
2026-03-15 18:00:31 [5] System: DSL Link Down
2026-03-15 18:00:36 [5] System: DSL Training
2026-03-15 18:00:54 [5] System: DSL Link Up us/ds 800/4800 kbps Type ATM Annex A
2026-03-15 18:01:14 [6] PPP: ppp1 sent [CHAP Response id=0x1 <46cef5a310bc69b14f23aeb0757d1996>, name = "redacted"]
2026-03-16 14:55:14 [5] System: DSL Link Down
2026-03-16 14:55:18 [5] System: DSL Training
2026-03-16 14:55:33 [5] System: DSL Link Down
2026-03-16 14:55:36 [5] System: DSL Training
2026-03-16 14:55:54 [5] System: DSL Link Up us/ds 832/5280 kbps Type ATM Annex A
2026-03-16 14:56:17 [6] PPP: ppp1 sent [CHAP Response id=0x1 <598c16816b97dc08e2d0c7b6935a20e5>, name = "redacted"]

I'll feed this back to PN support tomorrow

PS This is still using the OG TPLink VR400 router, with no changes

Cheers, Dave

[#10]

@david_hay I suspect this is an OR network issue, but the chances of you getting it investigated are very thin.

[#11]

@jab1 Yeah, but I can only do what I can do to keep the PN team looped in. When the new Hub 2 arrives, I'll patch that in place of the TPLink, and see what happens

Living in The Shire, with no fibre, barely any 4G coverage, and no real desire to enrich Elon, I'm kinda between a rock and a hard place - might have go and buy two cans of Pringles