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Terrible support for slow broadband problem

leicray
Grafter
Posts: 28
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎19-02-2017

Re: Terrible support for slow broadband problem

I have had another DSL drop and would welcome the opinion of Townman and ejs. This time I have a trace of the SNR from RouterStats showing instability over the space of an hour prior to the drop: see attached. Does this give any hint to the basis of the problem?

Mant thanks.

 

ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
Thanks: 631
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: Terrible support for slow broadband problem

The most useful thing from the graph are the times when whatever it was started and when it stopped. It looks like the connection drop occurred shortly after the period with reduced SNRM. You might have to do a lot of detective work to track down whatever piece of electrical equipment was being used and emitting interference during those times somewhere in the vicinity of your line, if it even is that type of issue. And even if you track it down, there might not be anything that you or the owner is willing to do about it.

You should probably ensure that your own set-up is optimal first. Get a MK3 or MK4 filtered faceplate, if you don't already have one, because they contain an interference filter. Consider connecting the modem to the master socket rather than an extension.

Of course the target SNRM could be increased to improve stability, at the expense of reduced speed.

Frankly, I don't think it's worthwhile to investigate a connection drop occurring about once a day.

If you have a decent FTTC estimate, I'd recommend taking it rather than chasing a REIN fault.

leicray
Grafter
Posts: 28
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎19-02-2017

Re: Terrible support for slow broadband problem

Hi ejs,

After a period of relative calm, the DSL drops have returned with a vengeance:

 

 

24/05/2017 19:37:28 Log Start
---------------------------------------
Failure Start Length
25/05/2017 07:52:23 0:04:13
25/05/2017 07:56:43 0:01:52
25/05/2017 14:24:35 0:03:44
26/05/2017 21:54:32 0:01:57
27/05/2017 08:02:10 0:01:18
27/05/2017 08:04:03 0:00:16
27/05/2017 08:04:34 0:01:58
27/05/2017 08:57:39 0:00:06
27/05/2017 08:58:01 0:00:06
27/05/2017 08:58:14 0:00:09
27/05/2017 08:58:37 0:01:58
27/05/2017 09:08:29 0:01:51
27/05/2017 09:56:26 0:03:58
27/05/2017 10:00:37 0:03:51

Four traces from RouterStats are attached. Ignore the dates in the top left corner as these are when the traces were captured. Is there some better way of capturing the traces, say by compressing the time line?

PN has offered to send out an engineer once again, but the last one found nothing wrong inside the house. Looks like the problem lies outside the house and may well be due to external interference. The recent period of stability followed by several drops suggests that any interference that might be the cause of he drops is NOT been generated inside the house.

Thanks.

 

ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
Thanks: 631
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: Terrible support for slow broadband problem

I think everything I said in my previous post still stands. Of course you can adjust the graphs to whatever you find convenient, I quite like one graph covering the whole day.

Openreach are responsible for their network, but they are not responsible for every piece of electrical equipment that might be emitting interference affecting your broadband. If it is an interference problem, then one of the Openreach visits may be chargeable, because there's no fault with the Openreach network. And then even if Openreach decide to do a REIN investigation, if they find the source of the interference, they can't compel the owner to do anything about it.

The problem could be something that's only used occasionally. Or all those drops in the middle of the morning on Wed 24th could have been someone working in your cabinet, which has left your line in a slightly worse state that is more susceptible to interference.