Want clarification on connection terms and graphs

[#1]

When people post about speeds, disconnects sometimes one of the PN staff reply with a graph similar to the thread just today
http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,92059.0.html
The graph icons Key table gives - Session start, Session Close, Connection failed.
JoJo mentions that the poster's problem is due to many disconnects.
I want to differentiate between the _sync_ of whatever is the type of comm device with the exchange and the _connect_ or _login_ to PN.  i.e.  for me, connects/dis are the same as logins/out.
Is that graph and the Key for "Session start/close" showing the disruption of the _sync_ or the number of connects/disconnects into PN?
I fail to see why a range of normal logins/outs should affect one's profile, speed or banding outcome. If one doesn't need to have 24/7 access to the internet then the facility in the comm device to time out or log out is beneficial. Even if someone had a fixed IP, only going online when you need to seems sensible.
Another point about the graph. For someone whose comm device log shows connects but _not_ syncs/resyncs, is a graph showing that requestable?

[#2]

HI fishrow,
We only see these connections when you are authenticating to our servers, so if you're not we can't differentiate between whether it's an authentication or no sync issue.
In theory the idle timeouts shouldn't cause that issue but it appears on closer inspection that the router was also dropping sync.
The application we generate the graph from was made by one of our employees in their own time and is based on our internal systems. As any further detail is only available from BT systems then producing a graph from that would not currently be possible without another application being made.
Jojo

[#3]

Quote from: Joanne

HI fishrow, We only see these connections when you are authenticating to our servers, so if you're not we can't differentiate between whether it's an authentication or no sync issue. IJojo

From this, do I infer "authentication" is the router doing a login to PN ?
And, whatever mark shows up on the graph _could be_ a login and/or a sync hiccup but you wouldn't know, and so if a poster talked about profile changes from the DLM system with sync losses, you'd just see the graph marks as both a sync and login - it being reasonable to believe any re-sync would immediately be followed by a login - yes?
Could you humour me and provide a graph back 4 days? I know my pattern and in particular I gave up in disgust late one night because I was getting a bunch of sync losses.
thanks

[#4]

Hi fishrow,
Below is the last 7 days connection logs which show your connection hitting our server.

I've really no idea what to make of it though, especially the ones at midday.
Jojo

[#5]

ok thanks.
My router is on but I only connect when I want to, the midday events are the router trying to get the time but I don't let it with a firewall rule.
Going backwards, the 10a.m. was me coming on and posting here and checking various other places for about an hour.
The earlier morning is interesting. I set going a big file download and left the pc to do other stuff, came back about 20min to find it had stopped. I abandoned it as I had other stuff to do. It looks as though there was a sync loss during that unattended period - not too happy about that.
The sunday night does show that there were a couple of hiccups, in fact 4 seperate re-syncs in 1/2 an hour which I got fed up with and abandoned.  All correspond to my usage pattern.
The Saturday 17.30 marks may have been me reading a page or pdf online going past my 10min timeout and needing to login again.
I don't know whether to bother investigating the re-syncs, I 've had more than my share with ADSL2/21cn than previously.

[#6]

Your router is switched on, but not connected?
What's the point of that?

[#7]

Not wanting to be a hypocrite - I hate indecipherable posts - it's me failing by being brief in description.  
However - observe carefully my first post in the thread.
I define connect as being the login to PN. The router stays on all the time and therefore the _sync_ is maintained - apart from those annoying outages I get - I have no need for any interaction with the internet until I want such. Then is when I initiate a "connect" or login to PN
dick:quote

[#8]

Quote from: fishrow

The sunday night does show that there were a couple of hiccups, in fact 4 seperate re-syncs in 1/2 an hour which I got fed up with and abandoned.  All correspond to my usage pattern. ... I don't know whether to bother investigating the re-syncs, I 've had more than my share with ADSL2/21cn than previously.

The thing with line sync problems is that they rarely go away permanently, with the exception of those caused by Christmas lights. Any problem from wear & tear is only likely to ever get worse, though the effect can vary seasonally, so at some point, you'll need to spend the time investigating (or at least kicking PN and BT).
My parents were perfectly stable on ADSL, but then had an issue that seemed to appear when the exchange swapped to ADSL2+ (this was Kcom/Karoo, not BT), and would suddenly lose sync multiple times each evening, even after Kcom restricted the sync speed (no DLM there, it seems). The solution to restoring stability involved restricting the modem to ADSL, and the usual fixes with the ring wire, a filtered faceplate, and keeping the DECT station away from the router.

Quote from: fishrow

I define connect as being the login to PN. The router stays on all the time and therefore the _sync_ is maintained - apart from those annoying outages I get - I have no need for any interaction with the internet until I want such. Then is when I initiate a "connect" or login to PN

That's probably a perfectly valid behaviour under normal circumstances, but you can see the obvious effect - it hampers PN's ability to trace faults on your line. If you *do* start investigating a line sync issue, it is probably better to temporarily change to an "always logged on" mode. This will also give you an idea of how poor the line is 24/7, rather than just seeing those faults that occur at the times you are using the internet.