Work VPN occasionally dropping

[#1]

@stef12 

I've got a Full Fibre connection.

The lights on my router remain blue when the VPN goes down.

Full fibre connections are usually pretty stable and from those comments it doesnt sound like the internet connection is dropping.

My guess is the same as @Dan_the_Van s comment earlier , that it looks like a wireless issue.

Does the work laptop have an ethernet connector ? If so, then the simple test to confirm a wireless issue (or not) would be to connect it using an ethernet cable to the router (I assume a Plusnet Hub 2?) 

I can't seem to find an ethernet cable at home to test whether it's the connection or WiFi, but yes, I mean the connection really.

The Hub 2 should have come with 2 cables, one with red ends to connect to the ONT and another spare (usually with yellow ends)  to connect a wired device ? If that's the case then use the spare one to connect the laptop and see if the VPN problem is fixed. 

If so , then we can start to look at changing wireless parameters on the Hub 2 to improve wireless performance 

[#2]

Hi,

Oddly I’ve just tried with my Ethernet cable and my laptop wouldn’t connect to the internet full stop. I’ve just taken the cable out and attempted to connect back to the wifi and after a good while, I’ve got a connection and VPN connected.

I’ve taken screenshots of the event log on my phone, but can’t for the life of me work out how to attach them!

[#3]

I’ve taken screenshots of the event log on my phone, but can’t for the life of me work out how to attach them!

You need to select 'desktop site' in your browser to enable the attach link

[#4]

Has who you work for disabled the ethernet interface? You did use a LAN port on the Hub not the WAN port?

If you want to attach the screenshots from your phone you need the browser to use 'desktop site' which is usually found by tapping the three dots (top right corner for chrome) the text will become small.

or if you have some sort of cloud storage transfer there and then attach.

In a reply window use this  found above the reply window to attach pictures.

[#5]

Hopefully this has worked?

[#6]

Ah, I’ll triple check this!

[#7]

@stef12 

looking at the log extracts I see repeated "PPP Sending PADI" messages

That message usually appears when the Hub is attempting to initialise a PPPoE session but is not getting a response.

Did you notice the Hub light was solid Orange at this time, on the ONT were all lights green?

Had you powered off the Hub for any reason around the time you took log images?

Other than your work laptop and smartphone what other devices do you use?

[#8]

Hi,

The light on the Hub remained blue. Apologies, what is ONT? No I hadn’t done anything with the router.

Other than my work laptop and smartphone, there’d be my work phone and my personal laptop, my husband personal phone, work laptop and work phone. We’ve got an internet hub for our cat flap, Sky and a PlayStation.

[#9]

The ONT is the small Openreach box attached to the wall where the WAN port of the Hub connects.

Is your personal laptop able to connect to the Hub? If so you could use that device to export the Hub's event log as a CSV file and attach to a post? 

The importance of the event log in a CSV format will give a fuller picture of the Hub activities since it was first turned on or a factory reset was performed, there is no personal information in the log.

The log will help identify if devices are struggling to maintain a WiFi connection which could be significant for your issue.

From the Hubs home page navigate >Advanced Settings >Technical log >Event log select Export 

The event log is exported to the Downloads folder as a CSV file, use the paper clip below the reply window to attach to a post.

[#10]

looking at the log extracts I see repeated "PPP Sending PADI" messages

The light on the Hub remained blue

That doesn't make sense😕

[#11]

@MisterW 

As an experiment I connected a switch to the Hub Two WAN port, the light does solid Orange and the Hub makes "PPP Sending PADI" requests.

Not having a DSL connection anymore I can't say what would happen if there is an active VDSL connection, Any thoughts? 

[#12]

I seem to recall that the router will throw out PADIs.  I once connected a device to the port by mistake ... I can repeat that if it helps!

[#13]

Not having a DSL connection anymore I can't say what would happen if there is an active VDSL connection, Any thoughts? 

@Dan_the_Van like you, I've no DSL anymore but I see one of three possibilities

1) effectively nothing, the ethernet connection is ignored, the PPPoE connection stays up via the DSL connection ( light stays blue , no PADI attempts in log ) 

2) it drops the PPPoE over DSL and attempts to setup PPPoE via the ethernet port ( light goes orange - PADI attempts in log  ) 

3) the current PPPoE connection stays up via the DSL connection while it also attempts to setup PPPoE via the ethernet port ( light stays blue - PADI attempts in log ) 

I would have thought that 1) or 2) is the most likely , my GUESS is 2) . TBH when I started writing this I only had 1) & 2) but then I thought is 3) possible ? I don't think so, I can't see how it can try to setup (what is effectively) a 2nd PPPoE connection

@stef12 says the connection is Full fibre but I'm beginning to wonder, especially with the query 'what is an ONT' 

[#14]

@MisterW 

Perhaps we should take up @Townman offer?

[#15]

@Townman Yes please.

Can we confirm if the light stays blue and any PADI attempts from the log