using my own TP-Link 2100 router

[#1]

unfortunately i cant give the info you wanted because i dont, as you are aware, usually keep my computer  running 24/7 let alone on the internet continuously. i have only done what you asked since posting the request for help. the usual thing for my connection is to do what i have been told here is not a router reboot but a line reset. this occurs, when it occurs, at around the 2am-3am mark but that isnt a definite. it also occurs when my computer is switched off and the internet is disabled, as i said in a previous post (the router is NEVER switched off). this is one of the points i cannot understand, ie, why does this happen and why when everything is turned off? forgive me for seeming to be thick but why not do this when things are up and running? why do it when there appears to be no issues showing in routerstats or the router stats?

So that relevant help can be offered, please answer only the following questions...

'Do you have examples of the service being "up one minute, down the next" DURING THE TIME YOU were using it?'

unfortunately no, for the reason just stated

'Do you have examples of how the marginal reduction of your line speed has impacted to your ability to access internet services'

again, unfortunately, i dont and as i said previously, that shouldn't even come into things as it sounds simply like an ISP excuse for not wanting to supply the service that customers, in this case, me, are paying for. there would be all h**l let lose if you were paying for gas but lost the supply to cook when you turned the central heating on!

'I hope that one of the staff tagged might be able to offer some insight as to why the DLM is micro adjusting the line'. that may be or appear to be micro adjustment of the line by the DLM but when it drops the speed by 3-3.5mbps, i dont call that a 'micro adjustment', particularly when there is every likelyhood, as has happened in the past, a further reset or whatever occurs and the speed drops even further. in all the time i have had broadband, with whichever ISP, the speed has always dropped but only once, without a manual reboot of the router or the DLM being reset bt Openreach (and that plusnet can do now, apparently), has the speed ever then increased.

i apologise again for having less knowledge than you people, i cant help that. but asking me for information that you already know i cant give because of me disabling the internet connection and turning off my computer when it's not in use is a practice i will continue to do. as i never know when things are going to change and there is going to be some sort of reset or whatever because there's no hint of a problem within routerstats, i have no idea when to leave things constantly running. even when i have, at your request, Townman, the glitches shown dont appear to have aided you much anyway. more's the pity as i was obviously hoping there would be something that showed what the issue was or what to look at to then fix it. shame

[#2]

downstream snr has decreased, as it usually does every evening, atm it's at 5.5 db with the graph showing the 'sawtooth' action described by Dan_the_Van. my intention is to leave everything turned on and connected, as you requested previously, Townman, to see if there is a further reset or whatever and the downstream speed drops further. i can almost, but not quite, guarantee that the speed wont increase! i'll be interested further to see how low the snr goes down to and when it starts to increase again, if it does and what the speed goes to. that wont change until quite a while yet

[#3]

looked into router settings, under troubleshooting and dont understand what this means, even though i'm sure it's been showing before, as are similar info lines

BLOCKED 3 more packets (because of ICMP replay)
	OUT: BLOCK [7] ICMP replay (ICMP type 3 code 1 51.6.58.186-​>54.221.148.71 on ppp3)

[#4]

@prettygrim49 From my observations of the RS graphs you have posted, I cannot,  off the top of my head, recall one which is a 'disaster'. Yes, if it was my connection, I would like to know the reason(s) for the graphs appearance, but unless said graphs, and my router logs, indicated a large number of DSL drops, that is only because I have the knowledge/experience to query it.

A general user wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary, and just carry on.

EDIT - those reports are nothing to worry about, just the Hub reporting that it is doing its job of blocking attempted intrusions.

[#5]

@prettygrim49 RE: post 106.

The DLM is unaware of whether your machine is on or off - its checks are performed on the connection to your master socket.

RS is merely reporting the state of your connection - noise/speed - at the time it polls said connection.

The ISP has no relevance to this, it is all down to the automatic BT/Openreach equipment.

The drops are happening because DLM is attempting to stabilise the connection by reducing the load on it.

Until we have got to the bottom of this, without some help from Plusnet, who have access to much more detail than us mere Community members, then all we can base our suggestions/comments on is the data we can see, which means continuously monitoring via the available tools.

[#6]

@jab1 

The DLM is unaware of whether your machine is on or off - its checks are performed on the connection to your master socket.

DLM is unaware of the end users connection to the router, it is monitoring the modem connection.

How does that work without a modem connected or is that what you mean a modem being connected to the master socket or internal extension socket via a filter?

The last uptime was 8 days or so, nothing really to investigate until the number of DSL drops increase.

Becoming a storm in a tea cup now.

[#7]

Thanks for the correction, Dan. Trying to follow the OPs logic is obviously affecting my reasoning.😀

[#8]

@jab1 I have l left this thread alone, I can't cope with OP's walls of text and warped conspiracy theories.🙄

All the routerstats images show very little of interest. Looks like a pretty good line with an occasional DLM resync.

[#9]

@RealAleMadrid Totally understand your position. I just popped back in at the request of someone else, and I agree it looks a reasonable line, albeit one that is exhibiting something that would niggle me, but only because I like to know 'why', not because it is really important.

[#10]

what i meant by the graphs posted is that when they go bad, they go bad but i never know when that is going to be and as i stated previously, when not in use, i disable the internet and turn my computer off, so am unable to show what isn't available. all i can show is what is there atm. even though my machine was running and connected to the internet and routerstats, when there was something occur, there was no hint as to what it might have been or what caused it.

i appreciate that i have been corrected when i have thought the router has rebooted when apparently it's the line being reset. however, i dont understand why a router would take 90mins to reboot. i also only know what i see and on the odd occasion when the router has disconnected itself or been forced to disconnect, all i see is the blue light disappearing and an orange light appearing together with the finger symbol. at some point the orange light flashes for quite a while then turns solid orange, then turns blue signifying that all is back up as it should be. however, that isn't always the case as the router then goes through the whole process again. how is that not a reboot but a reset? that's a bit confusing.

@jab1 . i also like to know why something happens and when it drops my speed, i like to know the reason. isn't that human nature to want to know the answer to why something happens, particularly when the something is being paid for? i dont have the knowledge and experience you have, hence me coming here for help. it doesn't, however, stop me from wanting to know why changes occur for no apparent reason or explanation and are ignored by the isp, in my case plusnet. to refuse to check things out because the download speed is 0.500kbps over the minimum guaranteed speed is a bit pathetic, i think, particularly when, just a week ago, i received a near £10 refund because the issue wasn't fixed and was taking too long to fix. considering there is still an issue, then the problem hasn't been fixed, so should be investigated further, surely. this points back to the comment i made earlier in the post about problems being ignored if at all possible, for the slimmest of reasons

[#11]

@prettygrim49 The 'something' which is CURRENTLY happening on your connection is Openreachs automatic systems trying to minimise/rectify some error somewhere in the network, and from what we can see, doing a fairly good job.

[#12]

the downside of what the DLM is doing is that whatever is causing the error isn't being traced and therefore isn't being repaired/rectified, leaving it to reoccur again at whatever time. that plus the drop in speed every time it happens, which is where i was to begin with and no clue as to the cause, as nothing seems to show the cause, even though my machine has been left on and was on when the dlm kicked in on the 6th July and the speed dropped. plus plusnet reluctance to carry on trying to fix the problem it has admitted was there but wont do so now as the speed is 0.500kbps over the guaranteed minimum.

@Townman, did you get any response from those you asked in a couple of posts back, ie

@willcutforth  / @MatthewWheeler  / @Gandalf

[#13]

just another update for you, guys. at 02:15 this morning, whatever it is the router does (you told me it doesn't reboot, but it does reset, or whatever) the downstream speed dropped yet again. this time only by 1mbps, and the downstream snr increased to 6.4. i went to bed early last night but left the computer on with the internet and routerstats enabled. the last i look ed was around 22:00 and the downstream snr had dropped down to 5.4db. so it seems that the issue i received the refund for is still not fixed. if it were, why did the (i assume) DLM kick in again, drop the speed and increase the snr? surely the whole idea of the DLM is, as was previously stated, to stabilise the line when a fault is picked up, so, as this is the 2nd time in 5 days, it hints towards a fault still being there and it hasn't been fixed. correct me if my thinking is wrong. what do you reckon, guys?

[#14]

Sight of your Hubs error log for that period, or whatever you can grab, would be of interest.

The reason DLM - apparently - kicked in - is because of the possible instability, which as said previously needs Plusnet investigation.

SNR will fluctuate, slightly, during darkness due to MW radio interference, and that small drop is nothing to be concerned about.

[#15]

The routerstats graphs (noise margin only) from Midnight to the DSL drop, WAN event log for the same period and the Helpdesk screen would be helpful.

Not sure why we keep having to ask for this data?!