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very spotty connection

plusfo
Dabbler
Posts: 16
Registered: ‎16-02-2014

very spotty connection

Hi - about a week ago my broadband experience dropped from fine, to almost unusable, with frequent complete loss of connection. I can't stream even radio, and webpages only complete loading about half the time.
At first I assumed it was a router or wifi problem, but I am gradually ruling things out and it appears to be at least partially a line problem too.
Here is the slightly worrying tbb graph:

My router is an asus n66u, and I have not found where to check the up/down and attenuation. From the graph above, is there anything immediate that stands out that I should start with?
28 REPLIES 28
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: very spotty connection

Are you on ADSL and if so do you have a separate modem
Have you looked in the system log
Luzern
Hero
Posts: 4,823
Thanks: 872
Fixes: 9
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: very spotty connection

Quote
Very spotty connection
OP! Are you perchance on the 'ackney exchange?  ( Sorry I could not resist :D).
No one has to agree with my opinion, but in the time I have left a miracle would be nice.
plusfo
Dabbler
Posts: 16
Registered: ‎16-02-2014

Re: very spotty connection

Quote from: Oldjim
Are you on ADSL and if so do you have a separate modem

Yes to both. The modem is a simple TPLink TD-8817
The "ADSL Log" for the N55 in the instructions that you originally linked to does not exist for the N66, so I'm still unsure where to check the speeds.
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: very spotty connection

You can only get them by interrogating the modem - can you connect the computer directly  to it
plusfo
Dabbler
Posts: 16
Registered: ‎16-02-2014

Re: very spotty connection

Quote from: Oldjim
You can only get them by interrogating the modem - can you connect the computer directly  to it

Unfortunately, with the cables I have to hand, I cannot. I will pick up a longer CAT10 cable during the week.
In the meantime, is there anything I can usefully do?
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: very spotty connection

Run the BT speedtest - further diagnostics and report back
Also Current Line Speed from https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=data_transfer_speed
plusfo
Dabbler
Posts: 16
Registered: ‎16-02-2014

Re: very spotty connection

Quote from: Oldjim
Run the BT speedtest - further diagnostics and report back
Also Current Line Speed from https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=data_transfer_speed

Thanks for your patience
Quote from: Plusnet
Estimated line speed:  There's no speed estimate currently held on your account.
Current line speed: 5.7 Mb

Quote from: BT
Down: (Mbps): 4.05
Up: (Mbps): 0.36
Ping (ms): 38
1. Best Effort Test:  -provides background information.
Download speedachieved during the test was - 4.05 Mbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 2 Mbps-7.15 Mbps.
IP Profile for your line is - 5.87 Mbps
2. Upstream Test:  -provides background information.
Upload speed achieved during the test was - 0.36Mbps
Additional Information:
Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 0.45 Mbps
We were unable to identify any performance problem with your service at this time.
It is possible that any problem you are currently, or had previously experienced may have been caused by traffic congestion on the Internet or by the server you were accessing responding slowly.
If you continue to encounter a problem with a specific server, please contact the administrator of that server in the first instance 

All of this is consistent with what I usually see when the connection is stable: the speeds are not great, but not really all that bad.
The thing is that the connection itself no longer seems to be consistently available: webpages may not load (or stop partway through) and any streaming or file transfer will usually hang without completing. I think the packet loss and high latency even when I'm not using the connection in the original graph look unusual enough as well. Thanks for any insights.
plusfo
Dabbler
Posts: 16
Registered: ‎16-02-2014

Re: very spotty connection

Updated graph for reference:
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: very spotty connection

I suspect that there are a heck of a lot of errors on the line
If you plug a phone in and dial 17070 option 2 is there any noise such as crackles
If there is I recommend raising a phone fault via this link if your phone is with Plusnet https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=wizard&page=22965&wizard_id=38
If there isn't I suggest raising a broadband speed fault here https://faults.plus.net
eblakeborough
Grafter
Posts: 38
Registered: ‎11-08-2012

Re: very spotty connection

I've tested the line as it is and there are loads of errors on there as expected. Jim's advice on this is the right way to go, can you raise a fault at faults.plus.net and we can look into this for you.
plusfo
Dabbler
Posts: 16
Registered: ‎16-02-2014

Re: very spotty connection

Great - thank you for looking into into it.
I am in the process of logging the fault now. Unfortunately before it allows me to, it seems to want me to click through a checklist of questions, including a few that I need to wait until the next drop to answer. Since you have already established that there is a fault, is it possible to skip that stage? I would just guess the answer, but I don't want o further complicate things!
And of course, since now I'm waiting for a drop, the frequency has dropped from every few minutes, to not one in a few hours (not that that is terrible in itself).
plusfo
Dabbler
Posts: 16
Registered: ‎16-02-2014

Re: very spotty connection

Here is a very strange thing: just before the complete dropout in the upload (red) / download (green) graph below, the download seems to drop to zero, while the upload is unaffected. I have seen this on most occasions (the complete dropout after is me disconnecting things to try to get back online).
Doe anyone have any idea what could cause the down to drop out, while upload continues?
plusfo
Dabbler
Posts: 16
Registered: ‎16-02-2014

Re: very spotty connection

And a quick update with today's graph:
I was using the line from 6, and surprisingly it was stable, with no drops of connection.
Then, around 8, or just before, it was back to unusable: pages not loading, all up/downloads stopped, all streaming stopped.

The performance certainly seems to degrade especially around 7:30-8:30, compared to the rest of the day. Is this possible if it was just the case that the line was poor?
Pettitto
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 6,346
Fixes: 5
Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Re: very spotty connection

I can see that your Fault Ticket is with our Faults Team pending further investigation. I would expect an update within the next 48 hours.