Dropouts again

[#1]

Thanks Alex. The drop Saturday pm, was me, as I had the electric off for a little while. I agree it's suddenly stabalised again, for no apparent reason. Did the gea test show any issues at all.... I will see how this goes, but given the previous issues, I am not convinced it's fixed.🤔🤔

[#2]

Thanks for getting back to us @penfold.

I'd definitely agree with you that given previous issues, it's probably best to keep an eye on it over the next couple of days.

Please let us know how you get on with it.

[#3]

OK.  Since Saturday afternoon when I switched the electric back on, I have had no disconnects at all.  Not sure why, but what I have done, is put a surge protected adapter to the router power supply, as my wife mentioned to me that frequently when she plugs in to the sockets in the lounge, and the TV is on, transiently the TV picture and sound go off, but TV stays on. (Shes telling me this now!!!)  I suspect some kind of power spike, and I wondered if something like this was taking out the router intermittently, or some kind of internal RF interference.  I also noted that when I was powering the router back up, the power connector seems strained when plugged in, as there is not much clearance on the Hub1 (like the BTB hub 5 and 6) if the power connector is turned a certain way.  I have put a stress loop in the power connector, and it sits much better, again wondering if the power connector was working its way out, and intermittently breaking the connection, not enough to power down the router, but enough to interrupt the DSL. ( Or I may be talking absolute rubbish!!!)

[#4]

OK..... Been away, switched stuff off. Come back this afternoon., powered on router, and yet again it is failing to hold a connection for any meaningful length of time. It connected to a surge protector and the power cable still has a stress loop in it. Think I need another engineer, this time a multiskilled one to hopefully finally fix this intermittent issue. Sync never Changes..... Anyone any thoughts.... Of note, when it's about to drop but still got a connection Internet slows to a halt. Not sure on relavence....

[#5]

Seemed to stabalise yesterday, but dropped again early hours of thi morning. Resynced lower than normal. Can a gea test be run again please.
DSL uptime: 0 days, 07:19:02
6. Data rate: 8084 / 46901
7. Maximum data rate: 25219 / 72184
8. Noise margin: 18.1 / 12.5
9. Line attenuation: 18.7 / 14.1
10. Signal attenuation: 18.5 / 14.2
11. Data sent/received:

[#6]

Thanks for your post @penfold.

Of course, please see below:

GEA Test Detail
Circuit ID	NA	Service ID

Test Outcome	Pass
Test Outcome Code	GTC_FTTC_SERVICE_0000
Description	GEA service test completed and no fault found .
Main Fault Location	OK
Sync Status	In Sync
Downstream Speed	46.9 Mbps
Upstream Speed	8.1 Mbps
Appointment Required	N
Fault Report Advised	N
NTE Power Status	PowerOn
Voice Line Test Result	Pass
Bridge Tap	Not Detected
Radio Frequency Ingress	Not Detected
Repetitive Electrical Impulse Noise	Not Detected
Cross Talk	Not Detected
Estimated Line Length In Metres	401.1
Upstream Rate Assessment	Low
Downstream Rate Assessment	Low
Interference Pattern	Not Detected
Service Impact	No Impact Observed
Home Wiring Problem	Not Detected
Downstream Policing Discard Rate	0.0
Customer Traffic Level	Upstream and Downstream Traffic Detected
Technology	VDSL
Current 15Min Bin Retrains	0
Last 15Min Bin Retrains	0
DP Type	External
Profile Name	0.128M-55M Downstream 6dB, Retransmission High - 0.128M-10M Upstream, Retransmission Low
Time Stamp	2019-10-16T16:30:00

Parameters	MIN	MAX	AVG
Down Stream Line Rate	48.9 Mbps	54.9 Mbps	53.6 Mbps
Up Stream Line Rate	8.4 Mbps	10.0 Mbps	9.9 Mbps
Up Time	0.0 Sec	900.0 Sec	806.7 Sec
Retrains	0.0	7.0	0.0

Current and Last 15 Minute Bin Performance
Parameters	Last Traffic Count(Upto 15 mins)	Current Traffic Count(Upto 15 mins)
Start Time Stamp	2019-10-28T12:40:17Z	2019-10-28T12:55:17Z
Ingress Code Violation	0	0
Egress Code Violation	0	0
Errored Seconds	0	0
Severely Errored Seconds	0	0
Unavailable Seconds	0	0

As we can see, nothing seems to be out of place with the line performing within your line estimates.

For reference, your Minimum Guaranteed Speed is 30.9mbps.

The last drop in connection we're seeing was in the early hours of this morning, with a strong and steady connection since. Doe this tally with what you're seeing?

[#7]

Yep, that tallies with my observations. Not sure why sync rate dropped, as profile still a 55/10 profile, and I have more than enough headroom to get this. Estimated attainable rate has reduced, and line length increased for some reason. Any ideas as to the best course of action next.....

[#8]

Comparing with the previous gea tests, line length gone up by 5m, retransmission is now high on the downstream, and the upstream and downstream rate assessment is now low, previously very good. Can anyone explain these differences, I presume retransmission high means interleaving is now on.

[#9]

Hi @penfold

New GEA test here.

You'll note that the line length has dropped again (as this is an estimate) but everything else remains pretty much the same as the previous GEA test. Although I cannot explain the changes that relate to the transmission rate (as this is more BTWholesale's domain) I can confirm that your line appears to be working as we'd expect and that you are very much within the estimates for your connection.

Please continue to monitor this and if you feel that there's a continuation of the drops or if your speed falls below the MGAL/estimate lower end, we'll be happy to investigate this accordingly.

Best wishes

Dave

[#10]

Thanks Dave.

That's not really the point though. The issue is that the line is intermittently very unstable. I admit that this must be very difficult to fix. It does appear that the DLM has intervened to stabilise the line, and to my mind suggests an issue with the line. I would be grateful if you could find out what the DLM has done with the retransmission high. I am happy currently to trade some speeds for stability. Makes life easier with teenage kids😁😁

As  always I will continue to monitor.

[#11]

Thanks for getting back to us @penfold 

It's difficult for us to advise definitely why DLM has taken action on your line although it could be due to the drops you've had, because retransmission high is a form of error correction similar to interleaving.

Looking at the current expectations of your line, this is 61.3mbps so you should be able to achieve a sync speed of at least 55mbps and while I understand you've said you'd prefer stability over speeds, it's possible the cause for the slow speeds may also be the underlying problem behind the drops and the reason that DLM has taken action on your line.

I'd recommend replying to your fault ticket here with availability for another engineer to visit. If you can drop us a reply back here once you've responded, we'll be happy to get this escalated with Openreach for a full investigation.

Having said that, if you're happy with the speeds you're getting and your line is currently stable it may be worth leaving things as they are and seeing how they go. 😬

[#12]

Thanks anoush.

I realise that this is a difficult issue to deal with, but if you look at my account you can see that I have had multiple faults with the same issue, going back to the days of ADSL. I should have an attainable of over 70mb, as I can see the fttc cabinet from my house. I agree the slow speeds may be a symptom of a more underlying problem. Whilst I would prefer stability, I would also like to get this fixed once and for all. I am also investigating the possibility of electrical noise in the house, as we do have some odd electrical gremlins every so often. I will reply to the faults ticket.

Had a drop at 3.30 thus morning and upstream gone up, but downstream still stuck at 46901. Oddly enough every resync from a couple of days ago is this exact number in the downstream.

[#13]

Done. I have requested a specialist engineer if possible, dud to the number of issues encountered. If it takes longer to arrange that's fine.

[#14]

Thanks for getting back to us @penfold 

Our tests are showing "Impairment in copper joint detected most likely close to customer premises. Please continue to submit a trouble report." now so something definitely still isn't right.

I've booked the engineer appointment for 04/11/2019 between 8am and 1pm and also emailed Openreach an escalation proforma requesting a multi-skilled engineer is assigned to investigate further.

I'm taking this on personally moving forward and will follow up afterwards.

[#15]

Thanks for booking the engineer. I am a little surprised that something has been found but also a little relieved that hopefully the issues would be resolved. The most recent engineer also found a potential issues close to the premises at 25m from the nte. He replaced the module on the pole outside the house. Does your testing give an approximate distance??.  Will update after engineer visit.