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Has anyone had almost constant dropouts with the BT & Plusnet routers ?

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brockied
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Registered: ‎11-10-2016

Has anyone had almost constant dropouts with the BT & Plusnet routers ?

Hi There

 

Can anyone tell me if they have had the same issue as me with the almost constant dropouts. I am using the BT Hub 5 router and my parents down the road have the Plusnet router and we both have the same issue with dropouts currently.

 


I looked up reviews on Amazon for the BT Hub 5 routers and people say they have problems with it dropping connection all the time and also on forums people say to use a custom router.

 

Has anyone had this issue and fixed it with a custom router because I'm thinking of getting one or is it just the service that is the issue? I currently have a support ticket open and it said there is a problem on the line but it does seem odd that in the reviews for the router people have also had dropouts. 

21 REPLIES 21
TheMightyAJ
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Re: Has anyone had almost constant dropouts with the BT & Plusnet routers ?

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

 

I can see you've already raised a fault with us, so I'll take a look into this one and get back to you shortly.

 

- Alex

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Alex H
 Plusnet Help Team
brockied
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Re: Has anyone had almost constant dropouts with the BT & Plusnet routers ?

Thanks for that.

TheMightyAJ
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Registered: ‎26-03-2018

Re: Has anyone had almost constant dropouts with the BT & Plusnet routers ?

Fix

Thanks for waiting. 

 

I've updated your ticket on the member centre which can be viewed by clicking the following link - https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=view_question&id=171178646

 

Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance - Alex

 

 

 

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Alex H
 Plusnet Help Team
egeoffreydavies
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Re: Has anyone had almost constant dropouts with the BT & Plusnet routers ?

Hi there, not to hijack the thread but I can sympathise.

I have had a similar problem for the last couple of months, but to be fair to Plusnet, they have tried a lot to resolve it.

After all the tests, an engineer came and changed the NT5, I had a new modem from Plusnet and then engineers changed our line to the post and put us on another underground line to the cabinet.

My problem is not as severe as it was but, I am still seeing drops, mainly at night, when it doesn't matter, but also some in the evening when watching Iplayer. I am beginning to wonder if there are random noises on the line causing the short dropouts.

I also wonder if any modems are more robust at dealing with this issue.

I have an open question on this and am updating it with the dropout times.

Gandalf
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Re: Has anyone had almost constant dropouts with the BT & Plusnet routers ?

Sorry to hear you're having issues @egeoffreydavies

The drops you're seeing seem to coincide with what we're seeing too:

 

Unfortunately due to the amount of drops and that we're not finding a definitive cause of the problem, it's unlikely our suppliers will investigate further as it can be normal for broadband to drop out on occasion.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
egeoffreydavies
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Re: Has anyone had almost constant dropouts with the BT & Plusnet routers ?

While I accept this is an awkward problem to find, it means that when watching BBC Iplayer etc. that any drop-outs hang the program and I have to restart it when the connection comes back up.

This is why I asked about a more robust router as I have now tried two Hub one's.

When I was on ADSL a change to a Billion router solved a noisy line.

Don't know if that is the issue or whether that also applies to VDSL, especially as the connection is so fast.

Gandalf
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Re: Has anyone had almost constant dropouts with the BT & Plusnet routers ?

Sorry to hear of the problems the drops are causing you.

I’m afraid we can’t send out another type of router other than the Hub One for fibre installations but if you do have a different type it might be worth trying it.

Have you done a quiet line test by dialling 17070? This would help determine if there’s any audible noise on your line.
From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
egeoffreydavies
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Re: Has anyone had almost constant dropouts with the BT & Plusnet routers ?

Hi. Another drop this evening at 19:47

All the tests have been done - the Openreach engineers checked the quiet line along with everything else.

You already sent me a second modem to try after the engineer suggested there may be a fault with the original one.

Obviously not. My thought on a different one was because on ADSL anyway, some routers are better than others at holding onto connection.

There we go. May try another if I can borrow one, otherwise may have to wait until the fault becomes more permanent.

Thanks for the info.

Mustrum
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Re: Has anyone had almost constant dropouts with the BT & Plusnet routers ?

So the chart that @Gandalf displayed shows that there are very few line dropouts, so the router is staying connected to PN.

Do the dropouts you are experiencing happen on devices connect by WiFi or Ethernet?

If WiFi, you can improve the experience by logging into the router, going to the Advanced WiFi section, unticking the sync to 5Ghz box on the 2.4Ghz section, and adding a 5 to the 5Ghz SSID, thereby allowing your devices to know what band they re connecting to. Many devices including Apple find it hard to work out the two bands.

Gandalf
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Re: Has anyone had almost constant dropouts with the BT & Plusnet routers ?

Something I would note is that for fibre circuits, our radius server doesn’t always pick up connection drops. We refer to them as micro drops.

Does the light on the front of your router change colour more often than indicated above?
From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
egeoffreydavies
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Re: Has anyone had almost constant dropouts with the BT & Plusnet routers ?

Thanks for the comment.

The modem is dropping connection at those times, for 2 - 3 minutes at a time. The orange light comes on and connection is lost.

This is all seen in the Hub 1 log.

Wifi to the router is always connected and it gives a good signal throughout the property.

Pretty much everything is at 2.4 except my wife's Iphone.

egeoffreydavies
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Re: Has anyone had almost constant dropouts with the BT & Plusnet routers ?

Hi Gandalf, yes the light turns orange. Drops are logged on the modem and are usually 2 - 3 minutes long.

All the times are listed on the question I have posted.

Cheers.

egeoffreydavies
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Re: Has anyone had almost constant dropouts with the BT & Plusnet routers ?

Sorry guys, I may be flogging a dead horse here but this is a typical log of disconnect and reconnect.

Maybe there's something showing that I can't see. What is LCP ?

19:51:59, 04 Apr. (2258838.760000) PPPoE is up -​ Down Rate=39950Kbps, Up Rate=7066Kbps; SNR Margin Down=7.4dB, Up=5.8dB
19:51:59, 04 Apr. (2258838.750000) CHAP authentication successful
19:51:59, 04 Apr. (2258838.700000) CHAP Receive Challenge
19:51:59, 04 Apr. (2258838.700000) Starting CHAP authentication with peer
19:51:59, 04 Apr. (2258838.700000) PPP LCP Receive Configuration ACK
19:51:59, 04 Apr. (2258838.690000) PPP LCP Send Configuration Request
19:51:59, 04 Apr. (2258838.690000) PPP LCP Receive Configuration Reject
19:51:59, 04 Apr. (2258838.690000) PPP LCP Send Configuration ACK
19:51:59, 04 Apr. (2258838.690000) PPP LCP Receive Configuration Request
19:51:59, 04 Apr. (2258838.680000) PPP LCP Send Configuration Request
19:51:10, 04 Apr. (2258789.710000) PTM over DSL is up
19:47:12, 04 Apr. (2258551.270000) PTM over DSL is down after 4001 minutes uptime
19:47:12, 04 Apr. (2258551.260000) PPPoE is down after 1537 minutes uptime [Waiting for Underlying Connection (WAN Ethernet 7 -​ Down)]
19:47:09, 04 Apr. (2258548.750000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]
Kevin
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Re: Has anyone had almost constant dropouts with the BT & Plusnet routers ?

Yes,, that is typical behaviour of the Hub1/Home Hub 5A.

I had the HH 5A and also suffered from regular drops, I've since switched to a HH 5B and this only drops every 18 or 20 days and usually late at night.

HH 5B's are very cheap on Ebay, or pay a bit more and get a BT Smart Hub which is supposed to have much better WiFi.

[Edit: B's are cheap, not A's!]

Kevin.