High packet loss and other DNS issues

[#1]

Yep gaming is completely useless thanks to plusnets packet loss i wish i could just pigging leave them and rejoin virgin.

i have really had enough of this [-Censored-] company and their inability to fix anything.

[#2]

@Siddy, is that from tonight? What's everyone else's experience been like this evening?

[#3]

Yep thats from tonight while i was monitoring packet loss to the server i was playing on, in the end i gave up trying to play because its simply not possible.

Like i said had enough, im removing myself from this post because its going no where as your all clueless chickens.

[#4]

@bobpullen - my experience has been a bit better tonight, but two things to note:

1) Still seems to be a massive disconnect between the PN support team responses on my question and what is being said in this thread? Why aren't the support team on the same page in terms of what they think is going on? This is just an observation here as at least bob has acknowledged a wider issue in play whist the support team dealing with my question / ticket have stated its a router problem! 

2) I'll not consider the problem gone away on the basis of one night being better so I'll continue to report back here. I've seen the odd day improve in the past and return to packet loss, stutter and lag on subsequent days. Fingers crossed.

[#5]

@bobpullen, my graph for tonight is below:

The latency is due to heavy use up/down.

[#6]

I manually cycled my connection yesterday and have been getting much reduced packet loss, but it's still at an unacceptable level for gaming, VOIP etc. I got a different IP in the same range as I was on previously (143.*).

Regarding lack of support, I've had no reply to the ticket I put in a week ago; this thread seems the only place to get any response on this.

Here's some new traceroutes.

[#7]

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NiM wrote:

Regarding lack of support, I've had no reply to the ticket I put in a week ago; this thread seems the only place to get any response on this.

The response to my ticket took a while and I was told that my issue had gone away, when in fact it hasn't. I have replied and included my TBB BQM graph for that day. It would be helpful if all the c/s people sang from the same hymn sheet. This forum seems to be the only place where this problem is acknowledged.

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[#8]

In an evening its geting impossible for me to use Netflix or Amazon Prime, its just constant buffering and gaming is something i've given up on(even cancelled my Xbox Live Gold).

Im now waying up if it is worth downgrading back to ADSL and waiting till another Fibre slot becomes free in my cabinet(as no other company can place an order at the minute due to the cabinet being full) in order to move away from this service.

[#9]

Called plusnet today and here is what i was told.

My contracts ends in about six months and the only way the contrract would "possibly" be waived is if they could not fix the issue, so your stuck with a broken service until they decide, thats nice.

I was then passed on to techinical support who wanted to run some tests on my line so called me back on my mobile. After being on hold for 8-10 minutes with the odd "wer're still gathering data and be with you soon" from the tech guy he said "Oh, i've never seen this before the SNR for the profile you are on is too low, what i have done is corrected that and you're SNR is now 6" he then said that the correction could take upto four hours depending on how many had gone though but could be instant and that i should restart my router after four hours. To which i responded "just the router or also the modem?" because im on fibre to which he said both.

Anyway that was about 30 minutes ago, im going to reset both my router and modem now to see if anythign has changed and then again at 6:30.

in fact here is the email he sent i didnt know i was getting one.

I have tested your line today and I have found the possible cause for the connection/speed issues.

Your circuit was set to an SNR margin of 3 decibels on the downstream, because the lines are very sensitive and that margin is to low for the line to cope with, this will reflect in either disconnections or slow speed.

To fix this i have done two things:

-1) I have reset the line which will return the SNR margin target to 6db instead of 3db. Please restart your router after 4 hours to allow the reset to fully complete. After this the router will need to be left on permanently.

-2) I have modified your circuit to prevent the SNR margin from being changed in future automatically by the Dynamic Line management system at the exchange, unfortunately we cant guarantee the settings will stick as this piece of hardware is automated.

The two orders should take a total of 24 working hours to complete and for the new settings to initiate on the line. Following this it will take up to 10 days to the line to settle back down

If however you still experience connection issues after these have completed then please get back to us so we can investigate further.

To find out what an SNR margin is please click below :

SNR Margin

Thanks for your patience.

[#10]

Whilst I don't necessarily disagree with what you're saying, I'd argue that most would notice the ~50% packet loss at peak to be honest. I'm not trying to play the problem down, I just want to make it clear that it isn't affecting all customers on the new network. In fact I'm yet to see an example where a customer is being routed through one particular point of presence. You're all routing through one of the others.

I think most average people would notice a slow down and think to themselves "internet is slow tonight, must be a lot of people using it" and go and do something else and not report it. 

Also it is *really* frustrating not being able to create my own Broadband Quality Monitor due to the simple router I've been provided with by Plusnet not supporting ICMP by default.

[#11]

@Siddy Most of what you've been told does not apply to FTTC, PN (nor any other ISP) cannot simply reset you're line when on FTTC, which I'm presuming you're on rather than fttp. A full line rest requires an engineer to visit and to find a fault that justifys a reset.

The normal snrm is 6db, OR have been trialing a 3db service, as this will give a faster line speed, but at the risk of increased errors, which if you are G.INP enabled will potentially  deal with. You are more likely to have dropped to a lower snrm due to crosstalk or other noise on the line, turning off the modem will obviously cause a resync back to 6db, even if on the 3db trial. You would only need to restart the modem to cause a resync, it is not advisable to do this too often though.

[#12]

Dear XXXXX, I have tested the line today and cant see anything that would be considered a fault on the line. This indicates something on your internal setup between the router and your devices is the more likely cause. Things like wireless interference, Wireless relay devices or power line adapters are just a few cause of internal issues. If you primarily use wireless connection for your devices i would suggest diagnosing any potential wireless interference causing this as its a very common problem. To diagnose further wireless issues please click here for support pages. If you still have issues then i would suggest speaking with our technical support team as they will be able to help narrow down the issue further. Please do not hesitate to get back in touch online at http://contactus.plus.net or by phone on 0800 432 0200 or 0345 140 0200 (from mobiles) if we can be of further assistance. Kind regards, [CSA Removed]

*thumbs up* Top quality response to my fault ticket considering I specifically stated in the fault that all tests have been done on a wired connection. Useless.

Moderator's note by Dick (Strat) CSA name removed as per Forum rules

[#13]

@Ronski Thanks for that, it has not fixed anything anyway im on their 38mb package so whatever connection that usesi think your right though and thats the FTTC.

[#14]

@bobpullen

A bad night tonight - more lag and packet loss.

Can you *PLEASE* brief your support people with your view of this problem - I keep getting responses to my ticket that don't line up with what you are stating in this thread. The support team have replaced my router, altered DNS server settings on my adapter and yet the responses in this thread indicate a different issue in play at plusnet end.

[#15]

If you can handle paying £5 for a static IP address I found this fixed this issue immediately and has been fine now for over a week.

I have a long time left on my contract and can't be bothered dealing with shoddy connection at peak times so the £5 was totally worth it for me. Still, not impressed with PN and their response to this.

I linked this thread to the ticket I had open and got a general "oh yes there seems to be a problem, I'll pass it on" type message.