Intermittent drops

[#1]

Hi - I am turning to the community forum as whilst I have logged a fault call with Plusnet I am yet to receive a follow up call from the Faults Team (7 days now).

I have been monitoring the event logs on the Plusnet Fibre Broadband router and I have noticed that the link has been going down with the following message - "PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]" at these times (maximum length in time I can go back due to log size):

22:50:20, 01 Sep.(1718353.040000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]

22:46:27, 01 Sep.(1718120.470000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]

21:00:01, 01 Sep.(1711734.160000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]

11:28:13, 30 Aug.(1504629.090000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]

10:29:02, 30 Aug.(1501077.810000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]

09:27:43, 29 Aug.(1411000.230000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]

11:17:07, 28 Aug.(1331164.540000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]

17:44:29, 27 Aug.(1268008.260000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]

13:09:36, 27 Aug.(1251515.240000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]

22:22:59, 24 Aug.(1025521.990000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]

21:56:28, 24 Aug.(1023930.690000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]

I also note that the firmware for the router was automatically updated on 13th August to version - 4.7.5.1.83.8.237.2.2 from 4.7.5.1.83.8.226.

Does anyone have any idea what might be causing this?  The 1st line Plusnet support desk ran a check on the line but did not find a fault.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[#2]

An intermittently crackly line causes that sort of error here and at similar frequency.

[#3]

I have used a wired telephone to listen to the line and cannot hear any crackling...maybe the crackling occurs during certain weather conditions? Either way it is a pain as I use broadband to conduct business calls and when the line drops it causes issues.

[#4]

What I have also noticed that since the firmware upgrade my line is syncing 5Mb (download) higher than it did previously.

[#5]

Hello there and welcome to the community forums.

Sorry about the lack of response on your fault ticket.

It looks like things may have resolved themselves as your connection has been stable for the past 3 days. Are you seeing more drops than indicated below?

My tests aren't identifying the cause of that or any issues. Is your router plugged into the master socket with no extension cabling? Ideally, into test socket to rule out any internal wiring problems.

I'll update your fault ticket too.

Anoush

[#6]

Hi Anoush,

Your graph looks very accurate and the line has been stable for a few days.  The router is connected directly into the master socket.  I'm unable to use the test socket extensively as I will not be able to use my landline telephone.

I reported the issue as I was surprised by two things 1) the amount of drops I was receiving which I hadn't experienced previously and 2) my sync speeds were increased to 35Mb vs 30Mb that I had previously received.  I didn't know whether it was related to the firmware update.

[#7]

I'm unable to use the test socket extensively as I will not be able to use my landline telephone.

You'll be able to plug both your router and telephone into the test socket using a microfilter.

1) the amount of drops I was receiving which I hadn't experienced previously

Let us know if things start becoming unstable.

2) my sync speeds were increased to 35Mb vs 30Mb that I had previously received.

It's difficult to say what that's caused by.

[#8]

Hi - I have noticed that the broadband link has been intermittent again.

21:00:04, 07 Sep. (466962.040000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]
00:43:32, 09 Sep. (566768.600000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]
18:08:10, 10 Sep. (715844.630000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]
19:55:14, 10 Sep. (722268.600000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]

Is this normal behaviour? 

Regards,
Sean

[#9]

Hi Sean.

There doesn't seem to be enough to warrant further investigation by an engineer.

To answer your question, a few drops is normal for a DSL product.

Have you tried the test socket?

[#10]

I have been a Plusnet customer for many years, but I have really noticed the intermittent connections since logging this call and would like this investigated further.

Yesterday a member of the Plusnet Team called me and said that there wasn't a fault on the line.  I mentioned that I had seen an increase in Sync speed and he said it was due to SNR margins being reduced to 3dB.

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2016/11/speed-boost-bt-openreach-prep-3db-snr-fttc-broadband-l...

Between 21:00 and 22:12 last night (19th September) I lost internet connection 6 times. This was whilst streaming TV content - in the end I gave up.

I am unsure when the SNR margin change occurred, but I would like to understand when my line was updated to see if the intermittent drops started at the same time as the SNR margins being reduced.

[#11]

I don't believe we can find that out, but if you raise a fault at http://faults.plus.net we can arrange an engineer visit to reset your line in the hope it moves off a 3db target SNR.

[#12]

I'm still getting intermittent drops of the line - 5 over the last 3 days.  

Is this to do with the Plusnet Hub One router?

Is this a line fault?

Is this to be expected from a normal fibre broadband service?  I hope not as when I work from home and I am on conference calls over VOIP it is very frustrating when the line drops.

Any help would be appreciated.

[#13]

Same problems here. I've been sent a new Hub but no luck. Below is the last 24h log worth of disconections (WAN) - since I connected the new one. New Hub original FW was 4.7.5.1.83.8.226, now it's been automatically updated to 4.7.5.1.83.8.237.2.2.

The disconnects started when I returned from holidays at the end of August - this was also the date of the firmware update for the old Hub. Before, I didn't notice any disconnections (or they were really rare).

I had a BT Infinity directly before swithing to Plusnet Fibre and disconnections never happened on my line apart from once in a blue moon... Nothing changed in my house wiring or in the street from when it was rock stable.

Ticket number: 161003033 now closed (!!!) without even confirming if replacing an old with a new Hub solved the issue.

Before you instruct me to switch it on/off or do similar pointless excercises - I have an MSc in Electrical Engineering specialising in signal analysis, I am a network engineer that started my career in X.25 and Frame Relay years and a co-author of code used in Wireshark network analyser.

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): Post released from Spam Filter.

[#14]

Likewise I noticed the increase of dropouts after the firmware upgrade.

But as mentioned my sync speeds have increased also as a result of the SNR margin change. Often when the connection re-establish es the SNR margin is 3.1.

I really need a more stable connection.

Please help Plusnet.