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Internet issues.

Method0ne
Grafter
Posts: 134
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎12-12-2008

Internet issues.

For the last 30-45 minutes my fibre connection has been up and down like a yoyo, nothing on the service status shows a problem, and I'm sick of waiting for customer support to pick up the phone.
As and when it does connect it seems stable for a few secs then dies again, the connection shows active but no throughput.
When it's down, my routers status page shows the following (ignore the timestamp, not set for DST);
  Oct 13 12:43:39  daemon  pppd[4162]: PPP: Start to connect ... 
  Oct 13 12:43:42  user  syslog: ping -c 1 8.8.8.8 &
  Oct 13 12:44:02  daemon  pppd[4162]: Couldn't get channel number: Transport endpoint is not connected
  Oct 13 12:44:02  daemon  pppd[4162]: PPP: PPP Server No Response !!!

So far since this started this is the longest I've managed to stay connected, fingers crossed it means whatever was broken is now fixed, but I've lost ~2mbit down and ~500kbit up during this period.
22 REPLIES 22
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Internet issues.

Hi Method0ne,
Sorry about the connection issues.
Apologies for the long wait on the phone too. In your case I'd advise reporting a fault online at http://faults.plus.net as this takes you through a few steps of checks to carry out from your side along with giving you a way of reporting such issues without needing to call.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
Method0ne
Grafter
Posts: 134
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎12-12-2008

Re: Internet issues.

While the problems persisted there was no way for me to report a fault online, regardless of that I carried out every test known to me to fix anything that might have been an issue on my end, none of which had any effect whatsoever, this was an issue outside of my home which I had no control over.
As to the speed loss, I'll give it a day or two to settle and see if the connection stabilises, at which point I'll try the usual manual disconnect and modem reset til I can determine whether this is due to dslam throttling during the faulty period or some other factor.
In the meantime I wouldn't mind an explanation as to what caused the outage, since it was nothing at my end that could have caused it.
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Internet issues.

Quote
there was no way for me to report a fault online,

In that case I'd make a note of the URL of the fault checker that I've linked you to in case you need that again .
Quote
In the meantime I wouldn't mind an explanation as to what caused the outage, since it was nothing at my end that could have caused it.

We do get asked that a lot, unfortunately it's rarely possible for us to categorically state what might have caused an isolated disconnection.
Let us know though if that becomes a problem again! Smiley
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
Method0ne
Grafter
Posts: 134
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎12-12-2008

Re: Internet issues.

Making a note of the URL is something I've done, but I'm not entirely sure how my notepad will connect to it, it's only a 99p job and I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a sim card Wink
You can be sure I'll let you know if the problem returns, especially since apparently there's no explanation to be found as to why the PPP servers (wherever they may be) were either down or not allowing connections from me during the time period (between 1pm-2pm).
As I stated, there was no issue on my end of any kind, no equipment malfunction, no settings changes, no power cuts, no line issues, was in the middle of browsing and poof goes my connection.
While I appreciate that this isn't a major issue that affects hundreds or thousands of people, if my connection hadn't come back up seemingly of it's own accord then who knows how long this would have been a problem, I'd been on the phone for at least 30 minutes with no answer at that point.
Method0ne
Grafter
Posts: 134
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎12-12-2008

Re: Internet issues.

Update as of 4:21am 22/10/14
This same thing just occurred, same error in the router log, thankfully it only lasted a couple of minutes, but it still happened and I still have no explanation as to why.
My speeds have also dropped further, now getting ~28/6 instead of the 34/7 I've had since install, I'm guessing that's due to the two instances of disconnection that are out of my control.
I'd appreciate someone actually looking into this, since my connection has been rock solid up until the last two weeks (at least as far as I can tell, it's never dropped out while I've been actively using the internet).
EDIT;
Performed manual disconnect and rebooted vdsl modem, speeds remain at 28/6 (if this drops to 27 then it falls outside the acceptable range on the BT speedtest).
BT speedtest shows my profile at 33.84 down which is lower than it used to be.
PN line speed shows at 30.4.
Something is clearly amiss here, awaiting further response.
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Internet issues.

Hey Method0ne,
Sorry to see there's issues again.
Just to set an expectation we can't always give a direct answer as to why a disconnection occurred but do raise a fault with us and we'll get you sorted.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
Method0ne
Grafter
Posts: 134
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎12-12-2008

Re: Internet issues.

Fault reported, hopefully I can get some kind of answer as to why the disconnects happened in the first place (and a fix to stop it happening again) and almost as importantly get back the speed I've lost as a result.
As mentioned in my previous post, if my downstream drops another 1mbit it will fall outside of the acceptable estimate that BT gives, hoping it doesn't come to that, but if it does then at least there's something further to be looked into regarding how and why I've lost upwards of 6mbit/1mbit of throughput d/u.
The fault reporter didn't ask me to check anything though, which was odd, I suspect I'll be getting contacted regarding that stage.
Method0ne
Grafter
Posts: 134
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎12-12-2008

Re: Internet issues.

As per ticket #93469240 stating that testing could take up to 24hrs, I waited til 4pm to try a daytime modem reset hoping that may take rein out of the equation, no changes to speed at all.
I've also yet to hear back on that ticket and it's currently been 25+hrs.
Anyone care to look into it?
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Internet issues.

Hey Method0ne,
Our faults team aim to respond to such issues within 72 hours so bear with us and someone will get back to you.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
Method0ne
Grafter
Posts: 134
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎12-12-2008

Re: Internet issues.

Misleading, the support ticket says 24hrs for testing, once that testing is complete I'd expect at least some feedback (i.e. more tests needed, still looking into it), rather than having to wait a further 2 days, or more likely 3+ since it's now the weekend, hell the ticket hasn't even been updated to say that anything has actually been done at all.
It also seems I've had another disconnect sometime during the last couple of hours, wasn't awake at the time but even so, that makes at least 3 unexpected drops in the last fortnight, on the plus side it seems my download speed has increased to 33mbit, still not as fast as it used to be but better, the upload has dropped though to 5.36. (Stats taken from BT tester, which now shows my profile at 34.11 down, PN almost matched at 33.8)
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Internet issues.

Hi Method0ne,
No one is trying to mislead you, it's correct that the automated testing takes up to 24 hours. Beyond that our faults team need to pick the ticket up and get back to you that's why it's up to 72 hours.
Just need to set an expectation that one or two disconnections per day can be quite normal and isn't regarded as a fault. However if the disconnections do happen at a level that impacts on your service in a more significant way such as causing DLM to lower your speeds then we should be able to take this further.
I'll leave the call on that to our faults guys for now.
Please drop us an update here if you don't hear anything back by approximately 14.30 tomorrow.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
Method0ne
Grafter
Posts: 134
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎12-12-2008

Re: Internet issues.

If it can take the faults team that long to pick the ticket up and get a response then surely having the automated support ticket state that would be much more understandable for myself and others, if something states 24hrs then I expect some kind of response at the end of that timeframe, if I hadn't come back here to mention it I'd have been non-the-wiser regarding the *actual* timeframe since it's not mentioned at all on the ticket.
As to setting an expectation that random disconnects that can take minutes to give me a working connection are normal? Not likely, and being told that hasn't exactly helped my mood on the matter.
Since the start of my fibre connection up until the first issue I reported here I've had zero disconnections that weren't manual that I can recall, and in the event of the first issue my connection was for all intents and purposes dead for the better part of 45mins, in what world would you accept that as "normal" when you're a paying customer? And why should I accept it?
As to the impact, it's pretty evident to me that *something* had lowered my speeds to a borderline acceptable level according to BT's own speedtest, there is no other explanation to be given other than DLM intervention due to nothing at all changing with either my home wiring or my hardware or in fact anything in my control. The fact that my download speed (upload still affected) has improved after another random disconnect (but still lower than it used to be) is irrelevant.
Now if you'd kindly stop telling a long time, satisfied, paying customer that is now disgruntled due to lack of clear instruction, and lack of apparent action regarding a reported fault to basically "deal with it" then that would be most appreciated.
Method0ne
Grafter
Posts: 134
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎12-12-2008

Re: Internet issues.

Amazing how quickly you get personal contact from customer service after having a good rant.
Ticket updated with details of testing (shame that test wasn't yesterday when my speeds were *barely* acceptable according to BT results) and an engineer due tomorrow between 8am and 1pm to check on things.
Rest assured I'll be keeping you posted.
Method0ne
Grafter
Posts: 134
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎12-12-2008

Re: Internet issues.

Engineer just left.
He replaced *everything* that was owned by BT that was on my premises, including *all* the stuff that the installation engineer was supposed to have done but didn't, ran a few tests, and in his own words "You couldn't ask for a better line, I've never seen test results so good."
Of course that was just for the line itself, connection wise it's back up and active again after his tests and hardware replacement, I'm gonna give it a few days before I try speedtests due to DLM reset as well as the amount of hardware swapping for his testing.
Anything excepting loss of sync from here on out can only be either my hardware (Billion 7800n 1.06h firmware) or your hardware.
I'll revisit this thread in a week or so with speedtest results, or sooner if any more issues occur.