Struggling to sync after a router reboot (Fritz!Box 7490)

[#1]

Apologies for the long back story but it helps to set the scene...

I had Plusnet installed at our new house in April last year. As there was no line, Openreach attended to install a new master socket in the garage. I got talking to the fella and told him I was using my own kit and (I presume) because of this, he did not leave us with an Openreach modem which at the time didn't really bother me as I had a shiny new Fritz!Box 7490 to plug in. After Googling the settings, I was up and running in less than 10 minutes and that was that.

Fast forward 12 months, around a month ago. I read with interest that BT were implementing G.INP - I didn't think we'd benefit from it but having been monitoring my upload speeds I noticed them creep upwards from our original estimates (and actual sync speeds) of around 30meg to closer to 40meg. Great stuff - or so I thought, because that's when the problems started.

We started getting frequent disconnections, and when that happened it took hours (4 hours the worst) to reconnect. I raised a support ticket with PN only to be told my line had been checked and there were no problems.

Today I had to disconnect my comms cabinet (yes, full blown comms cabinet, switches, NAS, firewall and all - this is relevant later) and upon reconnection of all the kit (of which only the power was removed from the modem) I'm STILL waiting for a sync.

I called PN and spoke to a chap who would not deviate from the script; turn it off and back on again (yes...I did that before I called), reset the settings (why...it's not your router and I've not changed any settings), try the master socket (erm...sorry I cannot fit an RJ45 socket into an RJ11 port - that's what's on my MK3 Openreach master socket). All he could offer was an engineer visit for which I'd be charged if it was found to be my kit.

The second chap was more useful and spent more time diagnosing issues with my line but still came to the same conclusion that it was customer-side and that an engineer visit would be required. I explained the situation with the missing Openreach modem and was told that they are combined units these days. So I asked if I could have one of the new combined modems/routers...no. The reason - I'm "only in contract for another five months" (makes a mental note of this answer as it will be useful in 5 months...)

So I'm in a no-win situation now for which the only outcome is BTO charging me for the privilege of proving my line is OK.

Plusnet want me to use the original equipment, I can't do that because only a router (no modem) was supplied

Plusnet wont provide me with said kit because of my contract status

NOTHING about my router has changed in the last 12 months, it has been rock solid throughout

The only thing that has changed is G.INP being enabled on my line

I don't know where to go with this so I'm hoping for some inspiration from the forums.

Does anybody else suffer long re-sync times following a reboot/powercycle?

Has anybody else with a Fritz!Box had G.INP enabled with adverse effects?

HELP!!! 

[#2]

I first began to suspect a problem with the Fritz!box 7490 & G.INP about a week ago - link

Its also affecting Draytek 2850 and 2750.  Draytek are aware of the issue but basically said their equipment isn't compatible with G.INP and instead have offered owners a trade-in discount of ~£100 to buy an updated model.

There should be some temporary relief due as Openreach are currently rolling back G.INP on the ECI cabs.
In the meantime it may be worthwhile contacting AVM to see if they can push out any updated firmware.

Another trick that may help as suggested by another Fritz!box owner (sorry cant recall off top of my head to give credit - but I know it helped simon), is to lower the sync speed either by using a higher SNR margin or speed capping the line.

[#3]

Are you using the latest available firmware, and is it configured appropriately for the Openreach FTTC VDSL2 service? It would probably be best to refer to the VDSL2 layer requirements in BT SIN 498 yourself, available from http://www.btplc.com/sinet/ - specifically things like only using tone-sets A43 and A43C, and UPBO, SRA, retransmission/G.INP, and G.vector should all be enabled.

If you have only recently had G.INP enabled, then you must be on an ECI cabinet, in which case G.INP has apparently been disabled again on ECI cabinets.

[#4]

I've used a 7490 on a g.inp enabled circuit without these issues but it's a Huawei cab, not ECI, so probably not relevant.

I'll try and take a more detailed look at your circuit tomorrow if I get the chance. Might be worth messaging me your username in the meantime in case I struggle to locate your account.

[#5]

What is strange is that G.INP has (if the stats of the Fritz!Box are reliable) been enabled on up and downstream for months - as I said above, my downstream speeds had been getting better before the wheels came off.

The Fritz!Box is configured as much as it can be for PN using information available on this forum and on PN's own support pages. 

The recent issues with syncing (I've still not got sync 3 hours after I powered the router back on) have nothing to do with my configuration as it's worked since day one with the same configuration that is currently on there. I'm even doubting G.INP as the cause as I'm almost certain it's been on my line longer than 4 weeks (which is how long things have been dire).

Really, I just want PN to supply the kit that should have been supplied originally, I'm happy to return the standalone router they provided and happy to pay postage - it's not entire PN's fault I'm in this position, BTO should have left a modem and I should have raised it sooner, but it's within PN's gift to resolve this by providing their own kit. The answer which I took to mean "if you [-Censored-] off in 5 months then you've had a new router out of us" left a sour taste in my mouth and actually made me more likely to switch given this is the first time I've needed support and been let down quite spectacularly.

[#6]

the fritzboxes and asus modem's should be banned by openreach since they not sin compliant.

[#7]

@djbenson  

It may be an idea to double-check whether you are on an ECI or Huawei cab.

See: How to look up your FTTC cabinet type

[#8]

There are plenty of BT HH5's, PN Hub Ones, or Openreach modems on well known online auction sites for not a lot of money. Or PN will no doubt give you Hub One for the cost of postage, but may want to sign you up to a new contract. At least then you will have something to use if you have issues and need to speak to the help desk.

[#9]

@kitz

I had a feeling it was a Huawei  cabinet and having checked via the Magenta Systems site (and remembering what the physical cabinet looks like) it is indeed Huawei. Does that not make things a little more "interesting" as the Huawei are supposed to be OK with G.INP aren't they?

Thankfully, my line has just achieved sync (3.5 hours after it went down) so whilst it's up I've grabbed my stats page. Anything suspect here?

DSL Central Exchange
DSL version 1.100.133.21	28.298 kbit/s 5.547 kbit/s			Broadcom 164.140 B5004244434D 7631302E 00

Negotiated Connection Properties

		Receive direction	Send direction
Max. DSLAM throughput	kbit/s	55000	20000
Min. DSLAM throughput	kbit/s	128	0
Attainable throughput	kbit/s	28514	5547
Current throughput	kbit/s	28298	5547
Seamless rate adaptation		off	off
Latency		fast	fast
Impulse noise protection		44	44
G.INP		on	on
Signal-to-noise ratio	dB	6	6
Bitswap		on	on
Line attenuation	dB	26	44
Profile	17a
G.Vector		off	off
Carrier record		A43c	A43c

[#10]

And my advanced SDSL settings;

Connection Settings

The connection settings are already set to the most frequently used values. You can change these values if needed.

Change connection settings

Internet connection

Maintain permanently (recommended for flat rates)

 Delay disconnection by provider to the period between 0 - 1 1 - 2 2 - 3 3 - 4 4 - 5 5 - 6 6 - 7 7 - 8 8 - 9 9 - 10 10 - 11 11 - 12 12 - 13 13 - 14 14 - 15 15 - 16 16 - 17 17 - 18 18 - 19 19 - 20 20 - 21 21 - 22 22 - 23 23 - 24

Clear idle connection (recommended for time- or usage-based rates)

Clear automatically after seconds

VLAN Settings

Please note that a VLAN ID is required only in special cases. The required ID was supplied by your Internet service provider.

Use VLAN for Internet access

VLAN-ID

DSL ATM Settings

Detect Automatically
Set manually

VPI
VCI

Encapsulation

PPPoE
PPPoA / LLC
PPPoA / VC-Mux

[#11]

It does indeed make things interesting..  and why it should start to happen now.

It will be interesting to see if Bob can see anything tomorrow on your circuit.
I take it that you do have the latest f/w as suggested by ejs?

[#12]

@kitz @ejs

I do indeed have the latest firmware (which again has been constant throughout my use of PN with the Fritz!Box).

I've emailed AVM asking if they have any firmware updates in the pipeline as the current firmware is quite old and the 7490 is still their flagship device but (at the risk of sounding like a stuck record) it's been solid until the last month.

[#13]

There's a beta v6.36 which I've updated to, so far no issues.

https://service.avm.de/downloads/beta/fritzbox_7490/

I found with g.inp enabled only by increasing the snr to 8dB would it retain a connection. This was done by setting the Line settings as follows

[#14]

I've been monitoring the beta folder for months but had only seen German-language files so cheers for the heads up.

I'm really reluctant to update because I might not get back online this evening but here goes...

[#15]

The file contains the old firmware as well.