This isn't acceptable (router rebooting for no reason)

[#1]

Hi @demonix01, really sorry about that.

I have updated the existing ticket for you, if you can please reply (and let us know on here once done). We'll pick it up for you.

[#2]

Ticket has been updated although I'm hoping that they don't sent the same engineer that they did for the last two as he didn't have a blind clue as to what I was talking about what had been requested to be done as he said that the openreach engineers don't do any of those checks.

[#3]

Hi @demonix01,

Thanks for getting back in touch with us. I've updated the ticket on your account today regarding your request. If you need to make any amendments to this then please let us know as soon as possible.

[#4]

The engineer turned up earlier on today and only did the basic tests, but after I explained everything including what happens with the hub when the connection drops (which I have already explained a few posts ago) he has concluded that it is an authentication issue (and I would now have to second that) which now puts this in your hands since this is a plusnet issue and nothing to do with the network or my line in general.

[#5]

Hi @demonix01

We've checked your router's details remotely and we can see that your connection up time was 16 days even though we can see disconnections from the logs file which confirms that it is an authentication issue. As this is an issue that a faulty router is likely to cause, we would like to send you another router to see if that makes a difference. I will update the fault ticket for you and confirm the router order. You can view your fault ticket on here

[#6]

The new hub turned up yesterday and was set up, but it didn't take 24 hours before the connection dropped again which I kind of expected since when I ruled out the original hub being the issue by going back to the old router and the openreach modem, I was getting a loss of DSL at the modem even though the records at your end at the time showed a constant connection, so I'm certain that the authentication issue isn't at this end.

[#7]

Hello @demonix01,

Thank you for testing with the new router.

I have retested the line and can see that the connection is still intermittent. The escalation owner has been updated with the steps that we expect our suppliers to carry out next.

I'm afraid that as the issue persists, we do need to arrange a further visit. Could you kindly reply to the ticket here with your availability for the visit then let us know on here so we can pick it up as soon as possible.

Thanks again.

[#8]

I have responded, but I'm only providing one time of availability as this has been going on for too long and the requested slot should be available at this time, but of the tests done by this engineer show no issues at this end and still verifies that the issue is down to an authentication issue I will be taking this up with the ombudsman service at get some resolution to this fault.

[#9]

Hi @demonix01,

Thank you for providing your availability, I've booked your engineer appointment in for the slot that you've requested. I'm very sorry for the length of time that this fault has been ongoing for and for the inconvenience caused

[#10]

Slight update (even though the engineer can't be cancelled at this point) as I've had nearly two days of connection stability, but the issues I've had recently with ping being unstable in certain games (which I noted before a recent connection drop although it was worse and spiking ping to over 500ms at times) was present yesterday which means that I'm going to have to be up early to check the router logs to see if there were any connection drops whilst I'm asleep.

[#11]

Hello @demonix01,

Thank you for getting in touch to confirm stability.

The connection had dropped however, this was around 03:15am. Either way, I would have recommended keeping the engineer booked to allow the investigation to continue.

After testing the line, it's too early to tell if the service has become stable. The engineer notes have confirmed that you have "various specific IT equipment" connected to the router. Are you able to disconnect all of these devices to see if the issue persists?

Thanks again.

[#12]

I would really like to know how someone can consider a Raspberry Pi (which is hardly ever on) a 5 port 10/100 switch (which has already been eliminated as a probable cause), an outdated iPod touch (which has also been eliminated as a possible cause), a PS3 (which is hardly ever used), a wireless printer (which is only ever turned on one every two weeks) and 2 computers (which aren't on all the time and were off for at least 50% or more of the total connection drops) as various specific IT equipment and I can see this as another attempt to put blame onto something that isn't the cause and of which having to disconnect said items from the network would limit my access to the internet and my ability to apply and log my jobsearch activity (which could result in sanctions along with a loss of money).

As I said previously, if this engineer gave the same response that the fault in an authentication issue and nothing to do with the line itself then I would be passing this on to the ombudsman service which is what happened and so I will be gathering all evidence and passing it on to them as soon as possible.

Edit: Also the penetration tests seen in the router logs only started just before 1PM on 9/5 as no further records are shown before that for either that or any other attempts to gain access from the outside and should not be considered as a possible cause for these connection drops.

[#13]

Hi @demonix01

Thanks for the update. Although I find it unlikely that those devices would cause drops in connection, I obviously can't rule it out (as I have no idea how they interact with your line or our router).

I've taken a look at your line and visualized the recent drops here. As you can see, the line has only physically dropped twice in the last 48 hours and one of those drops was caused by the engineer testing your services.

At this stage, I would recommend monitoring the line with as many of the devices you have disconnected as possible to see if the drops continue (from our side) and the lag issues continue (from your side).

If no lag/drops occur with the devices disconnected we can attribute the issue to one of the devices, if they continue, we'll know it's purely down to the service we're providing and will have to re-raise this back to our suppliers for investigation.

Best wishes

Dave

[#14]

Another update that I'm now coming up on 4 days of stable DSL uptime, and I have done absolutely nothing as all devices have remained connected the whole time, however there are still intermittent issues when it comes to higher then expected ping (although it's not to the point where a game would become unplayable) in certain games (when I can monitor such things since not all the games that require internet access have visible ping counters and I can only base lag on those on how quickly the reaction is between my inputs and what happens with the characters actions) along with high intermittent ping on discord voice channels although in both cases this can change over the course of a day with ping being unstable in one session and staying at expected levels a few hours later (discord voice hasn't been as bad as it has been when the connection was constantly dropping, although I have noted in some instances where ping would be around 79ms and then spike up to around 500ms for a few seconds however as I already mentioned voice has been more constantly stable with none of the extended cut outs and extended robot voices that happened during the drops), so what I might do the next time I have abnormally increased levels of ping is to run that games checker which includes network diagnostics so if those issues do stem from a glitch in the route then I at least have that evidence.

Also in relation to the radius information, the computers weren't on and thus would have any active connection with the router for all bar about 2 of those drops (that weren't caused by the engineer test, and even then they were still off) so that would have ruled out practically everything bar the roku which can be ruled out anyway since the connection drops have ceased.

Regardless, the primary issue has ceased so far (although I might have cursed myself by saying that and it could easily drop while I'm asleep) although I'm still not happy about the whole situation and that there is seemingly no explanation as to what was causing it to begin with.

[#15]

Thanks for getting back to us.

I'm glad to hear your connection has been stable for the past 4 days. Unfortunately we'd struggle to definitively find out what caused the drops previously as our testing weren't and still aren't finding any causes for them.

With regards to your latency is your computer connecting over WiFi or directly to the router using an ethernet cable without any switches or powerline adapters in place?

If you're on a wired connection, the next time you notice a lot of lag could you run a traceroute to pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com posting up the results?