Unlimited Fibre Extra cutting out randomaly

[#1]

@Dan_the_Van Thanks for the reply,

my first question is why does the 8.8.8.8 DNS show up in the error log when the Primary and Secondary DNS are : 212.159.6.10, 212.159.6.9?

You say about the DNS drops not being PN's fault but I also encounter DSL drops which I will attach below. These don't happen as often as the DNS drops but are still an issue as they normally take the internet totally offline for 20-40 seconds.  

I'll have a look at that Broadband Quality Monitor.

I checked on the recent log for more of the DHCPD errors and looked at the IP's and I noticed 192.168.1.105 was my phone, the strength of wifi in my room isn't the best and sometimes it disconnects this is quite strange as the VR2100 was advertised to have excellent range. 

Could this maybe the cause for the amount of ACK messages for 192.168.1.105?

I will try your DNS servers and see if this helps at all.

Thanks, Alex.

[#2]

Hi @UziAtake 

You say about the DNS drops not being PN's fault but I also encounter DSL drops which I will attach below.

I was suggesting if you contacted saying you are getting line drops they would first check for DSL disconnects, DNS request timeouts/drop would need to be discussed separately, bear in mind the front line support staff may not be in the position to diagnose the issue you are reporting. PlusNet DNS hosts are absolutely the responsibility of PlusNet to support.

My log file, the secondary is not used as the primary DNS host resolved the request.

2021-02-08 12:57:28 [6] Httpd: DNS 212.159.13.50 resolve succeed for dns.msftncsi.com
2021-02-08 12:57:28 [6] Httpd: DNS 212.159.13.50 resolve succeed for www.msftncsi.com

Why your router is trying google DNS 8.8.8.8 would be up to TP-Link to answer, suggest you seek support from them if you say your router is not configured for google DNS host. You maybe suffering to latency for you connection, hence why others have suggested to check you phone line and raise a fault.

There are a few network tools you could to try to diagnose your issue, ping, trace route (tracert) and nslookup.

I would check the signal strength in the room where your phone is as regardless of what the box says wifi signals drop over distances, plus 5Ghz signals although faster the connection speed drops as the signal weakens.

From what I can see some devices cling on to a 5Ghz signal even though slower in preference to connecting to a faster 2.4Ghz where they share the same SSID. 

Hope this helps

Dan

[#3]

I've just been having a read through and testing your line, the tests aren't showing any major issues with your connection seeming to be stable recently (picture below), but your speeds are definitely below (marginally) where we'd expect.

@UziAtake wrote:

I've seen the cabinet distance talked about a lot, I have a cabinet about 120m away from my house, I know that the cable might not be 120 meters exactly.

When I checked google maps(2016) it had a number 11 on it but on my BT checker it says my cabinet is 7 which I cannot find in my area it may be hidden somewhere.

why would they put me on another cabinet if I have one that is closer?

It could be due to a variety of reasons, the closer cabinet may be full or more likely it may not be possible to route your line to the closer cabinet due to the distribution point (usually at a pole unless its underground) it runs from.

@UziAtake wrote:

is there a way I can tell if my line is impacted? also If possible are they able to replace the wiring?

We'd always go by the clean estimates unless an engineer specifically advises the line's impacted. If your router's plugged into the test socket the issue would unlikely be any internal wiring you'd be responsible for.

I'd recommend raising a fault ticket by going to faults.plus.net so we can arrange an engineer visit to investigate further. 

I've included a copy of our testing below for some visibility:

GEA Test Detail
Circuit ID	NA	Service ID	[redacted BBEU]

Test Outcome	Pass
Test Outcome Code	GTC_FTTC_SERVICE_0000
Description	GEA service test completed and no fault found .
Main Fault Location	OK
Sync Status	In Sync
Downstream Speed	42.4 Mbps
Upstream Speed	8.5 Mbps
Appointment Required	N
Fault Report Advised	N
NTE Power Status	PowerOn
Voice Line Test Result	Pass
Radio Frequency Ingress	Not Detected
Repetitive Electrical Impulse Noise	Not Detected
Cross Talk	Not Detected
Estimated Line Length In Metres	582.6
Upstream Rate Assessment	Low
Downstream Rate Assessment	Low
Interference Pattern	Regular Interference Observed Daily
Service Impact	No Impact Observed
Interference Duration Longest Occurrence	;00:00to23:45
Interference Location	Customer Premise
Interference Observed In Days	14
Home Wiring Problem	Not Detected
Downstream Policing Discard Rate	0.0
Customer Traffic Level	Upstream and Downstream traffic detected
Technology	VDSL
DP Type	External
Profile Name	0.128M-55M Downstream 6dB, Interleaving Low - 0.128M-8.5M Upstream, Error Protection Off
Time Stamp	2021-01-28T10:45:00

Parameters	MIN	MAX	AVG
Down Stream Line Rate	42.4 Mbps	46.7 Mbps	43.0 Mbps
Up Stream Line Rate	8.4 Mbps	8.4 Mbps	8.4 Mbps
Up Time	0.0 Sec	900.0 Sec	898.4 Sec
Retrains	0.0	5.0	0.0

Current and Last 15 Minute Bin Performance
Parameters	Last Traffic Count(Upto 15 mins)	Current Traffic Count(Upto 15 mins)
Start Time Stamp	2021-02-10T10:16:46.284+00:00	2021-02-10T10:31:46.284+00:00
Ingress Code Violation	0	0
Egress Code Violation	0	0
Errored Seconds	0	0
Severely Errored Seconds	0	0
Unavailable Seconds	0	0

[#4]

@Dan_the_Van I had phoned up PN phone support and got through to an advisor who told me the only issue he could see was possible radio wave interference and told me to try move my router, which I can't right now as I need to order a longer RJ11 cable. 

The DNS issues are still happening on PN's default DNS's.

I will try and get in contact with TP-Link and see why the 8.8.8.8 is being used and I'll let you know If I get a reply.

I've tried a few ping testers recently and I will list a few results if you would like.

The wifi strength isn't really a worry right now as my main focus is the whole connection dropping out, so I'll come back to that once this is fixed.

Thanks, Alex.

[#5]

@gang thanks for the reply,

I have now just plugged my router directly into the test socket and my speed has risen from 37 to 40, what speeds we're you expecting me to reach may I ask? 

I will continue to monitor the line whilst plugged into the test socket and I'll update you with logs and any information.

I looked into the cabinets a bit more and understand a little more so no worries about that.

My main worry about calling out an engineer is the charge that might occur, what would they charge me for? The master socket was replaced at 6/11/19 because of poor download speeds (25mbps) then after that I started experiencing consistent broadband drop outs, I alerted the staff who we're in the open ticket and was told that it was stable for 2 days and that they ignored it. it got to the point during peak corona lockdown that I wasn't able to get hold of a support member which was understandable so I left it for a while. this was the original errors I was receiving on the PlusNet One Hub Type A: 

13:49:37, 24 Nov. (60005.930000) CWMP: session closed due to error: Could not resolve host
13:49:37, 24 Nov. (60005.900000) CWMP: Server URL: https://dbtpnhdm.bt.mo; Connecting as user: ACS username
13:49:37, 24 Nov. (60005.890000) CWMP: Session start now. Event code(s): '4 VALUE CHANGE'
13:49:36, 24 Nov. (60005.560000) CWMP: Initializing transaction for event code 4 VALUE CHANGE
13:49:34, 24 Nov. (60002.830000) PTM over DSL is down after 263 minutes uptime
13:49:34, 24 Nov. (60002.830000) PPPoE is down after 262 minutes uptime [Waiting for Underlying Connection (WAN Ethernet 7 -​ Down)]
13:49:31, 24 Nov. (60000.150000) PPP LCP Send Termination Request [User request]

If there is anything else you require to help with this investigation please let me know.

Thanks, Alex

[#6]

@Gandalf also I am receiving about 7-8 upload this was about 10-12 during corona lockdown, do you have any idea why this has dropped and do PlusNet have a minimum guarantee for the upload speed? 

Thanks, Alex.

[#7]

DSL

Line Status: Connected

DSL Up Time: 0 Days 2 Hours 2 Minutes 

DSL Modulation Type: VDSL2 

Annex Type: Annex Auto 

	Upstream	Downstream
Current Rate (kbps)	8495	45421
Max Rate (kbps)	12269	73511
SNR Margin (dB)	9	6.2
Line Attenuation (dB)	26	13.8
Errors (pkts)	0	8543

Current stats in the test socket

[#8]

@UziAtake 

At the request of @Gandalf  you should now raise a fault using link faults.plus.net You need to be logged into the members centre. Keep the modem/router plugged into the test socket.

Also I suggest you visit https://speedtest.btwholesale.com/  and perform test, also use the Additional Diagnostic option. This test MUST be performed with a wired connection as a WiFi connections can give spurious results.

Is the phone line clear of noises when using the test socket? (dial 17070 then 2.)

If you see improvements whilst plugged into the test socket it would suggest you have issues with any extension cables you have attached to the master socket. 

Dan