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Unstable FTTC today, not normal for our connection

Pendragon
Rising Star
Posts: 445
Thanks: 9
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Registered: ‎07-04-2007

Unstable FTTC today, not normal for our connection

Don’t know what is up with our FTTC connection today but we are having problems maintaining a stable connection.
Attached are a few snapshots of the FEC errors also the router logs, the errors are coming in bursts and not only knocking out the internet connection to Plusnet but at times causing a complete reset of the routers DSL connection.
This for us is not normal, we usually have a very good and stable connection because the cabinet is only round the corner about 250 Mtrs away. From the stats it also looks like DLM is starting to get upset and reducing our connection speed, we do have G.inp enabled but it is really working overtime today.
The line seems quiet and telephone calls seem normal so no idea what is up, don’t expect any help until Monday but if someone could have a look from Plusnet end and see if your logs show anything it would be appreciated.
Regards, P.
13 REPLIES 13
jafreer
Aspiring Pro
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Registered: ‎13-10-2012

Re: Unstable FTTC today, not normal for our connection

The y-axis on your graphs is capped. You need to change it to see just how high the error spikes are getting. It may not reveal much but at least will let you see how bad the error bursts are.
Pendragon
Rising Star
Posts: 445
Thanks: 9
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎07-04-2007

Re: Unstable FTTC today, not normal for our connection

Yes I am aware the graph is capped and did have a look at the uncapped picture but the errors were only a little higher than that shown so went with the pictures I already had.
Looks like DLM has really kicked in this morning, Interleave in now on both down and up streams, it was only 8 on downstream last night. Also the Upstream SNR has changed from around 14db yesterday to 9.6db today and finally the IMP starts have changed from 47.00 down and 0.0 up, to 54.00 down and 47.00 up.
Error seconds have dropped to 0.0 again today although we still have the odd small burst (6 FEC per min) on the upstream side, but this seems normal for our line. Speeds seem normal so can’t complain too much just seems odd that the system was playing up so much, anyway will keep monitoring and see how things go.
The only odd thing is that yesterday our neighbour was using one of those ‘Henry’ type large vacuum cleaners and the bursts seemed to coincide with them switching it on and off, would such a thing cause this problem?
I know electric arc welders would cause havoc with ADSL lines in the countryside if someone was using one close to your house or overhead cables.
Stats recorded 23 Aug 2015 12:40:24
DSLAM/MSAN type:        BDCM:0xa48c / v0xa48c
Modem/router firmware:  AnnexA version - A2pv6F039g1.d24m
DSL mode:              VDSL2 Profile 17a
Status:                Showtime
Uptime:                5 hours 8 min 51 sec
Resyncs:                0 (since 23 Aug 2015 11:31:51)

Downstream Upstream
Line attenuation (dB):  10.2 0.0
Signal attenuation (dB): Not monitored
Connection speed (kbps): 76056 20000
SNR margin (dB):        6.4 9.6
Power (dBm):            13.4 -3.7
Interleave depth:      8 8
INP:                    54.00 47.00
G.INP:                  Enabled
RSCorr/RS (%):          0.0000 44.6920
RSUnCorr/RS (%):        0.0000 0.0000
ES/hour:                0 0
Regards, P.
mlmclaren
Grafter
Posts: 855
Registered: ‎04-12-2014

Re: Unstable FTTC today, not normal for our connection

Looks like you have G.INP enabled on your upstream... which is good Smiley
jafreer
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 858
Thanks: 41
Registered: ‎13-10-2012

Re: Unstable FTTC today, not normal for our connection

Quote from: The
Looks like you have G.INP enabled on your upstream

Which also explains why your error seconds are now zero.
Yes, a vacuum cleaner can inject noise. Finding the sources of noise can be a real pain but if it is some form of mains noise there are a few things you can do.
Do you have the modem plugged directly into the master socket or is there any extension wiring? If extension wiring, is it twisted pair or flat cable, and does it run in close proximity to any mains wiring?
Some people put an EMI filter on their modem power lead to try and prevent noise coming in from the mains wiring.
MatthewWheeler
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
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Registered: ‎01-01-2012

Re: Unstable FTTC today, not normal for our connection

It looks like the entire connection is down now.
A engineer visit is required so I've just updated your fault ticket.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Matthew Wheeler
 Plusnet Help Team
Pendragon
Rising Star
Posts: 445
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Registered: ‎07-04-2007

Re: Unstable FTTC today, not normal for our connection

First may I thank all the individuals who replied to this thread and supplied helpful replies, unfortunately late on Sunday afternoon around 4:35 the FTTC connection passed away and died.
After waiting around 30 min for it to come back up I decided to report it to support and this is where I became an unhappy bunny. For the first time since dealing with Force9 now Plusnet I felt like a commodity not a customer.
For starters it took a wait of 20 min just to get an agent, on discussing the problem with the agent it was implied though not specifically stated that unless I changed the router (I use a BILLION 8800NL) to the Openreach modem it was possible the problem would not proceed.
As the ‘problem’ was simply ‘No DSL light’ and no connection to our local FTTC cabinet let alone no internet, changing the modem was unlikely to solve anything but I followed procedure and changed the required item. Testing by the agent confirmed there was a problem but didn’t seem to suggest what it was, but that an engineer visit was required. The agent told me an engineering ‘slot’ was available on Wednesday and he would arrange everything for then.
An aside here for the training of your agents, it might help if some extra training could be instigated in the difference between how ADSL synchronises to an exchange and FTTC to the local cabinet.
Also why in this high speed so called 21st century can’t the cabinet report a dead connection direct to Openreach so they can get an engineer to have a look while he is on site fixing other lines, at least 3 other engineers were at the cabinet over the last 4 days.
At this point we had no access to the internet at all and before all you cleaver people suggest ‘Why didn’t you tether or use your mobile phone’? Well even though we live in a village of some 3,000 people we can only get a mobile G or unstable E (Edge) connection, have you tried to access the Plusnet website with each page taking 3 to 5 min to load, and that was when the connection did report ‘internet was available’.
So onward and upward, no phone calls from anyone to say what was happening, nothing, now I’m back on line I can see why, the problem is reported in my messages as ‘Intermittent’, funny I reported it to the agent a dead Jim.
On Tuesday I receive a Text message advising me an engineer would be required to call and could I advise on suitable times for this to happen (odd I thought this was all in hand). The upshot was an engineer visit was scheduled for this morning.
I assume this was because of the above message left by Matthew.
I know Openreach gets the raw end of our wroth from time to time but this guy was top marks, first he rang me shortly after 8:00 before he left his base to check if I was home, arrived when he said he would and had time to chat and work with me. Sad thing is his job report was ‘Fault with customer’s equipment’, he took one look at my ‘no DSL’ light and was off to the cabinet in a flash. One hour later it was fixed, and he stayed while I re-installed my Billion just so he was reassured there was nothing wrong with my equipment.
So at the end of the day, well done to Openreach, but customer care needs some real work at your end Plusnet, I can remember the days when someone would call and check if everything was going to plan, when being a customer mattered, that sadly is no longer the case and it’s not just Plusnet. Once the bean counters get to start their counting the beans are no longer an individual just another pod to harvest.
Sorry about the long post but sometimes you have to inform to reform, regards, P.
MatthewWheeler
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
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Registered: ‎01-01-2012

Re: Unstable FTTC today, not normal for our connection

I'm sorry to hear about what happened and I will feed back where I can.
You were correct about the text message being me.
All aside I'm glad to see your back online.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Matthew Wheeler
 Plusnet Help Team
Pendragon
Rising Star
Posts: 445
Thanks: 9
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Registered: ‎07-04-2007

Re: Unstable FTTC today, not normal for our connection

@Matthew
Thanks for picking up on the fact I was really ‘offline’ with a down connection and getting things underway for repair.
I forgot to mention the Openreach guy even contacted his support centre and had a line reset done on the line. He did it because the Openreach modem was an old ECI and as I expect you know they don’t (or didn’t) talk to well with Huawei cabinets until the firmware is upgraded.
The Huawei didn’t like the ECI so disabled all the G.inp error corrections because the firmware had not been upgraded, rather than wait for the modem to update we swapped back to the Billion so the DLM can put things right in a few days.
Speed is a little down on normal but we can live with that until things settle down and DLM has had its sort out over the next few days. Will post again if any problems crop up.
Regards, P.
Pendragon
Rising Star
Posts: 445
Thanks: 9
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Registered: ‎07-04-2007

Re: Unstable FTTC today, not normal for our connection

@Matthew if your reading this an update for you;
Last night around 5:30 the DSL dropped out again, no internet and no connection at all, I rang in the problem, the 1 hour wait in queue was expected in view of your system failure.
Support added it to my ‘On Hold’ ticket for action today, however this morning when I checked the Openreach modem, all lights were on and it seems we have a DSL connection again (and internet as I am posting this  ;)). I did see a Kelly Communications van in the village this morning so I don’t know if anything he did while working at the cabinet restarted my port or if it was just coincidence.
I ask if you would kindly leave the ticket open for the moment as I would like to keep an eye on things just in case the port thing is faulty, I will try and let you know if it fails again.
My commiserations to the staff on last night when your system got it’s panties in a panic and screwed up, the chap I talked too remained quite upbeat in the face of the pressure he was under.
Regards, P.
MatthewWheeler
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
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Re: Unstable FTTC today, not normal for our connection

Doesn't paint a pretty picture I'm afraid.

Testing isn't flagging any issues up so I think it's best to monitor it for now.
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 Matthew Wheeler
 Plusnet Help Team
Pendragon
Rising Star
Posts: 445
Thanks: 9
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎07-04-2007

Re: Unstable FTTC today, not normal for our connection

@Matthew
Thanks for getting back to me and providing a pretty picture (says more than I ever could), the drops on Saturday 22nd agree with my stats from the Billion, same again on Sunday when the DSL dropped completely.
The Openreach guy did say he didn’t know why the port in the cabinet shut down, there was no error messages (led’s I assume), so he could only re-boot it. His tests confirmed all seemed well and with all error corrections now off (G.inp disabled etc) he measured the speed at 71.1 meg downstream 18.5 up.
Last night when the DSL failed again I changed back to the Openreach ECI modem so you could run remote tests if you needed and to conform to ‘procedure’, then for some reason unknown everything re-connected at 5:07 this morning according to the Plusnet Router logs.
I’ve done a BT Wholesale speed test and both down (57.5) and up (12.4) speeds are really low for our connection, also the profile is now 61.7 meg, it has always been in the high 70’s since installation. DLM getting in a panic?
The low connection speed could be due to the ECI not yet having a firmware update to make it compatible with our Hauwei cabinet, but if it holds over the bank holiday weekend it will do for now and we can worry about it next week (prays to every deity he can think of).
Sadly the only monitoring I can do is check the led’s every now and again on the Openreach ECI, how I wish there was a way to see what is going on under the lid. I don’t even know if the firmware has been updated yet and have no idea if any error correcting is on or off (I hate locked down equipment lol).
Regards, P.
MatthewWheeler
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 8,896
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Registered: ‎01-01-2012

Re: Unstable FTTC today, not normal for our connection

The DLM profile at the moment is a open one so the drop in sync speed won't be down to that.
I'd recommend keeping a eye on it as we need to get it stable first before investigating any speed issues.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Matthew Wheeler
 Plusnet Help Team
Pendragon
Rising Star
Posts: 445
Thanks: 9
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎07-04-2007

Re: Unstable FTTC today, not normal for our connection

Short update, DSL dropped out again late last night and didn’t restart until around 6:00 this morning according to the router logs. It looks like an engineer is needed soonest but unlikely until after the bank holiday. I’ll add this to my message to keep both sides up to date.
Regards, P.