connection dropping, what to do next

[#1]

I have isolated the problem to be between the modem and the provider (including the modem being a problem) by swapped out ethernet cables and connecting directly to the modem. 

I have whatever openreach BT modem plusnet shipped me a long time ago. I can not seem to get to the modem admin page and I do not think the logs are visible to be (in another post someone said this was locked down). 

The modem LEDs do not indicate any failure when the connection is dropped.

Is the next step just buying another modem or should I be contacting plusnet? There are no reported service outages on the site. 

[#2]

Hi, I have the same issue, makes having smart devices a waste of time when I cannot depend on the system being active all the time to switch lights etc. on.  Only a recent thing, but now it's every few days and no real pattern to the timings other than it goes off overnight. 

On the phone now to plus net for advice, been on hold for 30 mins and counting so far 😒😏.  

If if I ever get through and get help I will post back here. 

[#3]

Update. Got through on the phone after 41 mins on hold. They checked my phone line said no faults and basically said I can expect the connection to be lost, it's not a constant connection they provide and every 10 days or so is not a problem nor out of the ordinary as far as plus net are concerned.

It is for my smart home devices because if I go on holiday they might not work!  

so, not knowing when it will go off is an issue for me, also felt it was suggested if I was a business account holder it would be a constant connection - I might have misheard that? I hope so!

Perhaps other people are dropping their connection several times a day, perhaps I'm expecting too much, it didn't used to happen this often so why now?........ 

[#4]

Every ten days would be fine for me. I am seeing repeated drops almost every day. And when they happen, they seem to happen frequently (every 5-10 minutes for a while).

[#5]

And I would think your smart devices should survive infrequent outages, if you are seeing problems it might be something else or the outages are longer or more frequent than you think.

[#6]

Hi, the customer support suggested the frequency you are experiencing could be investigated further, but there is always the charge they can apply to you if it's your equipment's fault, so that might put you off having it checked by their engineer.  

[#7]

Definitely their stuff ... and they've locked down the BT Openreach fibre modem so I can't even check the logs to see what is hapenning. Am on the line with them now trying to get through. Happy to debug on my own as much as possible but there is a bit of a stack to crawl over and we don't have access to everything.

[#8]

Hi, yes they do carry on working once I get the wifi back on, but the connect doesn't kick back in by itself, I have to switch the system off on the wall socket for it to reset it's self. I hope you get yours sorted, if mine dropped the connection  that often I'd be well fed up 🤔 

[#9]

I would report that to the smart device folks ... sounds like something they might fix.

[#10]

Got through to Plusnet eventually and they ran some tests and it turned out the line (BT's line I think) between me and the cabinet (I am on fibre to the cabinet) is showing corruption. They will send someone to look at it and hopefully fix it shortly.

Quite surprised how they could diagnose it so easily remotely ... wish I had called much earlier!

[#11]

Brilliant, good result for you. Hopefully sorted really quick, I'm slightly jealous 😀

[#12]

@dcdc I'm glad to see that your issue is on it's way to being sorted. 

@Itsonlyme59 I'll make sure we get you sorted. How did you get on with the checks on ticket 183820075 that we recommended yesterday?

[#13]

Someone (from BT?) arrived at my flat today and spent quite a while debugging the line. Something in the connector in the cabinet appears to be have been corroded. It has been replaced and now will see if problem comes up again over the next few days. Sounds like he was able to see the issue (reproduce the failures) and fix it so am optimistic this will be the fix.

One thing to be aware of, the Plusnet rep on the phone said that the technician visiting would not need access to the flat but they definitely did to test the line and find out where the cabinet was actually located. I basically got lucky that I was home. I think the window for visiting was 72 hours! Not sure what happens if no one is home.

[#14]

Hello @dcdc,

thanks for getting back to us, we are really happy to hear the engineer find the cause of the problem.

We would advised to keep a close eye on your connection and let us know if the issue reoccurs. In regards to the engineer, due to the fault being external we would not ask you to be available as should the engineer need to visit your property we would contact you to arrange an internal visit.

Having said that I am really happy to hear he resolved the issue in one go.

[#15]

Hi, been in work, not really had time to look at resolving this yet via the advice supplied via email mainly because it looks technical and since only a recent problem not sure I should have to? It looks like it depends on the end user being able to navigate beyond a reasonable amount of end user knowledge?