BT Modem Reliability

[#1]

I think there is no doubt that modern electronic equipment is far less reliable than it used to be. I still have stuff from the 1970's that is in working order, yet items only a couple of years old have failed  Its not built to last, possibly lead free soldering as you say.

[#2]

Quote from: _Adam_Walker_

PS to aid my investigations can anyone replying let me know how many times this has been replaced and also a brief description of what the problem actually was or anything an engineer might have mentioned re the fault. Adam

Hi,
1st Modem failure: DSL sync failed and modem would not attempt to sync again (DSL LED would never come on or flash). - Failed ~2 weeks after FTTC install.
2nd Modem failure: DSL sync failed, modem would continually attempt to re-sync but never achieve sync. - Failed ~ 2 weeks after replacement.
3rd Modem failure: Out of the box fail with the Ethernet (LAN) port dead
My 4th has been good as gold so far...
Cheers,
Tim.

[#3]

How long did it take for you to get the replacements, and who did you contact to get it done?
Thanks

[#4]

Just as a follow up I had my modem replaced today, bt engineer said it had overheated, he said he'd had quite a few fail. Hopefully this one will be good!

[#5]

Looks like mine has started the same behaviour, it won't keep it's sync for more than 5 minutes at a time after letting it cool. It also wont stand up without leaning on something (currently my router) so it's hardly practical to use it vertically. The BT engineer originally left it lying horizontally and I just didn't think anything of it but it does have a label on the bottom warning you to keep vents clear.
Have people gone through plusnet to get a new modem or through BT?

[#6]

I had mine replaced for the first time yesterday because it kept losing sync.  It was very intermittent and you could have been connected for up to an hour then all of a sudden it would have dropped out again.  Also there were occasions where it was sync'd but I still couldn't connect.  I don't know what caused the problem but I did have my netgear stacked on top of it so I had thought it was due to overheating.
I did go thorugh Plusnet to replace this and an engineer was booked in to replace it.  It seems a bit silly to send an engineer out to replace a modem that comes straight out of the box though.  I asked about a getting a replacement to keep as backup but he said I couldn't get one so if it does brick again then I'm up the creek again.

[#7]

Does anyone know (or think....) if in the future we will be able to buy our own VDSL modems?
George

[#8]

Hi all,
I have just had the BT engineer round too.
My BT modem also failed to sync up too (DSL light flashes for ~30s then goes out, then keeps trying every minute)
The BT engineer said that it was a common manufacturing fault with the Huawei modems, and that they are regularly sending them back to them as faulty.
He said he has had to replace a lot of them recently.

PS. regarding buying your own vDSL modems... I remember reading somewhere that the modem can only come from BT as the chipset of the modem has to be compatible with the equipment in the BT cabinet, which only BT know (not sure how accurate this information is though, so take with a pich of salt!)

[#9]

They send them back?  My engineer told me that they just get dumped.

[#10]

Quote from: kullyrai

PS. regarding buying your own vDSL modems... I remember reading somewhere that the modem can only come from BT as the chipset of the modem has to be compatible with the equipment in the BT cabinet, which only BT know (not sure how accurate this information is though, so take with a pich of salt!)

These are pretty tightly tied in with BT network management systems, so would expect them to have customer firmware etc etc...
This SIN makes quite interesting reading if you want to know more SIN 498 here - http://www.sinet.bt.com/

[#11]

Thanks for the replies and information everyone,
It's clear that there are more problems with this hardware than we though. I'm collating this now and will consult with others at this end as to the next step, which I'm hoping is to present this to our suppliers.

[#12]

personally i think there an monopoly issues here in that we are being prevented for no good reason of using other vdsl hardware
wouldn't mind if BT were supplying quality kit, but clearly they are not...

[#13]

Not really, BT are supplying this as Ethernet to the customer not VDSL - "Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) Generic Ethernet Access"
They certainly should allow the ISPs have more access to the hardware, but this is suggested in SIN498 above.
"Openreach are intending in future to provide CPs with the ability to test their GEAFTTC
circuits end-to-end between the CP’s equipment and the VDSL2 Active NTE."
CP = Communications Provider
And yes, the quality of the currently supplied hardware does seem to be in question...

[#14]

I always assumed Huawei made decent enough kit since they supply a huge amount of kit to the telecoms market.  I've never had any issues with them but maybe I've just been lucky. 

[#15]

Quote

wouldn't mind if BT were supplying quality kit, but clearly they are not...

We don't know if there's a batch of faulty routers or if the issues are generic, I hope to dig more into those specifics once we've addressed the over-all problems with this.