At my wits end......

[penfold]

Just a note, I have been made aware today, that my neighbour, and another couple a few doors up are having the same issues, and also my sisters parents in law, who live around the corner from me, also having the same issues.  A BT engineer also noted that numbers beginning like mine are also having issues. ( The engineer after him, hadn't got a clue what this one was on about with this comment....)  We are all with different ISPs, but could this point to an issue with the Green Box or something else...........

[adamwalker]

Morning Chris,
At present we can see that your connection has been up for over 3 days now and your profile has gone up to 5500. Could you let us know how things are going from your side and if you have received the test router from us?

[penfold]

@adamwalker
Thanks Adam, no router as yet, but its probably been caught in the bank hol post.  I cannot understand however, why the connection has all of a sudden stabilised.  i have done nothing my end, but put the phone back on, that was maybe thought to be faulty.  Can you possibly find out if BT have done any work at all....  Will test with the router as soon as I get it, but dont hold out hope this is the issue now...

[adamwalker]

OK, Thanks for letting me know. No BT haven't done anything. However its worth comparing your line stats now to those just a couple of weeks back, at the moment the SNR margin  seems to have settled at around 11.6db which is a lot more realistic than the 15db or so seen before and the 9.6db seen around the time you originally raised the issue. On top of this your synchronisation speed has dropped a bit due to the changes in SNR to around 6300kbps, this does seem to be for the best as your connection is a lot more stable.
Lets keep an eye on this over the next few days and definitely let us know how things go for you with the test router I've sent.

[penfold]

Adam
Router arrived yesterday, but didnt get home from work till late, so you connect up tonight.  I am confused as to why my connection has suddenly stabalised, at 12dB, then it was unstable at whatever margin a couple of weeks back.  Something must have happened somewhere, things just dont magically right themselves after this amount of time, and engineer vists, unless it is a router fault, and its stablised.......  Attenuation back to 45dB, which is always where the line is stable. if its anymore, I know the line is having a 'funny do' again.  As I have said previously, not particularly fussed about speed, as long as its resonable, 3-4meg would be more than OK for me.

[adamwalker]

Chris,
Thanks for letting me know, being honest I don't think we'll get to the bottom of why there's been a sudden change in SNR but at least things seem to be stable now and your line is on a 5500 profile. Let me know if things go any better or worse for you with our test router.

[penfold]

Thanks Adam, and I appreciate your honesty.....  The only thing I can think that i have changed, is that the Plug that powers the telephones power and memory, is not in the main socket, rather than the power strip that supplies power to the router.  I suposse its not beyond possible, that this may have caused the fault and be power spiking the strip or something, maybe someone can offer advice, although the line was stable for a few days following changing phone to a standard one, eventually the line failed again. Will keep you apprised of the situation, but it is looking like a spike of some description.  I am going to buy a mains surge protected power strip, and alter the socket wiring as well, as its a very old socket as well.

[adamwalker]

Hi penfold,
That is very interesting. In my experience issues like this with power supplies tend to be more related to the electromagnetic  interference such devices can cause if they are not adequately shielded or perhaps are faulty.
By all means try a surge protector if you wish as these can help out, you may also wish to look out for one which is radio shielded as these are available and may help as the cabling in these is shielded in a much more resilient way than a normal extension or power supply.
With regards to your connection, your profile is still up at 5500 and you now have uptime of just over 50 hours now so its all looking good from our point of view.

[penfold]

Adam
Tried the test router. Seemed to connect OK, with good syncs, and a normal attenuation for my line. Worked OK via wired connection.  Tried tonight to connect via wireless, could not connect at all, no matter what i tried. Also router warm restarted twice during this.  I have therefore disconnected and gone back to the 2wire router, which synced up fine, with good sync rates etc.
Feel sure its not a router issue.  The long connection drop today, was me, messing with the house electrics, and the router was off for at least 2 hours. Changed the electrics around the router, and now only have 2 things plugged in, directly to the double socket, and done away with the extention.  If this dosnt work, I would move the router, and wire a dedicated ADSL extension from the back of the filtered faceplate, so its away from any power except for its power supply. Lets see how things go.  i will be arranging to send your router back, maybe its needs some testing.......

[penfold]

Well unless BT did do something, and are denying all knowledge, then  I think this is all down to mains REIN.  If anyone can offer advice, I would be very grateful.  Configs below

Orig Config.
Double Socket, 1 socket with a Dlink DHP-303 Homeplug, with LAN cable connected to 2Wire Router.
Other socket connected to a basic cheapie 4 socket extension, with a lamp, Router Power, Phone Power and a HIFI unit plugged in.
High Quality Screen RJ11 cable, from a BT Filtered faceplate.
1st Config with stability (accidental)
Double Socket, 1 socket with Phone power supply
Other socket connected to a basic cheapie 4 socket extension, with a lamp, Router Power, and a HIFI unit plugged in.
Homeplug not connected.
High Quality Screen RJ11 cable, from a BT Filtered faceplate.
This config gave stability, and was accidental, due to plusnet asking me to change phone for an absolute basic model. Interestingly with this phone, line was stable for around 36hrs.
Current Config
Double Socket, 1 socket with Phone power supply
Other socket with Router power supply
Lamp not plugged in
HIFI in another socket well away from this one.
Homeplug not connected
high quality screened RJ11 cable from a BT filtered faceplate.
This also gives absolute stability.  This may point to the HomePlug, but I did do some testing previously with the homeplug not connected and line was still unstable. 
Does anyone thing a Surge protected extension would have any effect.  I do need the homeplug at some point, as this provides internet access to the Main desktop in the attic room. I could also
1..  Get a longer length of RJ45 cable and run this to a different socket for the HomePlug
2... Get a longish length of solid core RJ45 Cat5E, and move the router, running a dedicated ADSL extension to another location.
Anyone any advice as to what to do next......  I did note that when I removed the Extension from the equation, it did 'rattle'.  It is being used somewhere else, and works fine....
PS if I do move the router, I do have an RJ11 linebox.  Problem I have is, this linebox has connectors labelled 2 and 5.  behind the filtered faceplate they are labelled A and B.  What connects to what???  A to 5, B to 2 or vice versa??

[adamwalker]

Hi penfold,
As I think I've mentioned before, in my opinion it was either the homeplug or the power supply of the previous phone you were using which may have caused the issue.
With regards to the RJ11 linebox, how to connect this depends on the exact type of socket. Kitz's website has a guide which should help you identify it:
http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/btsockets.htm

[xpcomputers]

Does the RJ11 linebox have any other terminals on the back of it, or only 2 and 5?
When you connect a RJ11 (or RJ45) for the broadband signal, it is always the middle two pins on the front that carry the signal... so pins 3 and 4 on a 6 pin RJ11 (or 4 and 5 on an 8 pin RJ45). However, since in BT phone terminology the signal comes to the pins 2 & 5 of the BT socket, it is possible that the RJ11 socket is marked in the BT terminology to make it compatible.
SO... if it has terminals one to six on the back of the RJ11, then you should to connect the A to pin 4 and B to pin 3 (although A & B the other way round isn't a problem either).
If, however, the RJ11 terminals only have 2 & 5 on the back, then you connect A to terminal 5 and B to terminal 2 (although again either way round works).
Hope this helps.

[penfold]

XP
The RJ11 socket, just has 2 and 5 on the back.  If I need to move the router, then I will follow your advice. Things however are uber-stable thank god.....  i will probably get a longer length of Cat5E cable and move the homeplug somewhere else.  If the line destablises, the I can be pretty sure its the homeplug.

[xpcomputers]

Glad it is still all looking good then. If you find it is the homeplug device and you need it to work again, you could always try putting the router power supply on something like one of these.
I've never used one of these devices myself (so can't endorse it, or even say if it works!), but it figures, that if the radio frequencies that the home plug adds to the mains (deliberately of course to send the network round the house),  is upsetting things, then some sort of filter to remove that from the router power supply should hopefully restore normality to your broadband.
One review specifically mentioned using the device to to filter his treadmill that was causing his broadband to drop out. In his case he used it on the treadmill (i.e in reverse from intended use), so the whole ring main was filtered and the treadmill alone was isolated. Of course, in your case, the point of using the homeplugs is to put their signal out onto the ring main, so you would use it the correct way round, to isolate your router and anything else required from the noisy mains via the filter, leaving the homeplug to be plugged in direct to the mains and do it's job without disturbance!
If you do go down the mains filter route, I'm sure others would be interested to know how it works out for you and to know what you think of the device.
Hope you get there soon, and all devices correctly wired and working again.
Mike

[penfold]

Thanks XP.  I did actually see this when I was looking for a decent quality surge adapter, that also filtered RFI, and I saw this one as well.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0006A3A10/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=c...
Makes sense, and if things go pearshaped when I reconnect the homeplug, I may try this.
Cheers
Chris