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Beyond an Openreach fault!

GaryMe
Newbie
Posts: 1
Registered: ‎28-04-2020

Beyond an Openreach fault!

 I have been having serious problems with my broadband for around two months. This has included the link being very slow, the link dropping and a very poor throughput even though the connecting link is running at 20Mb.

The service is FTTC and when it works (historic experience) it just about meet my family’s needs as we typically experience around 12/14Mb across a WiFi connected device.

We have had 9 (yes9) Openreach engineers who have fixed a variety of line issues, changed the drop wire, new copper pairs, changed the cabinet equipment etc etc. After a month or so the line was testing clear (ish). However the broadband service experience is now awful with around 6/7 Mb experienced with wireless switched off, no Ethernet connections and line tested via a laptop connected to the Ethernet port. Packet losses are up to 30% with ping and jitter and the 150ms and above range. So........ it seems beyond Plusnet to deal with a problem that is no longer (maybe) a line fault but an equipment issue. Calls to service to chase updates, passed to reach support-but drops out. Is this all too difficult for Plusnet? After two months I am a little frustrated and I wondered if anyone else is having a similar experience, without any offer hope or compensation!

 

 

2 REPLIES 2
Townman
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 22,923
Thanks: 9,539
Fixes: 158
Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: Beyond an Openreach fault!

Hi @GaryMe 

A warm welcome to the forums.

When things go wrong (such as this) they tend to go very wrong for there is a host of things which could contribute to the scenario you describe - a good number of them having nothing to do with the BT service.

Nine BTOR engineers is half the number I had experienced in investigating a problematic line some 8-9 years ago, which entailed eliminating bad d-side circuit (cabinet to premises) wiring - under-ground over-ground copper and aluminium faults, CCTV device interference, exchange equipment failure and finally left with intermittent interference from passing West Coast main line trains.

If BTOR have crawled all over your service, the only thing left is your own efforts to gather evidence.

So some questions to clarify what is what and what has been done...

  1. Do you have a telephone hand set - if yes have you been doing Quiet Line Tests (QLT) when you encounter poor performance?  If you do not have a (ideally wired) telephone handset, try to borrow one - it is an essential diagnostic tool.
  2. Are you using the Plusnet supplied router WITHOUT a separate BTOR modem?  If yes which router is it (Hub Zero or Hub One)?
  3. Is the router connected to the master socket?
  4. Are there any internal phone extensions?
  5. Has a different filter been tried?
  6. Has the NTE5 socket been replaced?
  7. Have you noticed any pattern in the line drops - similar times of day?

Speed tests in isolation are rarely helpful as they bring a number of side factors in to the assessment - sight of the raw router stats would be helpful please.  They will show what the line is is doing and the error rates.

RFI (REIN) which is external noise can give rise to the issues you report.  Realistically this can only be identified by monitoring the variable SNRM from the router stats.  If you have a Plusnet Hub One (its a BT HH5a in a different wrapper) then the RouterStats program (see the link below) will monitor the operation of BT HH5a routers, though I have not do this myself.

If you are you are up to a bit of effort, plotting the variation of the stats might point more clearly to the cause of your problems.

@Gandalf  - I know you guys are busy, but is there any chance of a VR plot please for the last 14 days?

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Beyond an Openreach fault!

Hi there, 

 

I've just taken ownership of dealing with the fault for you. I've arranged for an engineer to look into it for us tomorrow morning and I'll be in touch with you tomorrow afternoon to follow things up as needed. I'm really sorry for the time it's taking to get this resolved and I'll aim to get it all tied up as quickly as possible. 

 

I've added a support ticket to your account with more information here: https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=view_question&id=200418686

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team