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Service gone horribly downwards

Townman
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 22,919
Thanks: 9,536
Fixes: 158
Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: Service gone horribly downwards

Quote from: newagetraveller
Be careful what you say in this respect Kati.
In a post I made, I said "Unfortunately I don't do tech speak" and was pounced on by the forum police! I'm more than "almost a pensioner", I already am.

You got a robust response for being rude and disparaging to someone trying to help you with what is a complex set of technologies - which when they work are find, but when they fail they can be difficult to fix.  Dismissing factual advice and explanations rather indicates a reluctance to accept that some times a fix is not straight forwards and a great deal of tolerance might be required to identify what is failing.  As advised at that time, if there are explanations you did not understand, please ask for clarification - learning is a life long journey.
@Kati,
Quote from: Kati
My connection has improved of its own accord, as it has done in the past when I have complained of poor speeds and disconnections

This is not untypical of bad cable joints, they cause problems in wet weather and when the sun comes out, the problems go away all of their own accord... until the rain comes back.  Alternatively (and even more technically complex) intermittent poor performance can be caused by electrical interference (REIN) which causes transmitted data to be damaged, requiring repeated retransmission before it is successfully received.  Let us hope that this does not apply here!
Quote from: Kati
PN always assume the fault is at the customer end before checking for possible problems at theirs.

There is a marked difference between assuming the fault is at the customer's end and eliminating the possibility of the fault being at the customer's end.  A BTOR engineer call out finding that there is no fault with the BTOR network, but rather a fault with the customer equipment or internal wiring will lead to a substantial charge being levied.  I would expect that you would prefer that your equipment is eliminated from the equation before being exposed to the risk of sizable BTOR charges?
Quote from: Kati
I read on the forums about some kind of DNS (?) fault at the time I was having my problem.

Highly improbable that this has any bearing on your issues.
Quote from: Kati
The fault was not with my line as I checked it and it was clear with no noise.

Audible noise on a line is but one indication of there being a line fault.  Your line could be totally silent (no dial tone) and BB will still work, although poorly.  The absence of noise is no assurance there is no line fault.
Quote from: Kati
Less than a year ago I had to have an engineer callout and had my rewiring done at the same time. The problem was not with my wiring.

No one suggested that the problem was with your internal wiring.
Quote from: Kati
I would rather keep my options open and look around at other isp's. Even if they cost more, if they are reliable and helpful when needed it would be worth it.

If the fault is with your line, it will move with you to any new ISP.
Quote from: Kati
I took up your suggestion and got a very helpful fellow who talked me through the test process, did something at his end, ran some speed tests and had me do the same from my end and my speed has now incresed substantially.

Hmmm... this is just so typical of bad joint issues.  The line tests performed by the remote diagnostic system can be enough to temporarily fix bad joint issues.  Sorry for a bit of a technical explanation here - when lines are tested higher voltages are sent down the line; this can cause bad joints to be improved, however such improvements are short lived.
Though a little bit technically challenging, gathering some (if not all) of the information requested on the speed issues thread at the top of this forum would provide factual information upon which to assess what your line is doing.  Speed tests are not really suitable at this level of problem investigation - one needs to see the line synch speed and other (sorry) technical parameters.
If you need help with this, please ask.  I'm in North London Thursday / Friday, so if you are near by (Euston / The Strand / Bloomsbury) I could even offer hand holding support.

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.

Kati
Grafter
Posts: 41
Registered: ‎07-10-2012

Re: Service gone horribly downwards

Thank you for your reply Townman.
Not really sure what to make of a lot of it but I appreciate you are trying to help. 5 hours on and my speed seems to be good and holding steady. In case of a future drop in speed and connection issues I have been given instructions by PN on what to do to test the modem directly from the test socket over an extended period and a text number to use to alert the support dept so they can monitor the situation. Hopefully that won't happen but having done it once I feel more in control and less frustrated than before. I hope the fix is not short lived as you are predicting!
The tech fellow said my speed was still not as good as they would like but it is an awful lot faster than before and as I don't play games on line I am happy with what I have got now.
Thanks for the offer of help if needed, I will keep it in mind.
Regards,
Kati
Townman
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 22,919
Thanks: 9,536
Fixes: 158
Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: Service gone horribly downwards

@Kati,
How are things progressing?  Sorry not to have sought an update sooner, however I've had my own disconnection - a river crossing phone cable has been damaged, taking me (and row villages) completely off air since 18th.
Kevin

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.