Why Is BT Treated Like The God Emperor

[#1]

I'd ask PN for more detail such as can they confirm that what that means is a tie-pair has been changed plus a lift and shift has occurred.

[#2]

Jonken - if you are still around, was this fault ever resolved? I ask as I am experiencing something very similar but I'm now on my 10th or 11th BT engineer visit.

[#3]

As above, if you are still around, would appreciate advice if you got it fixed.  I have virtually exactly the same issues as you,

[#4]

Summary - Jonken
Name: Jonken
Posts: 31 (0.078 per day)
Position: Member
Date Registered: 08/03/2009, 21:26
Last Active: 10/03/2010, 12:21

[#5]

Heavens this is an old thread I never expected to see again
Basically my problem was caused by induced RF noise from several sources, never traced and still there, but the one causing real problems for upto 30mins at a time for anything upto 10 times a day looked like phone calls from a digital cordless phone 
Plusnet put my line 'temporarily' onto 1Mbps fixed speed and the routers still fell over, about this time I experimented with different routers and found that everything EXCEPT Broadcom chipped routers fell over completely (ie complete loss of sync while the interference was on the line). I'm presently running a Netgear DG834 v4 (v1, v2 and v3 didn't work) and get uptimes measured in months. Thomson ST585 v6 and v7 (again these have the Broadcom chipset) also worked for me but the v7 tended to fall over all by itself ( caused imho by Thomson firmware).
Note I'm still on the 1Mbps fixed speed I found it adequate for the way I use broadband and like not having to worry about profiles etc. The line runs at 1Mbps whatever you do to it
John

[#6]

Jonkin
Did you also get weird upstream syncs??  Whenever this starts to happen for me its charaterised by an increase in line attenuation, and very poor upstream syncs.  Downstreams go down a bit, but not  much.  Attenuation goes from around 44dB to 48dB.  Its totally random, so I did not think REIN was the culprit.
Chris

[#7]

Chris
No as far as I can remember the upstream sync speed, attenuation (31dB) and snrm stayed constant no problems at all in that direction. Downstream the attenuation stayed constant at around 56dB (different routers gave slightly different figures but not significantly). I just got the snrm taking a nose dive, at the time of the original post I think I'd tried 3 different routers all gave the same result - snrm would drop to around 0 , the Linksys would hang onto sync at that level but give literally thousands of CRC errors, the DG834v1 just gave up and lost sync. Of course with this happening 6-10 times a day I was pretty soon syncing at 160Kbps.
At the time I didn't know all the routers I'd tried had the TI chipset. It wasn't until I got the freebee Thomson router (with the Broadcom chipset) from Plusnet that the penny dropped. Since then I tried a DG834v3 (TI chips) - didn't work and a DG834v4 (Broadcom chips) - worked, Which was proof enough for me 
So, basically, I've still got the same line noise as I always had but it doesn't affect Broadcom equipped routers. They just see a 3-4 dB drop in snrm. TI equipped routers were totally wiped out.
Someone may correct me, but I don't think REIN will cause changes in line attenuation, that smells to me more of a physical problem with the line. The upstream direction should be a *lot* more stable than the downstream. It's a lower frequency band so the line attenuation is a lot lower and I suspect that there is less likelihood of interference being generated at those frequencies. I would tend to agree with you about REIN being the culprit.
But then again broadband seem to resemble witchcraft more than science - have you tried sacrificing a white cockerel under a full moon? 
John

[#8]

Thanks for your insights John.  I sometimes feel like sacrificing a BT engineer or two
Currently using a 2Wire 2700HGV, but I do have a Speedtouch585V6, which again does not hold sync.  Reason I retired the speedtouch, was the LAN networking failing.  Also tried a Linksys WAG120N, but no change.  I agree, I think there is either a physical line issue, or faulty equipment at the exchange, but getting BT to admit..........
If it ever gets fixed, will let you know the cause, if I ever find out...
Current Syncs, uptime 1hr.
Rate:            4201 kbs  87 kbs
Max Rate:   4761 kbs 384 kbs
Noise Margin: 18.0 dB 21.2 dB
Attenuation:         44.2 dB 26.4 dB
Output Power: 19.4 dBm 12.0 dBm
Both upstream and downstream initially synced at 21 and 15 respectively. 

[#9]

Hi penfold,
As I understand things we're getting the fault escalated now and awaiting an email back from the suppliers confirming it is with the complex faults team. That should happen this morning, as soon as we hear back there'll be an update on your ticket.

[#10]

Don't hold your breath penfold! My own fault was escalated to the complex faults team back on the 8th of April. Another BT engineer is due back today to "investigate" the old distribution box just inside my block. Hopefully this will be successful but I personally doubt it as the symptoms seem to point to problems elsewhere on the line. I get the sneaking suspicion that BT are doing anything to avoid physically replacing any wires, checking any joints up poles or changing equipment in the exchange. I can half understand this as it would be expensive for them but surely paying 12 engineers a half day's wage each must have racked up the £££s...
Apologies for the disheartened tone of this post, I've lost confidence in BT's fault finding ability now. If this fault ever does get fixed it'll be through luck rather than design!

[#11]

Hi twentythree,
Looks like another visit for you this afternoon to check more wiring, I know one of our agents will be chasing this one shortly so you should see an update soon too.

[#12]

Matt,
No update and no engineer yet...
I know the PM slot is 1pm - 6pm but the engineers usually turn up towards the beginning of this period.
Please can you confirm that an engineer is definitely still coming today? My girlfriend has had to put aside yet another half day (11 so far) to allow the engineer access.

[#13]

Hi twentythree,
We're chasing the engineer for you now, there should be an update on the ticket shortly.

[#14]

So what happened to the BT engineer? No engineer, no phone call, no excuse, no update to my ticket despite me phoning earlier today and also asking here on the community forum.
Not good enough - I want to know what is going on or I will have no option but to request a MAC code.

[#15]

Come on Plusnet, this is getting ridiculous!
The promised BT engineer didn't come yesterday but I've had no update explaining why or what will happen next.
For a fault that has been escalated twice it seems no-one at Plusnet gives a fig.