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Broadband Frequently Dropping Out

stephenhopson
Hooked
Posts: 5
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎20-11-2018

Broadband Frequently Dropping Out

Can anyone tell me why my broadband goes through days of constant dropouts?

Today it is OK, but earlier on in the week the service was dreadful. Any attempt to call the customer service desk is met with a message that there is a 25-30 minute wait for an agent! Needless to say I don't hang on! My broadband speed is slow at best ~3MBps down load so dropouts tend to be very noticeable.

I have the standard white PlusNet Hub, which looks as if it is about twenty years old even though it was provided by PlusNet recently, so I am wondering if that is part of the problem, and if there is a better hub I can use on a slow ADSL line?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

9 REPLIES 9
Yoda
Dabbler
Posts: 18
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎19-11-2018

Re: Broadband Frequently Dropping Out

@stephenhopson could be that you are a distance from your local telephone exchange, there is a distance limit for "twisted pair" copper conductors, we are 5 miles from the exchange and only get a regular connection of 0.5 Mbps !!!

Do you leave your modem switched on to allow the connection to stabilise and give you the lowest stable connection speed?

 

I have recently started using my mobile PN 4G and set the phone up as a WiFi bridge and now get 24Mbps connection (if 4G is working) just an option.

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

Re: Broadband Frequently Dropping Out

Hi there, I've just been checking your account and runnning a few diagnostic tests and we're not seeing sign of any drops. Can I just check if you're usually connected over WiFi? If so do you have access to anything like a laptop that you could use to connect to the router over ethernet to see if it still drops out?

 

 

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
stephenhopson
Hooked
Posts: 5
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎20-11-2018

Re: Broadband Frequently Dropping Out

Yoda, thanks for your response.

Yes the reason for my slow broadband speed is the distance from my nearest exchange which is 4 miles over twisted pair cables swaying from post to post. I am on of the 5% that the government has decided to ignore in it's promises for every one to get super-fast broadband.

And yes, I do leave my modem switched on, I am aware of the semi "intelligent" exchange switches that slow down the connection when it gets slow or no responses.

It will possible come as no surprise that as I live in an area without access to fast broadband, I also live in an area with no mobile phone signal and I am forced to run my mobile phones down the broadband when at home.

Smiley

stephenhopson
Hooked
Posts: 5
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎20-11-2018

Re: Broadband Frequently Dropping Out

Hi Adam,

I would be interested in not just today / yesterday, but the performance f my line over the last week. The drop outs do not occur every day, but when they do occur it seems to be very frequent. As a family, we connect both over WiFi and Ethernet (using Devolo adaptors).

When the drop out do happen, the laptops, tablets, etc., generally report that there is a LAN or WiFi connection, but if you try to access the internet you get nothing, so connecting directly to the router may make little difference. Incidentally, the lights on the front of the hub go crazy at the same time!

Obviously, a serious issue is that when it happens, I can't get thought to PlusNet customer services to report it!

Yoda
Dabbler
Posts: 18
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎19-11-2018

Re: Broadband Frequently Dropping Out

@stephenhopson rural living has some great advantages but broadband  connectivity is not one of them Angry

We are in rural NE Scotland so it is a different Government promising the same thing, high speed broadband, without delivering.

We are lucky that there is a 4G mast at the top of the hill behind us so at least we get mobile connectivity (most of the time).

I recently took early retirement from a company that had 200Mbps broadband, so you can imagine dropping from that to our 0.5Mbps connection, 3 cups of tea waiting for a web page to load Cry

Hope you get a resolution

George

Gandalf
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 26,563
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Registered: ‎21-04-2017

Re: Broadband Frequently Dropping Out

Hi @stephenhopson

Our tests are showing the signal to noise ratio higher than we'd like, which would normally be like that if there's a fault on the line or it was dropping, but from what I can see your connection hasn't dropped in the past 4 days.

I'd firstly recommend rebooting your router. I've also performed an SNR reset, which should complete within 4 hours.

If you still have issues tonight please can you report the fault to us online at http://faults.plus.net giving us a nudge over here when you've completed it, so we can pick it up?

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
stephenhopson
Hooked
Posts: 5
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎20-11-2018

Re: Broadband Frequently Dropping Out

 Thanks Yoda. Enjoy your retirement in what must be a beautiful part of our island.

 

Cheers.

Steve

stephenhopson
Hooked
Posts: 5
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎20-11-2018

Re: Broadband Frequently Dropping Out

Gandalf, The line has not dropped recently. I would use the link you provided to report them in future, but it takes me to a member-centre/home page and I cannot see any way of reporting faults from there. 

 

Steve

Gandalf
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 26,563
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Registered: ‎21-04-2017

Re: Broadband Frequently Dropping Out

Glad to hear your line is staying stable Steve.

Before clicking on the fault reporting link you'll need to be already logged into the member centre for it to work.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet