FTTC more susceptible to interference?

Since I got FTTC on Wednesday, I have noticed a period each day,
sometimes less than an hour, sometimes a couple of hours or more,
where the VDSL modem can't keep the carrier for more than a minute
or two. This is usually between late afternoon and early to mid evening.
The rest of the time it's rock solid.

It really feels like interference (a radio amateur having a session
of operating?), since there is such a huge difference between the
bad times and the good, but I've no idea how to track something
like that down. Are there such things as wideband spectrum analysers
with a directional antenna? I assume VDSL uses frequencies up to
several tens of MHz.

Would be grateful for any suggestions. The times of interference
starting and stopping don't correspond to any change of activity
in our house.

Cheers
Tony
--
Tony Mountifield
Work: (E-Mail Removed) - http://www.softins.co.uk
Play: (E-Mail Removed) - http://tony.mountifield.org

On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 22:47:51 +0000 (UTC), (E-Mail Removed) (Tony
Mountifield) wrote:

>Since I got FTTC on Wednesday, I have noticed a period each day,
>sometimes less than an hour, sometimes a couple of hours or more,
>where the VDSL modem can't keep the carrier for more than a minute
>or two. This is usually between late afternoon and early to mid evening.
>The rest of the time it's rock solid.
>
>It really feels like interference (a radio amateur having a session
>of operating?), since there is such a huge difference between the
>bad times and the good, but I've no idea how to track something
>like that down. Are there such things as wideband spectrum analysers
>with a directional antenna? I assume VDSL uses frequencies up to
>several tens of MHz.
>
>Would be grateful for any suggestions. The times of interference
>starting and stopping don't correspond to any change of activity
>in our house.
>
Is your ringing wire disconnected? See Google for much discussion
about this topic.

On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 22:47:51 +0000, Tony Mountifield made love to the
words:

> Since I got FTTC on Wednesday, I have noticed a period each day,
> sometimes less than an hour, sometimes a couple of hours or more, where
> the VDSL modem can't keep the carrier for more than a minute or two.
> This is usually between late afternoon and early to mid evening. The
> rest of the time it's rock solid.
>
> It really feels like interference (a radio amateur having a session of
> operating?), since there is such a huge difference between the bad times
> and the good, but I've no idea how to track something like that down.
> Are there such things as wideband spectrum analysers with a directional
> antenna? I assume VDSL uses frequencies up to several tens of MHz.
>
> Would be grateful for any suggestions. The times of interference
> starting and stopping don't correspond to any change of activity in our
> house.
>
> Cheers
> Tony

That's nothing - wait to the contention stands out to you, it's like a
bloody crawl.....

Scott wrote:

> (E-Mail Removed) (Tony Mountifield) wrote:
>
>> Since I got FTTC on Wednesday, I have noticed a period each day
>> where the VDSL modem can't keep the carrier for more than a minute
>> It really feels like interference
>
> Is your ringing wire disconnected? See Google for much discussion
> about this topic.

Doesn't the engineer install provide a SSFP that effectively does that?

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:11:22 +0100, Andy Burns
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Scott wrote:
>
>> (E-Mail Removed) (Tony Mountifield) wrote:
>>
>>> Since I got FTTC on Wednesday, I have noticed a period each day
>>> where the VDSL modem can't keep the carrier for more than a minute
>>> It really feels like interference
>>
>> Is your ringing wire disconnected? See Google for much discussion
>> about this topic.
>
>Doesn't the engineer install provide a SSFP that effectively does that?

My spare phone still rings and I believe it to be one that requires a
ringing wire. I am not having any problems with FTTC though so I have
not seen the need to investigate. I was merely suggesting this as a
line of investigation (excuse pun!).

"Sultan of Usenet" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:immvg5$7fk$(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 22:47:51 +0000, Tony Mountifield made love to the
> words:
>
>> Since I got FTTC on Wednesday, I have noticed a period each day,
>> sometimes less than an hour, sometimes a couple of hours or more, where
>> the VDSL modem can't keep the carrier for more than a minute or two.
>> This is usually between late afternoon and early to mid evening. The
>> rest of the time it's rock solid.
>>
>> It really feels like interference (a radio amateur having a session of
>> operating?), since there is such a huge difference between the bad times
>> and the good, but I've no idea how to track something like that down.
>> Are there such things as wideband spectrum analysers with a directional
>> antenna? I assume VDSL uses frequencies up to several tens of MHz.
>>
>> Would be grateful for any suggestions. The times of interference
>> starting and stopping don't correspond to any change of activity in our
>> house.
>>
>> Cheers
>> Tony
>
> That's nothing - wait to the contention stands out to you, it's like a
> bloody crawl.....

This of course is the problem with VDSL. There's no user-level management
of the modem, so you can't see the line performance.

Contrast this with the ADSL modem integrated into a typical router, where
you can see SNR margin, line attenuation, and data rate, as well as
(sometimes) a host of other useful information about error rates and the
like.

Probably best to hold off getting FTTC until there are modems that provide
such performance monitoring. Then at least you can goto the ISP with a
well-founded complaint and get them to (get Openreach to) investigate.

--
Graham J

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 16:01:14 +0100, just as I was about to take a
herb, "Graham J" <graham@invalid> disturbed my reverie and wrote:

>Probably best to hold off getting FTTC until there are modems that provide
>such performance monitoring. Then at least you can goto the ISP with a
>well-founded complaint and get them to (get Openreach to) investigate.

They are just becoming available, but my understanding is that it is
illegal to use anything but the supplied modem at present.
--

Cheers,

DrT

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
Scott <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 22:47:51 +0000 (UTC), (E-Mail Removed) (Tony
> Mountifield) wrote:
>
> >Since I got FTTC on Wednesday, I have noticed a period each day,
> >sometimes less than an hour, sometimes a couple of hours or more,
> >where the VDSL modem can't keep the carrier for more than a minute
> >or two. This is usually between late afternoon and early to mid evening.
> >The rest of the time it's rock solid.
> >
> >It really feels like interference (a radio amateur having a session
> >of operating?), since there is such a huge difference between the
> >bad times and the good, but I've no idea how to track something
> >like that down. Are there such things as wideband spectrum analysers
> >with a directional antenna? I assume VDSL uses frequencies up to
> >several tens of MHz.
> >
> >Would be grateful for any suggestions. The times of interference
> >starting and stopping don't correspond to any change of activity
> >in our house.
> >
> Is your ringing wire disconnected? See Google for much discussion
> about this topic.

Thanks for the pointer; I'll do some likely searches.

I watched the engineer change the faceplate when he installed FTTC, and
there were only two wires that he put into the IDC terminals on the back
of the innermost faceplate. Does it matter which is which?

It's just strange that it switches abruptly from rock solid to unusable
and then later back again.

Cheers
Tony
--
Tony Mountifield
Work: (E-Mail Removed) - http://www.softins.co.uk
Play: (E-Mail Removed) - http://tony.mountifield.org

In article <immvg5$7fk$(E-Mail Removed)>,
Sultan of Usenet <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> That's nothing - wait to the contention stands out to you, it's like a
> bloody crawl.....

Er, excuse me, your chip is showing...

Tony
--
Tony Mountifield
Work: (E-Mail Removed) - http://www.softins.co.uk
Play: (E-Mail Removed) - http://tony.mountifield.org