Intermittent connectivity - grateful for advice

After a couple of years pretty good connectivity - very few drops - I am
now experiencing very frequent connection failure. The setup is a wired
Draytek Vigor 2500 router connected to PC and laptop, both running XP,
ISP is Plusnet. The router LED's are showing the LAN to be OK, ADSL
line steady for a while then flashing, ADSL data steady. Plusnet
support said that it was most likely the filter so I replaced it and
plugged into the main BT socket with nothing else connected but still no
joy. According to the router status screen at the moment connectivity
lasts for a couple of minutes then drops for ~30 seconds but these time
periods have varied considerably in the course of the last few days with
the odd fairly long period when all appeared to be well.
SNR is variable - anything between 8.2 and 5.1. Not being particularly
techie I am at a bit of a loss - is it likely to be a drop in line
quality (I have noticed occasional problems in the past when we have
experienced prolonged heavy rain but it has been relatively dry here
recently) or the router failing?
Grateful for any advice.
--
Robert

Robert wrote:
> After a couple of years pretty good connectivity - very few drops - I am
> now experiencing very frequent connection failure. The setup is a wired
> Draytek Vigor 2500 router connected to PC and laptop, both running XP,
> ISP is Plusnet. The router LED's are showing the LAN to be OK, ADSL
> line steady for a while then flashing, ADSL data steady. Plusnet
> support said that it was most likely the filter so I replaced it and
> plugged into the main BT socket with nothing else connected but still no
> joy. According to the router status screen at the moment connectivity
> lasts for a couple of minutes then drops for ~30 seconds but these time
> periods have varied considerably in the course of the last few days with
> the odd fairly long period when all appeared to be well.
> SNR is variable - anything between 8.2 and 5.1. Not being particularly
> techie I am at a bit of a loss - is it likely to be a drop in line
> quality (I have noticed occasional problems in the past when we have
> experienced prolonged heavy rain but it has been relatively dry here
> recently) or the router failing?
> Grateful for any advice.

Hi there,

It always helps to try alternative kit or try your router on another DSL
line to rule out a hardware problem as this is something that's
difficult to identify from our side.

Failing that if you have plugged directly into the master socket using
no extension cabling, with no other devices connected to the line at
all, swapped the filter and find you are still having problems then I
would raise a fault via our web portal and we'll initiate the testing
procedure:-

http://faults.plus.net

Regards,

--
|Bob Pullen Broadband Solutions for
|Training & Project Liaison Home & Business @
|PlusNet plc www.plus.net
+ ----- PlusNet - The smarter way to broadband ------

"Plusnet Support Team" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:4464cc20$0$9247$(E-Mail Removed)...
| Robert wrote:
| > After a couple of years pretty good connectivity - very few drops - I am
| > now experiencing very frequent connection failure. The setup is a wired
| > Draytek Vigor 2500 router connected to PC and laptop, both running XP,
| > ISP is Plusnet. The router LED's are showing the LAN to be OK, ADSL
| > line steady for a while then flashing, ADSL data steady. Plusnet
| > support said that it was most likely the filter so I replaced it and
| > plugged into the main BT socket with nothing else connected but still no
| > joy. According to the router status screen at the moment connectivity
| > lasts for a couple of minutes then drops for ~30 seconds but these time
| > periods have varied considerably in the course of the last few days with
| > the odd fairly long period when all appeared to be well.
| > SNR is variable - anything between 8.2 and 5.1. Not being particularly
| > techie I am at a bit of a loss - is it likely to be a drop in line
| > quality (I have noticed occasional problems in the past when we have
| > experienced prolonged heavy rain but it has been relatively dry here
| > recently) or the router failing?
| > Grateful for any advice.
|
| Hi there,
|
| It always helps to try alternative kit or try your router on another DSL
| line to rule out a hardware problem as this is something that's
| difficult to identify from our side.
|
| Failing that if you have plugged directly into the master socket using
| no extension cabling, with no other devices connected to the line at
| all, swapped the filter and find you are still having problems then I
| would raise a fault via our web portal and we'll initiate the testing
| procedure:-
|
| http://faults.plus.net
|
| Regards,
|
| --
||Bob Pullen Broadband Solutions for
||Training & Project Liaison Home & Business @
||PlusNet plc www.plus.net
| + ----- PlusNet - The smarter way to broadband ------

There are a few things that can cause the problem. Check your kit and extensions
first. I mean REALLY CHECK THEM.
Try your modem router elsewhere or borrow a known good working modem router.
Isolate all extensions and recheck.
Filters are prone to failing and especially the BT MF50's made in China. These
can give some wierd intermittent faults.

If you are satisified your kit and wiring is in order progress to raising the
issue with your broadband provider NOT BT.
Line faults are dealt with by Openreach on behalf of BT and your service
provider and they will deal with any live issues.
These can range from faults caused by tiny fractures in the conductor of your
line (HR/Dis) to contact with other lines (battery) or the ground(Earth)

RF Interference can also cause problems from poor connectivity to knocking a
whole street out.
The latest worst culprit are some of the german made sky boxes. There is a CRUDE
test for RF interference.
Get an AM radio tuned to the a station at around 650 khz (double the base freq
of adsl) and listen for interference.
It's really crude, but in actual fact seems to be more effective that some of
the really expensive test gear the SFO's use.
In fact, it was a SFO that taught me how to do it. You run the radio around the
phone line, dropwire etc......... However, having found a source of RF
interference dealing with it is something else. You could claim to be an avid
listener of MW radio and report it to the DTI.

On 12 May 2006, Robert <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>SNR is variable - anything between 8.2 and 5.1.

Didn't see any mention of what speeds you are getting - are you
sure you have not recently been upgraded to IPstream Max ? PGM

poster wrote:
> On 12 May 2006, Robert <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >SNR is variable - anything between 8.2 and 5.1.
>
> Didn't see any mention of what speeds you are getting - are you
> sure you have not recently been upgraded to IPstream Max ? PGM


At the moment speeds are down to 448K up and 768K down. Plus support
indicated that I had not been upgraded - they have said that it could
take some time (days) to check the line.
This morning the status screen is showing an OK status for an average
of 20 seconds before dropping for around 35 seconds and SNR is
fluctuating from 8.6 to as low as 2.8.

Robert

On 13 May 2006, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>At the moment speeds are down to 448K up and 768K down.

If sync shows 448 kbps for upstream, it's likely you are on Max!

Hmm - Plus definitely said that I had not been upgraded but the system
status is definitely showing 448000 up speed during the brief periods
of 'showtime'. Perhaps it is time to endure another 40 minutes on the
phone waiting to get through to Plus support.

Robert

"Robert" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:lPLOXSA$(E-Mail Removed)...
> After a couple of years pretty good connectivity - very few drops - I am
> now experiencing very frequent connection failure. The setup is a wired
> Draytek Vigor 2500 router connected to PC and laptop, both running XP, ISP
> is Plusnet. The router LED's are showing the LAN to be OK, ADSL line
> steady for a while then flashing, ADSL data steady. Plusnet support said
> that it was most likely the filter so I replaced it and plugged into the
> main BT socket with nothing else connected but still no joy. According to
> the router status screen at the moment connectivity lasts for a couple of
> minutes then drops for ~30 seconds but these time periods have varied
> considerably in the course of the last few days with the odd fairly long
> period when all appeared to be well.
> SNR is variable - anything between 8.2 and 5.1. Not being particularly
> techie I am at a bit of a loss - is it likely to be a drop in line quality
> (I have noticed occasional problems in the past when we have experienced
> prolonged heavy rain but it has been relatively dry here recently) or the
> router failing?
> Grateful for any advice.
> --
> Robert

Also with PlusNet (just under 12 months) - no speed or connection problems
for 9 months (usual minor outages - which u expect from all ISP's), but last
three months has been terrible.

I have changed my Netgear router with two others and made no difference.
I've also loaned my three routers to friends and they connected with them
ok.

I'm convinced it's a PLusNet problem. Also the fact that they refuse to
answer any of my tickets (and close them automatically) makes me think they
have problems.

Is there an ISP out there who will hold their hands up and say 'we have a
problem' EVER? People do understand that technology breaks and sometimes
companies buy hardware/software that causes problems, but to keep saying -
no, nothing wrong with our kit, it never breaks... come on!

Clive

On Sat, 13 May 2006, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> Hmm - Plus definitely said that I had not been upgraded but the
> system status is definitely showing 448000 up speed during the brief
> periods of 'showtime'.

Yes, it sure looks as if you've been Max-ed. If this is recent
(days), maybe you're in the initial stages of tuning, and it's not
going too well, in which case I think the best advice, from another
user, is to leave it on, and be patient for a few days...

I'm going to assume that, as you're able to post here, you also have
some viable way of reading web pages.

Based on what you reported before, you seem to have done a fair bit of
self help, but it might be worth calmly following the steps suggested
at http://usertools.plus.net/tutorials/id/10 - at least, then when you
finally have to report a fault via Plusnet to BTw, you'll be able to
include the results as a checklist, and hopefully avoid pointless
requests for tests that you've already done (not that their front
level support always seem capable of reading anything before the last
line of a report...).

Having a known-good second modem or router can be comforting when
fault-finding. Doesn't have to be a top of the range job, just
something that works. I suppose it's not inconceivable that yours has
suffered from recent thunderstorm activity. Let's hope not.

> Perhaps it is time to endure another 40 minutes on the
> phone waiting to get through to Plus support.

Pretty much a waste of time IMHO. You could be well down the
checklist in 40 mins, then report via the web - as long as you have
some way to access it. At least there's then a written audit trail,
if one later has reason to complain. Phone calls are so inconclusive,
in my experience.

I get the impression that you're at the end of a long and/or possibly
dodgy line. This may be clutching at straws, but my phone line used
to get noisy at times (particularly after wet weather), but when I
tried to report the phone fault and used their line tester, it seemed
as if the line testing would revive the line, the scratchy noises
would go away, and no fault found - at least for some months, after
which the problem would surface again. Eventually, it got bad enough
that they accepted it as a phone fault, they must have repaired it (I
got no more than a postcard to say they were sorry I was out when they
called, but that they had not needed access to the premises), and I've
had no problem since.

Recall that phone faults can and should be reported to BT, whereas for
ADSL faults you can't go to BTw, you have to approach them through
your ISP.

hope this is vaguely useful