Drops out every night

I moved to Infinity after years of signal dropping out every day. It still drops out most evenings, about 9-10pm.

Today BT tell me they are increasing line rental charges...

Should I stay with this uncaring company?

When did you move to Infinity, and do you just have the Home Hub and a dangly filter, or the Openreach modem with a VDSL2 filtered faceplate?

Changing ISP would probably make no difference. But we may be able to help.

Edited by RobertoS (Mon 27-Oct-14 23:54:17)

There are a lot of uncaring companies out there as others are now increasing their prices as well.

If it is dropping out at around the same time every evening then it is unlikely to be BT at fault and more likely a localised source of interference causing it.

Another source is the answer that BT give me. My response is that I ask for a service from BT which is not provided. They know how to trace this 'unknown source' and I pay for their service, for that money they should give me support but they don't.

It's always excuses. I moved to Infinity because BT said it would solve my problem. It hasn't.

All I'm told is that they are increasing line rental charges - again! They are a national disgrace. No wonder they changed their name from British Telecom.

How is an external noise source BTs fault? And how much money should BT spend looking for a noise source that is not of their making? Think you are being a little harsh on them - I am no fan of BT but in the end these services are such low cost that it is impossible for them to spend hours and hours of engineer time tracing every noise source - and it is also quite likely that they may be able to do nothing about it even if they find it.

You also have to consider that if it only happens between 9pm and 10pm then that is the only time an engineer would be likely to find it. So, how would you propose that they do that? Get engineers camped along the whole length of your line late evening to try and trace the source?

With being generally within that one hour slot; and having gone on for " years of signal dropping out every day", suggests the possibility that it may be something within your own home; and if so, then it is your responsibility to trace etc, not Openreach/BT.

Do you have anything that switches ON particularly in that time slot, eg night-storage heating, someone working a "back-shift" and switching on an oven or even a TV set, on arrival home, showers (very heavy electrical loading - about 8 to 9 KW, compared to a typical 1 bar fire of 1 KW; or TV set at 125 Watts)?

It could also be a neighbour, particularly if you are in a rural situation with long electricity supply lines.

Do lights flicker simultaneously?

Try doing the Quiet Line Test on your phone line during the day a few times, to get an impression of noise levels, then immediately after those drop-outs, to see if there are any differences.

The least they could do is to offer advice. All they have managed to do so far is make me subscribe to a more expensive service.

As a pensioner I can't accept that the service is cheap. Ensuring that we all have line services as well as broadband means that we pay twice.

How exactly have BT made you subscribe to a more expensive service?

Surely you're a free man and can make your own decisions as to what to buy or not buy and also from whom to buy a service.

In reply to a post by MCM:

How exactly have BT made you subscribe to a more expensive service?

They inferred that going to FTTC would cure it.

Seeing as it didn't would suggest, as has been proposed, that the problem lies closer to home.

We went through this 6 months ago http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/unhappiness/f/43233...

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

We went through this 6 months ago http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/unhappiness/f/43233...

Hmm, seems the customer wants to vent then and not actively do anything to try and fix the situation. Seem to be suggestions in the previous thread that haven't been followed that could possibly have fixed or better pinpointed the issue. If the OP doesn't want to follow advice then little point in posting on here every 6 months complaining.

Re-reading the previous posts, what does:-

In reply to a post by braiswick:

..BT will drop out, making me log back.........

....mean?

Sounds more like a PC/router issue.

Edited by deleted (Tue 28-Oct-14 13:56:51)

Yep. He hasn't answered the first reply, which is the starter for any help we might be able to offer. Without an answer to my questions then there is nothing to discuss.

OK, @ braiswick:-

Are you using a wired connection or wireless?
What Operating System are you using?
Do you have Anti Virus software running, if so which?
What modem/router are you using?

I'm wired, and on WiFi = both affected.

Ipod or Windows 7

Avast antivirus (paid)

BT Modem 5

OK, explain "making me log back".

Does that re-instate the broadband connection? If so, what do you do?

So there is only one box between the socket and your computer? If so it is a Home Hub, which is a modem/router. Not a modem, but includes one, and the information available from pure modems and Home Hubs is considerably different. Which is important for us trying to help you.

Where is the Home Hub 5 plugged into - the master socket or an extension. Was it installed by an engineer, and if so was it an Openreach one or a contractor - Kelly's/Quinn's?

Is the Home Hub anywhere near anything like a TV, Digi-box (Freeserve) box, Sky box or anything? Do you have a Sky box?

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 28-Oct-14 18:34:34)

Does it stay off all night at this time? Or does it come back on?

I had an engineer around a bit ago and he said that there was a woman who had a 75Mb line, she got full whack, but the moment it hit 8pm, it went down to 9mb. Turns out that someone close to her house had an appliance that was switched on around this time, which interfered with her broadband. Maybe it's a similar case here?

In reply to a post by ian72:

I am no fan of BT but in the end these services are such low cost

bt low cost I don't think so

I don't use any of the the extras that comes with Infinity 2 so I basically pay £20/month for a 76/19 I2 connection that is truly unlimited that is effectively contended at 1:1. Yeah, that is cheap.

In reply to a post by jcym:

I don't use any of the the extras that comes with Infinity 2 so I basically pay £20/month for a 76/19 I2 connection that is truly unlimited that is effectively contended at 1:1. Yeah, that is cheap.

is that with line rental included ? truly unlimited I take it you haven't looked at there forum lately

it isn't exactly expensive. I currently pay £26 for broadband plus LRS at about £10 per month (or whatever it comes out at). I get over 40Mb down and 14Mb up.

When I first joined ADSL in about 2001 I paid £150 for installation and £40 a month for a 512Kb fixed speed line - plus the line rental.

So, 13 years later I am paying quite a bit less for significantly more. Broadband in this country is not particularly expensive and is a lot cheaper than a number of other countries.

Oh, and my connection does seem to be truly unlimited. I am not a mass downloader but with streaming, sky downloads, OS updates, games, etc I use a fair bit and have never had any issues with the service.

I am not BT fan and plan to move away from the in January but we don't have it that bad.

PS - an hour of engineer time (including costs for equipment, vehicle, on-costs, etc) is going to easily wipe out over a months broadband and line rental. Doesn't take long for a line to become very unprofitable.

Edited by ian72 (Wed 29-Oct-14 08:34:32)

Well in my experience it is unlimited as after some 15 months on I2 I regularly do half a TB a month and have done over a TB a month before now when really hammering things up and down. When I compare that to what I was paying in the 90s for dual ISDN (128 Kbps) or even my first 2 Mbps/512 kbps line around 2001-2002, there is no comparison. So yes, relatively speaking, 76/19 unlimited and effectively 1:1 contention is cheap as far as I am concerned and I would still consider it cheap if I was to count the line rental as part of the cost. Though I don't count it as nowadays I actually need the landline for things other than BB.