Couple of Questions

Quick background info on situation:

Phone Line Noise
1. Had numerous engineer call outs last year in 2016, and each one slowly resolved an issue somewhere along the line between my home and the exchange.
2. Master Socket was moved free of charge from the Kitchen to the Living Room, and appeared to help a bit with the random noise issue, but noise still occasionally comes back up.
3. Last Engineer noticed on their device connected on the line around 30m mark that there's an issue, but was in the theory that it might have been DLM messing around with the line and hence the info shown on the device. So they didn't head out to look at the 30m mark of the line to see if there was any issues.
4. Using 17070 option 2 for the Quiet Line test is mostly clear, but occasionally some random noise comes on but not always. Appears to be partly weather impacted, but can never prove it here except for heavy weather (rain or wind or massive temperature changes).

Home Hub 5a
1. My Cabinet happens to be a Huawei so HH5 is not going to have g.inp capabilities. Is this an issue for the HH5a? Currently, over the last week or two with the bad weather, I have had numerous dropouts of the line, mostly as "CWMP: session closed due to error: No response" from the HH5a. So I am unsure if these are linked or not.
2. The HH5a is on the "4.7.5.1.83.8.204.1.11" firmware update, and I am aware that the next update was removed from being pushed to HH5a devices.

Infinity Contract:
1. Infinity 2 was activated from 2014.
1. Contract is up to August 2017. For Infinity 2.
2. Originally had 74/20, got shunted down to 60-68/20 last year, but recent DC's I think caused DLM to shift me to 47/14, far lower than what I should be getting on estimates.

Questions:
1. Should I call BT up and request a new HH5b or Smart Hub? Will this likely solve the HH5a calling in issues and causing DLM to drop me down in speeds? And what are the chances I can get it for free now my original contract from 2014 is over and on a new one right now?
2. Should I get my own router or modem instead? Heard many reports of users using other devices to prevent the HH from dialing home checking for updates and deciding instead it needs to DC the line. Far more stable. Thoughts on this?
3. Should I call BT out for a check on the line? I worry about this one as although the issue is likely outside related, there isn't really a consistent way to catch the random noise on the line affecting Infinity. Also, if I do go this route, what should I report this under?

Thanks all.

:: editing in BT HH5a stats ::

6. Data rate: 14997 / 46901
7. Maximum data rate: 27170 / 69919
8. Noise margin: 12.3 / 11.3
9. Line attenuation: 17.0 / 15.2
10. Signal attenuation: 16.4 / 15.2

Previously the Noise Margin is much lower. ~7.1 with Maximum data rate at 76 and actual Data Rate at 72 at least. But now the recent DC'ing has dropped me to the ones above.

Further info: From memory, I believe the last Engineer said that the line was around 400-500 meters.

Edited by J1NG (Tue 07-Mar-17 16:48:42)

Get the line fixed first would be my first take on it ...........

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

Get the line fixed first would be my first take on it ...........

Agreed and also report it as an intermittent fault, I have used that a few times and have yet to be charged for the engineer visit when they couldn't find anything.

So the OP might be lucky.

Paul

Thanks guys, I'll give them a call in a day or two to have them have a look at the line again.

A quick update:

I had the OR Engineer turn up today (instead of next Thursday, luckily I was in), and they found the same noise spike at around the 30m mark (27.4m, but it's a rough number). So they're not charging for this call out luckily enough

The engineer performed the following:
1. Changed a junction point from classic connection to a Gel Crimp connection to help prevent moisture and damp from being able to affect the phone line.
2. Changed "something" at the 30m Junction.

Have been warned that it might not be the end of it (in case there's further issues along the line). But overall the line stats seems to have improved on reconnecting the HH5a. So far it seems to have done the job. Although without a DLM Line reset, my speeds might need a while to improve.

5. DSL uptime: 0 days, 10:30:15
6. Data rate: 19999 / 57412
7. Maximum data rate: 26318 / 68593
8. Noise margin: 7.2 / 8.4
9. Line attenuation: 16.2 / 14.5
10. Signal attenuation: 16.2 / 14.5

Had a few succesful "CWMP: HTTP authentication success from https://pbthdm.bt.mo" this time now (although this was the case since my speed was dropped as well a day or two earlier) but I'm hoping this will be the end of it. But to confirm, I did call BT and reported it as an intermittent line fault. Made no mention of broadband except to the engineer when they arrived about the noise on the line able to knock out the BB connection.

Thanks for the help all, if I need further help, I'll update the thread again.

The engineer needed to get a reset done really. It's only after an engineer fixes a fault then requests one it seems to be possible in most cases.

Well, it was a Phone Line engineer and not a BB Engineer, and from what I've read from others it seems they don't do the reset whilst the others do.

In any event, I'm not "as" concerned about the speed at the moment as it has most definitely gone back up after the visit today (although it could get worse again I suppose0 and was more concerned about the line constantly in flux and sending the HH5a into haywire and DC'ing everyone every 1-10 minutes in bad weather (whilst I'm in the middle of a raid or other co-op play) or DC'ing everyone when it can't reach the Firmware check site for a response (which is why I'm not too thrilled on keeping the HH5a).

I'm hoping (praying) that DLM is actually as good as BT hopes it is and relents at some point to return me back up to faster speeds without further need of intervention from OR Engineers (would be nice to get back the full 80 down, but that's likely a dream only at this point from crosstalk as Cabinet was full).

For now, just happy I'm not seeing the HH5a turn orange every few minutes.

Yes, phone engineers can't do it. Stability is the key. Good luck.

Ah well, that didn't last long.

The intermitten line static has come back in the bad weather (wind and partial rain; damp at the very least). However, it hasn't disconnected the line (so far) like before (the line noise has gone down a bit but no changes to line attenuation; after using Line Test Option 2 for a bit, it appeared to clean up a bit). So that's a plus.

I'm theorising that there's an issue on the line further away than the 30m mark, as it only pops up during the weather blows by strongly or with heavy damp. The only other thing I can report is that the Junction Box at the 30m mark doesn't have a lid (and maybe box itself entirely) and this could be impacting the lines all connecting there.

Should I call in for another engineer about the lack of an actual box at the junction to cover and protect the lines? And to also check along the line that runs to the cabinet/exchange for breaks? As I'm starting to think that it's likely there's a break somewhere along the line now. But again, worried about a call out charge if they can't find anything.