BT Infinity2 Interesting issue!

Interesting one for you all. Please let me know what you think.

I called my phone line with infinity2 installed and let it ring(No Phone connected, just modem to faceplate).
vDSL modem goes direct to the new faceplate as installed by the BT OR, no extensions, or phone connected while testing.

I as hear it ring on the mobile, the attainable rate goes up by 6Mb and higher, and SNR by 3db+ from 5.7 to 8.6
When I stop ringing the line, it drops down again. However, if I plug in a phone into the socket, and answer the call, it drops by 3db or more along with speed by same amount. from 5.7 to below 4db.

Any ideas anyone?

In reference to www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/connectionprobs.htm:

~ adsl only works when the phone is being used.

Check filters and internal wiring.
Check for noise on the line which may help identify the problem by doing a "quiet line test".
(Dial 17070 and select option 2).
If so - Possibly a fault on the actual phone line perhaps due to worn cables or water on the line.
There may be times when a cable or joint is only slightly damaged/corroded and shows no immediate problem, however the damage is sufficient to increase resistance on the line.
When the phone line is in use, it generates a small electrical current which is needed to carry the voice signal. This current helps reduce resistance on the line and can be sufficient to "bridge the gap" just enough to carry the adsl signal. This is known as a High Open or High Resistance Fault.

Thanks for the reply BatBoy.

I can't check any wiring, as I only have the one master socket with the new faceplate. The only wires would be the ones going to the pole.

I did a line check yesterday, and did not notice anything that bad, a little noise maybe, but no beeps, or interference. I also did a line check on the BT website, and said all is fine.

It's interesting that if I call out on the same line with the infinity2 I see the attainable rate drop down, but if I ring the line it hits 76880 from 70580(SNR goes up my 3mb too). Maybe this is why my download speed has gone from 76 - 57.49 and upload speed from 17 to 12?

So this is a BT fault then?

Yes, it is.

I recently had an almost identical issue.

Picking up the phone to dial out immediately lowered SNRM by 4Mb or so at first, then matters gradually got worse & simply picking up the phone caused disconnections.

Dialling in caused SNRM to rise again & temporarily "fixed" the issue for a few hours at a time.

Trying an old dangly ADSL filter in the test socket (VDSL2 faceplate completely removed) solved the problem, thus proving the faceplate itself was faulty.

The faceplate was replaced when the engineer visited & the connection has been stable ever since.

Do you have a dangly filter to try in the test socket to try to rule in/rule out the faceplate as the problem?

The filtered faceplate is part of the Openreach kit, so if that is actually the cause, you should NOT be charged for an engineer's visit to replace it.

Hi Bald Eagle1, thanks fro your reply.

Yes, I had a new filter hanging around from BE Internet that sent extras to me same years ago. It made no difference at all.

However, the issue is that I tested without any phone connected at all, nothing but the modem, I get the same result by calling my phone line.

Thanks BatBoy.

Can you tell me. If no phone is plugged into the socket(new infinity faceplate), only the modem is connected to it's DSL socket. Should the SNR and rate change if I call the line?

Edited by deleted (Thu 14-Jun-12 22:21:59)

In reply to a post by phonic2k:

Can you tell me. If no phone is plugged into the socket(new infinity faceplate), only the modem is connected to it's DSL socket. Should the SNR and rate change if I call the line?

No!

Just for fun, I turned off the HG612 vdsl modem, and called the line with my mobile, waited to hear ringing, then turned on the modem.

It synced at just over 4mb higher at 64,336, however, my SNR after I hung up dropped to 4.9.

thanks for confirming this as a fault.

Do a fault this as a line fault to BT retail via the website?
or call BT support in India?

the reason i ask is that the web check report all is fine.
thanks again for all your help guys!

Before making any call for support, you really should try the test as Bald_Eagle1 has described.

Unscrew and remove the SSFP (the service specific face plate). You will now have the lower back portion of the NTE5/A exposed. At the lower right is the "test-socket". Plug a known-to-be-good "dangly" micro-filter into that socket and connect the Huawei HG612 via the micro-filter. Plug a telephone into the other socket of the micro-filter. Leave it connected like that for at least 24 hours. Monitor the line statistics (SNRM and Sync) when the telephone is (1) in use answering an incoming call (2) in use to originate a call (3) not in use.

If the issue you have previously noticed is no longer apparent, then you will have clear evidence of a faulty SSFP, which is Openreach's responsibility to replace. If the problem still persists, then it is an external fault -- somewhere between the NTE5/A and the FTTC DSLAM. Once again, it is Openreach's responsibility to fix.

Thanks for your post burakkucat.

As I said in my reply to Bald_Eagle1, I did indeed use a new left over filter from my days with BE Internet, and it made no difference at all. Same drop and gain as stated.

I've even tested putting the modem direct to the master socket under the faceplate without any filter.

I've been monitoring the line for about 4 days now(only had Infinity2 for just over 2 weeks). Sadly I see no difference if a phone is connected or not, or if I use a different filter plugged direct to the master socket.

However, I have gained over 5mb now by calling my line while the modem is syncing.

Just to update you all.

last night we had heavy rain, and this morning the upload attainable rate is down even more at just 15000, from 15810 yesterday. it's looking more and more like a HR fault now. called BT, and the guy could only agree with me, with all the stats I had, and tests already done to rule out anything else.

I'll update you after the BT OR has hopefully fixed the line, and I get back to 17Mb/s upload and 72Mb/s download, and pings of less than 12ms(currently no less than 29ms). well, it did seem strange to me only being a max of 160meters from the new FTTC cab.

I'm having some issues too at the moment, not quite the same, but what I believe is a fault nonetheless.

Slightly OT, but I wanted to ask you a question. When you contacted BT and explained the stats to them (graphs assumably?) did they not complain about the fact you had access to them (given the modem is using locked down firmware normally)?

I'm tempted to ring BT but at the same time I'm not sure if I can offer proof by the statistics I've been gathering over the past couple of days as I'm worried that they may complain about the fact I have access to that data.

As I said in my reply to Bald_Eagle1, I did indeed use a new left over filter from my days with BE Internet, and it made no difference at all. Same drop and gain as stated.

Ah, I see. Sorry, I completely misread your reply to Bald_Eagle1.

A HR or otherwise defective joint in your D-side pair does seem to be a possible culprit. Hopefully you are assigned a SFI trained Openreach engineer.

Edited by burakkucat (Fri 15-Jun-12 15:34:35)

In reply to a post by Ixel:

I'm tempted to ring BT but at the same time I'm not sure if I can offer proof by the statistics I've been gathering over the past couple of days as I'm worried that they may complain about the fact I have access to that data.

The support guy was very happy that I've done 50% of the job, in explaining the fault, as when I first opened the fault about the slow speeds, he thought it was a IP profile issue, and needed resetting.
He did another test while on the phone, and stated it does have a fault, and is being handed over to OR.

If I did not unlock my modem, I would have never have known about the issue, and would not have been fixed,as support was going down the wrong path of resetting my profile once again.

If you go to the BT care support forum, you will see many posting stats with unlocked modems, I don't see any reply saying you must return it to a lock crippled state.

btw, the BT OR engineer said me to on the infinity install, "you can do what you like once I've gone, replace if you want too." I only wished he checked the states then!

but if concerned, lock it again when BT OR come.

Edited by deleted (Fri 15-Jun-12 18:22:44)

I see - thanks!

If the fault returns once more then I'll phone BT business and not be concerned about stating what the graphs identify. Good luck with getting your fault resolved .

thinking I got about 2 CRC and FEC in 24 hours last week, this is not looking too good:
Only 8 hours uptime:
Line rate (kbit/s) 60842 15501 0 0
CRC errors 21768 0 0 0
FEC errors 223 3 0 0
HEC errors 5233 0 0 0

While I type is update, it's doubled in errors:

Downstream Upstream Downstream Upstream
Line rate (kbit/s)60842 15501 0 0
CRC errors 50239 0 0 0
FEC errors 406 6 0 0
HEC errors 9098 0 0 0

Edited by deleted (Fri 15-Jun-12 18:51:36)

Just to update you all on this issue.

By fault opened with support on the 13th June and listed on MyBT is now listed as Closed as of today 19th June with status "resolved".

Well, nothing is resolved, and I called support again today, and they did not know of the issue as the other guy did not pass on the fault(even though his tests shown a fault too) to BT Open Reach, and did not log any record from my call on Friday too.

She thought I needed to run more speed tests and monitor it for 48hours??? What on earth is the problem with these guys?

Is it possible to be put through to level3 support? I'm tired off listening to level1 script readers.

The CEO's Office has a special department (onshore). You can find email address here:

http://www.ceoemail.com/