"Possible internal wiring/ equipment fault"

Hi,

I've been having issues with general stability, frequent re-syncs and a drop in upstream rate over the past month, essentially, since all that rain we had begun. The previous fault I had was a 'contact fault' which the OR engineer appeared to have fixed but the current issue symptons are very similar. E.g. drop in upstream sync, missing upstream tones and frequent re-syncs, what is different is the upstream SNRM has a 0.5dB spike every 4 or 5 samples using DSLstats.
I contacted my ISP, IDNET, on Friday and as per, they didn't respond. I chased them on Saturday and have only just got a response this morning and they're stating that diagnostics report a possible internal wiring/ equipment fault. I don't have any internal wiring, not even a land line phone plugged in. The drop wire comes down the front of the house and straight into an NTE5 with NTE5C SSFP. The gateway (Billion 8800AXL) is then plugged into this via a bespoke 1m length of CW1308.
I have another gateway I can try, which I will do tonight, straight into the diagnostic socket of the master socket.
I'm intrigued to understand how the diagnostics can determine it's an internal wiring fault?!

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Paul

Any thoughts ? .....

the test system they/Openreach use can be 'flakey' at times, it's trying to say 'something' is wrong, but it's prognosis isn't always to be treated as Gospel/accurate.

It should however result in them being able to organise a faulting visit .... go for it. Any noise on the line ?

I've performed quiet line test (through the SSFP, with a cheap analogue phone) and there did seem to be intermittent, quiet 'pops' for want of a better word...

Having thought about it, since receiving IDNET's diagnosis, I'm favouring the 'bespoke' modem cable as a candidate, as it's one I made myself, the CW1308 cable isn't very flexible and I has been wiggled around some in its life. So I plan on making a fresh one and swapping them over but I also have a pre-made cable I can try too.

I'd hope that I can rule out 'my' side of the line fairly quickly with a modem cable change, running directly to the test socket and/ or swapping the Billion over for a ZyXel gateway I have lying around.

If I do that and the 'fault' remains, bearing in mind the last saga I had with IDNET when they diagnosed a contact fault (I'll find and link the thread), where do I go from there?

Paul

I'd hope that I can rule out 'my' side of the line fairly quickly with a modem cable change, running directly to the test socket and/ or swapping the Billion over for a ZyXel gateway I have lying around.

Don't forget to take notes of sync rates, theoretical max rates, SNR and error counts before and after ...

also don't forget that excessive 'fannying about' can rouse the ogre beneath the bridge that is DLM.


(and if you rule out your kit, report it via your ISP)

Edited by Zarjaz (Mon 23-Apr-18 13:07:23)

Indeed, I'm acutely aware of the spectre that is DLM, so will do my best to avoid it. I think running the Billion to the test socket with a pre-made modem cable will be the first test. Then if that doesn't give an improvement, the same socket/ cable config but with the ZyXel. And so on...

I can take screen dumps of DSLstats you track progress.

ETA: a link to my BQM
It's re-synced twice today already. Before this issue, it would stay up for weeks!

Paul

Edited by deleted (Mon 23-Apr-18 13:26:06)

I can take screen dumps of DSLstats you track progress.

Nah, pen and paper ......... cutting edge stuff it is

As for BQM's, I can't even spell it, let alone interpret it.

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

pen and paper...

I had to Google that...

Paul

In reply to a post by youngsyp:

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

pen and paper...

I had to Google that...

Paul

Some people give them to their kids when the iPad is charging to keep them temporarily entertained. Although most kids don't require the paper as walls, carpet, clothes, etc all work just as well.

I literally get a smallpad from the stores and hand it to guys I buddy up for work ....

they all say �I�ll remember� and 40 minutes later when I ask �So what stats were you getting when we tested at ....� they never can recall.

(Still using Dogpile as a search engine here )






Edit : just checked, it still exists ...... http://www.dogpile.com/

So I've swapped to the ZyXel, changed the modem cable and have it all plugged into the test socket and surprise, surprise, the diagnostics are still showing a fault 'inside the premises'.

Whilst messing around, I took the master socket off the wall just to check the connections were secure, and they look new and are tight. Being an NTE5C, they're the toolless IDC type terminals, so pretty final when the connection is made.

As a side note, when I changed the modem cable and plugged directly into the master socket, the downstream attainable increased from around 58Mb/s to just over 60Mb/s, this came from an increase in SNRM to around 7dB (from 6.5dB). This remained when I switched to the ZyXel, which would lead me to believe that either the old modem cable or the SSFP were causing slight problems.
Also, the 0.5dB spikes in the upstream SNRM are further apart and wider now.
And despite the upstream sync being at around 9Mb/s when it's usually at around 9.5Mb/s, speed tests shown a faster upstream rate, by a few hundred kb/s. The downstream rate also seems slightly improved on speed tests.

Oh and another point of note is that the ZyXel is excellent for bufferbloat, virtually eliminating it according to the DSLreports speedtest. Errors generally look better with the ZyXel too.

It looks like upstream transmit power is back up to where is used to be with the ZyXel too.

Coincidentally, or not, my next door neighbour is also having issues with his broadband currently, and has crackling on his line...

Looks like an engineer visit might be required.

Paul

Edited by deleted (Tue 24-Apr-18 09:18:21)