Orange line drops intermittently

Hi all, I'm new here and nearly at my wit's end with my Orange broadband and would like some advice before I decide to change provider.

I have been with Orange b/b all the way since Freeserve. 99% of the time I have no problems whatsoever, no drops, almost 8mb connection, and it only takes a moment to get a connection (I switch my router off when I'm not at home), to the point where I'd almost recommend Orange to other people. No problems at all so far...

...but every few weeks or so, for no apparent reason I'll get little or no broadband at all over the space of 2 or 3 days. I'll have touched or changed nothing, I run one filter from a single master socket which feeds one BT landline phone and my Belkin router.

I have a pile of 6 filters that Orange support have kindly sent me over the months (none of which make any difference), whenever I have the problem I swap back to my Wanadoo Livebox (to keep tech support happy), which has the same problem, but after a couple of days with no or little b/band, the problem will miraculously fix itself, and I will go on to enjoy another 6 weeks or so, before the whole drama starts over again, for no apparent reason. This cycle of misery has happened at least 5 or 6 times over the last 16 months.

However in the middle of a 'down period', sometimes, if I'm lucky, if I pick up the landline telephone and dial out (e.g. to my own mobile) and let it ring a couple of times before hanging up, I get my broadband back!, although sometimes only for a few hours or so, and at a reduced speed.

When in a down period, my Belkin Security Log will tell me 'PPP down, LCP Timeout'. The landline will still work, albeit there is a little (but not a great amount) of noise on the line. The master socket is pretty old (it has a T.... symbol on it) but the wiring looks in reasonable shape (I've unscrewed all the box to take a look but not unscrewed the wires from their sockets).

As expected, Orange tech support are as useful as a paper fireguard and even when I explain that I sometimes get my broadband back after dialling out on the landline, they've not found that helpful in identifying the problem, even though I was sure it'd lead to a solution straight away. Frustratingly when they do a line check, usually the broadband will come back for a while (similar to me ringing out from the landline).

I'm in the middle of a down period at the moment (and have just got my connection back by using the old phone a friend solution) and am currently on my Wanadoo livebox (I prefer the Belkin because it's smaller, has four wired ports instead of the Livebox's two, and doesn't look like the packed lunch box I used to take to school), so here are my stats:



ADSL firmware version : A2pB015c3_readsl.d15b-1
Connection mode : ADSL2+
Type : Fast
Noise margin (dB) : 6.6
Attenuation (dB) : 55.5
Attainable download rate (kbps) : 7260
ADSL status : Connected [0]

Downstream Upstream
Rate (kbps) 7136 48


^ the downstream rate confuses me as I've literally run a SpeedTest and got less than 1mb - normally when I'm not in the middle of a dropout period I get nearly 8mb.

Can anyone shed some light on this miserable shadow of an Orange customer?

Paper Fire guard! Love it... Lets hope some Orange brass get to see some of these Orange BB thread "ongoing" UNSOLVED issues, from some core PAYING customers!

1) Do you have or have you ever had the "2nd Line" in any format over the years?
2) Is this happening "mostly" at the weekends, over the 16 month period?

Got a "similar" issue going on for one of my IM clients, as can be seen above

Time for a "class act" over in France to get all these issues sorted at once maybe!

In reply to a post by EvoluZion3:

....... The landline will still work, albeit there is a little (but not a great amount) of noise on the line....

You appear to have an HR fault on your line. The way to get this dealt with is to run a quiet line test when the audible noise is present (17070 option 2) with everything but a corded phone disconnected. The phone should be directly connected to the hidden test socket of the NTE5 (If available).
If any noise is heard during the test, report it as a voice fault and do not mention broadband.

Edited by Deadbeat (Sun 20-May-12 19:02:44)

1) Never had a second line into the house.
2) Funny you should say that - it tends to be Fri pm / Sat am that the problem starts, and I usually get normal service back by Mon pm / Tue pm.

Thanks - I'll give that a try later.

Good luck

Hi all, I thought I'd give a quick update. I still have occasional days where the connection drops for a few hours and then comes back by itself. I decided to try the 17070 number and noticed occasional slight crackling on the line, sometimes I can hear a faint modem-like noise which can only lead me to assume that the separation between the voice and the broadband isn't working properly. I swapped out with a different filter and experienced the same problem. I found that even if I gently prodded the telephone wire near where it goes into the filter then I get a lot of crackling over the quiet-line test. If I prod it enough so that the line goes quiet, voila I get the broadband back, but sometimes it'll drop out again. I can't see any visual problem with the wiring (if I gently prod the wiring in the guts of the BT socket there is no change to the quality of the line, leading me to think that the wiring in the socket is ok but then bizarrely there seems to be something wrong with the wiring to the telephone [but why would that cause a broadband problem?] unless both filters have the same problem...) I will see how it goes and the next time it drops I'll use a third filter. (I think I've got six so plenty to try)!

EDIT: I posted the above right after it dropped out and I 'fixed' it. It literally just dropped out again now, and by ringing 17070, listening to the line, and tweaking the wiring for the landline phone until I couldn't hear crackling or 'modem', the B/B came back again! I tried tweaking the broadband wire near the filter but no crackling, only with the telephone wire!?

Edited by EvoluZion3 (Sat 16-Jun-12 09:46:22)

Hi.

Any faulty equipment including telephones connected as part of your broadband set up can certainly cause an issue such as the one you are experiencing. I suggest removing your handset from the telephone socket for 24 hours and see if your connection remains stable during this time.

From there, look into replacing your Handset as it is likely at fault. Try a second handset and see if the noise still persists on your line. If it does then please read on,

Other things that can cause issues such as this are SKY TV boxes, Redcare Alarm Systems, Fax Machines or anything of this nature.

If you have nothing like the above connected, ensure that you are trying to test socket on your NTE5 with nothing but a filter & a telephone connected, no extensions of any kind.

A question I have for you is, do you hear any noise on your line when your broadband equipment is disconnected?

If so there may be a problem with your PSTN line, if Orange are your landline provider call from your mobile and ask to speak to the 'home phone faults' team, have them run a test, they will be able to determine this.

But from what you've posted, It is highly likely that your issue is related to your telephone handset. If you require any further support call 0844 874 8586 or 150 from an Orange mobile.

Edited by Ascension (Fri 29-Jun-12 12:04:51)

Thanks for your reply Ascension.
I had a dropout this afternoon (the first time for quite a while) - I disconnected the landline from the filter and my broadband came back within a few seconds! I plugged the landline back in, and my broadband dropped out again. After dialing 17070 #2 and playing with the landline wire a little until I could no longer hear the faint 'modem' sound of my router trying to connect to the internet, it came back again.
The landline is an old yellow/cream-coloured one that BT 'upgraded' us to for free many years ago so it sounds like it's had its chips. Next time I'm passing Comet or PC World I'll pop in and get a new one.

Yeah the landlines obviously pumping junk down the line

It wouldn't shock me if it was also kicking a few people nearby offline / slowing their connections down. Devices that emit REIN like this usually cause problems for lots of people nearby. Don't plug it back in as IF you are affecting a few other people nearby you can get into some naughty trouble

Anyways you could take this opportunity to get a nice set of cordless DECT phones . Then you can have phones elsewhere in the house without needing a phone jack in the other rooms.