REIN problem in Fulwood Preston PR2 9**

Hi For some months I have been having a problem with REIN.
Whilst BTOR agree there is a problem they have been unable to pin the source down, but it is believed to be in a small shop complex.
It is unlikely that I am the only person in the area that is suffering though maybe due to the timing (daytime 9am til 7pm) weekdays the problem may not be noticed by many.
It presents as an increase in errors with the subsequent reduction in throughput and the general reduction in service due to DLM. Consequently it still has an after effect evenings and weekends.
It will not affect anyone on cable and the affect on Fibre service is not known though it is
probably less likely to impact on those speeds.

If anyone living in this area thinks they may have or have had such a problem please post below or send me a PM.

If the source is indeed in a shop complex, then pinning it down will be tricky. The usual tactics employed by REIN engineers, turning off the power to various premises to localise are unlikely to be looked upon favourably by the shops owners.

How far are you from the supposed source ? Quite some way I'd suppose, as it's only causing minor errors.

Get a portable radio, tune to 612KHz and have a walk about your area like I did two weeks ago with headphones on and pointing my radio in different directions,
You do get some funny looks but who cares.

@ APTMAN
Thank you for your interest. I have done the AM radio bit but there is so much electrical noise
within 3 meters of the complex it is impossible to define which is the offending noise let alone where it comes from

@ Zarjaz Thank you for your interest. Yes tricky indeed.

I dont expect BT can knock off the power I did suggest to the last engineer that if they could gain access to a suspected source they may be able to switch some machines off one at a time and I can tell almost at once (on Routerstats )when that happens. It would need them to have a 2 man visit though one "ordinary" engineer and one from rein team. which is why I am trying to contact others suffering in the same area. I dont think they will go to that trouble for just one complaint.

Only about 400 meters from the suspected source . I reckon I am losing about 3Mb of throughput but no actual drops. In some ways it would be better if it was worse!!

In reply to a post by Roldec:

Only about 400 meters from the suspected source . I reckon I am losing about 3Mb of throughput but no actual drops. In some ways it would be better if it was worse!!

What do you think the source actually is? No names, no locations, just what is there and why do you think it is causing it?


I came across one a few years back - several houses had issues from 8:00 PM to around midnight. One particular resident did not see the problems whereas his wife did. He was out in his roadside burger van every evening and he would stand his generator right next to the BT cabinet!

There is no 'REIN team' just 'ordinary engineers with additional training and equipment.

Cant say much/anything
All I will say is that for the last 4 months I have been keeping on/off times for the Rein and
they coincide almost exactly with the opening hours of one business in a small shopping complex. On is 15-20 mins before they open and off is around 10 mins before they close.
I am in contact with them but they do not believe there is a problem as of course whatever might cause it does not show an obvious fault and as they are on 65-75Mbps Fibre so any slight reduction in speed would probably not be noticed, in fact they have said they are happy with their speed. I am trying to keep them on my side.

I came across one a few years back - several houses had issues from 8:00 PM to around midnight

Many years ago i had problems where my connection would die exactly the same time every night for 2 hours, then come back until the next day. Turns out it was a BRAS server that was playing up and effecting 20 or so people connected to it.

Very odd

I was wondering if they had a specific piece of equipment - that could be causing the problem. Something that could be a few years old with several motors - a press, vacuum former, printing machine, &c &c.

None of the above. My thoughts are it could be Aircon, Monitors, Intercom, Photocopier or allinone printer withfax machine. Card swipe machine Tv or the old favourite Skybox.
They will have some specialised equipment but I wouldnt think it would be on all day though may affect even on standby. Whatever it is it is on all the time from just before 9am to 10 min or so before they close. I doubt if they have any heavy duty motors.

That's the thing though, an intercom could most likely be on 24/7 and I doubt that some of that other stuff is fully switched off too, just on standby. Of all of them, the monitors would be a fave bet ...........

Here's the thing though, guessing will very often get you nowhere. The correct equipment, supportive locals, and persistent legwork are the way to go. You should investigate getting a tester 444b from Mimtel, a radio will give you noises to (often spuriously) chase, the 444 will clearly indicate the presence of the correct interference.

Yes currently contacting the locals- as for the 444b I am hoping that is what BT used and they failed to pinpoint. In any case if I could afford £300 ish for one I would just move to Virgin cable.

https://www.btwholesale.com/assets/documents/Orders_...

That just says that there's a helpdesk engineers and CP's can call if needed.

There is no specific 'team' of engineers who deal with REIN investigations.

Yes - I have read that before. I was "lucky" to have had the problem before that was issued and have established there is rein present. The important change in that document to the previous one is this bit:
"Recent BTW system developments to the RRT data sources available to customers and the introduction of the DLM Setting tool (within the Self Service Repair tool) mean that BTW ADSL services can now be analysed and adjusted by the CP to work(where required)
when REIN interference appears to be present.
As this can provide an immediate service reliability improvement for the customer, it is recommended that only after re-profiling options have been tried and proven to be in-effective that a REIN investigation be considered"

When I first started on this my sync speed was 8.5 and when no rein had between
6 and 7 throughput dropping to around 2 when rein present.
Now I have been "digitally remastered" with the new DLM setting tool my sync speed is around 6.6 and max throughput is 5.6 and is not often below 5 even with Rein so as that is within the "between 4.5Mb and 11Mb estimated" there is virtually no chance of BTOR looking at it ever again unless I can find affected neighbours.