Openreach Roadworks / DSL problems.

Three days ago I noticed that my 100% stable ADSL line provided by Sky became extremely unstable. The line is experiencing an extreme about of CRC errors and I get terrible packet loss when i try and use the line.

The same day this happened BT openreach turned up with two large vans to do work on a nearby street. My problems started as soon as they started doing work.

I assumed the problem would go away one they finished but so far they havent finished and my problem is getting worse.

Today I went to investigate what they had been doing, here are some pictures I took:

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/7946/dscf0318a.jpg
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/1583/dscf0322to.jpg
http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/3229/dscf0324b.jpg

I hope there are some 'in the know' bt engineers, or ex engineers or anyone knowledgeable about such street works here. I wonder exactly what they are doing, and why the telephone cable has been left exposed to the elements. It cannot be good that the duct has filled up with raid water and is not completely submerged.

Usually, my SNR is around 6db and completely stable. Since problem has occured, it drops from 6 to 1 for a few seconds, then returns to 6. This process repeats itself. Its during these few seconds that I get all the CRC errors and packet loss.

I tried forcing my router to sync at 12db to increase its stability, it helped a little but the problem remains. Here is a graph of my SNR margin to illustrate:

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/3736/routerstats.jpg

Does anyone know if a telephone cable being submerged in water like this would cause the problem I described to occur? Also, any idea on what appears to be white cloth wrapped around the telephone cable (to deep it dry? if so the engineer was crazy as the whole duct was uncovered and is now submerged with rain water).

I only hope that when the work is completed (have no idea why they decided to digup the pavement) my connection returns to normal.

Thanks for any advice.

Edited by dave2150 (Mon 12-Dec-11 03:31:12)

At a guess there is a cable joint under the white wrapping, and these are waterproof but if working on an emergency repair in poor weather it is feasible there was some ingress of water - usual reason for the little tents to keep the open joint dry when working with it opened up.

Thanks for the reply.

Well today is the fourth day since they started this work and they have not returned since Friday. There is now even more water as we are having terrible rainfall here.

Is this a habit of BT's: Dig up and expose a telephone cable, cover it with white wrapping and then leave it exposed to the elements for four days?

I spoke to my neighbours today and they too are having broadband problems, so it is not just me.

Is there a way for us to complain about this problem to BT Openreach?

Also, if there is a cable joint underneath this white wrapping, do you believe the adsl problems we are experiencing will be rectified when they complete their work?

Im very worried that once they complete the work and fill in the duct, my connection will remain as bad as it is.

Thanks.

How close is this dig to your house ? Thats a fairly small cable, so would have to be quite close for it to contain your line. The white bag is just that, a white bag. This is NOT the correct way to temp closure a joint, it should be done with a waterproof closure made with Holland cloth. If the work were complete then there should be a proper Tyco universal clip joint making a full and water tight joint.

As I suspect you already know, you cannot directly contact Openreach. Best bet would be to contact Sky, theres a good chance, if your line is going through that open joint, that it's got an earth or battery contact fault, and that's your path to getting an engineer out.

Is there a way for us to complain about this problem to BT Openreach?

Unfortunately, no. There is no means for an end-user to make contact. You will have to complain via your ISP.

The best thing to is to keep a photographic record of the street works and details of your line's behaviour (DMT or Routerstats). If your line does not revert back to its previous state once that work has been finished, then submit your records to your ISP and insist that they request an OR engineer to attend & investigate.

(Edit: I see that Zarjaz (a man who should know ) has quicker fingers than my paws!)

Edited by burakkucat (Mon 12-Dec-11 18:14:48)

The joint should be sealed so the ingress of water cannot happen,but I can tell you from personal experience the Openreach Boxes and ducts are usually fill of water.

It would appear that this roadworks are being carried our by Carillion a contractor group hired by Openreach

You can try this Openreach contact route:

"Tell us something about our network"
http://www.openreach.com/orpg/home/contactus/telluss...

In which case point this out to Sky, and suggest that it appears the joint has been left open to the elements.

Contractors are meant to work to the same standards as BT.

It could be that the fault location was identified and Carrillion asked to open up the footway and in doing so located the damaged cable (or damaged in in the process) but are not capable of doing the repair - just the manual digging.