PlusNet fibre during stabilization period

My PlusNet fibre was installed 2 days ago and has been almost unusable most of the time, with frequent disconnects and really high packet loss:

Ping statistics for 74.125.24.104:
Packets: Sent = 746, Received = 638, Lost = 108 (14% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 17ms, Maximum = 32ms, Average = 19ms

Furthermore, any upload larger than ~10 MB triggers an immediate disconnect, so I cannot upload some files I really need to.

I called PlusNet and they said it was still the stabilization period and that I should just wait 10 days until it stabilizes. Also they said they don't see any issues or disconnects on my line, and that I was currently on the lower speed setting.

I tried "SuperUser" with my S/N as password on the router ("technicolor TG582n"), and it didn't work, the "admin" password that I can log into doesn't show anything I would find interesting.

I've plugged into a data extension kit which is plugged into the master socket. I did a reboot both of both routers and it didn't help.

Is there anything I can do besides wait and hope it improves?

Edited by deleted (Fri 30-Aug-13 08:37:38)

Try running from the master and the test socket

In reply to a post by juu:

I called PlusNet and they said it was still the stabilization period and that I should just wait 10 days until it stabilizes. Also they said they don't see any issues or disconnects on my line, and that I was currently on the lower speed setting.

That is a little depressing. Even if there were a 10-day stabilisation period, which there isn't, it would not cause the effects you have described. But I don't understand why Plusnet is not seeing the disconnects, that is normally reliable. Hopefully a rep will jump in and pick this up.

Is this a data extension kit supplied by the engineer, or one of your own? Was it a real Openreach engineer, or a contractor?

With most ISPs the router does tell you nothing. That's how Openreach have designed FTTC.

What make of Openreach modem is it? A Huawei is easily unlocked to get at the full stats, like O2 SuperUser, but SuperUser was an O2 special because they had hidden the stuff for some odd reason. On ADSLx it is normally easily seen.

Edited by RobertoS (Fri 30-Aug-13 10:45:52)

someone on kitz forums mentioned plusnet has a very unusually high timeout on their ppp servers meaning a long outage is required for a disconnect to register.

the stabilisation period is probably because plusnet want to wait for DLM to try and stabilise the line first. So they mean waiting for the line rate/settings to stabilise, DLM needs at least a day to make an adjustment. So if it changes something and still unstable than have to wait at least one more day for the next change.

To see the line stats you need to get into the modem not router.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Is this a data extension kit supplied by the engineer, or one of your own? Was it a real Openreach engineer, or a contractor?

It was a contractor, and "installed" is somewhat relative as he said he hasn't been contracted or has the time to properly drill through the many walls, so he can either leave it lying around and have my own handyman hide it somehow later, or he can just install fiber for the master socket (in a bad place near front door).

I chose the former (maybe a mistake).

In any case the data extension kit seems just a cat5 ethernet cable. I'm now testing how it works when plugged into the master socket and it seems better so far - but it could just be a coincidence.

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

To see the line stats you need to get into the modem not router.

How do I do that?

In reply to a post by juu:

How do I do that?

If you've got a Huawei HG612 you need to unlock it a la http://huaweihg612hacking.wordpress.com/ but I don't think you want to be doing that at the moment. What does the BT Wholesale speed test (diagnostic) tell you?

Edited by kasg (Fri 30-Aug-13 10:38:53)

You need to complain to PlusNet about this. The contractors are well known for doing a lousy job, and not what they are contracted to do. You probably have a botched installation causing the problem.

As others have said, the 10-day thing always was garbage on ADSLx, and on FTTC is simply irrelevant as it does not have anything to do with the line stabilisation.

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

someone on kitz forums mentioned plusnet has a very unusually high timeout on their ppp servers meaning a long outage is required for a disconnect to register.

They fixed this really recently... the timeout used to be >6 minutes but it's now less than a minute [from my recent experience]

The actual timeout has been reduced to 2 (two) minutes (probably about a minute after a typical router completes a full restart).
IIRC the previous value was 8 minutes.

Which is a little unfortunate. SIN 498

The CP is expected to shape the downstream traffic to match the actual VDSL2 line rate in order to avoid excessive traffic loss.
CPs should be aware that the mechanism for reporting the downstream and upstream line rates relies on a line re-train causing the CP, or the CPE, to initiate a new PPP session or a new DHCP request. The success of this method of line rate reporting is down to the CP's choice of timers used around PPP/DHCP handling.
If the PPP/DHCP survives a re-train, then the CP will be unaware of any change in the line rate and will not be able to shape appropriately.
The line re-train time for VDSL2 can be anywhere between 10 and 60 seconds, with typical values in the 20-30 second range.

Having researched further my previous post was not entirely accurate: http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,1148...
It appears the 'PPP keepalive' was reduced from 120s to 30s BUT a failed link is not detected until '3-4 failed ECHO responses' which would suggest it is now 90 to 120 seconds (from 6 to 8 minutes).

FTTC isn't on 10 days training period. Only on the ADSL & ADSL2+.

Edited by adslmax (Sat 31-Aug-13 15:27:29)

Thanks for all your responses. I really really hope this affair is now resolved.

Basically, it worked fine when plugged into the master socket. So the data extension kit the contractor had "installed" (if you could call it that - he claimed he had no time to install it properly when he came around so if I wanted anything at all, he could just leave it lying about the place) was apparently causing the issues.

So I called PlusNet and complained, with varying results and lots of sending me from one department to the other. At one point they claimed to be listening to my original phone call placing the order.

Also, at one point one of the ladies had the cheek to claim that installing a data extension kit going to the second floor was impossible because they only came with 3 meters maximum length. She was quite adamant about this which was when I started exploring my formal complaint options, and soon got an apologetic phone call back from someone else who promised me a proper engineer to fix the mess.

So this morning a BT Openreach engineer came around (a quiet past-middle-age fellow, as opposed to the slacker-type person that the original contractor had seemed), who neatly moved my master socket to the second floor and now I'm running it for about 30 minutes without any issues (fingers crossed).

All in all it only required about 5-6 phone calls to PlusNet and only about 2 hours talking time total so not such a bad result, considering it all (assuming I don't get an invoice for this from PlusNet now - in which case the whole merry dance can start again).

Thanks again for your support here.

In reply to a post by juu:

Furthermore, any upload larger than ~10 MB triggers an immediate disconnect, so I cannot upload some files I really need to.

I had the exact same problem when I first got my PN FTTC installed but the 10MB Trigger thing only happened about 23days into my contract after I rebooted my Router.. Also I noticed that my download would timeout after a specific amount of data had been transfered or about 15 seconds (approx) had elapsed

Anyway, I have a thread around here somewhere all about my ordeal. Sorted now