Internet Drop Outs

Please can someone help with my internet disconnections I am losing patience with BT and my ISP. Currently on average I have approximately 30 disconnections daily ranging from stable periods for a few hours and then a burst of disconnects to lots of disconnections all day long.

I have spoken to my ISP (Be Unlimited) and carried out all their tests, checks and changes. I have had equipment replaced at the exchange by BT and my ISP, I have changed all filters on the line, had a test socket installed, changed modem, the line has been monitored for 24 hours, quiet line tests carried out, I have been put on the most stable profile etc. etc. You name I have done it including 3 BT engineers called to my flat, 2 broadband specialists and 1 phone engineer. Even when plugged directly into the test socket the same issues occurs.

This has been ongoing for 18 months and I get passed back and forward between BT and my ISP each blaming the other for the fault. The latest development during a 24 hour test carried out by Be is that there is noise on the line but when BT check it the line tests clear. I have asked Be to provide me details of the noise but it is their policy not to disclose this so when I go to BT all I can say is that there is noise on the line and they check it again and the result is clear.

The strange thing is 2 years ago I lived in the same block of flats 2 floors below and the internet connection there on the same set up was perfectly fine. Since then the flat I live in now was built on top of the existing block but the wiring was already in place when the original buliding was erected.

As a last resort I am trying to get the old phone line ripped out and a new one installed although BT has told me they don'd do this and that I should speak to Open Reach, who have told me BT do this, who have told me Open reach do it and it goes on and on.

Open Reach, BT and Be unlimited have passesd me round and round blaming one another. All i need is for someone to tell me how to fix it. Is this electrical interference? If so how can I easily detect what causes the issue?


Stats below (when the connection is up)

Link Information

Uptime: 0 days, 0:35:59

DSL Type: G.992.5 annex A

Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 1,001 / 8,857

Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/kB]: 0.00 / 0.00

Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.0 / 19.0

Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 11.5 / 24.0

SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 15.5 / 15.5

Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / BDCM

Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 60 / 0

Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 9 / 0

Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0

Loss of Link (Remote): 0

Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 28 / 0

FEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 4,566

CRC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 2

HEC Errors (Up/Down): 3,334 / 2

When the connection drops the braodband and the internet lights go out.

In the last 24 hours I have had 36 disconnections.

Any help is much appreciated.

Error Seconds are occurring with low regularity (0.01/sec).

Expected download speed at your current sync rate: 942.23 KB per second (or 7538 kbit)

Expected upload speed at your current sync rate: 106.49 KB per second (or 852 kbit)

Problem: Downstream sync speed of 8857 kbit is 6851 kbit slower or 56 percent of the average for connections with the same downstream attenuation of 24dB.

Problem: High frequency of HEC Up errors (1.54/sec).

Problem: Resubmit statistics in at least 4.4 hours. Ideally more time is needed to say whether any errors were just one-off occurrences.

Problem: Signal Noise Margin Down (15.5dB) is extremely high. Be* may have put you on this profile to compensate for a high error rate. If you know that your line is actually reliable, lowering the value to the average of 6dB should give a sync speed increase. Call Be* to change it (3dB steps only).

Problem: Signal Noise Margin Up (15.5dB) is higher than average and may be this high in order to compensate for current/previous high error rates.

Problem: Your upstream sync speed of 1001 kbit is 81% of the average of 1239 kbit for connections with the same upstream attenuation of 11.5dB.

Problem: Zillions (60) of Loss of Framing errors, which should ideally never or rarely occur. There must be (or have briefly been) a problem with your line.

Hi,

Thanks for the response. I have looked at my connections stats again and they are below. These were taken just after another drop of connection.

I am not too sure on your comments as I am not the most technologically savy person, however Be* have moved me from an ADSL2 line to an ADSL line and have changed my profile to the most stable. This could explain some of your comments.

Do you recommend I ask Be* to decrease the signal noise margin by 3db increments? Could you explain what the framing errors are? I have had 3 BT engineers that say the line from my property to the exchange is absolutely fine.

Link Information

Uptime: 0 days, 0:00:16

DSL Type: G.992.1 annex A

Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 1,246 / 8,133

Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/kB]: 0.00 / 0.00

Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.0 / 19.5

Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 12.0 / 22.0

SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 7.0 / 12.0

Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / BDCM

Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 264 / 0

Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 51 / 0

Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0

Loss of Link (Remote): 0

Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 3 / 0

FEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 0

CRC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 0

HEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 0

Just disconnected again stats on the router show:


DSL Connection

Link Information

Link Status: Disconnected

DSL Type: G.992.1 annex A

I would guess that something is causing a lot of noise on your line, and this is causing you to disconnect. One way to diagnose this is to install Routerstats lite and see the graph of Noise margin over a 48-hour period. If this is what's happening, you can get some idea of what may be causing it based on the time and regularity.

Do you knw if this is Mac compatible?? Be* say line noise is the issue too but BT say this is not the case

Oh sorry, I know nothing about Macs but I guess not. BT are talking about noise on the phone that affects voice calls. BE are talking about radio frequency interference that affects ADSL. You can't hear RFI.

In reply to a post by mccaffj:

Do you knw if this is Mac compatible?? Be* say line noise is the issue too but BT say this is not the case

BT will tell you anything to avoid spending money. ADSL2+ doesn't work well on a noisy line. Doesn't Be allow you to alter your own SNR margins ? That was my understanding.

It looks as if some kind of regular external interference is impinging on your line and killing your connection. This could be due to almost any kind of electrical equipment. As another poster suggested, setup and run routerstats for a while to see if you can see a pattern developing as to when ti happens which may allow you to pinpoint the cause. If you are lucky you may be able to do something about the cause. However, this could be happening almost anywhere between you and the exchange and may be near to impossible to pinpoint without specialist help from BT, if then in some cases. Unfortunately, ADSL2+ is far more sensitive to such noise bursts than ADSL1 is.

BE have moved me to ADSL from ADSL2 and also increased the noise margins. I had the same set up 2 floors below my current flat previously (Be on a BT line) and had no issues at all, the 3 BT engineers including the ADSL engineer state there is no problem on my current line even though they have seen my Connection drop.

The last 2 days have seen my connection deteriorate to droping reconnecting and then dropping again. I can't believe no one will take ownership of this problem and no one can fix it. I have previously chnaged ISP to Virgin as well and had the same issue, but switched back to Be due to rubbish customer service from Virgin.

Will ripping the line out and installing a new one sort this out? How can I detect electrical/radio interference? I am waiting to borrow a Windows pc so i can run router stats.

In reply to a post by mccaffj:

I have previously chnaged ISP to Virgin as well and had the same issue, but switched back to Be due to rubbish customer service from Virgin.

That indicates the problem is not in the exchange. Hopefully in your property.

How can I detect electrical/radio interference?

MW radio tuned around 600kHz should do it.