Having great difficulties this weekend

Rik · May 10, 2011, 19:05:19

Support are stuck waiting on a BT response, Caroline. They'll keep chasing BT but are in their hands.

foreversummer · May 11, 2011, 16:24:48

Well, BT have tested the line and they say it is OK! An engineers' visit has been booked for tommorow. Never had one of those before.

Having read through the threads on here I believe I have done everything I can to eliminate the problem being at my end. The new router and one telephone is plugged into the test socket (behind the faceplate). I've tried a couple of different filters and telephones and I have a new router of course.

Internet came back last night at 9 pm and went off this morning at 10 ish. Looks like it has just come back on.

Would be good of course if it is not working when he arrives tomorrow. Trouble is it is so intermittant you never know.

Any tips on how to deal with a visit greatly appreciated.

Caroline

Rik · May 11, 2011, 16:33:03

Be friendly, offer refreshments, take an interest in what he/she is doing. BT engineers are often treated quite badly by people, a little humanity goes a long way to getting them wanting to solve your problem, Caroline.

pctech · May 11, 2011, 18:15:22

The engineers are ok in my experience, its the organisation which needs a shake up.

foreversummer · May 11, 2011, 21:46:57

Hi Guys

Yes, I agree. Always the best way to get the best out of folk. Just hoping and praying he will find my problem and be able to put it right without too much delay.

I will of course let you know how I get on . . . . .

Rik · May 12, 2011, 08:50:07

Technical Ben · May 12, 2011, 08:56:17

Quote from: Rik on May 11, 2011, 16:33:03
Be friendly, offer refreshments, take an interest in what he/she is doing. BT engineers are often treated quite badly by people, a little humanity goes a long way to getting them wanting to solve your problem, Caroline.

Yes. I also know it is helpful to move furniture out of the way before they arrive etc, as it save them time. Then they do not feel rushed by the boss etc.

Rik · May 12, 2011, 09:11:13

Good point, Ben.

foreversummer · May 12, 2011, 11:54:55

Well, the router is in the hallway in the test socket so it was straight-forward for him to get to work.

My line is OK, but apparently I am on a hot VP (meaning that I am on a congested pipe into the exchange). BT Wholesale say they won't do anything about it unless I perform more BT Speedtests. Unfortunately, when I have the problem I cannot even load the webpage to do one! When the engineer was here everything was working fine. All gone down again now so not sure if this page will get through - can't load my thinkbroadband quality monitor at the moment.

I really didn't think congestion would be my problem because I am on the SuperMax service with IDNet which gives me priority over other ASDL traffic. The engineer didn't understand what I meant by this. IDNet say that I do have priority service but only when I get through the congested pipe. I don't really understand, but hey.

IDNet are going to pass it back to BT.

Happy days!

Rik · May 12, 2011, 12:03:07

You have priority at the exchange, Caroline, but if the equipment there is congested, that becomes worthless, unfortunately.

foreversummer · May 12, 2011, 15:18:50

Thanks Rik.

Something else I've just thought about which I don't understand is that I told the engineer this morning that my internet light goes red sometimes (on the old router we thought was faulty it went out altogether), and he said it was loss of PPP.

So does loss of PPP happen because of congestion. I've seen threads that suggest otherwise.

Just trying to understand (that will become my catchphrase soon!)

Caroline

pctech · May 12, 2011, 15:29:39

Loss of PPP can occur under extreme congestion conditions because the router loses communication with IDNet's access routers for an extended period (not sure what that parameter is but someone will know am sure)

Rik · May 12, 2011, 15:33:40

What Mitch says, Caroline, but it would mean the congestion was very bad.

foreversummer · May 12, 2011, 16:17:09

Thank you both so much for taking the time of explain. Don't know what I'd so without you.

Rik · May 12, 2011, 16:24:04

We're always glad to help.

foreversummer · May 25, 2011, 16:05:27

Well hi all. Just thought I would update you and also ask for some further info if possible.

My problem was fixed at the exchange and everything is working OK except for my speed which has never gone back to normal.

Up until last night my IP Profile was 4000 and my router had stayed in sync for six days but there was no increase in speed. I've just checked again today and my IP Profile has reduced to 3500 as the router lost sync last evening it appears.

The BT speedtest shows a sync of 4480 and I managed a speed of 3204 kbps. Prior to the problem I was getting speeds of around 6 meg.

Is it likely to go back up on its own. My router stats are:

8 db line attenuation
13.9 db noise margin (slightly reduced from 15.8 db over the last couple of days).

Any thanks greatly appreciated.

Caroline

Rik · May 25, 2011, 16:06:43

Hi Caroline

Are you sure the router had stayed in sync?

foreversummer · May 25, 2011, 16:12:49

Hi Rik

Yes, it definately said so on the router status page - six days and so many hours. I kinda think I have read here that it would automatically go up after 3 - 5 days.

My old router never stayed in sync for that long, never managing more than around 120 hours, so it is nice to have the stability but a bit more speed would be good.

Caroline

Rik · May 25, 2011, 16:15:02

It needs to be in sync for 5 days (though I always allow 6 or 7) then you have to re-boot to gain the extra speed. However, given what has since happened, I'd suspect there are enough errors on the line for BT's systems to decide the line wouldn't be stable at higher speeds.

DorsetBoy · May 25, 2011, 16:18:18

Quote13.9 db noise margin (slightly reduced from 15.8 db over the last couple of days).

sounds like a noisy line that has seen some interleaving to keep it stable.

Rik · May 25, 2011, 16:21:30

Which, considering the attenuation, must mean a very noisy line.

foreversummer · May 25, 2011, 16:43:26

Oh . . . I have just looked at my router again. I may be getting my System Up Time confused with my Connection Time! I will monitor it again and see what happens.

I guess I'm just curious where this noise has come from since my 'exchange problem'. My noise margin used to be around 10 - 11 db on the old router. Do BT up the noise margin to keep the connection stable or is it coming from somewhere along the line? The old router used to sync at 8125 or so and then dropped to 7616 before the problem occurred.

Caroline

Glenn · May 25, 2011, 16:46:08

Can you hear anything on the line if you Dial 17070, press option 2, all you should hear is a background hum?

Rik · May 25, 2011, 16:47:32

BT can up the target NM as part of the stabilisation process. OTOH, if you resync due to noise and the noise goes away, then the reported NM will rise. The only way we can tell which applies is to have the figure that's reported immediately after a resync. My own line has degraded in recent weeks by 05.-1M. BT aren't interested in investigating as it's a long line, so there's little IDNet can do. In your case, with a short line, they may be able to do more - have you asked them to test the line?

foreversummer · May 25, 2011, 17:04:45

Thanks guys.

I have done the quiet line test and it is pretty silent. The BT engineer did it as well when he came here.

What I can never understand is that if I re-sync the router won't this just make matters worse, ie their system will detect that my connection is unstable and lower my ip profile again?

At the end of the day I am very grateful to have a usable broadband service back. Maybe if I wait patiently things will speed up. Lol!

Caroline