An experiment in interferance

[.Griff.]

Everything was going well until about Christmas time last year when my line started showing signs of increased packetloss and my IP Profile started bouncing around all over the place. At the time two Openreach engineers (trainer and trainee) spent 4 hours checking every piece of wiring they could get their hands on and just as the sun was setting they concluded there was absolutely nothing wrong with my internal wiring and they couldn't find any issues in the run down to the cabinet either. The packet loss and disconnections were attributed to Christmas tree's (I didn't have one and I know for sure my Hindu neighbours didn't either) and/or building work down the road.

Here we are six months later and while the connection is generally ok as a whole my IP Profile changes every few days, interleaving kicks in and out weekly and my TBBQM always shows more packetloss than other Idnet QM's I've seen. All this has got me wondering if it's simply some form of interference in my property causing the problem so I was going to crawl around with a radio in my teeth but I've come up with another option.

On Wednesday I'm going away for two weeks and I intend to turn off absolutely every electrical device except the modem and router. In short the TV(s), Sky box, home cinema, PC(s), dishwasher, washer/drier, even the fridge/freezer will be emptied and turned off. In fact the only other device with a current running through it will be the burglar alarm.

If the TBBQM continues to show IP Profile changes and bouts of increased packet loss is it safe to assume it's not interference?!? Any other suggestions and/or experiments I can run on the line while I'm away?

[Glenn]

Do you get electrical interferance if the alarm is turned off?

[.Griff.]

I don't know if I get any electrical interference at all Glenn hence the purpose of turning off every electrical device while I'm away and seeing if it has any effect on my connection.

[Simon]

I'm sure I've heard / read somewhere that burglar alarms can affect broadband.  Is it connected to the phone line?

[Rik]

Even with everything off, Griff, the source of any RF interference may be external or even mains-borne, so I don't think you can conclude anything for sure, though if things improve it would point to the likelihood that one of the devices was the problem.

Have a good trip, I'm off myself on Thursday.

[Rik]

I'm sure I've heard / read somewhere that burglar alarms can affect broadband.  Is it connected to the phone line?

It can in two ways, the most obvious being if it's connected to the line. However, it's an electronic device, with a power supply unit and wiring radiating throughout the house, so RF interference is always a possibility.

[.Griff.]

If you're a burglar and reading this then yes it's connected to the telephone line (but it's not really)

Thanks for your comments Rik. It seems like I'm stuck in limbo then without ever being able to know for sure what's causing the issues 

[Rik]

Same here, Griff. We've established beyond doubt that my line is subject to interference and, as far as is reasonably possible, we've eliminated internal interference. BT wouldn't be very interested in checking for external noise as my line performs well, at its worst, for its length.