Line errors

[.Griff.]

As I'm finally able to access my line stats I can for the first time in over a year see the amount of errors accruing on my line.

Image taken at 12:50 -



Image taken at 14:20 -



The errors that appear in the first image all appeared within 2 minutes of the modem syncing. After another 90 minutes you can see how much they have increased.

Is it worth contacting Idnet or will it be dismissed out of hand?

[Steve]

Good question, as your not supposed to know the error rates. Personally I find it difficult to interpret as I've no idea what is an acceptable error rate for vdsl2 . They need to be taken in conjunction with the amount of data transferred during this time period as well which I'm guessing is not that much. Also the FEC count is low does that mean interleave is not set high enough as to me it's not working effectively?

[.Griff.]

Good question, as your not supposed to know the error rates.

That had crossed my mind. Far easier to dodge the question by blaming the user for being proactive rather than dealing with the issue at hand. BT wouldn't do that.. Would they? 

[Rik]

I'm with Steve, Griff, you are not supposed to be able to know your error rate, so I doubt BT would be prepared to do anything. You can ask support, and they may have an idea of what could be done, but I suspect a request to BT might result in a suspension of service for a breach of contract terms.

[.Griff.]

Purely out of interest, and not wanting to be awkward - honestly I'm not, at which point in the order process did I agree to such a contract Rik?

It may be different for other DSL products but ordering FTTC via Idnet consisted of filling out a simple form and getting an email acknowledgement. This is (was) followed by a final email asking for confirmation that the order be placed with BT and asking if I wanted Idnet to supply the a router. There was no confirmation of T&C's at any point.

Reading through the various "T&C's" on the Idnet website there's lots of reference specifically to ADSL but nothing about FTTC/VDSL2. The only mention I can find to the OR Modem is a generic reference to using the supplied equipment in agreement with the manufacturers terms and conditions but no further information or elaboration than that.

Like I said I'm not trying to be awkward, honestly. But I find it rather pathetic that the end user is able to demonstrate there's an issue somewhere and then to be told I don't have the right to know that information. It's laughable.

[Rik]

I suspect that:

The only mention I can find to the OR Modem is a generic reference to using the supplied equipment in agreement with the manufacturers terms and conditions but no further information or elaboration than that.

would cover it Griff, even if you've never seen them. BT clearly don't want to allow people access to the data, so would probably class the hack in the same way as they do working on their side of the master socket. I'm not against what you've done, personally I think we have a right to know, but I suspect BT have got this covered in some small print somewhere.

[.Griff.]

I suspect that:

would cover it Griff, even if you've never seen them. BT clearly don't want to allow people access to the data, so would probably class the hack in the same way as they do working on their side of the master socket. I'm not against what you've done, personally I think we have a right to know, but I suspect BT have got this covered in some small print somewhere.

Cheers Rik.

I guess I should count myself lucky. There's plenty out there who would give their right arm for my connection but it's just annoying when you know it's "not quite right" and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.

[Steve]

It's still early days yet Griff, alternative vdsl2 modems will appear, stats therefore will be discussed with support at various ISPs . I wonder what BTs response will be.

[Rik]

I had a quiet chat with support, no names. They are not sure how BT would react, but they tell me they can't raise a fault based simply on error count, BT would not recognise that as a fault. No sync, yes, low speed, yes, error count, what...

The modems are interrogated by BT, as was mentioned in a link elsewhere, so if BT found changes, they would invalidate the warranty and getting a new one might involve paying a new installation fee - but this is speculation, because it hasn't happened to anyone yet. Fwiw...

[.Griff.]

The modems are interrogated by BT, as was mentioned in a link elsewhere, so if BT found changes, they would invalidate the warranty and getting a new one might involve paying a new installation fee

My original modem, as supplied as part of my service, is completely untouched. The modem I'm currently using is a spare I doubt there's any warranty on that one to invalidate in the first place 



(Only positioned like that for the photo)

[Rik]

 

[Steve]

If BT found an invalid firmware would they suspend the service? I guess we won't know the answer to that for awhile.

[.Griff.]

I know there's little that can be done but I'm going to document the number of errors even if just for reference.

[Rik]

Any idea how much data is being transferred between readings, Griff?

[.Griff.]

Any idea how much data is being transferred between readings, Griff?

Not much at all Rik.

All I've done this afternoon is browse the web and sent a couple of emails. I've not even used Youtube or anything remotely bandwidth intensive.

If I remember I'll take another reading last thing tonight before I turned off the PC and then another reading when I turn it back on tomorrow. The only bandwidth use in between those hours will be the TBB QM pinging the router.

[Rik]

It will be interesting to see if error rate is proportional to data transferred.

[Steve]

It would be informative if you could get a comparison from another user as what your seeing may be relatively normal for BT's  implementation of FTTC.

[.Griff.]

It would be informative if you could get a comparison from another user as what your seeing may be relatively normal for BT's  implementation of FTTC.

I've asked someone else for their error count for a comparison.

[.Griff.]

Rik in answer to your earlier question about how much data has been transferred I've found the relevant page in the CP.

80218459 bytes which I make out to be about 77MB.

So not all that much really.

[Rik]

About 1 CRC error per 528 bytes. I wonder what the packet size is for VDSL?

[Steve]

I think a crc error rate of 0.2% is probably acceptable, well I thought anything less than 1% for adsl was 

[Glenn]

See page 43 http://www.broadbandreports.com/r0/download/1456040~fe59ec9cfe508f4d71494c761cae14c7/vdsl2.pdf

About 1 CRC error per 528 bytes. I wonder what the packet size is for VDSL?

[Rik]

There's only 12 pages, Glenn.

[.Griff.]

There's only 12 pages, Glenn.

The document starts on page 36 Rik. Page 43 made my head hurt lol

[Rik]

Ah... I'll get some paracetamol first then.