Frequent Loss of Connection

[Ruerin]

Since about two weeks ago I've been experiencing relatively frequent disconnections. It started at going out once a week, then twice a week, and since yesterday it has been going out every few hours.

Looking at my router's stats, things seem to be pretty normal. I've always had low noise margins and attenuation; they're currently sitting at 11dB down and 24dB up. The upstream margin increased significantly after I downgraded to standard 448kbps, but this seems to be pretty normal behaviour for lower sync rates. I've also seen no changes in IP profile and interleave; still at 8128 and fast. I live close to my exchange and have always synced at the maximum rates for ADSL Max.

The disconnections are typically short, usually between 30 seconds and a minute. However, as I went to bed last night it went out again and my router seemed to have trouble reconnecting; this morning, it was still flashing like it was trying to reconnect. I'm not an expert by any stretch, but perhaps my old hardware is failing? Unfortunately I don't have access to another router to test with, so I may have to go and get a new one.

Any help would be appreciated!

[Simon]

I'm no expert by any stretch either, but until one comes along, you might want to do a 'quiet line test' by dialling 17070, and listen for any noise on your phone line.  Secondly, if you have a master phone socket, you'll need to remove the faceplate and connect the router to the test socket behind it - this eliminates anything your side of the box from being the cause.  These are standard tests that IDNet would ask you to perform before they go any further with fault finding, other than their standard line test.  You'll probably then be asked to try another router, if the problem persists.

[Steve]

In addition, I think I'd try another filter if you've got one, sometimes it's possible to borrow a router ie neighbours or even from IDNet before the expense of buying one.

[Ruerin]

Thanks for the help - I checked out the line and it seems to be fine and free of noise. Interestingly I let it sit for a few hours using the test socket with no trouble, and after I reconnected everything back up it has stayed stable since. I'll try a different router next time I notice it going out for sure.

[Simon]

[Ruerin]

It's happening again - with a new router, a Netgear DG834v4. It seems like it's once again losing authentication as there are once again no issues with noise and sync:

Code Select Expand


Sat, 2013-01-12 10:52:58 - LCP down.
Sat, 2013-01-12 10:53:05 - Initialize LCP.
Sat, 2013-01-12 10:53:05 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Sat, 2013-01-12 10:54:04 - Administrator login successful - IP:192.168.0.2
Sat, 2013-01-12 10:54:05 - Initialize LCP.
Sat, 2013-01-12 10:54:05 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Sat, 2013-01-12 10:55:06 - Initialize LCP.
Sat, 2013-01-12 10:55:06 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Sat, 2013-01-12 10:56:06 - Initialize LCP.
Sat, 2013-01-12 10:56:06 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Sat, 2013-01-12 10:57:06 - Initialize LCP.
Sat, 2013-01-12 10:57:06 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Sat, 2013-01-12 10:57:16 - CHAP authentication success.

I had another similar drop at 1 AM last night - same error messages and roughly the same amount of time. I've had my stats page up ever since it dropped and there has been no change in anything. I'm really at a loss, and I've done everything I can on my end (new router, cable and filters along with test socket) to see if it clears up. All my details are inputted correctly as well as I double checked after it dropped a second time.

Interestingly the other line at my house (running TalkTalk) also seems to be having issues with incredibly low sync and ridiculous latency. My sync, noise and latency are all fine - better than they've ever been - but I wonder if there is an exchange issue that nobody has reported, since I live in a relatively low density area?

[Steve]

I'm presuming it's losing sync or can a Netgear log differentiate the two? My suggestion - test socket,new filter, your new router and if still the same contact support Monday.

[Ruerin]

Alright, will give it a go!

[Ruerin]

Well it seems like it's too impractical as the test socket for my line is downstairs and there's no way I can actually do it with this router (tested over wireless with the old one, heh) since I can't run an ethernet cable down safely and I'll be without internet up here. Old router doesn't connect anymore.

I guess I will never know! There's a TalkTalk engineer coming out Monday for the other line so maybe they'll find out if something's amiss.

[Ruerin]

Still happening.

Interestingly enough both lines now go out at my house. I wasn't sure if this happened before. Possible exchange or wiring issue? There are no listed BT faults in my area, however I read something about cable damage on their status page and you never know what might inadvertently affect you or something like that.

It used to be manageable but I've not had 24 hours of uptime this week. As I've said, both lines at my house drop out at the same time, one is TalkTalk and the one I have is with IDNet.

Thoughts?

[Technical Ben]

Could you plug the router in for a few hours while your out, then take it back upstairs and check the logs? It's no good if it looses the logs on a power down though.

Really, the internal wiring needs to be ruled out first. It's cheapest to check it ones self, but you could ask a professional to do it. As BT charge an arm and a leg to look at a home instillation. They only check their side for free/are under obligation to fix it.

[Ruerin]

The TalkTalk router has been in its test socket for a while now and it still drops (at the same time as my own) and the speeds are still terrible for that line. It's also connected to the master socket at all times, unlike mine which is run up to my bedroom through an extension or whatever and plugged in there. They both enter the premesis at the same point, just split into seperate master sockets. Not exactly sure of the right terms for it!

My speeds, pings, noise etc are all fine so I don't really know what to say. I should most likely give IDNet a call and see what their take on it is. Also yeah, the charge is what bothers me and I really don't have the money to pay for a wiring fix so I'm really hoping it's to do with BT, but I'm not holding my breath. :I If it doesn't drop connection, I get a minute or so of timing out everywhere as well.

There's no LLU out there on this rural exchange so it feels like I'm a bit stuck if it is a BT issue. Fortunately I'm moving in a month or two so if it stabilises again it should be at least manageable. Right now it's dropping at random intervals every 24 hours or so. Really annoying.

[Glenn]

Is the line into your home overhead or underground? If overhead, is the line dropping when it's windy?

[Ruerin]

Overhead, and seems to drop regardless of weather too.

Thank you all for your help. I called support and spoke to a very helpful Nick who reckons it's REIN coming from somewhere out of my control. My mother who has the TT line said that REIN is exactly what the TT engineers told her and they also tested around the house for it and couldn't find an immediate cause of it that we could fix.

The power is absolutely atrocious here though; had several short outages over the last few days. Perhaps that exacerbates it, I'm not sure.

[pctech]

A netgear tends to lose the logs on power down.

It won't mention sync, it'll only mention Link Control Protocol (LCP)