Effect of bad weather

[Adrian]

Normally my FTTC connection is very good, and being only a couple of hundred metres from the cabinet I get maximum sync up and down.

However, whenever we get windy and/or heavy rain I repeatedly lose sync. I have a suspicion that the problem lies in the final length of copper wire from the telephone pole to my house and I would think the copper pair dates back many decades as it isn't even a twisted pair. Most of the copper between the poles has been replaced in recent years so while I wouldn't rule it out, I think it unlikely to be the cause.   There is also a simple joint at the point where the pair gets to the house at facia board level and I wonder if that could be the problem. I have tried quiet line tests at various times and there is no noise that I can hear but of course there could be transient noise that only occurs at the point when I lose sync.

All the internal wiring is Cat 6 Ethernet cable and the master socket is right at the point where the copper pair enters the house above the front door - this usually puzzles BT engineers but we will say no more about it (cough). The cat 6 is wired in behind the socket.

What is the chance that IDNet would be able to get this investigated or would they just be fobbed off by OpenReach?

[zappaDPJ]

I had the same problem, losing sync due to poor weather conditions. My experience having reported it was that it's not considered a fault. However I monitored the line and kept a record of every loss of sync and the weather conditions at that time. Once I was absolutely convinced there was a direct correlation I started reporting every loss of sync.

OpenReach did eventually come out and my drop wire was found to be circa 1966 and somewhat worse for wear. Unfortunately for me the pole end was on private property to which they had no access It took months but I did get a new wire which cured the problem. What happened during those months was worthy of a Monty Python script but that's a story for another time.

In short, my advice is to log it, be sure of the nature of the problem and be very persistent.

[Adrian]

Well, I have an interesting tale to tell of outstanding support from IDNet. With all the recent wind and rain my line has been losing sync quite a lot so on 29th December I bit the bullet and called IDNet. The call was taken by Richard who went through all the usual questions with me and said he would look into it. Shortly afterwards I received a call from Jason and he sounded quite surprised when he looked at my connection log over the Christmas period and said he would do a line check which came back clear.

Anyway we agreed that I would keep a log and I was inevitably asked to plug my modem directly into the master socket, which I did even though it was a pain as the master socket is some way from my router and modem which is normally plugged into an extension socket connected to the master socket with Cat 6 Ethernet cable and hard wired to the back of the master socket. I ran like this  for a day or so until I lost sync again before moving everything back to its rightful place.

I spoke to Jason again yesterday and agreed to try a spare router just to eliminate the remote possibility that the router was the problem, though I can't see how it could be, but it would keep BTOR happy. He also suggested that I should phone support as soon as I lost sync so they could run another line test even if it was the middle of the night!

As you know yesterday was a tad damp and breezy, especially overnight and I ended up losing sync at such a rate that my line was down longer than it was up. I decided that although it was 23:15pm I would try ringing support and to my amazement the phone was quickly answered by, I think, Simon who said he would run another line test and call me back as I had to hang up for the test to be done. So, I waited until about a quarter past midnight but did not receive the call and assumed that I had perhaps misunderstood so went to bed. I had just dozed off when the phone rang at a quarter to one and It was Simon to say the test had revealed a possible earth fault and would I mind removing the master socket faceplate so they could test again with nothing connected in the house. I nipped downstairs and quickly did as instructed.

Jason called this morning and told that the fault had been referred to their wholesaler for investigation as there was clearly a fault on their side of the master socket.

I just now have to wait for BTOR to investigate, find the fault and fix it, but no doubt they will claim there is nothing wrong despite the evidence. Even so I am very impressed with the response from IDNet, especially in the middle of the night. I know that matters are now out of their hands but that is another matter.

Thanks Richard, Simon and Jason

[Simon]

Good to hear!

[Tacitus]

I too have received excellent service from iDNet over the holiday period. 

As some of you that have been on here for some time will probably know, I act as tech support for my sister.  Needless to say I got a phone call over the holiday to say that her broadband kept going down and could I have a look at it. 

So I rang iDNet and I think it was Simon who answered.  He could see from the logs that the line was losing sync but since the line was a BT line (another story!) he couldn't run tests.  We agreed she should contact BT to run tests on the line and that Sis would keep a log of when it went down.  Also since I was due to visit her I'd check things over and we'd review it accordingly. I also took a spare modem just in case.

Next day I received a phone call from Jason checking on the current position.  Said I'd checked wiring, BT reported no fault and that I'd swapped the modem and so far things looked OK, but we agreed iDNet would monitor the line; if she had any more problems we'd give them a ring. Meantime I'd checking over the old modem and came to the conclusion that the power supply had probably gone bad causing intermittent problems.

After a couple of days I rang to say the line appeared to be performing OK with the replaced modem and if they could just check the logs, all being well we could close the ticket which we did.

Now my tale is nothing like Adrian's which should be more widely publicised say on TBB, but put together with mine I get the impression that support are really giving great service and well deserve all the plaudits that come their way.

So, my thanks also to Simon and Jason - a great demonstration of first class support and, in Adrian's case going above and beyond.

EDIT:  Just to add.  In another 3 months Sis will have been with iDNet for 10 years.  She joined just ahead of me as I'd lumbered myself with a 12 month contract with Demon.

FURTHER EDIT:  If Miriam or Simon read this, how about a 10 year anniversary commemoration mug?

[J!ll]

That is why I stay with them! Rarely have to bother them. Glad your problems have been sorted 

[Simon]

Gosh, doesn't time fly!  It pass me by, but my 10 year 'anniversary' was last July!    I remember joining IDNet at a time when ISPs were coming and going at quite a rate, and it was difficult to know if the one you joined would be there the following week.  It was Rik who convinced me that IDNet was a good choice, and how right he was.

It's great to hear positive comments for a change, as often, we only get to hear on here when things go wrong.   

[nowster]

I moved my parents to idNet back in Autumn of 2009 after Zetnet (which I'd run for the best part of 14 years) went *foomp*.

[Tacitus]

I remember joining IDNet at a time when ISPs were coming and going at quite a rate, and it was difficult to know if the one you joined would be there the following week.  It was Rik who convinced me that IDNet was a good choice, and how right he was.

Sis was originally with Pipex - they and Demon were two of the best around at the time.  Pipex got taken over and the final straw was when it all went bad and she found herself dealing with the dreaded overseas call centre.

It was Rik who convinced me iDNet were a great choice and although there were a couple of hiccups at the start she's only had one significant problem that involved BT/OR and that was sorted without any difficulty.  At the time it was a toss up between iDNet and Zen and iDNet had a marginally greater allowance.  Once my Demon contract ran out I too signed up and have stayed ever since.  Yes they've had their problems in the past some of which shouldn't have happened, but overall I've always been satisfied. 

It's great to hear positive comments for a change, as often, we only get to hear on here when things go wrong.   

Yes and it's why I think Adrian should post his comment on TBB and probably ISP Review to reach a wider audience. On TBB in particular, they're good at slagging ISPs off (occasionally deservedly), so something to redress the balance would be good.

[J!ll]

Gosh, doesn't time fly!  It pass me by, but my 10 year 'anniversary' was last July!    I remember joining IDNet at a time when ISPs were coming and going at quite a rate, and it was difficult to know if the one you joined would be there the following week.  It was Rik who convinced me that IDNet was a good choice, and how right he was.

It's great to hear positive comments for a change, as often, we only get to hear on here when things go wrong.   

I can't remember when I joined but found this on the dashboard. Paid 27/05/2006 that is as far back as I can go.

[Adrian]

I first joined IDNet for broadband in 2008, phone services in 2009. I have migrated my broadband away a couple of times for different reasons and not for long, and somehow always end up coming back. I think IDNet offer a very good deal with fair prices which, while a bit higher than the mass market ISPs, are not outrageous and the support is well worth the extra.

[Adrian]

With the help of IDNet an external fault has been confirmed and today the man with the Open Reach van turned up to investigate. He prodded and poked, checked all the internal wiring, which passed muster as I knew it would. He then used his TDR (Time domain reflectometer) which indicated a fault about 100 metres away. This was followed by going outside and eyeballing from the ground all the joints on the two or three poles and on my house.

Despite the TDR indicating a fault 100metres away he got his ladder out and remade the joint where the drop wire arrives at the facia board, sadly to no avail .This was hardly surprising given the TDR result and the fact that the remade joint was actually quite well protected from the weather.

Anyway, the end result is that he is going to get the entire wire run replaced between the house and several poles back towards the cabinet, hopefully tomorrow, but we shall have to wait and see. At least OR now own the problem.

[zappaDPJ]

If it's tomorrow I presume can do it without a cherry picker. When they did mine it took them months to find one and when they did they decided to bring it along on one of the few days there was nobody at home

I wish you the best of luck

[Adrian]

If it's tomorrow I presume can do it without a cherry picker. When they did mine it took them months to find one and when they did they decided to bring it along on one of the few days there was nobody at home

I wish you the best of luck

It does require a cherry picker but Mr Open-Reach still reckoned it would be tomorrow unless there are problems with the road. I suspect they may need to apply to local authority for temporary lights so I won't be holding my breath. Fortunately, Mr O-R said it wouldn't matter if I wasn't at home when they arrived, but obviously I would need to be available for final testing - I presume so anyway.

[nowster]

My parents have the opposite problem. Their line goes bad during dry weather and around an hour after sunrise and an hour around sunset. It's rock solid during mild wet weather. Unfortunately, there's about 2 miles of pole run before it goes underground for a further 2 mines, and many many junctions on the way.

[Clive]

My internet was down from late yesterday evening until this morning and I wondered if the bad weather might be responsible.  This building is only 12 years old but we live in a very harsh environment right on the sea front and corrosion is a big problem.  Had I known that IDNet were up and about at 10.30 I might have given them a ring.  My router is around 8 years old - it's a Netgear and I wonder if it's past its use by date. 

[Adrian]

Had I known that IDNet were up and about at 10.30 I might have given them a ring. 

They do have a 24 hour line but I thought it was very limited in what was available, maybe just log the fault for the day crew. I was very surprised when I rang at about 11:15pm to have the phone quickly answered by one of IDNet's own support staff, and then offered a line test and call back. I was even more surprised to get the call back at a quarter to one in the morning!

[Clive]

I don't think Mrs Clive would have appreciated a call at that time Adrian.   

[Clive]

My connection failed again mid afternoon and I spoke to Jason and then Paul at ID Net to ask for assistance.  They suspected some noise on the line and asked me to perform a quiet test on 17070.  There was a slight intermittent hiss with one phone but the internet had returned by then anyway.  They were going to undertake some other tests so the case remains open. 

[Adrian]

Further to my visit yesterday from Mr Open-Reach when he told me they would need to replace the line, I had a call from IDNet to say that Open Reach had decided the fault had been fixed. So, I suppose I will have to wait for more heavy rain to prove it one way or the other, but I suspect this is just OR's way of kicking the can down the road. Apart from the individual engineers from whom I have always had great service, BT/OR always has been and continues to be the most despicable company.

[zappaDPJ]

Further to my visit yesterday from Mr Open-Reach when he told me they would need to replace the line, I had a call from IDNet to say that Open Reach had decided the fault had been fixed. So, I suppose I will have to wait for more heavy rain to prove it one way or the other, but I suspect this is just OR's way of kicking the can down the road. Apart from the individual engineers from whom I have always had great service, BT/OR always has been and continues to be the most despicable company.

They kept doing that to me in addition to making multiple appointments to replace the line which they did not keep. As I said before you'll need to log and report every outage. Once they work out you won't give up, they should replace your line.

[Gary]

Further to my visit yesterday from Mr Open-Reach when he told me they would need to replace the line, I had a call from IDNet to say that Open Reach had decided the fault had been fixed. So, I suppose I will have to wait for more heavy rain to prove it one way or the other, but I suspect this is just OR's way of kicking the can down the road. Apart from the individual engineers from whom I have always had great service, BT/OR always has been and continues to be the most despicable company.

Most OR engineer notes never make it back, its a common thing. I know a OR Engineer, a personal friend who has worked for them for thirty years and he says no matter how comprehensive the notes after the report is filed most of the information seems to get stripped out before it reaches the ISP and there is nothing the engineers themselves can do about it.

[nowster]

That combined with their ISO9001 compliance being "we don't document wiring in cabinets"...

[Adrian]

Well, guess what. It's windy and it's raining and I am now losing sync every few minutes. IDNet are on the case with Open Reach.

I have come to the conclusion that BT must be founder members of the flat earth society given the way they are in total denial about the technical facts on their network. Of course it could just be a case  of them sticking their corporate fingers in their ears, and shouting La La La, I can't hear you!

[Clive]

I would put British Gas in the same category as well as most house developers.