Broadband regularly hangs and needs a reconnect to recover

[#1]

Reply as they suggest, but please report back on further developments.

[#2]

The Plusnet Advisor ran a test and said it came up with a "copper line failure" and told me to contact my telephone provider which unfortunately isn't Plusnet but BT. So I guess I have to get in touch with them, but it seems odd, because when it's running it runs fine and I am getting the normal speed. Also a disconnect/reconnect through the Netgear Genie always fixes it.

[#3]

@Mavo 

To eliminate the possibility that the fault is on your premises remove the front section of your BT master socket. This will either be clipped on or retained by two screws. In the back box you will find the test socket. Plug a dangly filter in here and see if the router retains a connection in this configuration.

[#4]

'Copper line failures' are always dealt with as phone faults. As you are still on ADSL, your full route from the exchange to your home is over copper, s it has to be dealt with by your phone provider.

[#5]

BT did a remote line test but couldn't see a fault. They offered an engineer's visit for Wednesday which I accepted. I hope they will be testing the equipment in the cabinet too. My gut feeling is that it's not the line itself but some faulty ADSL equipment in the cabinet. I'll keep you updated.

[#6]

Just for your info, @Mavo , if you are on ADSL, there is very little between you and your local exchange, other than the copper cable and your local cabinet - but a competent engineer should know where and what to test.

[#7]

@Mavo 

There isn't any equipment in the cabinet on an ADSL connection.

FTTC effectively moves the "ADSL" exchange equipment to the cabinet - ie closer to the customer and hence why FTTC speeds are usually higher than ADSL.

[#8]

Here is an update: The Openreach engineer was here yesterday. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by his thorough and friendly approach. He first checked at the cabinet, then at the exchange and then came to my house. He plugged in his test router at the socket extension where I have my Neatgear D6200, i.e. he included my internal wiring in his tests. Everything looked fine, healthy signal to noise ratio, good speed, no other issues in his log. So nothing is wrong with the line nor the equipment in the exchange. His conclusion was that possibly there may have been a firmware update of equipment at the exchange which rendered my 8 year old D6200 router incompatible. He said he will report back to Plusnet and I will probably receive a new Plusnet branded router. So fingers crossed this new router will fix my issues. I'll keep you updated when it arrives and I had it running for a few days. Meanwhile thanks to all of you for your friendly advice.

[#9]

Here is another update: I never heard anything back from Plusnet, so I just got myself a new router, a TP-Link VR2100. I have it now running for a week without any issues, so it looks like the Openreach engineer was right in saying that my router was outdated, possibly due to a change of equipment at the exchange. Thanks again to all of you who offered advice.