Have I got a line problem?

[#1]

When I first changed to FTTC in June 2020, DSL reports gave a 74.8 Mb/s download speed.
By July 2020 that had dropped to 64 Mb/s. Since then it has hovered around 60 Mb/s but recently I’ve seen values as low as 38.6.

I’ve been keeping an eye on my Router’s DSL connection data and reported downstream connection seems to change from 79999, to 66998, to 73998 at various times – no other values are reported.

I’ve attached a screenshot of the current data from the TP-Link VR400.

Do I have a line problem or should these changes be expected?

Ian

[#2]

Looking at that @IMM you have been having xDSL drops. Does your router have an error log?

[#3]

@jab1 Thanks,
The last reset was due to a power cut. Uptime usually gets up to about 9 or 10 days before a reset.

The router has a system log (but it does not survive loss of power) I've attached what was there with most of the DHCP requests deleted to save space.

[#4]

@IMM Something is wrong there - there is a 'DSL Link up' at 00.00.45, but no indication when it went down, and it looks like the date/time hasn't reset. Is that your current log?

[#5]

HI @jab1 That is my latest log - after the power cut. The logs from before the power cut are not retained. - the date / time starts at a default value until the router gets the correct time from a network time server. (The last entry is correct.)

Ian

[#6]

Sorry - read it wrong - a lot of logs read the other way up. Keep your eyes on it, as I can't see anything in that log to indicate a major problem, although your comment about '9 or 10 days' is a little concerning - a connection should stay up for much longer than that.

[#7]

@IMM  You should not expect line drops and speed changes with your line, the attenuation is low so you must be very close to the FTTC cabinet. You should be syncing at 79.999 Mbps all the time, on my line which is around 500 metres to the cabinet I sync at that speed and as far as I know it is only power cuts that cause the line to drop. It can run for weeks or longer with no drops. I looked at the modem stats to see how long since the last sync, but there was an annoying short power cut a couple of days ago!  Do you get frequent power cuts?  They could possibly upset the Openreach DLM (dynamic line management) system.

The connection speeds you mention (66998 and 73998) are banded speeds, i.e. DLM is capping your sync speed when your modem/router reconnects after a line drop. The fact that a good short line is dropping for some reason does suggest there could be a line fault. You may have trouble persuading Plusnet there is a problem because your speeds are generally well above your minimum expected speed and Plusnet will say that line drops are normal. The question I would ask is why the speed is reduced when the line is perfectly capable of running at full speed.

Looking at your router log it seems to be having trouble authenticating the connection, the connection comes up on the third attempt,

1 (Fail)   00:01:22 [3] PPP: ppp0 Timeout waiting for PADO packets

2 (Fail)   00:01:40 [3] PPP: ppp0 LCP down

3 (Pass) 00:01:40 [6] PPP: ppp0 rcvd [CHAP Success id=0x7a ""]

I don't know why it should need several attempts to connect, that seems odd

Ignore the 00:00:31 [5] System: DSL G.994 Non-Standard Info Received, that is a quirk/bug of many TP-link  devices.

G.994 is the handshaking protocol for setting up xdsl connections but that message is not relevant.

It might be worth trying a different modem/router if you have one to see if the behaviour is the same.

[#8]

@RealAleMadrid Thanks for your input.

The line reset again last night - log1.txt attached.

The router status page now looks like Status.png

Ookla now shows download 71.40 Mb/s, Upload 18.64Mb/s

I know my speed looks pretty good compared with some others but the variable nature of the speeds makes me worry that they may get a lot worse.

I do have another router, a Plusnet Hub one that I've not used since about 2020 (I don't think the firmware is up to date) do you think that I should try that?

Or should I just try to log a phone or broadband fault with Plusnet. (perhaps wait until the speeds drop again?)

If I log a fault with Plusnet and they send an engineer, is there a possibility that the engineer will identify the fault as being in my phone extension wiring? If so, would that involve a £charge? (my router is on a phone extension, not the master socket - it always has been without apparent problems.

Thanks

Ian

[#9]

@IMM  The line has re-synced at full speed but there are some downstream errors showing. Maybe the errors are causing DLM to reduce the speed after some time. The reconnection looks the same as previously with the 3 attempts to connect, maybe that's just the way the TP-Link modem router works. I don't know.

I wouldn't raise a fault while the speed is high but if it drops a fair amount you may be able to get Plusnet to arrange an Openreach engineer visit to check for errors on the line. Whether they can do anything to fix it is another matter.

I'm afraid if the engineer sees you are running on an extension they will probably blame that for all your problems which is wrong because a correctly wired extension can work fine, particularly if you have a very short line to the cabinet. I don't think the engineer will touch any extension wiring, their responsibility ends at the master socket. Is there any way you could test with your router connected close to the master socket to prove that the extension is not causing a problem?

It could be worth trying the Plusnet router for a while, I wouldn't worry about the firmware version but you may need to manually enter the Username/Password details if it hasn't been used for a long time. If the HUB1 modem gives fewer errors your line may stay at full speed, although I've a feeling that the modem hardware is not the best.🤔

[#10]

@RealAleMadrid 

The reconnection looks the same as previously with the 3 attempts to connect, maybe that's just the way the TP-Link modem router works.

The VR400 supports three authentication types, PAP, CHAP and MS-CHAP the default for this setting being Auto. Maybe it's while the auto select is in progress the three login attempts occur. Setting to CHAP may stop the multiple connection attempts.

I will admit I gave up using the VR400 modem as it would often drop the connection I noted the Error packets during the day would increment. I am a similar distance from the green cab.

I used it as a router for a while with a Hub two in bridge mode, but now it's just a wireless access point.

I now use a Hub Two which is very stable but I do have issues with the DHCP server.