What is going on with this ISP

[#1]

Hi John,

I tried to do so but had to include it in post #9 as it didn't go the first time and then was flagged as scattergun posting when I tried again

Colin

[#2]

I see no detailed screen shots in post #9. Your interpretation of them, as posted, does not help me, or anyone else to offer constructive advise.

[#3]

Hiya @whitbycolin, if you are experiencing drop outs this is likely also impacting your speed. 

I can see our faults team have since picked up your fault ticket and have amended some of your line settings, to see if this helps with the issues. 

I'd advise to monitor over the next 24 hours. Let me know how things go!

[#4]

Lets step back here, take some heat out of the situation and see if we can find a solution.

This sounds so much like an issue I'm dealing with locally with one of my elderly referrals - ADSL is not delivering streaming services overly well - sync rate looks fine - BT engineer has been out and says all is fine - yet his football watching is constantly being interrupted.

There are difficult cases which need a cool approach - I suspect that this is one such case!  This has ZERO to do with the ISP billing for the service, but potentially everything to do with the CUSTOMER and their home environment, if not BT.

In the case of my referral, there is a definite correlation of issues when the telephone is in use.  though @whitbycolin says they do not use the phone, if there is no telephone connected, they will have no idea if some scam caller is ringing the number.

There is also the possibility of electrical interference (REIN or SHINE) which is present in the case I'm dealing with mentioned above.

So back to the basics - @whitbycolin 

1. Can you please post the line stats from your router here.  Please include sync rate, attenuation and SNRM figures
2. Which router are you using?
3. How old is it?
4. Is it connected direct to the master socket?
5. Would you be willing able to set up 24x7 monitoring of the router using routerstats (see link below) or DSL stats

For interest, the SNRM graph below is from the case I'm dealing with - it clearly indicates an issue with the line / the local environment, even though the BT engineer reports there is no fault on the line.  Plusnet has twice reported that the line is imbalanced, but that is intermittent. @LaurenB what does the line balance look like here?

I now need to track down the source of the REIN with my new diagnostic tool - a cheap (£10) basic AM portable radio which arrived yesterday.

This line is perfectly quiet.  The sync speed is fairly good, but not as good as that reported for Colin's, but unlike here there are clearly more line drops than is shown on Colin's VR plot.  That said, similar to Colin, this user sees delays in their football streaming even though the line was up at the time.

Colin, something not asked / advised - at the time you find Netflix to be failing, what else is the internet being used for at the same time?  When you see the router flashing like disco lights can you please do a QLT AT THAT TIME.

I suspect that we are looking for an intermittent issue here and / or REIN / SHINE.  Fixing that needs partnership between user and supplier, as invariably the issue will not be present when inspected.  In my local case, most of the time, there is nothing to be seen, the SNRM plots are flat as pancakes as they should be.

[#5]

The reason for mentioning the costs is there because I am paying every month for a service that I am not getting, in any other sector that fails to provide a customer with a paid for product the customer would of course complain.

In my case here is no definite correlation of issues when the telephone is in use, as I don't use it that much, it is permanently connected and I would therefore be aware if some scam caller is ringing the number.

Can you advise me on how to access the stats from my router, so I can provide the sync rate, attenuation and SNRM figures

I have the 2704n router and have had it for approximately 3 or 4 years after having these issues with the original router for over a decade.

Throughout my internet endeavours going back 3 decades or so the routers have always been fitted to  the master socket

What is involved and for how long would setting up 24x7 monitoring of the router using routerstats be necessary

As a rule if I am watching Netflix or attempting to just have YouTube music videos on whilst I decorate there are no other devices using the internet. I can do a QLT test at anytime of the day or night as the disco lights are an almost  permanent feature

Colin

[#6]

Hi Colin,

That is really helpful information, not that any of it gets us "out of jail".

The 2704n (Plusnet Hub Zero) is not the most friendly router Plusnet have supplied.  It does not lend itself to being interrogated by tools such as Routerstats - I was somewhat hoping that you had a Plusnet Hub One which is a cloaked BT HH5a which works exceptionally well with Routerstats.

The 2704n was Plusnet's first venture into taking surplus kit from BT big brother - at the time I felt that it had been deliberately engineered to make finding useful stats (such as those needed here) difficult to find and impossible to monitor.  This long-standing standard reply will be of some help - 

How is your line performing?

Please post your router stats; for PN routers use the buttons below, for other routers look at the Kitz link.

Also run a BT Wholesale speed test (ideally using an Ethernet wired PC with the WiFi turned off) then run the further diagnostics, download the .PDF report and post the results here. DO NOT REBOOT the router!

Check the Plusnet user portal for the "Current Line Speed" which is relevant to users with static IP addresses.

• TG582n Stats
• Hub 0 Stats
• Hub 2 Stats
• Kitz list
• BTw Speedtest
• PN Broadband Status

Disco lights: From that description I had (wrongly) presumed that we were talking about the Hub One as that does flash a full range of colours depending on the nature of its "Something is wrong" sulking.  As best as I recall, the 2704n simply has green lights which flash when all is OK and data is being transferred.  A couple will flash red whilst reconnecting to the internet.  See What are your Hub Zero lights saying - Quick Vids - YouTube

Are you seeing high occurrence of red flashing lights?

The 2704n is not the best of WiFi routers.  I have seen isolation of the WiFi network from everything else occur with this router.  Wired devices continue to function, but WiFi devices cannot connect to WiFi or cannot access wired devices, for example a network printer.

What other routers have you got?  If you have been suffering from REIN or SHINE all this time, there is some possibility that all of the router have been blighted by the same environmental issue.  To conclude a view on that we need a router which can be monitored.  Do you by chance have a TG582n?  Arguably they were the best of any of Plusnet's ADSL routers - certainly better than the 2704n - and very amenable to being monitored.

[#7]

I can understand that it’s a big ask with all these current issues but if @whitbycolin  can accept that this is a BT infrastructure problem, which has attracted attention on this forum, a call to the COT as suggested earlier and a new contract could help with this fault finding. A request made at the time of taking out a contract will result in a new Hub One being supplied for the P&P charge, allow routerstats to run, provide better WiFi coverage and reduce the monthly cost.

[#8]

When I first moved to Plusnet things were certainly an improvement. After a decade of decrepit service I was supplied the 2704n router, which initially improved things but a couple of weeks later I was back to square one and it is the only router I have.

These last three weeks have me at my wit's end, it has never been this atrocious before. The disco is flashing red on broadband and the ethernet and wireless are really rapid green lights. I have factory reset it numerous times and turned it off completely almost daily with little effect. All of my devices, three phones, two laptops, a desktop computer a tablet can load even the simplest of pages like this. I haven't been able to login to post here, my Firestick and Chromecast will not connect nor my Google echo. YouTube, Netflix and Sky TV are just a nightmare, all I get are notices saying there is a problem with the broadband connection.

I have just run speed tests and the results weren't even up to dial up speeds! The ping was 2232 and the download speed a staggering 0.36 MPs! The BT test couldn't even run a test on the line.

Buying into contract with Plusnet seems like the worst thing I could do, if this is the service I'm getting now then there's no encouragement to be tied in for a possible 18 months of hell.

How can I accept that this is a BT infrastructure problem, when my phone's and fax systems are working absolutely faultless. I do not understand what is meant by a call to the COT? A new contract "could help" with this fault finding, but may not and then I'd pretty much be totally helpless as I can't afford to get a contract with another ISP whilst tied to Plusnet.

Given the length of time this has been going on I'd say it would be more appropriate for plusnet to supply me with a new Hub One for the P&P charge, allow routerstats to run, and maybe provide at least some WiFi coverage and then arrange a possible contract as paying almost a £50 per month for mainly Telephone calls and the odd wifi coverage is a meaningless joke. I can add screenshots but there is only an option as what attachments are permitted?

[#9]

Can't help with most of your post, @whitbycolin , but to insert pictures into a post, click the icon between the 'smiley face' and 'movie camera'.

[#10]

There are no smiley face or movie camera present can you screenshot them in your post

[#11]

If you are using a desktop/latop, then this is the compose window, with the icons I mentioned at the top:

[#12]

3-4 years for a router is quite a while, and have you tried alternative hardware? It sounds liked it may have died. Just because your landline appears fine it may be the case

[#13]

@Alex My modem/routers  lasted a lot longer than 4 years, but the problem here is that the OP has been given loads of useful help and guidance, but refuses to engage and help themself.

[#14]

Hiya @whitbycolin, thanks for getting in touch. I'm really sorry for the ongoing issues with your service and problems this is causing. I can see recently some changes have been made to amend the stability profile, I'm sorry this hasn't helped. 

As the issue is still ongoing, we'll need to look at sending an engineer out to take a further look at this for you. I have created a new ticket here:  https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=view_question&id=224644348 please just reply back with the requested info on the ticket and if you let me know once done, I'll get pick this up for you. 

[#15]

Thanks

Maybe I've been unlucky then, I had one last me about 4 years, the way I found out it was I tried it around a friends house and it didn't work around there as well as my house, and his router was working fine so it ruled out the connection.