Connection Drops and Generally Laggy Web Experience

[#1]

Hi.

I raised an issue before Christmas concerning the standard of my Internet connection (https://community.plus.net/t5/Fibre-Broadband/Constant-connection-drops-Broswing-is-horrid-LoL-Unpla...).

Although speeds were good and there was no sign of packet loss or interference on my line, the general standard of my Internet was poor with frequent connection drops (I did mention that League of Legends was unplayable, but this has since been resolved by a server update issued by Riot Games).

Despite one of your colleagues detecting and apparently fixing a problem at my local exchange, these issues unfortunately persist (across different browsers on different computers and across ethernet and WiFi).

The problems seem to be selective depending on which service I connect to. I suffer frequent disconnects from Battlefield 3 servers though this does not occur in Battlefield 4 servers, for example.

My browsing experience is also genreally atrocious. Web pages often refuse to load, locking up my browser, and when they do load images and videos are extremely slow to load in (if at all). Again, this seems to only happen with certain websites (Reddit is especially bad, though Twitter and Imgur are pretty dire at times). Disney+ is unusable as the video playback keeps having to buffer in all the time. Netflix and Prime Video are slow to load thumbnails, though video playback is working on both. Facebook meanwhile works just fine, as do any Google-related pages including YouTube.

Since I received the message from you colleague telling me that the problem was 'fixed', I have gone to extreme lengths trying to track down any problems on my home network. I have disconnected all my smart devices (Amazon Echos, Hue Bridge, etc) and replaced cables. I have even replaced my router thinking my Plusnet Hub might have been on the way out.

Using the test socket makes no difference and a line check with a telephone sounds just fine.

Not sure what else to do at this point.

[#2]

Hiya @NotBobbyKotick, thanks for getting in touch. I'm really sorry for the continued issues that you have had with your service since before Christmas, I can certainly understand the annoyance this must carry, especially when gaming!

It does sound like quite a puzzling issue to be honest, thank you for confirming what checks you have carried out on your side.

I have tested your line and this hasn't highlighted anything that could be causing these issues and given the issue only affects certain sites/ applications, I have added a static IP to your account (I've added a credit to cover the £5 charge), just to see if this resolves the issues. Could you please reboot your router and then see how things are?

Let me know how you get on!

[#3]

Further to this, it's not actually allowing me to add the credit as I'm getting an error so will pick this back up later and try again to add it, letting you know once done

[#4]

Thanks for your response.

A funny thing: yesterday morning the web was as bad as described in my initial post but in the evening when I got home from work the web browsing side of things had vastly improved. No issues with Reddit and the other 'bad' sites at all. I was still getting disconnects in Battlefield 3 though and no amount of tinkering with my router settings would fix it.

I'll reboot the router as soon as I get home from work. I'll post back in the morning and let you know how things are going.

Thanks again.

[#5]

Thanks for getting back to me, that sounds promising so hopefully it is all sorted!

I've been able to add the credit for you now so sent a confirmation of that. Let us know how things go or if you have any further queries in the meantime.

Have a good evening!

[#6]

Hi LaurenB.

After another week of removing devices and changing settings, I am sad to report that my Internet problems have still not been resolved. I thought I had sorted it when I replaced a pinched cable but the day after my last message to you things went downhill again. Web browsing is a pain. I keep getting disconnected from most (but not all) Battlefield 3 servers. I also get a lot of momentary drops from Discord.

The problem seems to be exacerbated by the presence of my Amazon Echo Dot. I have removed it from my network from the time being and this has upgraded my experience from 'unuseable' to 'just about functional'. Most websites are working at time of posting but I am still having issues with images not loading and videos (especially on Twitter and Reddit) buffering continuously.

I have reinstated my Plusnet Hub as the TP Link I replaced it with was halving my up-speeds for some reason.

I have included images of my router's helpdesk page, a BTW speed test, information about my cabinet and my TR069 logs from the past few days. Hope you can help out with this.

Many thanks.

[#7]

Hi NotBobbyKotick, 

I'm sorry that's still an issue for you, as line tests are passing still with no signs of any issues could you try running a traceroute to some of the servers you've had issues reaching and post the results back please?

[#8]

Here you go.

[#9]

More traceroutes performed tonight just after 10pm:

---

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19044.1526]

(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\[Username]>tracert www.youtube.com

Tracing route to youtube-ui.l.google.com [172.217.169.46]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  dsldevice.lan [192.168.1.254]
  2    12 ms    11 ms    11 ms  195.166.130.249
  3    12 ms    12 ms    12 ms  gi2-1-444.ptn-gw01.plus.net [84.93.253.79]
  4    12 ms    12 ms    13 ms  195.99.125.140
  5    12 ms    12 ms    12 ms  peer7-et-0-0-1.telehouse.ukcore.bt.net [62.172.103.158]
  6    14 ms    13 ms    13 ms  109.159.253.185
  7    14 ms    15 ms    15 ms  216.239.54.127
  8    14 ms    21 ms    14 ms  172.253.66.89
  9    13 ms    14 ms    13 ms  lhr48s08-in-f14.1e100.net [172.217.169.46]

Trace complete.

C:\Users\[Username]>tracert www.reddit.com

Tracing route to reddit.map.fastly.net [199.232.57.140]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  dsldevice.lan [192.168.1.254]
  2    11 ms    11 ms    11 ms  195.166.130.249
  3    38 ms    12 ms    12 ms  gi2-1-444.ptn-gw01.plus.net [84.93.253.79]
  4    12 ms    12 ms    12 ms  195.99.125.140
  5    22 ms    13 ms    12 ms  peer3-et7-0-1.redbus.ukcore.bt.net [194.72.16.74]
  6     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  7    12 ms    12 ms    12 ms  199.232.57.140

Trace complete.

C:\Users\[Username]>tracert www.imgur.com

Tracing route to ipv4.imgur.map.fastly.net [151.101.60.193]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  dsldevice.lan [192.168.1.254]
  2    12 ms    11 ms    11 ms  195.166.130.249
  3    12 ms    12 ms    12 ms  gi2-1-444.ptn-gw01.plus.net [84.93.253.79]
  4    12 ms    12 ms    12 ms  195.99.125.144
  5    13 ms    38 ms    13 ms  peer2-et7-0-4.slough.ukcore.bt.net [194.72.16.210]
  6     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  7    13 ms    13 ms    13 ms  151.101.60.193

Trace complete.

C:\Users\[Username]>tracert www.twitter.com

Tracing route to twitter.com [104.244.42.1]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  dsldevice.lan [192.168.1.254]
  2    12 ms    12 ms    11 ms  195.166.130.249
  3    12 ms    12 ms    13 ms  gi2-23-442.ptn-gw02.plus.net [84.93.253.75]
  4    12 ms    12 ms    12 ms  core1-BE1.colindale.ukcore.bt.net [195.99.125.132]
  5    13 ms    13 ms    12 ms  core5-hu0-7-0-15.faraday.ukcore.bt.net [195.99.127.36]
  6    13 ms    12 ms    12 ms  166-49-209-132.gia.bt.net [166.49.209.132]
  7    14 ms    13 ms    14 ms  212.119.4.140
  8    13 ms    13 ms    13 ms  ae-5.r03.londen05.uk.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.6.8]
  9    13 ms    13 ms    14 ms  212.119.4.106
 10    13 ms    13 ms    13 ms  104.244.42.1

Trace complete.

C:\Users\[Username]>tracert www.amazon.co.uk

Tracing route to dmv2chczz9u6u.cloudfront.net [143.204.185.70]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     1 ms     1 ms     1 ms  dsldevice.lan [192.168.1.254]
  2    11 ms    11 ms    11 ms  195.166.130.249
  3    12 ms    12 ms    12 ms  gi2-1-444.ptn-gw01.plus.net [84.93.253.79]
  4    12 ms    12 ms    12 ms  195.99.125.140
  5    13 ms    13 ms    13 ms  peer2-et4-0-1.slough.ukcore.bt.net [194.72.16.206]
  6     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  7     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  8     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  9     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 10     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 11     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 12     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 13     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 14     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 15     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 16    14 ms    14 ms    13 ms  52.94.35.139
 17     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 18     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 19     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 20     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 21     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 22    12 ms    13 ms    13 ms  server-143-204-185-70.lhr3.r.cloudfront.net [143.204.185.70]

Trace complete.

C:\Users\[Username]>tracert www.netflix.com

Tracing route to apiproxy-website-nlb-prod-2-b4de62b516adfbbf.elb.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com [54.73.148.110]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     1 ms     1 ms     1 ms  dsldevice.lan [192.168.1.254]
  2    11 ms    12 ms    11 ms  195.166.130.249
  3    12 ms    12 ms    12 ms  gi2-23-442.ptn-gw02.plus.net [84.93.253.75]
  4    11 ms    12 ms    12 ms  195.99.125.136
  5    16 ms    31 ms    33 ms  peer3-et0-1-4.redbus.ukcore.bt.net [194.72.16.80]
  6     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  7    14 ms    13 ms    14 ms  52.94.46.36
  8     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  9     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 10     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 11     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 12     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 13     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 14     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 15     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 16     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 17     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 18     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 19     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 20     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 21     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 22     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 23     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 24     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 25     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 26     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 27     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 28     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 29     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 30     *        *        *     Request timed out.

Trace complete.

C:\Users\[Username]>tracert www.disneyplus.com

Tracing route to e14245.dscb.akamaiedge.net [23.55.16.101]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  dsldevice.lan [192.168.1.254]
  2    12 ms    12 ms    11 ms  195.166.130.249
  3    12 ms    12 ms    12 ms  gi2-23-442.ptn-gw02.plus.net [84.93.253.75]
  4    13 ms    12 ms    12 ms  195.99.125.136
  5    19 ms    12 ms    12 ms  peer3-et3-0-4.redbus.ukcore.bt.net [194.72.16.190]
  6    15 ms    17 ms    15 ms  109.159.253.245
  7    12 ms    12 ms    12 ms  a23-55-16-101.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com [23.55.16.101]

Trace complete.

---

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[#10]

Thanks for getting back to me @NotBobbyKotick, I really appreciate it. I have reviewed the traceroute and it is completing.

Some hops will time out or show high latency but more often than not that'll be the routers at those hops prioritising the routing of traffic rather than responding back to the ping/traceroute request.

If you see high latency or a time out at one hop and there's high latency or time outs on subsequent hops following that, then it'll generally mean that there may be a problem at that first hop where you saw high latency or a time out.

Looking back over the thread I can’t see where it has been established if the devices are on a wired or wireless connection?

If they are on a wired connection are they directly in the router and not through powerline adaptors?

[#11]

The PCs in the house are all wired with a laptop and two phones being the only wireless devices currently connected to my router. No powerlines are in use at my property. All devices wired or wireless behave in a similar fashion when browsing or using apps. There are momentary freezes in connection which cause browser tabs or apps to lock up until they can get the data they're requesting. I have used the laptop at other properties and do not experience the same problems I have at home.

[#12]

Hi @NotBobbyKotick

I'm really sorry to see you're having a lot of connection issues while gaming.

I think at this stage it's worth calling out an engineer to take a closer look from Openreach's side.

I've just logged a fault ticket on your account Here, could you reply to that with when you'll be available for a visit?

If you can post back to let me know once you've responded, I can make sure we book the engineer as soon as we can.

In the meantime, it may be worth setting up a Think Broadband Quality Monitor Here and letting it run continually as it may help diagnose the issue. You'll need to use your own router though again as the Hub One doesn't respond to pings. 

[#13]

Hi @Gandalf.

When I click on the link you posted, I am greeted with a page saying 'There was an error. We were unable to access your ticket information.'

Below is a link to my Think Broadband connection quality graph:

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/dbc6b0af4f15f4c082178ab0181ce956954440c0

[#14]

Hi @NotBobbyKotick 

In my infinite wisdom I forgot to put the ticket ID at the end of the link. I'm really sorry about that. 

Could you try this: https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=view_question&id=222769047

Thanks for the ThinkBroadband graph. Looking not bad so far.

[#15]

Hi @Gandalf.

I've left a reply to the ticket.

Thanks again.