Problem with intermittent connectivity

[#1]

The last few day's I've been getting connection issues where although the fibre is connected, it'll lose internet connectivity.

I've called support and they say there is no line issue and my router is not dropping out. I've run continuous ping to google dns and every 5-10 min it'll stop responding and then start pinging again, a continuous ping to the router shows no issues

I've tried my back up router and tried resetting the ONT but still get the same issue

[#2]

Hi @Bigmax1701, thanks for getting in touch and I'm really sorry to hear you're experiencing drops. Is there anything different happening that might not have been before? The drops mainly seem to be concentrated in the evening that tends to suggest that there's something in the home environment that could be causing this, especially because this has happened 2 different routers now. 

[#3]

Hi
The drop outs happen all the time, it's just been that I'm home in the evening to try and sort it .

There have been no changes to the network at all. The 'line' never drops connection, it just stops communicating for 20-30 sec, just long enough to interrupt streaming

[#4]

I wouldn't advise running a ping to google as they normally restrict the rate for their own security purposes. Instead you can use one from think broadband which will allow you to do this unrestricted - 80.249.99.164.

Checking over your usage, I can also see that you're uploading a lot some days, sometimes 22GB. This could be one reason why this is happening as uploading a lot does impact not only download speeds but also the connection itself. I'd try and stop uploading and then see if you still see the same issue. 

[#5]

The only reason I was running ping was because streaming has started buffering, 150mb fibre shouldn't be buffering!

I'm not aware of anything uploading from my netwtork , but even then, it shouldn't be causing a repeated complete drop out

[#6]

I've changed the ping to Think as requested and blocked the highest uploading device from the internet and it's still dropping out every 20 min. During testing a film was streamed from a NAS drive to a smart TV accross the network with no issues, so it still looks like an external issue

[#7]

22GB upload is not trivial - what is on your network? A saturated upload will lead to suboptimal download performance.

[#8]

@Bigmax1701 

What is the router you are using? Full model number if a third party device.

Are all your devices connected directly either via wireless or wired to the router or something else?

Think broadband 'Broadband Quality Monitor' as detailed here https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality is worth considering.

Are you using a ping app or just via command prompt (Windows or Linux)?

Edit: What message appears when ping fails? Be something like timeout, destination unreachable, an example would be helpful

[#9]

@Townman nothing is configured to upload, the highest data device on the network is a NAS drive but it's not accessed from outside. Everything else is really low data

I'd expect a prolonged speed issue with a traffic issue but I'm getting a cyclic drop out every 20 min

[#10]

@Dan_the_Van 

It's a PN Hub 2, the network is wifi and wired via a managed switch and a wifi bridge.

Pinging from windows command prompt, it was a time out message but it seems to be stable now

I've started a BQM but it isn't showing anything yet

[#11]

@Bigmax1701 

Whatever you think is or is not configured to upload, Plusnet's stats report that something is uploading a lot of data.

How is windows update configured on your PCs?  It used to be the case that by default they are / were set to be update distributors.

See Settings -> Windows Update -> Advance Options -> Delivery Optimisation

What are the settings there?

[#12]

@Bigmax1701 

To view your local usage on the Hub two navigate from the home page to >Advanced settings >Broadband. Usage is also referenced in >Advanced settings >Technical log 

Do you have any CCTV equipment that saves to the cloud? This could explain your upload usage, I have a Ring camara system my upload usage over 19 days is around 20Gb.

You mention a wireless bridge, is it the device/s at the remote end with the ping issues?

For me from my wireless laptop  ping -t pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com

Reply from 80.249.99.164: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 80.249.99.164: bytes=32 time=11ms TTL=55

A raspberry pi wired device connected directly to the Hub

pingbox1.thinkbroadband.com (80.249.99.164): icmp_seq=1 ttl=55 time=8.70 ms

Do you notice is the ping times increase before you get the timeout message?

[#13]

I get that something is uploading, but nothing should be , I meant I'm not deliberately uploading. I am concerned about what has been though!

Delivery optimisation has always been off, but that wouldn't upload through the router anyway?

[#14]

I can't see any data usage in the tech log but did found several disconnects for 'no carrier'

I have CCTV but no cloud storage

The wireless bridge just has home automation on the remote side

Ping is fairly steady before dropping, sometimes a single ping will come back in the middle of drop out

[#15]

The Advanced settings >Technical Log >Information  or Broadband page should have this line

Data usage: nn.nn GB Uploaded / nnn.nn GB Downloaded

You may have been looking at the event log to see 'no carrier' messages

Can you recall if the no carrier messages times are around the same time you noticed your internet drop.

The event log should detail drops "Category WAN" would be the place to look for disconnects,