Random line drops since contract change

[#1]

Hi Team,

I was wondering if a general check on my connection / profile etc could be done to check for any problems as I've been seeing some intermittent line drops (always fun I know).

This may be a complete coincidence but I recontracted earlier this month going up to unlimited fibre 80/20 from an older 50/10 package. My line had been very very stable, for years with very few if any total loss of connections and always at full speeds (I live in a relatively quiet area).

Since the upgrade however my line has dropped more times in 3 weeks than it has for 3+ years. When this happens it will normally drop in / out over a 4-6hour period. However after this period of instability it will become stable again for days (6-7+). When it does stabilise however the modem will only sync at around 40/20.

I use a Asus router and separate modem combo but have swapped the modem from an older ECI to a Huawei with no change in behaviour.

The issue reoccurred earlier today, below is a snap shot of the system log from the router from disconnection to reconnection;

Dec 27 14:23:47 pppd[24984]: Serial link appears to be disconnected.
Dec 27 14:23:49 WAN Connection: Fail to connect with some issues.
Dec 27 14:23:50 nat: apply redirect rules
Dec 27 14:23:53 pppd[24984]: Connection terminated.
Dec 27 14:23:53 pppd[24984]: Modem hangup
Dec 27 14:24:38 pppd[24984]: Timeout waiting for PADO packets
Dec 27 14:25:13 pppd[24984]: Connected to 20:e0:9c:de:c9:54 via interface eth0
Dec 27 14:25:13 pppd[24984]: Connect: ppp0 <--> eth0
Dec 27 14:25:14 pppd[24984]: CHAP authentication succeeded
Dec 27 14:25:14 pppd[24984]: peer from calling number 20:E0:9C:DE:C9:54 authorized
Dec 27 14:25:14 pppd[24984]: local IP address 31.125.73.134
Dec 27 14:25:14 pppd[24984]: remote IP address 195.166.130.251
Dec 27 14:25:14 rc_service: ip-up 3985:notify_rc start_firewall
Dec 27 14:25:15 wan: finish adding multi routes
Dec 27 14:25:15 miniupnpd[785]: shutting down MiniUPnPd
Dec 27 14:25:15 rc_service: ip-up 3985:notify_rc stop_upnp
Dec 27 14:25:15 rc_service: waitting "start_firewall" via ip-up ...
Dec 27 14:25:15 nat: apply nat rules (/tmp/nat_rules_ppp0_eth0)
Dec 27 14:25:15 miniupnpd[4025]: version 1.9 started
Dec 27 14:25:15 miniupnpd[4025]: HTTP listening on port 51897
Dec 27 14:25:15 miniupnpd[4025]: Listening for NAT-PMP/PCP traffic on port 5351
Dec 27 14:25:16 rc_service: ip-up 3985:notify_rc start_upnp
Dec 27 14:25:16 rc_service: waitting "stop_upnp" via ip-up ...
Dec 27 14:25:16 miniupnpd[4025]: shutting down MiniUPnPd
Dec 27 14:25:17 miniupnpd[4027]: version 1.9 started
Dec 27 14:25:17 miniupnpd[4027]: HTTP listening on port 50934
Dec 27 14:25:17 miniupnpd[4027]: Listening for NAT-PMP/PCP traffic on port 5351
Dec 27 14:25:19 WAN Connection: WAN was restored.

Below are my current line stats from the modem as they sit at the time of posting;

	Downstream	Upstream
Attainable rate (kbit/s)	39232	18511
SNR margin (dB)	24.2	0
Line attenuation (dB)	12.8	7.6
Output power (dBmV)	12.8	7.6

Many thanks,

Toast

[#2]

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[#3]

Hi @Toast3000,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. I've taken a look into your account this morning and upon testing the line, I've discovered that this fault has been caused by an underlying external landline issue. I've logged a support ticket on your account regarding this, which can be accessed here.

[#4]

Hi both,

Great thanks for the assistance, very quick considering the time of year. I'll keep an eye on that ticket.

[#5]

No worries @Toast3000. I hope the work on the line goes smoothly, but if any issues persist then please drop us another message on this thread and we'll be happy to pick this back up for review

[#6]

Hi Alex / Team,

I was wondering if someone could run another check on the line?

Open reach to their credit did the work from the ticket and the line stabilised to a healthy 60-65mbps throughput and a modem sync rate of around 70,000kbits/s over the course of the following 2-3 days.

However earlier today it dropped again with the same behaviour and the sync rate dropped back down to around 30k. I was WFH at the time so noticed the drop. It has since stayed connected.

Router log;

Jan 4 11:21:22 WAN Connection: Fail to connect with some issues.
Jan 4 11:21:24 pppd[28877]: Connection terminated.
Jan 4 11:21:24 pppd[28877]: Modem hangup

The modem is currently sitting at the following sync rate; 

	Downstream	Upstream
Line rate (kbit/s)	31291	15320

With the line stats as below;

	Downstream	Upstream
Attainable rate (kbit/s)	37540	15814
SNR margin (dB)	24.1	0
Line attenuation (dB)	12.9	7.4
Output power (dBmV)	12.9	7.4

[#7]

Hi @Toast3000,

I'm sorry to hear that the connection has continued to drop out. I've had a look at the account and whilst I can see that the connection has improved, our line tests are still detecting a potential issue. One thing of note is that the test results we've returned this time are slightly different to the ones we'd previously received. Has anything changed in the property since the previous engineer visit, such as the router being switched out or moving location? Also, is the router plugged into the Master Phone Socket?

[#8]

Hi @TheMightyAJ ,

No changes my side; the router & modem are in the same spot and plugged into the master socket which is a BT branded MK3 with 2 sockets, with the modem being plugged into the top rj11 slot.

The one thing I did do after the engineer visit was to disconnect my session on the router and power down the modem for a short time, 30mins or so, to speed up the line resync. This may have been an error on my part. This would have been at around 17:45 on the 31st Dec and then reconnected / powered back on about 18:15. Since then I've left it alone and powered.

Of note today however is that the line has significantly improved. Throughput is low at 26-27mbps but line sync is back up.

	Downstream	Upstream
Line rate (kbit/s)	67380	20000
CRC errors	254	106
FEC errors	0	0
HEC errors	154	58

	Downstream	Upstream
Attainable rate (kbit/s)	64836	23213
SNR margin (dB)	17.7	0
Line attenuation (dB)	12.9	7
Output power (dBmV)	12.9	7

[#9]

Thanks for getting back in touch and confirming this @Toast3000. It may be worth keeping an eye on the connection for the next couple of days if it seems to be improving on your end of things. If not, then I think the best course of action would be to get another engineer out to see what's causing the problem. Just let us know how you would like to proceed and we'll pick this back up for review as soon as possible.

[#10]

No problems, I'll give it until early next week to see if it settles. Thanks for the help.