BT 3Mb - Dropping connections

[howfast]

Hi

A couple of weeks ago I was checking my BB monthly usage and I noticed that I had what seemed like an exceptionally high number of logins.

I kept a daily log and it turns out I am disconnecting and logging in to BT 25 to 30 times each day instead of the normal once forced by BT resetting the connection every 24 hours.

I leave my PC on 24/7 and had noticed that when I wanted to surf it was sometimes taking a little longer to open my homepage or for some others to load. I put this down to slow servers I was trying to access but now I believe it is due to having to wait for the modem to login again. Hardly what I call an 'always on' service

I have tried BT TS but aside from making valiant efforts to blame me, my PC, the phone sockets and wiring in the house I have not gotten any satisfaction so far.

If anyone has had a similar problem and found the solution I'd be grateful if you could share.

Howfast

[Kensington]

Sounds like your line has a lot of noise, or interference on it (usually referred to as a low SNR Margin reading) which would cause the modem to lose "sync" with the exchange and drop the connection, often reconnecting at a lower speed - if you can log into your modem (I'm not familiar with the ZyXEL modems BT dish out) and find out the line statistics and then post them back here it might give us a better idea of the state of your line.

[expatoz]

hi
i'm having the same probs with my connection, it drops off after about an hour and as soon as i reboot its back up, ts say everything is ok from their end. my d/l speed has taken a massive hit as well and jugding by the length of time it took to talk to someone in ts i'm not alone. this is really starting to p[iss me off. i have just bought a zyxel 660 wireless modem/router to get things going and i can't connect at all with this.

[howfast]

Hi Kensington

My line stats on the Zyxel P660RU-T1 modem config are -

noise margin downstream: 27 db
output power upstream: 18 db
attenuation downstream: 40 db

noise margin upstream: 16 db
output power downstream: 2 db
attenuation upstream: 25 db

Should these stats effect my DL speeds? I get a fairly constant 2.57Mbps on the speedtest except for when BT seems to give everyone a slow evening, see my last 10 summary:

Download Speed Upload Speed Qos RTT Maxpause
05/09/2006 08:52 2561 kbps (313 KB/s) 318 kbps (39 KB/s) 97 % 21 ms 51 ms
04/09/2006 23:12 2346 kbps (287 KB/s) 250 kbps (31 KB/s) 72 % 22 ms 75 ms
03/09/2006 20:43 2573 kbps (314 KB/s) 321 kbps (40 KB/s) 99 % 20 ms 27 ms
03/09/2006 10:17 2572 kbps (314 KB/s) 320 kbps (39 KB/s) 99 % 21 ms 28 ms
02/09/2006 08:24 2572 kbps (314 KB/s) 319 kbps (39 KB/s) 99 % 21 ms 27 ms
01/09/2006 08:48 2573 kbps (314 KB/s) 320 kbps (39 KB/s) 99 % 22 ms 29 ms
31/08/2006 23:24 2189 kbps (268 KB/s) 314 kbps (39 KB/s) 70 % 26 ms 112 ms
31/08/2006 23:13 1184 kbps (145 KB/s) 302 kbps (37 KB/s) 45 % 101 ms 385 ms
31/08/2006 19:40 2516 kbps (308 KB/s) 319 kbps (39 KB/s) 92 % 21 ms 51 ms
30/08/2006 20:46 2246 kbps (275 KB/s) 319 kbps (39 KB/s) 80 % 20 ms 57 ms
Total Averages:
2333 kbps (285 KB/s) 310kbps (38KB/s) 86 % 30 ms 85 ms


Howfast

[howfast]

I've been googling line stats and I think mine are reasonable but I'm still getting the disconnections. yesterday was the worst yet, I had 39 disconnection in 24 hours.

In the meantime I'm trying to get Eircom to check my line but I suspect it may not be the problem from the line stats.

Any comments or suggestions welcome.

Howfast

[Kensington]

Your speed test results seem to be pretty variable, which could mean there's a lot of "random" (or bursts) of noise on the DSL part of your line, which could be knocking off your connection. I'd definitely pursue eircom to check your lines and see if anything comes of it after that's been done.

[budrick1701e]

quality is always going up and down ,constant cutting out is the norm for BT ..
just check these stats

Date Download Speed Upload Speed Qos RTT Maxpause
12/09/2006 22:31 2055 kbps (251 KB/s) 264 kbps (33 KB/s) 69 % 20 ms 715 ms
12/09/2006 22:30 2204 kbps (270 KB/s) 237 kbps (29 KB/s) 77 % 19 ms 717 ms
12/09/2006 22:25 1418 kbps (174 KB/s) 253 kbps (31 KB/s) 31 % 21 ms 704 ms
12/09/2006 22:24 1716 kbps (210 KB/s) 228 kbps (28 KB/s) 44 % 21 ms 701 ms
12/09/2006 22:23 1447 kbps (177 KB/s) 263 kbps (33 KB/s) 31 % 21 ms 708 ms
12/09/2006 22:22 1559 kbps (191 KB/s) 238 kbps (30 KB/s) 46 % 21 ms 551 ms
28/05/2006 15:11 2523 kbps (308 KB/s) 269 kbps (33 KB/s) 99 % 19 ms 48 ms
25/05/2006 21:10 2536 kbps (310 KB/s) 224 kbps (28 KB/s) 99 % 20 ms 125 ms
25/05/2006 20:57 2537 kbps (310 KB/s) 276 kbps (34 KB/s) 99 % 19 ms 134 ms
16/05/2006 15:45 2377 kbps (291 KB/s) 117 kbps (15 KB/s) 97 % 18 ms 163 ms

Total Averages:
2037 kbps (249 KB/s) 237kbps (29KB/s) 70 % 20 ms 457 ms

BT seems to be on a yoyo , weird

[ellardm]

Originally Posted by budrick1701e

quality is always going up and down ,constant cutting out is the norm for BT ..
just check these stats

Date Download Speed Upload Speed Qos RTT Maxpause
12/09/2006 22:31 2055 kbps (251 KB/s) 264 kbps (33 KB/s) 69 % 20 ms 715 ms
12/09/2006 22:30 2204 kbps (270 KB/s) 237 kbps (29 KB/s) 77 % 19 ms 717 ms
12/09/2006 22:25 1418 kbps (174 KB/s) 253 kbps (31 KB/s) 31 % 21 ms 704 ms
12/09/2006 22:24 1716 kbps (210 KB/s) 228 kbps (28 KB/s) 44 % 21 ms 701 ms
12/09/2006 22:23 1447 kbps (177 KB/s) 263 kbps (33 KB/s) 31 % 21 ms 708 ms
12/09/2006 22:22 1559 kbps (191 KB/s) 238 kbps (30 KB/s) 46 % 21 ms 551 ms
28/05/2006 15:11 2523 kbps (308 KB/s) 269 kbps (33 KB/s) 99 % 19 ms 48 ms
25/05/2006 21:10 2536 kbps (310 KB/s) 224 kbps (28 KB/s) 99 % 20 ms 125 ms
25/05/2006 20:57 2537 kbps (310 KB/s) 276 kbps (34 KB/s) 99 % 19 ms 134 ms
16/05/2006 15:45 2377 kbps (291 KB/s) 117 kbps (15 KB/s) 97 % 18 ms 163 ms

Total Averages:
2037 kbps (249 KB/s) 237kbps (29KB/s) 70 % 20 ms 457 ms

BT seems to be on a yoyo , weird

I have had the same problems with my BB. Since the end of May 2006. I go on line and after some time the line drops out. By rebooting the line come up again. Have tried to contact Bt customer service but have yet to get through to them.

Mike

[howfast]

Hi Ellardm

I had a problem trying to contact BT TS about a month ago.

I tried Chris Navan's suggestion to ring them at 9am when they open and opt to leave your number for a callback. I tried that and got a callback within 15 minutes which sure beats staying on hold forever and a day.

Howfast

[howfast]

BT TS finally came back to say Eircom refused to test DSL equipment because of a fault on the phoneline. BT can do nothing because I rent line from Eircom so I have to log a fault with them.

One week later Eircom engineer arrives [nice man] and fixes line fault. So I get back to BT TS who say they now have to request another DSL test.

4 days later BT say Eircom still refuse to test DSL equipment because of line fault. Is this the runaround from Eircom because I get my BB from BT?

[(IRE)Wolfman]

Date Download Speed Upload Speed Qos RTT Maxpause
23/09/2006 19:42 2647 kbps (324 KB/s) 331 kbps (41 KB/s) 99 % 17 ms 10 ms
23/09/2006 19:41 2647 kbps (324 KB/s) 330 kbps (41 KB/s) 99 % 17 ms 11 ms
23/09/2006 19:41 2648 kbps (324 KB/s) 330 kbps (41 KB/s) 99 % 16 ms 11 ms
23/09/2006 19:40 2647 kbps (324 KB/s) 331 kbps (41 KB/s) 99 % 16 ms 11 ms
23/09/2006 19:40 2648 kbps (324 KB/s) 330 kbps (41 KB/s) 99 % 16 ms 9 ms
23/09/2006 19:40 2648 kbps (324 KB/s) 330 kbps (41 KB/s) 99 % 17 ms 10 ms
23/09/2006 19:39 2647 kbps (324 KB/s) 330 kbps (41 KB/s) 99 % 16 ms 11 ms
23/09/2006 19:39 2648 kbps (324 KB/s) 330 kbps (41 KB/s) 99 % 17 ms 10 ms
23/09/2006 19:38 2647 kbps (324 KB/s) 331 kbps (41 KB/s) 99 % 16 ms 8 ms
23/09/2006 19:38 2647 kbps (324 KB/s) 330 kbps (41 KB/s) 99 % 17 ms 9 ms

Total Averages:
2648 kbps (324 KB/s) 330kbps (41KB/s) 99 % 17 ms 10 ms


ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 3072 kbps 384 kbps
Line Attenuation 15.5 db 28.0 db
Noise Margin 11.6 db 12.0 db


I had the same problems, i got a new(bought) modem Netgear DG834pn

I got sick of those rubbish zyxel modem they give you.

Also i lowered the MTU setting to 1492

Seems to be perfect now just look at the results

[(IRE)Wolfman]

MTU was 1500 this is the package limit being sent to you
so maybe 1500 is to big, so it drops the connection because it cant handle the size.

So droping it to the 1492 should help!

I thought i had a bad line too but it seems i don't.

i was getting the same results as you lot

but now i'm getting good results hope ths helps!

[oneill.dav]

It seems my line stats are a little different overall, sort of. But I rarely get my connection dropped. In fact, I had 30 logins over the course of September! I've been using BT now since Feb 2006, and I'm in Shannon, Co. Clare. To be honest, I've had very little to complain about; except the quality of their TS and CS. Below are my line stats and speedtest results.

DSL Status

DSL Status : Up
DSL Modulation Mode : GDMT
DSL Path Mode : INTERLEAVED
Downstream Rate : 3072 Kbps
Upstream Rate : 384 Kbps
Downstream Margin : 14 db
Upstream Margin : 16 db
Downstream Line Attenuation : 17
Upstream Line Attenuation : 10
Downstream Transmit Power : 0
Upstream Transmit Power : 0

PVC Connection

Encapsulation : RFC 2516 PPPoE
Multiplexing : LLC
QoS : UBR
Pcr Rate : 0
Scr Rate : 0
Autodetect : Disable
VPI : 8
VCI: 35
Enable : Yes
PVC Status : Applied -- OK

Date Download Speed Upload Speed Qos RTT Maxpause
01/10/2006 160 2565 kbps (314 KB/s) 320 kbps (40 KB/s) 99 % 17 ms 33 ms
17/09/2006 16:46 2565 kbps (314 KB/s) 319 kbps (39 KB/s) 99 % 17 ms 6 ms
15/09/2006 17:54 2565 kbps (314 KB/s) 320 kbps (39 KB/s) 99 % 17 ms 33 ms


What do you reckon? Are my line stats normal, and if not, what aspect needs to be improved?


Seifer.

[chris.mcinally@bt.com]

I also have BT 3MB Broadband and had the same problems. My connection drops get worse @ about 17:30 through to midnight and is almost unusable during these hours. Someone in BT told me that the exchanges are oversubscribed and dropping your connection speed to the 2MB option helps. I am going to request a downgrade as i would be better with dial-up at this stage!

[Chris_Navan]

Originally Posted by chris.mcinally@bt.com

I also have BT 3MB Broadband and had the same problems. My connection drops get worse @ about 17:30 through to midnight and is almost unusable during these hours. Someone in BT told me that the exchanges are oversubscribed and dropping your connection speed to the 2MB option helps. I am going to request a downgrade as i would be better with dial-up at this stage!

Do Bt not chage for a downgrade?

Chris

[ellardm]

Originally Posted by chris.mcinally@bt.com

I also have BT 3MB Broadband and had the same problems. My connection drops get worse @ about 17:30 through to midnight and is almost unusable during these hours. Someone in BT told me that the exchanges are oversubscribed and dropping your connection speed to the 2MB option helps. I am going to request a downgrade as i would be better with dial-up at this stage!

I do not know if that will help. I am on 2MB,but over the last few months since May my connection have been all over the place. The max I have had is 1.75MB and the lowest is no connection at all. Some weeks ago I had no BB for an entire weekend.
On checking several times this evening it has varied from .998 up to 1.59 a few minutes ago.

As I have said in an other posting. If we had a Regulator who could enforce ISP's to provide the service would not be 24 out of 30 for BB take up

[howfast]

Hi All

Thought it might be time to update this thread

I still have the disconnection problem and believe I am a victim of a major battle between –

· Eircon BB Wholesale who insist that there is a fault on my phoneline,

· BT TS who say they can do no more than request Eircon to do an equipment check (that is then consistently refused by Eircon because of the line fault lol), and

· Eircon Residential Faults & Repairs who declare the line perfect.


I even tried to talk to Eircon BB Wholesale to find out what was the nature of the “fault” so I could then ask Eircon Residential Faults & Repairs to fix it. However, I was told it is Eircon BB company policy not to talk to anyone who has their BB from another provider.

My head spinning I returned to BT TS and the issue was kicked upstairs to a Supervisor whom I was told had a direct contact in Eircon BB. At last it appeared Eircon finally accepted they might need to check the DSL equipment in my local exchange.

I was hopeful and then Eircon decided to engineer the major slowdown on the Bitstream product, so as they pretend to fix that issue quickly lol I still wait.

Howfast

[ellardm]

Howfast.

You seem to be able to get through to some you may be able to do something. But will it work out. What exchange are you on ? I on 436 which is in Douglas. Or does Churchfield operate all BB.

I believe that we are very poorly served by the powers to be.

I was in France recently and the service there is what we may get in 20 years. Full 28mb with video on demand for what we pay for 2mb download.

Like all services we still lag behind. We have all the regs but nothing is done to enforce them

[howfast]

Guess what

BT TS rang me out of the blue to say Eircon had ‘fixed’ the problem and asked me if the issue was now o.k. As the login stats are only available 24hrs in arrears I said I could only say definitively the next day. However, BT TS didn’t seem too sure it was fixed because I was also advised that if not my only option would then be to downgrade to the 2Mbps service.

Further, BT TS said my phone line was now only testing suitable for 2Mbps. When I questioned how a downgrade could help I was given some BS about smaller data packages in the 2Mbps service reducing the liklihood of the modem losing sync. I told them I never complained of poor DL speeds (I get a reasonably steady 2.57Mbps) and after hearing this BT TS suggested that the only other solution was to upgrade my router/modem from the ZyXel unit that BT provides.

It is now day 2 since the famous callback and the disconnection problem remains so I guess I’ll have decide whether I want to –
· spend more cash (without any guarantee of improvement),
· put up with the problem, or
· reduce bandwidth.

In any case I think I’ll keep my bandwidth because the issue only seems to manifest itself when the connection is idle, say when not surfing or reading a webpage between clicking links, and not during the download of large files when the connection stays steady.

I’d appreciate it if anyone has any suggestions regarding the best router/modem to get at a reasonable price. Also as I only use a desktop PC I don’t necessarily need a wireless unit.

Howfast

[ellardm]

On BB. This afternoon I was on the Company set up. So I decided to check speed. Boy 2.54Mb download and it was fantastic. A slight delay and then the page was there. This was also the the Douglas area but a different exchange to mine. I have not heard anyone complain over the last few weeks about the download speeds.
So are the BB problems with certain exchanges.
Tomorrow I shall try and contact TS and see what they say this time and see if there are any problems in this area.
I am not sure if different router/modems would help.
I do not use a PC I am an Apple man