This topic

Frequent disconnects and poor speed

Piratew — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 08:53:20 GMT

I've been with BT a number of years and on 4th February this year I took a new 24 month contract on Fibre 2 on their advice. I am guaranteed 25Mbps download speed:

About 4 weeks ago we started having problems with connection, culminating with the fault identifying a line problem.

Two days ago an engineer fitted an entirely new drop line to our property so we ought to have a perfect new silent line.

When he left the internet connected at 35Mbps down. It stayed connected for 11 hours, then disconnected itself and reconnected at nearly 37Mbps. I was happy with this.

However, an hour after it connected at 37Mbps it reconnected itself again at only 19Mbps download and under 5Mbps upload. Since then it has been disconnecting and reconnecting itself and never gotten above 20Mbps, which is below our guaranteed speed.

I have taken the router logs showing connection time, speeds, SNR margins and time connected (in seconds), as shown in table below:

I have not pulled the plug or anything, all those times and speeds have automatically happened. A lot of times it seems to disconnect during the night and only stays up for about 17 minutes before disconnecting and reconnecting.

As I said, this is a new line, there are no issues with the phoneline. We used to receive 45-48Mbps download when I joined, I even have copies of previous contracts for each year since 2016 showing estimated and guaranteed speeds and we never had a problem until recently.

A new line now, but worse speeds than ever despite the line being capable of better, and frequent disconnects. The engineer confirmed that our profile is set to the maximum available and verified this by it connecting at those speeds for 12 hours or so before dropping out and back down again.

We aren't getting what we're paying for and not only does it affect the internet connection but also BT TV (which we also pay BT for) and other things like gaming and netflix which get disrupted when it disconnects itself.

What is causing these problems?

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

imjolly — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 09:02:24 GMT

welcome to the BT community forum where customers help customers and only BT employees are the forum mods

in order for the forum members to help please can you post the stats from your router (if hub enter 192.168.1.254 in your browser) and if HH5 then go to troubleshooting then helpdesk and if HH6/SH2 then advanced settings then technical log information .

Have you tried the quiet line test? - dial 17070 option 2 - should hear nothing - best done with a corded phone. if cordless phone you may hear a 'dull hum' which is normal

enter your phone number and post results remember to delete number https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

have you tried using the test socket with a filter to see if that stabilises your line?

Someone may then be able to offer help/assistance/suggestions to your problem

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

Piratew — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 09:59:57 GMT

Quiet line test appears perfect. As I said, it was a completely new replacement line installed less than 3 days ago. The engineer fitted a new filter box and set everything up. When he connected the router it connected perfectly. We haven't touched anything to do with the router since, only checked out the stats of it by connecting to 192.168.1.254.

I cannot post complete router stats currently as I'm not at home, but the spreadsheet I posted before shows the times and speeds that the router makes the VDSL link back to BT at ie the maximum rates attainable at that time of connection. And apart from when the engineer was here, it has connected itself back at below the guaranteed speed.

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

Piratew — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 10:31:59 GMT

I just did the speedtest from bt app, these are what it's saying currently:

First image shows that minimum guaranteed speed is 25Mbps.

Second image shows that speed to the hub is 17Mbps.

It has the cheek to say that speeds are as expected - I should expect to have my hub connected at a rate significantly lower than I'm guaranteed?!?

According to their own blurb it's less than half of what's normal, so how can it be claimed to be as expected?

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

pippincp — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 10:29:27 GMT

Nice looking spreadsheet. Post the full stats when you get home. There is information missing from your speadsheet.

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

imjolly — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 10:41:18 GMT

from dslchecker you had a good 42mb connection speed on 11/8 speedtest using wifi is ok for information but not to show a slow connection as that need to be with ethernet connection

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

Piratew — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 10:56:09 GMT

I know I had a good 42Mbps connection speed on 11.08.20 - that was when the engineer was there after fixing the new drop line and changing filters.

However, 12 hours after they left the problems started again with the router dropping and reconnecting its VDSL connection and now I'm back down to <20Mbps router connection.

I'm aware that wifi gives less speed than ethernet, however I'm not and haven't been discussing my WiFi connection. Everything I've been referring to has been the router's VDSL connection - something at the BT/Openreach side of things - which is connecting into the house slower than it should and is unstable. All of this despite a new landline and filters having been installed.

Could there be a hardware problem within the cabinet, which, regardless of new landline or router being used, is causing the end terminal within the cab to be unstable?

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

Piratew — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 16:35:25 GMT

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

imjolly — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 16:55:45 GMT

Not only is your connection speed low but your attainable is just above your actual. Have you tried connecting to the test socket with a filter and then repost stats to see if that improves your connection by eliminating your internal wiring and master faceplate

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

Piratew — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 17:25:10 GMT

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

Piratew — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 17:35:04 GMT

Disconnecting all over the place when connected to master socket:

Went from 19Mb > 11Mb > 33Mb > 19Mb > 19Mb in automatic disconnections and reconnections in the space of 13 minutes.

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

Piratew — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 17:38:59 GMT

BT Smart Hub Manager

Technical logInformation Event log

Save

This shows all events that have taken place on your BT Smart Hub since the last time it was reset.

Category: Select

Selected: WAN

Previous = logList.length/pageSize - 1)}" tabindex="13" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 71, 150); text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; margin-bottom: 0px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; touch-action: manipulation; cursor: pointer; background-image: none; border-width: 2px !important; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 71, 150) !important; border-image: initial; white-space: nowrap; padding-top: 0px !important; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 5px; font-size: 14px !important; line-height: 1.42857; border-radius: 3px; user-select: none; outline: 0px; margin-right: 40px; min-width: 100px; height: 22px !important;">Next

Page 1 of 3

Time and date / Message

18:23:11, 13 Aug.

:WAN: SENSING AUTO VDSL

18:22:36, 13 Aug.

ptm0.101:VLAN VLAN_DATA connected

18:22:36, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_TV disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

18:22:36, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_DATA disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

18:22:36, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL link Up: Down Rate=19085Kbps, Up Rate=4969Kbps, SNR Margin Down=0.00dB, SNR Margin Up=6.00dB

18:22:11, 13 Aug.

:VLAN VLAN_DATA disconnected

18:22:07, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL Link Down: duration was 333 seconds

18:17:13, 13 Aug.

:WAN: SENSING AUTO VDSL

18:16:35, 13 Aug.

ptm0.101:VLAN VLAN_DATA connected

18:16:34, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_TV disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

18:16:34, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_DATA disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

18:16:34, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL link Up: Down Rate=19777Kbps, Up Rate=4976Kbps, SNR Margin Down=0.00dB, SNR Margin Up=6.00dB

18:16:11, 13 Aug.

:VLAN VLAN_DATA disconnected

18:16:07, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL Link Down: duration was 68 seconds

18:15:36, 13 Aug.

:WAN: SENSING AUTO VDSL

18:15:00, 13 Aug.

ptm0.101:VLAN VLAN_DATA connected

18:14:59, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_TV disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

18:14:59, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_DATA disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

18:14:59, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL link Up: Down Rate=33237Kbps, Up Rate=6246Kbps, SNR Margin Down=0.00dB, SNR Margin Up=6.00dB

18:12:45, 13 Aug.

:VLAN VLAN_DATA disconnected

18:12:43, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL Link Down: duration was 26 seconds

18:12:18, 13 Aug.

ptm0.101:VLAN VLAN_DATA connected

18:12:17, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_TV disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

18:12:17, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_DATA disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

18:12:17, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL link Up: Down Rate=11135Kbps, Up Rate=5044Kbps, SNR Margin Down=0.00dB, SNR Margin Up=6.00dB

18:12:00, 13 Aug.

:VLAN VLAN_DATA disconnected

18:11:56, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL Link Down: duration was 74 seconds

18:11:19, 13 Aug.

:WAN: SENSING AUTO VDSL

18:10:43, 13 Aug.

ptm0.101:VLAN VLAN_DATA connected

18:10:43, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_TV disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

18:10:43, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_DATA disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

18:10:43, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL link Up: Down Rate=19941Kbps, Up Rate=4984Kbps, SNR Margin Down=0.00dB, SNR Margin Up=6.00dB

18:09:22, 13 Aug.

:VLAN VLAN_DATA disconnected

18:09:19, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL Link Down: duration was 52716 seconds

03:31:17, 13 Aug.

:WAN: SENSING AUTO VDSL

03:30:43, 13 Aug.

ptm0.101:VLAN VLAN_DATA connected

03:30:43, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_TV disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

03:30:43, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_DATA disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

03:30:43, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL link Up: Down Rate=19911Kbps, Up Rate=4941Kbps, SNR Margin Down=0.00dB, SNR Margin Up=6.00dB

03:30:19, 13 Aug.

:VLAN VLAN_DATA disconnected

03:30:16, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL Link Down: duration was 1015 seconds

03:13:55, 13 Aug.

:WAN: SENSING AUTO VDSL

03:13:21, 13 Aug.

ptm0.101:VLAN VLAN_DATA connected

03:13:21, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_TV disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

03:13:21, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_DATA disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

03:13:20, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL link Up: Down Rate=19911Kbps, Up Rate=4855Kbps, SNR Margin Down=0.00dB, SNR Margin Up=6.00dB

03:12:57, 13 Aug.

:VLAN VLAN_DATA disconnected

03:12:54, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL Link Down: duration was 1030 seconds

02:56:18, 13 Aug.

:WAN: SENSING AUTO VDSL

02:55:44, 13 Aug.

ptm0.101:VLAN VLAN_DATA connected

02:55:44, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_TV disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

02:55:44, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_DATA disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

02:55:44, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL link Up: Down Rate=19838Kbps, Up Rate=4905Kbps, SNR Margin Down=0.00dB, SNR Margin Up=6.00dB

02:55:20, 13 Aug.

:VLAN VLAN_DATA disconnected

02:55:17, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL Link Down: duration was 1027 seconds

02:38:44, 13 Aug.

:WAN: SENSING AUTO VDSL

02:38:10, 13 Aug.

ptm0.101:VLAN VLAN_DATA connected

02:38:10, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_TV disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

02:38:10, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_DATA disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

02:38:10, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL link Up: Down Rate=19762Kbps, Up Rate=4855Kbps, SNR Margin Down=0.00dB, SNR Margin Up=6.00dB

02:37:46, 13 Aug.

:VLAN VLAN_DATA disconnected

02:37:43, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL Link Down: duration was 1041 seconds

02:20:56, 13 Aug.

:WAN: SENSING AUTO VDSL

02:20:22, 13 Aug.

ptm0.101:VLAN VLAN_DATA connected

02:20:22, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_TV disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

02:20:22, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_DATA disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

02:20:22, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL link Up: Down Rate=19941Kbps, Up Rate=4948Kbps, SNR Margin Down=0.00dB, SNR Margin Up=6.00dB

02:20:00, 13 Aug.

:VLAN VLAN_DATA disconnected

02:19:56, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL Link Down: duration was 1031 seconds

02:03:20, 13 Aug.

:WAN: SENSING AUTO VDSL

02:02:45, 13 Aug.

ptm0.101:VLAN VLAN_DATA connected

02:02:45, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_TV disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

02:02:45, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_DATA disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

02:02:45, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL link Up: Down Rate=19911Kbps, Up Rate=4933Kbps, SNR Margin Down=0.00dB, SNR Margin Up=6.00dB

02:02:22, 13 Aug.

:VLAN VLAN_DATA disconnected

02:02:18, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL Link Down: duration was 5585 seconds

00:29:48, 13 Aug.

:WAN: SENSING AUTO VDSL

00:29:13, 13 Aug.

ptm0.101:VLAN VLAN_DATA connected

00:29:13, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_TV disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

00:29:13, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_DATA disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

00:29:13, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL link Up: Down Rate=20060Kbps, Up Rate=4937Kbps, SNR Margin Down=0.00dB, SNR Margin Up=6.00dB

00:28:50, 13 Aug.

:VLAN VLAN_DATA disconnected

00:28:46, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL Link Down: duration was 23754 seconds

17:53:26, 12 Aug.

Previous image resolution went awful due to upload file size restrictions

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

imjolly — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 17:49:08 GMT

These fluctuations in connection speed in such a short space of time are terrible and I think need engineer visit to correct the reset problem which in turn will give you a speed within expected range

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

Piratew — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 18:00:07 GMT

It just disconnected again whilst in master socket with filter and router just kept flashing pink/purple. Left it doing that for 4-5 minutes and it didn't reconnect.

I've put the 5C MK4 faceplate back on and it's connected slightly better... but I doubt it will last:

Product name:

BT Hub 6A

Serial number:

+084316+NQ62300563

Firmware version:

SG4B1000E020

Firmware updated:

02-Apr-2020

Board version:

1.0

Gui version:

1.115.0

DSL uptime:

0 Days, 0 Hours 4 Minutes 9 Seconds

Data rate:

5.31 Mbps / 24.92 Mbps

Maximum data rate:

5309 / 26502

Noise margin:

6.2 dB / 6.3 dB

Line attenuation:

39.4 dB

Signal attenuation:

28.4 dB / 39.4 dB

VPI / VCI:

0/38

Modulation:

G_993_2_ANNEX_B

Latency type:

Fast Path

Data sent / received:

2 MB Uploaded / 96 MB Downloaded

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

Piratew — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 18:10:17 GMT

I had two engineers come out together on Wednesday 5th August. They said they had it working fine but when I checked it was at 20 down and doing this disconnecting/reconnecting thing.

BT then sent me a new router on Friday 7th August. Had the same problems with that.

Monday 10th August an engineer came out, connected a brand new line (pulled new cable from telegraph pole and drilling etc), left the connection working seemingly OK, and took the router with him. The issues re-emerged a couple of hours later so I contacted them the following day as they'd left their number in case of problems.

Tuesday 11th August the engineer returned and connected the other router, did all tests, hence the 42Mb on that dsl checker on that date, and left. 12 hours later and it started dropping again.

So in the space of a week there have been 3 engineer visits, a new phone line, alternative routers used... it's affecting the whole family not being able to settle to watch online tv, films, or gaming because the signal keeps dropping and films stop playing or get booted out of games.

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

imjolly — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 18:32:40 GMT

that's terrible and you still have a poor speed I have asked mods to see if they can help but they are really busy so could take more than the normal few days for mods to contact you

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

DavidM — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 18:57:05 GMT

Thanks for pointing this out @imjolly.

@Piratew,

It looks like we'll need to take a closer look at this for you. I'll need your details so I've dropped you a private message so you can get in touch.

Cheers

David

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

Piratew — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 19:14:40 GMT

Bizarrely, when you messaged me I went to open it and it had disconnected. Checked router stats when it reconnected and:

DSL uptime:

0 Days, 0 Hours 1 Minutes 54 Seconds

Data rate:

7.37 Mbps / 39.52 Mbps

Maximum data rate:

7450 / 38413

Noise margin:

5.1 dB / 5.2 dB

Line attenuation:

34 dB

Signal attenuation:

33.8 dB / 34 dB

VPI / VCI:

0/38

Modulation:

G_993_2_ANNEX_B

Latency type:

Fast Path

Data sent / received:

434 kB Uploaded / 2 MB Downloaded

---

I thought "Wow that was a quick resolution". As I just started typing my answers to your PM it disconnected again and now reconnected at:

DSL uptime:

0 Days, 0 Hours 7 Minutes 57 Seconds

Data rate:

5.37 Mbps / 24.79 Mbps

Maximum data rate:

5367 / 26152

Noise margin:

6.1 dB / 6.3 dB

Line attenuation:

39.6 dB

Signal attenuation:

28.5 dB / 39.6 dB

VPI / VCI:

0/38

Modulation:

G_993_2_ANNEX_B

Latency type:

Fast Path

Data sent / received:

3 MB Uploaded / 18 MB Downloaded

---

Aaargh!!

20:05:03, 13 Aug.

:WAN: SENSING AUTO VDSL

20:04:28, 13 Aug.

ptm0.101:VLAN VLAN_DATA connected

20:04:28, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_TV disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

20:04:28, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_DATA disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

20:04:28, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL link Up: Down Rate=23871Kbps, Up Rate=5367Kbps, SNR Margin Down=0.00dB, SNR Margin Up=6.00dB

20:04:11, 13 Aug.

:VLAN VLAN_DATA disconnected

20:04:07, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL Link Down: duration was 136 seconds

20:02:26, 13 Aug.

:WAN: SENSING AUTO VDSL

20:01:52, 13 Aug.

ptm0.101:VLAN VLAN_DATA connected

20:01:52, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_TV disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

20:01:52, 13 Aug.

:connection ATM_DATA disconnected.[ERROR_USER_DISCONNECT]

20:01:52, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL link Up: Down Rate=38807Kbps, Up Rate=7372Kbps, SNR Margin Down=0.00dB, SNR Margin Up=6.00dB

20:01:34, 13 Aug.

:VLAN VLAN_DATA disconnected

20:01:30, 13 Aug.

dsl:VDSL Link Down: duration was 2797 seconds

Re: Frequent disconnects and poor speed

imjolly — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 19:17:16 GMT

There is obviously a line problem as your attenuation is jumping about resulting in the speed fluctuations. Hopefully mods will help you get it fixed