This topic

Internet cuts off multiple times every night

jaymul88 — Sat, 01 May 2021 21:49:16 GMT

Hi, looking for help with an ongoing issue, I'll try to include as much info as possible!

My internet has been cutting off multiple times every night for a while now. The last couple of weeks we get multiple disconnects every night which can be quite frustrating as I work night shifts at home and have to reload multiple programs every time it cuts out. A rough timeframe seems to be between 5pm-midnight. Doesn't seem to happen much after midnight.

Its been ongoing for a few years but sometimes we can go a few weeks/months with no disconnections.

It seems limited to only cutting out in the evenings, I've not seen it disconnect in the day time.

When it disconnects it will be offline for a couple of seconds, the router will flash orange and then it will all come back on, so the connection is only lost for a few seconds at a time.

In the past we have contacted BT over the phone, sometimes its helped and we wont have issues for a few weeks/months (I have no idea what they do but they remotely change some of the settings) sometimes it makes no difference.. We've had new router, new filters, new ethernet cables yet the problem still persists.

I've looked up a lot of info online but I'm a bit wary about changing router settings as I don't have much knowledge about what I'm doing with it.

One possible issue is our phoneline, again I'm pretty clueless about these things so could be irrelevant, but a couple of years back we had windows replaced in the room where the router/phoneline is. Weirdly the phoneline was wrapped around the outside frame of the window a couple of times and it has a very old looking box with GPO and a screw on one side. When they replaced the windows they chucked the box inside and its been behind a cupboad with a lot of (unnecessary?) excess wire but both wires seem to still be connected. This box is VERY worn down and also has loose wires showing at either end. Could this be the issue all a long? If so, would this fall as my responsibility or BT?

A little extra info: The router is plugged in to a Google mesh network, this is quite easy to monitor using the app and the issue seems to be coming from the router/phoneline not the mesh network.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Re: Internet cuts off multiple times every night

imjolly — Sun, 02 May 2021 08:57:25 GMT

the 'box' you refer to is just a junction box where the incoming openreach line connects to the internal wiring. have you opened the box and see if there are ant loose wiring. there should only be the incoming wiring and one outgoing wiring which should connect to your master socket

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

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

Re: Internet cuts off multiple times every night

jaymul88 — Sun, 02 May 2021 13:02:49 GMT

Hi thanks for reply. Unfortunately I don't have a landline phone to do a quiet line test.

Here are pictures of the box:

https://ibb.co/5WjSXnQ
https://ibb.co/2vBm9v0
https://ibb.co/r6gphbd

As said in last post this was originally outside and has the incoming & outgoing still connected. It's difficult to think it could be the box as the problems are almost exclusively in the evening.

Here are some of the technical log information from last night. Must've had around 5-6 disconnects last night including while I was writing the original post, and no point posting todays as it hasn't gone off at all today!

Re: Internet cuts off multiple times every night

jaymul88 — Sun, 02 May 2021 13:08:49 GMT

Trying to post the logs but limited by 20,000 characters

Re: Internet cuts off multiple times every night

jaymul88 — Sun, 02 May 2021 13:38:20 GMT

Product name:

BT Hub 6A

Firmware version:

SG4B1000E020

Firmware updated:

26-Mar-2020

Board version:

1.0

Gui version:

1.115.0

DSL uptime:

0 Days, 15 Hours 23 Minutes 6 Seconds

Data rate:

20.00 Mbps / 79.99 Mbps

Maximum data rate:

26455 / 96765

Noise margin:

9.4 dB / 10.3 dB

Line attenuation:

15.8 dB

Signal attenuation:

9.9 dB / 15.8 dB

VPI / VCI:

0/38

Modulation:

G_993_2_ANNEX_B

Latency type:

Fast Path

Data sent / received:

883 MB Uploaded / 35 GB Downloaded

BT Wi-fi:

Active

2.4 GHz wireless network name:

BTHub6

2.4 GHz wireless channel:

Channel 1

5 GHz wireless network name:

BTHub6

5 GHz wireless channel:

Channel 36

Wireless security:

WPA2 (Recommended)

Wireless mode:

Mode 1

Firewall:

Software variant:

Boot loader:

9.2.0

Re: Internet cuts off multiple times every night

imjolly — Sun, 02 May 2021 13:18:05 GMT

No need to post logs it is the technical information not logs

A landine is the most basic tool in diagnosing broadband problems as most problems are caused by line noise

Looking at the photo of inside of box there has obviously been water/dampness causing serious corrosion and if mine I would gently clean all the terminals

If you post any more photos can you post here instead of links as saves going backwards and forward

Re: Internet cuts off multiple times every night

jaymul88 — Sun, 02 May 2021 13:26:26 GMT

Thanks for quick reply, sorry about the pictures the files were too large to upload here.

What would you recommend to clean it? Do you think this could be causing the issues?

I guess I should go get myself a landline today then!!

Re: Internet cuts off multiple times every night

Carlusha — Sun, 02 May 2021 13:35:05 GMT

@jaymul88 Might be a good idea to edit out your Hub id as this is a public forum.

@imjolly Will doubtless advise of I am wrong here.

Re: Internet cuts off multiple times every night

imjolly — Sun, 02 May 2021 13:39:40 GMT

As I said if it was mine then I would carefully clean the terminals and get rid of the surrounding corrosion

Thankfully from your stats all the drops in connection have not resulted in a loss of connection speed

Re: Internet cuts off multiple times every night

jaymul88 — Sun, 02 May 2021 13:42:59 GMT

Nope, the speeds are fantastic! Just the constant drop outs are very annoying when working and it is only ever for a couple of seconds at a time. I will try giving them a clean and see if that helps.

Thank you

Re: Internet cuts off multiple times every night

iniltous — Sun, 02 May 2021 14:56:41 GMT

Although that wiring looks poor, in itself there is no reason why it would cause issues just at particular times so unless these issues happen at other times but just hasn’t been noticed, then perhaps it’s something else...., dodgy electrical equipment turning on or off can cause a loss of sync ( search Rein/Shine ) so does anything coincide with this , like central heating coming on , turning off ?,

Re: Internet cuts off multiple times every night

jaymul88 — Sun, 02 May 2021 15:15:24 GMT

Just had a quick read up on rein / shine, thanks for the advice. It is strange, I will keep monitoring but it only ever seems to disconnect during peak times and the last disconnect was around 11:30 last night but has been ongoing every night for weeks.

The only additional devices I can think off the top of my head we might have online during those times is a PS4 console my wife sometimes plays while I'm working. Obviously there's the TV this is played on but that is relatively new & the issues predate since we bought the TV.

From what I've read faulty power adaptors can be a cause for this? so might try a new power lead on the PS4 and then I guess it's a process of elimination to figure out what could be interfering?

We have contacted BT multiple times about this, occasionally after talking to them and them we can go a few months without issues but sometimes the people we speak to on the phone are very helpful, sometimes not at all! And we just end up running through the same pointless process of testing everything again. The last we heard off them was about 6 months ago when they were supposed to send us another replacement router but it never turned up.

Re: Internet cuts off multiple times every night

Starwire — Mon, 03 May 2021 08:15:13 GMT

That’s a BT52a. It should never have been outside, which probably explains the oxidisation on it. That will cause a Rectified Loop and most likely a High Resistance Fault as well. Ideally they need constant dewatering, i.e. spraying with WD-40.

BT and now Openreach stopped using those years ago in favour of Petroleum Jelly Filled Crimps and or Connectors.

Ideally you want to crimp the cable together, you can buy them online or from places like Screwfix.

As said though a hard network fault like a HR or Rectified Loop would usually cause drops in sync to happen throughout the day, not just between specific hours.

Might be worth getting Openreach out, depending on the skill level and experience of the Engineer he/she might look deeper into the issue by checking the PSD and HLOG Graphs to determine if it is a REIN Issue.

Like i said though that depends of the Experience and Skill level of the Engineer.

Re: Internet cuts off multiple times every night

DavidM — Mon, 03 May 2021 09:05:46 GMT

Hi @jaymul88 and thanks for posting.

I'm sorry you're having problems with the connection. I'd be interested in trying to help figure this out for you. I'll drop you a private message now so you can get in touch.

Cheers

David