This topic

Bad connection and dropping out

Stevebyrne1 — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 22:16:04 GMT

Having issue with speed and dropping out...

At resets and tests I am getting this message.

"Your hub could be in sync with the exchange or cabinet, but not connecting to the gateway. If there's no PPP session it's likely to be a problem with our network."

Can I assume this is a exchange issue and nothing more I can do

Many thanks in advance

Steve

Bad connection

Stevebyrne1 — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 22:10:40 GMT

Broadband keeps dropping out or speed drops extremely low. Have do all the usual tests and resets but keep getting this message....

Your hub could be in sync with the exchange or cabinet, but not connecting to the gateway. If there's no PPP session it's likely to be a problem with our network.

Is this something that is common and I assume it's an exchange issue and nothing I can remedy at home?

Many things in advance for any insight

Steve

Re: Bad connection

Katie_B — Sun, 01 Feb 2026 08:43:18 GMT

Hello @Stevebyrne1.

Welcome to the community.

I'd recommend speaking with our technical care team who can talk you through the process and advise you if an exchange would be required.

Please be sure to keep us updated following your call.

Katie

Re: Bad connection

Stevebyrne1 — Sun, 01 Feb 2026 08:50:30 GMT

Many thanks for your advice I will wait until they contact me as issue still persists and will update this string with any information on how the issue was resolved

Steve

Re: Bad connection

tonysmini018 — Sun, 01 Feb 2026 11:37:02 GMT

They won’t contact you, you need contact them to initiate the fault report.

Re: Bad connection

Stevebyrne1 — Sun, 01 Feb 2026 12:52:49 GMT

Oh OK, I was just going on what the message was after I had tried to reset the router and OPB ()optical terminal box). that you would be in contact after 24 hours. Why have that on a message if they don't intent to follow up?...

Thank you for the heads up I will contact them an log the fault

Steve.

Re: Bad connection

Quesada — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 11:34:10 GMT

I have been in dispute with BT since July 2023, because of intermittent drops in connectivity, which weren't officially diagnosed as a "Stale PPP Session Fault", until November 2023. By that stage, BT had placed my complaint in "Deadlock", effectively leaving me with no voice, whilst denying culpability, for a known service issue. BT have continued to assert that as the incoming signal to the ONT is effectively infallible, my own problem must be internal and I was not allowed to terminate my contract, unless I paid an extortionate exit fee. Over the intervening period, it became obvious to me, that BT's own remote monitoring mechanisms, were unable to detect a momentary drop in the incoming light signal to the ONT, even if it kicked out the Hub. Therefore and from my personal perspective, it would appear that modifications must now have been made, as the "PPP" fault is finally being formally recorded. However, I suspect that BT are no nearer to resolving this specific issue and in the meantime, continue to confuse all those customers effected, by falsely promising to follow up their fault report, after 24 hours. Intriguingly, this continued incompetence, may now have left the door open, for customers to claim compensation. Food for thought.

Re: Bad connection

Stevebyrne1 — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 12:52:42 GMT

I am so sorry to hear of your frustration with regards BT. I feel sometimes that they think people complain for the sake of complaining which in most incidents is not the case as we all have better things to do with our lives then waste precious time writing emails etc.

I hear your frustration and coming from an engineering background we were taught to fault find, list all the possible things it could be, eliminate each one that it's not and you are left with the faulty component or card simple logic. BT in my experience are sometimes stuck in this closed loop testing the same things over and over again. I know it's a cliché but they need to think outside the box sometimes and give people credit for experiencing the problem first hand.

Steve.

Re: Bad connection

Quesada — Wed, 13 May 2026 08:52:31 GMT

@Stevebyrne1 Did you ever get this fault resolved, Steve.

Re: Bad connection

Stevebyrne1 — Wed, 13 May 2026 09:04:39 GMT

The issue was resolved at the time but unfortunately it returned at beginning of the month. I spend approx 2. 5 hours online trying to resolve the issue and as we speak it has not dropped out since. The agent and myself went through all the usual tests and resets that could be run from my side and his. At one stage we had a PC and two phones in the process for fear of system disconnection as it had previous done and I lost the initial agent which meant i had to restart the online process.
Hand on my heart I could not definitely say what the issue was from all the resets to lead changes but as mentioned to date it has not dropped out.
Regards
Steve

Re: Bad connection

Quesada — Wed, 13 May 2026 09:31:26 GMT

Thanks Steve. Needless to say that I am still having intermittent drops in signal on almost a daily basis and another visit from an Openreach engineer, is scheduled for Friday afternoon. I'm hoping that the overhead cable will finally be replaced, as it is the only solution that has not been tried, but I am not holding my breath.

Regards

John

Re: Bad connection

Stevebyrne1 — Wed, 13 May 2026 09:47:36 GMT

I have empathy with you John with regards your ongoing issue which I feel is so much worse than my own. I really hope that replacing the overhead solves your issue. I hear your frustration in your words and I know speaking without contradiction all you want is to pay for a good service and like me you will be happy.

I have another complaint with BT in the fact I can't view my billing/usage online. Nothing has happened with regards this and have 2 more weeks, 6 weeks in total before I can take this to the Communication Ombudsman but thats another story.

So fingers crossed for you

Regards,

Steve.

Re: Bad connection

Quesada — Wed, 13 May 2026 09:52:04 GMT

You sound like a kindred spirit, Steve. I have been down the route with the Communications Ombudsman and found them to be as effective as a chocolate tea pot. I hope that you have betterluck.

Regards

John

Re: Bad connection

Quesada — Mon, 18 May 2026 09:49:13 GMT

Needless to say that the Openreach engineer refused to exchange the overhead cable to my premises, as he could not identify the intermittent fault with my service. I showed him evidence of the online reports from BT, implying that the issue is caused by a stale PPP session fault and explained that the cable was the only item of equipment, that had yet to be replaced. Surprisingly, he appeared oblivious of the fact that his was the 15th visit to my premises, by either a BT or Openreach engineer, not to mention that VOL053-8502009814494, is the 85th recorded fault with my service, since upgrading to Full fibre. Personally, it seems incredulous that both BT and Openreach are continuing to claim ignorance of this issue, particularly as it is now being widely reported upon these forums. More to the point, it is concerning that whatever remote monitoring mechanisms are being employed, they seemingly cannot identify the intermittent drops in connectivity. Although my service is again being monitored remotely by Openreach, I can guarantee that the fault will be closed within 7 days, alleging that it is I who have notified them, that it has been fixed. You couldn't make it up.

Re: Bad connection

iniltous — Mon, 18 May 2026 10:08:21 GMT

Not surprised the tech refused to change your dropwire as there is absolutely no evidence to suggest it needs replacing, if the LOS light has never been lit , then replacing it would serve no purpose, you seem fixated on a stale PPP session, can you speculate how a faulty dropwire that doesn’t bring on a LOS light can cause that ?

Re: Bad connection

Stevebyrne1 — Mon, 18 May 2026 10:29:48 GMT

John,

I can not believe how your situation goes from bad to worse. Coming from an engineering background we always used the process of elimination. When you elimate everything it cant be then you are left with the things it could be. Not to change the overhead is just shocking. Intermittent faults are the worse to find so again you want to eliminate an item to track down the issue.

Is there any way they could get up a "monitoring station" at your premises? Not sure if they could but this would capture the drop of connectivity at the "user" end rather than upstream at "supply" end as you mentioned the monitoring they are doing does do seem incapable of capturing the fault? I know that is more a rhetorical question John just trying to think outside the box.

Steve

Re: Bad connection

Quesada — Mon, 18 May 2026 12:29:03 GMT

With respect @iniltous, BT's own online test is now identifying the stale PPP session fault on an almost daily basis (enclosed) and it has been witnessed by Customer Support Guides, during numerous telephone conversations. I would reiterate that VOL053-8502009814494, is the 85th recorded fault with my service, since upgrading to Full Fibre and politely point out, that it is the BT guides, who have scheduled the 15 visits by either a BT or an Openreach engineer. For your information and although it is rare, the red LOS light has come on briefly, but more often than not, it is a flashing green PON light, that is shown upon the ONT. Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't this confirm that my problem with the incoming light signal is external. Therefore and from my humble perspective, as it has now been ongoing for some time and as every other item of equipment has been exchanged on numerous occasions, I simply believe that the cable should be replaced, if only to eliminate it as the cause of the issue.

Re: Bad connection

iniltous — Mon, 18 May 2026 13:49:36 GMT

A flashing PON light indicates the OLT (headend ) and ONT are negotiating/authenticating , it’s not a loss of signal, unsurprisingly that is indicated by the LOS (loss of signal ) light coming on , however if you are seeing the PON light turn from steady green to flashing green randomly and for no apparent reason , it’s not an optical issue (nothing wrong with the light level etc ) but is not normal operation either , once authenticated the PON light should remain steady even if switching providers or having no ISP providing service at all , if the correct power supply is maintained to the ONT there is no reason the PON light should ever flash , so for example if you switched to Virgin and ceased your Openreach based FTTP service the PON light remains steady green , it’s unaffected by anything the ISP does unless the local mains is switched off and on.

Given the number of investigations and no Openreach/ISP defects being detected are you confident there are no issues with your house mains wiring , affecting the incoming supply to the ONT PSU ?, remote a possibility it may be , but with considering if other avenues have been explored with no issues found .

Another poster pointed out the value of using the process of elimination to locate the fault , your mains power supply could conceivably need to be eliminated using that paradigm , perhaps run an extension lead from somewhere else to power the ONT , or better still invest in a UPS

Re: Bad connection

Quesada — Tue, 19 May 2026 11:25:13 GMT

@iniltous For your info, my 1 bed bungalow had been completely refurbished prior to upgrading to Full Fibre 900, which obviously included complete rewiring. Initially, as for the first 6 months the issue was continually being diagnosed as being internal, it resulted in numerous visits from BT engineers. As a result, the Hub was relocated on several occasions and each time, the internal cabling was replaced and every item of equipment was disconnected, so as to eliminate it from their investigation. I was even persuaded to upgrade to "Halo" but incredulously, my internal speeds were significantly reduced, when the mini discs were installed.

In the meantime, the drops in signal have now been ongoing for over 3 years, but it is only recently, that I have witnessed either a red LOS light, or a flashing green PON light, upon my ONT. More to the point, I would reiterate that the Stale PPP session fault, which was first diagnosed in November 2023, has now been reported on an almost a daily basis, since October 2025.

Going forward and according to my own online research, a flashing green PON light indicates that my ONT is attempting to establish connection with BT's headend, but cannot complete the handshake. The recent visit from an Openreach engineer has ruled out authentication failure and established that the fibre connectors are clean. However, he was dismissive of my claims that the cable itself could be at fault, despite this having been identified as a possible contributing factor. He implied that the signal loss could be being caused by a fault with the port at the Optical Line Terminal at the local exchange and stated that he had arranged to have the connection monitored. However and although it continues, as of today, the fault has again been closed.

Re: Bad connection

iniltous — Tue, 19 May 2026 16:10:39 GMT

TBH , the LOS light on the ONT (loss of signal from the OLT ) coming on is clearly an issue , the PON light flashing is probably a consequence of the dropped service /signal being restored , then a connection re-established , in other words the LOS leads into the PON flashing once the signal is restored , and even the stale PPP you observed could be a consequence of this improper disconnection , but initially at least you implied that the stale PPP session was happening in isolation when it may be the stale PPP is also a consequence of the LOS .

However , you also state the LOS coming on is much less frequent than the actual problem , and the flashing PON light which is indicating that re-authentication is taking place between the ONT and OLT is also less frequent than the overall problem (but more frequent than the LOS coming on ) , so those facts doesn’t fit in either , although it’s understandable that this may happen when no one is observing the ONT .

Although this scenario suggests a more logical order in the way events are taking place , ONT - OLT connection drops (LOS lights up briefly, so briefly you don’t see it ) signal is then restored , ONT/OLT start reconnecting/authentication (you occasionally notice the PON light flashing ) , Openreach service comes back up ( that’s the Openreach service between the ONT-OLT ) , but because of the way the OR service dropped (possibly only a few milliseconds) the onward session from the OLT to the BT Gateway is left ‘hanging’ and you need to reset the router to clear that PPP session and establish a new one , you see this and assume it’s the cause rather than the effect.

This may seem a reasonable explanation of the way this fault unfolds, and may suggest the optical dropwire should be replaced (just for the sake of eliminating it as a potential fault) , and with this new info you supply, I’d agree , as the ONT already has been changed , but I can see why there is a reluctance to do that , generally the passive part of the network doesn’t present faults like this , if the signal were absent completely (because the fibre were broken) the LOS would stay on , if it were not broken but had high loss (like a dodgy splice or poor mechanical fit like the CBT connection or the optical plug into the ONT was dirty ) you would expect to see (measure ) a reduced signal level at the ONT , so basically the ONT is ‘hanging on’ by a thread because the light level is barely adequate and when it reduces further it drops the ONT , but presumably the signal level has been checked , probably many times .
If the headend were pushing out poor ‘light’ all ONT on that PON would suffer not just you .

When you had an ONT change , was the PSU also changed or the original one used ? thats also the
why I asked about your own home ‘mains’ as the mains voltage dropping could cause the ONT problems if it had poor input voltage (via the PSU ) .