Intermittent Drops in BT Fibre Broadband Connection

[benalastair]

Hi,

I’ve been experiencing intermittent drops with my BT Fibre broadband over the past few weeks. The connection will suddenly drop for 1-2 minutes and then reconnect on its own. This happens several times a day, disrupting my work and streaming.

Here are some details:

• Router Model: BT Smart Hub 2
• Connection Type: Fibre 100
• Devices Affected: All devices (wired and wireless)
• What I’ve Tried So Far:
  • Restarting the router.
  • Checking for loose cables.
  • Performing a factory reset on the router.
  • Running BT’s diagnostic tool (it shows no faults).
  • Checking for service outages in my area (none reported).

The router’s lights show the connection is fine most of the time, but the drops still occur. Could this be an issue with line stability or noise on the fibre connection? Or should I request a replacement router?

Has anyone else experienced this, and are there any solutions I can try before contacting BT support?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Christopher_G]

Hi @benalastair 

There are a couple of other troubleshooting steps to try here. If you're still having a problem, I recommend speaking with our technical support team.

Chris

[iniltous]

Is your service FTTP  ( so your router is connected to an ONT  ) ?,

assuming it is FTTP , during your service dropouts what is the status of the ONT lights , does the PON light remain steady green or does the PON light go off ( or flash ) or does the LOS light ( loss of signal  ) light  come on ?.

How is your router connected to the ONT , directly ( basically the ONT and router are co-located in the same room and connected together by a short Ethernet cable ) or do you have an internal Ethernet network arrangement , typically provided by the developer in new builds , so the router can be in a different location to the ONT , the ONT ( in an under stairs cupboard for example ) is connected to one Ethernet socket and the router connected to a linked Ethernet socket in the living room …

[Quesada]

I have been experiencing a similar intermittent issue for 20 months. I had consistently been told that my problem was internal and was even persuaded to upgrade my “Full Fibre 900” package, to include “BT Halo 3”. Needless to say that this did not resolve the problem and BT have finally admitted, that there is a known software issue with the mechanisms that they employ, to measure the incoming signal to the ONT. This has been referred to as a “Stale PPP Session Fault”, which effectively means that “hereditary” and not “live” signals can sometimes be recorded. The bottom line is that their own remote tests and those carried out at the premises by “Openreach” engineers, are not as infallible as they claim, as they can result in “false positive” results. BT have consistently refused to accept the evidence supplied via the “MyBT App”, that my service has fallen below their “Stay Fast Guarantee”, on 259 separate days since April 2023. However, they will accept the results taken via the “https://pbtcsc.saas.nokia - Hub Smart Speed Test”, which you can request from customer support. The issue with this test is that it has a short shelf life of only 24 hours, so must be requested on a daily basis, which is time consuming. On a positive note from my perspective, BT have consistently implied that I am the only one of their 10+ million “Full Fibre” clients, who has experienced this issue, but this is clearly not the case. Good luck.

[October]

Hi, have you got anywhere with your issue as I'm experiencing very similar service issues.

my service has not been diagnosed as Stail nor have  I been given the separate speed checker to test my line.

I too upgraded to the 900 halo service but the quality of connection remained very intermittent. 

So I bought my own TP link router which has transformed the quality of the wifi around the home but when I notice poor issues just with general surfing let alone gaming and I do a speed test with 3 different apps they all show speeds way below the guaranteed std.

This has been going on since I changed to BT from EE which I never had any issues with. 

Various engineers have OFF record told me the that some of the kit Inc the ONT is poor quality and they will be back at some point to replace it. Not very good to know but 10/10 for honesty. 

The same problem with very low speeds occurred over the weekend.

[Quesada]

Hi. The simple answer is no. BT have effectively washed their hands of my complaint by placing it in "Deadlock", which meant that my only recourse was to complain to the Communication Ombudsman. However, it transpired that they are about as useful as a chocolate teapot. To be fair, it didn't help that BT failed to comply with my formal "DSAR", for three months, until after the Ombudsman had completed their investigation. However and on a positive note, I have noticed that over the last 20 months, this issue appears to have become much more widespread.  It begs the question as to how much longer, BT can continue to argue that their external signal to the ONT is infallible, which is clearly untrue.  

[October]

Yes that's my opinion of the situation.
Cheap equipment being installed and we have to put up with poor services.
The idea of buying EE due to the bad CS at bt is good but I hope EE manage to drag bt up to the next level. But at the moment it looks like it's going the same way as the Titanic.
I have nothing but praise for EE in both mobile and broadband I just hope it doesn't get ruined.

[deenjames]

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@Christopher_Gwrote:

Hi @benalastair 

There are a couple of other troubleshooting steps to try here. If you're still having a problem, I recommend speaking with our technical support team.

Chris

---

 I’m also encountering this issue right now with my BT Fibre broadband. I have the same BT Smart Hub 2 and Fibre 100 connection, and the drops are just as frequent and disruptive. I've tried restarting the router, checking cables, and running diagnostics as well, but like you, I haven’t found a permanent solution yet.

It’s frustrating that the diagnostic tools don’t detect any faults while the issue persists. I’m wondering if this could be related to line stability or interference too. If anyone has resolved a similar problem, I’d appreciate hearing what worked for them!

[October]

I do think the service to our property is an  intermittent issue, due to the service completely cutting out in the early hrs one morning.

Another phone call and we now have a new SH2.

Anyway we are  getting our 900 ish to the ont at the moment.

Also by moving to a much more modern router the wifi is absolutely spot on we now have a choice of 2.4, 5 and 6ghz channels which we can separate and dictate which devices have priority etc. 

This has come at a cost of over 350 for the equipment plus the monthly fibre contract which is expensive just for the fibre as the halo/4g  part is now redundant.