topic Re: Dropping Service in Broadband

Dropping Service

AnybodyHome — Sun, 26 Mar 2023 08:08:35 GMT

Hi,

I have Fibre 65 broadband and a TT landline phone. Service has been great for more than a year. The past week as the day goes on and into the afternoon the broadband starts to drop and crackling can be heard on the phone. By the time it gets to about 6PM the broadband is dropping more often for longer periods, and you can barely hear the person on the other end of the phone. Next morning, everything is fine again, once we move into the afternoon and evening it repeats.

It doesn't sound like a internal issue but I've checked all the equipment and updated the firmware. Everything is fine but still the problem is happening. Any idea what the the fault might be?

Cheers,

Re: Dropping Service

KeithFrench — Sun, 26 Mar 2023 12:34:43 GMT

That sounds like a line fault. I have asked one of TalkTalk's support to pick your thread up and investigate it for you.

They aim to respond within 48 hours (Monday - Friday) excluding Bank Holidays, but if more urgent you can always try the Service Centre on 0345 172 0088. The posts are responded to in time/date order, oldest first. Please try to avoid posting on here until TalkTalk has responded to you, otherwise, this will just put you further down the queue.

Re: Dropping Service

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 06:30:13 GMT

Morning,

I'm sorry to hear this. I've run a test on the line now which has detected a potential fault towards the property. If all testing has been completed at the test socket with 2 different routers then the next step would be to arrange an engineer visit to the property. Would you like to go ahead with this?

Thanks

Re: Dropping Service

AnybodyHome — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 08:47:28 GMT

Hi Michelle ( and keith),

Thank you for the reply. I've spoken with TT support on the phone and an engineer has been booked for next Thursday afternoon. We had the same problem a couple of years ago and although an engineer was booked they never visited as the problem was found to be at the exchange and he was able to fix the issue there.

Just to confirm all the internal equipment has been checked and I've also replaced the microfilter just in case. As mentioned the performance degrades over the course of the day. On Sunday after 6PM the broadband and phone were unusable. However, after 10:30PM it all came back and broadband was working again. Unfortunately this morning the broadband is pretty much down all the time.

Cheers,

Re: Dropping Service

Debbie-TalkTalk — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 08:45:18 GMT

Hi AnybodyHome

Thanks for your reply.

Please let us know how you get on following the engineer visit.

Debbie

Re: Dropping Service

AnybodyHome — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 12:25:28 GMT

Hello Debbie & Michelle,

The TT engineer visited today and found all the equipment inside the house are working fine. He diagnosed the problem to be external and said that a BT Openreach engineer would have to fix the problem. Currently we do not have a working broadband or phone since both randomly stop working. As there is a vulnerable elderly person in the house could I please request an early visit from BT.

Cheers,

Re: Dropping Service

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 12:56:54 GMT

Hello,

Thanks for the update and I'm really sorry to hear this. The broadband line test is showing a potential fault towards the property but the voice line test is clear. Is there no dial tone at the test socket with 2 different handsets? If this has already been tested then please can you confirm acceptance of possible time related engineer charges and shall we book the first available visit AM (8-1) or PM(1-6) for you?

Thanks

Re: Dropping Service

AnybodyHome — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 13:17:32 GMT

Hi Michelle,

Thank you for the reply. The TT engineer diagnosed that both the broadband and phone are faulty and the issue is completely outside of the property. At this moment there is a dial tone but the phone has audible cracking which gets worse as the day progress. After 5PM the crackling is so loud that it is not possible to hold a conversation. When I logged the call last week this happened after 6PM, but it is getting worse. Everything has been tested and no fault was found with any of the equipment inside the property, as the issue is external there should not be any (time related or other) charges.

Cheers,

Re: Dropping Service

Chris-TalkTalk — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 13:51:37 GMT

Hi Anybodyhome,

If a fault is found outside then there wont be any charges. Please see the following help article for full details of potential engineer charges - Your TalkTalk engineer appointment - TalkTalk Help & Support

If you'd like to go ahead could you confirm that you accept potential engineer charges and we'll book the engineer visit for you

Chris

Re: Dropping Service

AnybodyHome — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 14:15:21 GMT

Hi Chris,

I'm a bit confused by "If a fault is found outside then there wont be any charges". The TT engineer has already visited and checked the router and said that it is fine. The TT engineer has already diagnosed the problem is outside the property and a BT Openreach engineer is needed to fix the problem.

Cheers,

Re: Dropping Service

Chris-TalkTalk — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 14:26:38 GMT

As the line test is picking up a potential fault then it's unlikely that there would be a charge but we do have to confirm that you accept potential charges before we book the engineer

Chris

Re: Dropping Service

AnybodyHome — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 14:56:00 GMT

Hi Chris,

Sorry for not replying sooner but the broadband cut out completely. I managed to book a BT engineer on the phone but it took a while to make the appointment because the crackling was so bad we had trouble hearing each other.

The BT Openreach engineer came today and found the problem was at a pole 50m from the property. When he went up the pole he found that our wire had badly corroded and fell apart when he touched it. He made the repairs and the phone is working again. The broadband is working but we are on Fibre 65 and it is achieving a download speed of 10Mb/s. The BT engineer said that when all the interference started the system automatically capped our service. It now needs to be "uncapped" so that it can go back up to its normal speed. Could you do this please.

Cheers,

Re: Dropping Service

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 06:02:04 GMT

Morning,

Thanks for the update. I've re-checked the connection stats now and the sync speed looks consistent. Could you try powering down the router for a full 30 minutes please and then retest the speeds again as this will reset the current session and can often increase the throughput speeds.

Thanks

Re: Dropping Service

AnybodyHome — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 09:11:12 GMT

Hi Michelle,

Thank you for that. I did as you suggested and before the power down the download speed was 13Mb/s. After power down it has gone up to just short of 26Mb/s. A definite improvement. However, for the last year, up to two weeks ago when all the problems started it was constant at around 35Mb/s. Is there anything else I can try to get it back up to its previous speed.

Cheers,

Re: Dropping Service

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 09:14:32 GMT

Hello,

Thanks for trying this. This speed test does seem a little low based upon the sync speed. Can I just confirm, was this a wired or wireless speed test?

Thanks

Re: Dropping Service

AnybodyHome — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 09:22:10 GMT

Hi Michelle,

it was a wireless test, using the same desktop and dongle and that has been in place since the beginning of last year.

Cheers,

Re: Dropping Service

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 09:23:51 GMT

Hi,

Ok, would it be possible to run a wired speed test just so we can compare the two? If the wired speeds are ok then we can focus on the wireless connection.

Thanks

Re: Dropping Service

AnybodyHome — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 09:48:18 GMT

Hi Michelle,

With a wired connection the speed went up to 37.7Mb/s. Which seems a bit low for a wire connection. Last week before the TT engineer visited I spoke with TT phone support and they remotely made some changes to the router. This included updating the firmware and changing all the wifi channels. I don't know what changes were so made but would you please check the settings just in case that might be having an impact.

Cheers,

Re: Dropping Service

Debbie-TalkTalk — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 09:59:07 GMT

Hi AnybodyHome

I can ask our Devices Team to update your router firmware to the new version, would you like me to arrange this to see how the connection compares?

Re: Dropping Service

AnybodyHome — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 10:01:59 GMT

Hi Michelle,

Yes please! Will the broadband stop whilst they are doing this? If so, for how long.

Cheers,