topic Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection in Fibre

Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

lockedoutagain — Sun, 02 Jul 2023 09:10:23 GMT

I'm on Faster Fibre Broadband with a guaranteed minimum of 50mbps. I've almost never reached that speed but it's been steady at about 40 so I can live with that. However, for a while now I've been experiencing dips in speed and things are slowly getting worse - sometimes it's down to 4mbps. Restarting the hub seems to bring it back up to the 30-40 range. Sometimes it goes to sleep, things buffer, then it springs back to life.

Last week I did an online connection test and it said there was a problem, and it booked an engineer. I then got an email to say it was fixed. I didn't notice any change. I couldn't run another connection test because it said my fault was fixed, so I've left it a week. I've just run a connection test and it says that it suspects an issue with my broadband and wants to put me through the whole diagnostic/book an engineer process again.

I'm currently out of contract and considering whether to sign up for another 18 months. I can't really be bothered to switch but is this fixable?

Hub is connected directly to a new type wall socket, my laptop is connected to hub via ethernet.

BTW if I check packages available to me on the talktalk home page it now only offers a guaranteed 6.6mbps to my address (but I still get the offer to renew the existing faster fibre contract when I log in).

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

Gliwmaeden2 — Sun, 02 Jul 2023 11:54:53 GMT

The My Connection diagnostic tool is not very satisfactory, as reported faults appear to fall off automatically, rather than when actually cleared, after 3 days.

As the copper from cabinet to house degrades, in many instances we are seeing slower guaranteed minimum speeds, ahead of the whole thing being switched to full Fibre to the premises eventually, @lockedoutagain.

For current issues, leave everything plugged in and switched on ahead of staff checking the line. They'll be back first thing in the morning.

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

lockedoutagain — Sun, 02 Jul 2023 12:56:11 GMT

OK thanks. We are out in the sticks a bit, if copper is degrading maybe I should bite the bullet. Gigaclear have just put fibre up the lane and that would be where I would move to. It's more expensive but probably more reliable. Just a pain to have to bother ..

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

Gliwmaeden2 — Sun, 02 Jul 2023 13:14:28 GMT

Or renew the current set up, and Talktalk might upgrade you anyway after a while, keeping the new contract price... possible, but not certain.

Doing these things at a time of your choosing might be better than having it sprung upon you, @lockedoutagain.

If you get Full Fibre from another company, you will need to notify TT when you want the current service to cease (30 days' notice) as it is not a traditional switch.

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 06:18:53 GMT

Morning,

I'm sorry to hear this. I've run a test on the line which has detected a possible voice fault. Are you experiencing any issues with the voice service such as noise on the line or no dial tone please? Does the speed always increase as soon as you reboot the router?

Thanks

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

lockedoutagain — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 07:47:14 GMT

Thanks for your reply. We don't have a phone to test the voice socket with unfortunately, we only use mobile.

Before the engineer callout last week yes the speed would sometimes drop to and stick at about 4mbps but instantly went to about 40 if I rebooted the router. I haven't had the opportunity to test it this week, I'm just noticing that sometimes films will buffer or the smart speaker go silent for a short while then come back.

(TV is on a Powerline connection, Smart speaker is ethernet connected to a Deco mesh unit).

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 07:52:48 GMT

Hello,

Would it be possible to borrow a phone/handset for testing purposes to confirm or rule this out please, as a voice issue can affect the broadband connection and we would need to raise this first?

Thanks

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

lockedoutagain — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 09:08:07 GMT

I'll see if I can get hold of one and get back to you 👍

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 09:09:06 GMT

Hi,

Great, thank you 🙂

Thanks

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 06:03:50 GMT

Morning,

Just checking in to see how you're getting on?

Thanks

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

lockedoutagain — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 14:38:03 GMT

Hi, Haven't managed to source a telephone yet, might have to wait till the weekend. Today has been bad, lots of drop outs, speed tested at 0.4mbps so rebooted the router and it now tells me my download speed is 28mbps. The Talktalk speedtest says 24mbps to my device (wired laptop) but it seems to vary a lot and the first time I ran it it couldn't connect to the server.

It's a bit annoying as I am working at home 😞

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 06:06:29 GMT

Morning,

I'm sorry for the delay. There are planned engineering works happening at the moment so I will re-check your connection stats later on this afternoon and will post back with an update then.

Thanks

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

lockedoutagain — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 07:51:56 GMT

Thank you Michelle.

Interesting that Talktalk thinks that my speeds are getting better - I'm not seeing these numbers on my router:

Talktalk measured speeds

Router

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 07:56:40 GMT

Morning,

When the sync speed increases but the throughput speeds remain low then we usually advise powering down the router for a full 30 minutes and then retesting again, as this will reset the current session and can often increase the throughput speeds.

Thanks

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 05:44:07 GMT

Morning,

Just checking in to see how you're getting on?

Thanks

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

lockedoutagain — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 07:50:10 GMT

Hi, sorry been busy for a while. Getting worse here now. Before the speed might drop to 4-5mbps and come back to maybe 25mbps after restarting the router, now I am seeing line drops, the router showing a flashing orange light. If I leave it comes back but it's very unstable. I tried your suggestion of switching off for 30 mins, it came back up at about 25mbps then the line dropped within 5 mins and the router reported no internet connection.

So basically it is becoming unusable for anything except occasional light browsing and email.

Here's the current situation:

Speed after 30 minutes switch off

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 08:04:41 GMT

Morning,

I'm really sorry to hear this. Both line tests are now indicating a potential fault so I've passed this straight over to Openreach now to complete an external line investigation. We'll keep checking for updates on the fault and will post back here as soon as we know more.

Thanks

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

lockedoutagain — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 13:38:46 GMT

Thank you Michelle. The openreach engineer knocked on our door at about 12 (that was quick!). He says there are problems at another house in the lane and suspects our problems are linked. We have no connection at the moment (14:30), he is still working on it. I’ll update you when he goes.

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

lockedoutagain — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 13:53:08 GMT

Engineer just called me, he says he found physical damage to the underground cable and has repaired it. He said not to switch the router off for the next week or so as the cabinet will be negotiating the speed over that time. I just did a speed check, it's not 50mbps but I think its as good as it has ever been. The main thing is stability for me, zoom calls were becoming unusable.

After the engineer

Re: Sporadic speed drops and unstable connection

Karl-TalkTalk — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 14:12:06 GMT

The DLM data will have cleared so it may take 24 - 48hrs for the line to fully stabilise as the system applies different profiles to find the correct balance between speed and stability.

Thanks

Karl.