Connection keeps dropping, speeds dropped (0.5Mbps up) phone line crackling - HELP

[kcegginton]

I think there is a problem with my landline - dial tone is noisy - internet connection keeps dropping every few hours and the connection speed has dropped to 5.1Mbps down and 0.5Mbps up.  This started a week ago.  Who must I turn to for HELP?

Ken

[kcegginton]

Friday Update:  Downstream rate 2.6 Mbps  Upstream: 0.5 Mbps

The Hub is connected to the test socket inside the master socket (via a TT microfilter) - yesterday I was asked to keep it that way for 24 hours for diagnostics - this is now 22 hours into the test.

There was one hub restart at 03:30 which would seem to be a regular event at this time and connected with TalkTalk monitoring - as itused to be accompanied by this report in the system log:

Info,SYS,TR-069 connectivity to (acs.talktalk.co.uk) has been closed
Info,SYS,TR-069 connectivity to (acs.talktalk.co.uk) has been initiated

The latest firmware does not allow access to the syestem log (if one is being recorded) - so that's an old log entry - so I don't know if it's still the same.

The speed did not change either side of the restart.  It's been dropping daily for the last month.

I am wondering now if my speed is being deliberately throttled as an incentive to move to cable.

friday

[kcegginton]

Update for the community.

The situation is deteriorating - my connection is now down to 3.1 Mbps.

I have cleared the cracking from the phone line - only one corded phone is now connected and the dial tone & call is clear as a bell.

I have just finished trying three different modem/routers - the current one, an older TalkTalk Hub and a PlusNet router - plugged directly into the pre-filtered master socket.

All give the same result - a connection speed of 3.1 Mbps downstream, and 0.5 Mbps upstream. Running your Ookla speed test gives a download speed of only 2.6 Mbps and about 0.2 Mbps upload.

The problem would appear to be outside my house.

Angelique is currently investigating

[kcegginton]

I have removed a number of devices from the phone system and am getting fewer crackles during calls.  This may be reflected in the improved SNR  - see modem report. 

latest report

Maybe there was an issue there HOWEVER after rebooting the modem I am still getting pathetically low actual speeds - less than half of the maximum speed the connection allows.  Is there any way to get the modem to give a better performance?  The 4.1 Mbps/0.5Mbps is most frustrating?

As yet, I do not know if the connection-drop situation will have improved.

Ken

[nambuso-TT]

No worries, then please proceed with Kanya as he currently running checks for you:) Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us and we are always ready to support. Thank you very much for contacting TalkTalk. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Goodbye!👋

[kcegginton]

Yes, I am - Kanya-TT is also in touch by pm

Ken

[nambuso-TT]

Hi there Ken, I am very sorry to hear this. I will continue running checks for you, please confirm if you are messaging us from home. Thanks

[kcegginton]

message relocated to pm

[kcegginton]

Thanks ferguson for your input - yes it seems like a line issue - it has happened several times before and has always been cured without an engineer requiring access to the house/master socket - nor did any checks I was asked to do change anything.  The SNR is reported as good - the minimum should be 6dB - but I was frequently seeing 6.0 down and 3 or 4 up and still getting 8.1 Mbps and 1.1 Mbpps until a couple of weeks ago.

Ken

[kcegginton]

not seeing any pm

[kcegginton]

ok

[siphosethu-TT]

I'll ask this privately as I feel it should be, please respond to my private message. Thanks

[ferguson]

TalkTalk don't throttle, but that downstream SNR is dreadful. It all seems to point to a network issue on the voice side which is clearly impacting your broadband speed. 

[siphosethu-TT]

Thank you for confirming, please also confirm if the router is currently powered on. Thanks

[kcegginton]

Yes, I am at home - the connection speed has dropped even further after two disconnections:

Am I being throttled?

[angelique-TT]

Good morning @kcegginton. I will need to run checks for you. Please confirm if you are messaging us from home.

[Gliwmaeden2]

I'll re-escalate this again, but you will need to check back somehow during the day for forum staff to be able to help you, @kcegginton.

Chat is open till 9pm, or phone 03451 720088 but they close at 7pm.

You will need to run checks that they ask you to do as there's no other way to diagnose the issue before sending out an engineer. 

If an engineer is booked and it turns out to be an issue with your equipment or your wiring etc you'll face engineer charges.

It might be worth seeing if a friend / family member  / neighbour or colleague could help if you have trouble accessing the master socket yourself  - but tests directly at the socket will need to be done. 

[kcegginton]

The problems with my connection seem to be getting worse.  Last night the internet connection dropped at least 3 times and once during today (when someone called-in on the phone line.)  Internet speeds are poor 5.1 down 0.5 up (even when the noise margin is high >17dB) and the dial-tone & calls are still crackly.  This pattern seem to be the same every day - night-time drops are more frequent than in the day (I listen to internet radio or Amazon Music throughout the night).  At present I am unable to access the master socket (personal reasons) - but there is no phone connected to that - there is an extension line (fitted many years ago by a BT engineer) into which our phone is connected.  Occasionally, when the internet connection is dropped, the only way the modem will reconnect is if the phone is unhooked and the dial-tone is heard.  It doesn't help that the latest modem firmware SG4K100208 has a bug that stops the system log from being recorded - so, I can't see the reasons or times the line drops.  I need some help here.

Ken

[sabelo-TT]

@kcegginton, I am here and will be able to further assist you with this. I will kindly ask for you to firstly unplug the power cable of your phone from your master socket and re-plug it in once more. Kindly confirm with feedback once done. 

[Gliwmaeden2]

I'll re-escalate this for staff attention, @kcegginton, but you'll need to be able to check for messages and possibly run tests at home with their guidance during the day, Friday. 

There's no staff support on the forum after 6pm weekdays or at weekends. 

[kcegginton]