Intermittent Disconnects at similar times

[adrian555155]

Hi, my internet has been intermittent for a while now I've learnt to cope with it since the internet speed is good. But I was away for 3 weeks and out of curiosity I checked how the internet connection has been through logs and have found out something interesting, check this out.

2022-07-28 22:03:37 [Notice][Run-Log] SNTP has synchronized successfully, current time is [2022-07-28 22:03:37+00:00 DST], uptime is [1215557s].

2022-07-27 22:03:13 [Notice][Run-Log] SNTP has synchronized successfully, current time is [2022-07-27 22:03:13+00:00 DST], uptime is [1129134s].

2022-07-22 22:03:38 [Notice][Run-Log] SNTP has synchronized successfully, current time is [2022-07-22 22:03:38+00:00 DST], uptime is [697161s].

2022-07-18 01:44:21 [Notice][Run-Log] SNTP has synchronized successfully, current time is [2022-07-18 01:44:21+00:00 DST], uptime is [278407s].

2022-07-15 22:02:51 [Notice][Run-Log] SNTP has synchronized successfully, current time is [2022-07-15 22:02:51+00:00 DST], uptime is [92318s].

2022-07-10 22:02:41 [Notice][Run-Log] SNTP has synchronized successfully, current time is [2022-07-10 22:02:41+00:00 DST], uptime is [162132s]

2022-06-29 22:00:57 [Notice][Run-Log] SNTP has synchronized successfully, current time is [2022-06-29 22:00:57+00:00 DST], uptime is [1679479s]

2022-06-27 22:03:13 [Notice][Run-Log] SNTP has synchronized successfully, current time is [2022-06-27 22:03:13+00:00 DST], uptime is [1506816s].

2022-06-26 22:03:52 [Notice][Run-Log] SNTP has synchronized successfully, current time is [2022-06-26 22:03:52+00:00 DST], uptime is [1420455s]

2022-06-24 22:03:05 [Notice][Run-Log] SNTP has synchronized successfully, current time is [2022-06-24 22:03:05+00:00 DST], uptime is [1247609s]

2022-06-23 05:00:26 [Notice][Run-Log] SNTP has synchronized successfully, current time is [2022-06-23 05:00:26+00:00 DST], uptime is [1099851s].

These are all the disconnects from the router's Log file that were not caused by someone resetting the router. Notice how all the disconnects with the exception of two of them took place at 10PM. Its not just accurate to the hour, but also to the minute. Always within 10:00 to 10:03 margin, it is definitely not a coincidence. The day that it takes place however is completely random.

Any ideas what this could be caused by?

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

Thanks for the update and I'm glad to hear that the connection has remained stable 🙂

Thanks

[adrian555155]

Hi, 

Its been 10 days currently, and not a single disconnect.

This is not making any sense, but at long as it stays like that I'm fine with it.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Adrian

Ok no problem.

Thanks

Debbie

[adrian555155]

Hi, it hasn't happened again since last post. I will give it one more disconnect, I'm curious if it's going to happen near the 10pm mark. If it happens I will let you know and if that's the case, you can arrange an engineer.

Thanks

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Adrian

Sorry for the delay.

Has this happened again since your last post? Would you like me to arrange the engineer visit?

Thanks

[Skynet_TX]

If the support team here can't see any other indications of where the problem may be then they will be able to arrange an Openreach engineer for you. The risk is that because you only see this issue at ~10pm then if the Openreach engineer is not able to find any problem at all with your connection they are likely to change TalkTalk for the callout, and TalkTalk will pass a portion of that cost on to you, potential changes are shown here, so an Openreach callout can cost you £65 if the engineer finds no problem with Openreach maintained equipment / lines.

But hopefully if you can explain to the engineer what problem you are getting, and explain that you have already tried multiple routers in the test socket then that might encourage them to dig a bit deeper.

[adrian555155]

Hi,

Yeah honestly I was set that the cause was the router, but now that it's not the case I'm not sure anymore. Id also think the cabinet wouldn't be the cause, but at this point I think an open reach engineer is the only person who can make any sort of investigation, so I'm going to have to get an open reach engineer to visit. 

I'm curious if it's gonna happen again today. 

[Skynet_TX]

Is definitely a weird one, and with the timings straying slightly further with this new router it is making electrical interference caused by something switching on/off on a timer less likely, as the drops are now covering a good 5- 10 minute period.

One random thought is that although you have had your router replaced there is obviously a load of equipment at the other end of your line (in the street cabinet). I've not heard of an equipment fault in the cabinet causing a problem quite like this one, but I guess it could be a possibility. Do you have any neighbours that would be connected to the same cabinet as you (ideally using the same telegraph pole if you have those in your area) that you could ask just to see if they experience a similar problem, as if someone else using the same cabinet was having the same problem then that would certainly point the finger at the equipment in the cabinet. If they had the same sort of connection as you (i.e. ADSL or Fibre) and if they happened to also use TalkTalk, then that would make the check even more relevant. This suggestion is certainly a bit of a long shot, but might be worth an ask !. 

Not sure if you are on ADSL or Fibre, if you are on Fibre then there is a decent amount of kit in the cabinet that can potentially go wrong, if you are on ADSL then there isn't really much that can go wrong in the cabinet. There is some Fibre kit in the cabinet that is totally specific to your connection, so if that was at fault then it would only affect you and not your neighbours, but if that was the cause then it would only be an Openreach engineer having a dig around in the cabinet that would find that out.

EDIT : Just spotted the VDSL messages in your log file, so I've answered my own question, you are on Fibre !

[adrian555155]

Hi,

Just had another disconnect last night, again it was close to the 10pm mark.

Screenshot of logs: https://prnt.sc/WbjoFkfSq2SE 

Weirdly enough, with the old router, it was always strictly between 10:00 to 10:04. With this one it still drops around 10pm, but not the same times as the other one.

I am left clueless..

[Karl-TalkTalk]

Hi

OK, lets see if it behaves itself over the weekend.

Karl.

[adrian555155]

Hi,

The connection has not dropped since.

[Karl-TalkTalk]

Hi

Our ACS server will pull data back from the router relating to connection specific information, however this would not normally cause the connection to physically drop.

Has the connection dropped since ?

Thanks  

Karl. 

[adrian555155]

Hi,

Last night the internet disconnected, I didn't experience the drop take place but the router says shows that System and Wifi up times are 7 days, and Connection time is 20 hours. The internet drop took place at 22:06pm. Here is a screen shot of the logs in that time frame:

https://prnt.sc/AxiWynTYOISU

I know internet drops happen sometimes, but I'm a bit anxious about this one as it took place at around the same time as all the other disconnects with the old router. Lets see if it happens again today, and let me know if the logs mean anything to you.

Thanks

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Adrian

Thank you. If you do experience any further issues them please let us know.

Debbie

[adrian555155]

Hi,

Ofcourse, I will stick to the new router.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Adrian

Would it be ok to keep using the new router?

FW v1.06 is only used for a kernel panic error in the connection logs.

[adrian555155]

Hi, 

Sorry for the late response, so far its looking good. Not a single disconnect happened since I connected the new router, its been up for 4 days and 21 hours.

The other router once managed to not disconnect for 12 days at one point, so I don't want to call it solved yet. 

However, assuming the router was the issue, it would have to be a software issue rather than hardware since its happening at the same time. Perhaps it could be fixed with a firmware downgrade, as I once asked for it to be updated to v1.06, or some form of software / firmware hard reset.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Adrian

Sorry for the delay.

How has the connection been since your last post?

Thanks

[adrian555155]

Hi,

It came and got connected yesterday. So far there was no disconnect at 10pm, considering it took place around the last 6 days in a row, this is a good sign. Still need a bit more time for a sure answer though.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Adrian

Ok thanks for your reply.

Lets see how the connection is with the replacement router.