Service Status Stuck

[thenightsurfer]

My internet has been getting slower for the past week.  Tonight I ran a Service Status check and now have this message:

"We suspect an issue with your broadband

We need to run a line test between our network and your home.

During the test, your broadband and phone line will temporarily disconnect.

In order for us to keep you updated, we need your mobile number."

It has been showing for 15 minutes now.  There are no buttons to click other than a "log out" one at the top of the screen.  I've also checked and there is a mobile number registered for my account.

Any idea how I can proceed?

Thanks

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

Thanks for the update and we will re-check the connection stats again tomorrow to see how both the stability and speeds are looking.

Thanks

[thenightsurfer]

OK,  thanks.  Fingers crossed this will sort it.

[Skynet_TX]

Ok, if you are not having disconnections in the test socket then the best thing to do is leave the router switched on and in the test socket 24/7 for now. If you get no further disconnections the speed may well start to increase after 2 or 3 days.

Note that when Dynamic Line Management (DLM) wants to start increasing your speed that will actually cause a disconnect and reconnect, but this will happen in the early hours of the morning, so if you do just get one single disconnect in the early hours then don't be too worried about that, as it may well be DLM starting to step your speeds back up.

The speed will not gradually increase during the day, it will increase in steps each time DLM drops and reconnects you in the early hours.

[thenightsurfer]

Day 1 of test socket.  No change on the speed as yet, but no disconnections so far today.

Will update again tomorrow

 

 

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

Ok thanks for confirming and please let us know how the stability compares over the next few days. If the connection is still dropping, then we can send a replacement router for testing purposes to rule this out.

Thanks

[thenightsurfer]

I think it's the Sagemcom,  must be four or five years old.

The times don't match up with the central heating,  or anything else I can think of. 

03:52,  09:52 & 21:52 every day within a few seconds of each other.

Yesterday no drop-outs,  today just one of 43 seconds at 02:20 (other than when I was messing with the phone socket).

I'll report back over the next couple of days

[Skynet_TX]

That pattern prior to your upgrade is certainly interesting. Sometimes disconnections at a specific time each day can be caused by electrical interference from other equipment switching on or off (central heating switching on can often be a culprit). The faster the speeds are the more susceptible the connection will be to interference as the router will be working much closer to the limits of what it is capable of on a faster connection.

What model of router do you have, if it just has the one LED on the front is it the Sagemcom or the Huawei ?

[thenightsurfer]

I have found out a new microfilter and will try the bypass socket for a few days.

Interestingly,  looking at the disconnections history from my SamKnows box,  on Fibre 35 the drop outs would be for 6 seconds at three set times a day:

 

Since upgrading to Fibre 65 on 19th Oct,  the drop outs have become longer and are now at random times:

 

 

 

[Skynet_TX]

Ok, well if you have the standard NTE5 socket with two screws on the front, then if you remove those two screws you can gently pull that lower faceplate section off (if you have the NTE5C there are no screws, you just squeeze the sides to gently remove the lower section).

Once you have removed that lower faceplate you will be able to see the test socket inside, if you connect the microfilter to that then you are completely bypassing the faceplate, and the extension phone wiring in your home (the extension socket will likely be dead when you remove the master socket faceplate). It would be well worth trying your router directly in the test socket, just to see if this reduces, or stops, the disconnections.

If the disconnections continue, then it would be worth trying a different microfilter if you have one.

Note that even if the fault is within your home wiring, using the test socket will not immediately increase your speeds. But if using the test socket does bypass the fault and stop your disconnections, then after 48 - 72 hours you would likely start to see your speed gradually increase day by day.

[thenightsurfer]

I have an NTE5 socket with micorfilter attached.  The router is connected directly to it.

The problem seems to be that the line cannot sustain more than 38mbps,  which is what I had on Fibre 35.

There is one unused extension socket upstairs.

The external line test only saw 40mbps too.

[Skynet_TX]

Have you tried connecting your router to the test socket (if you have one), just to see if that makes any difference with the number of disconnections you get. From the thread above it sounds like the external line test is coming back clear, but it is always possible there might be an issue with the phone wiring (or socket faceplate) in your home, plugging the router into the test socket would bypass any other phone wiring, and the socket faceplate.

You would need to use a microfilter to connect the router to the test socket.

What is your 'normal' setup, i.e. does the router connect to the master phone socket, or an extension phone socket ?.

Do you actually have any extension phone sockets, or just one single master socket ?

Based on the images on the page linked from my 'test socket' link above, what type of master socket do you have ?

[thenightsurfer]

So just the download speed is "broken" then. 

Thanks

[Skynet_TX]

The maximum possible upload speed for Fibre 35 is 10mbps, so as your image shows you are getting 15.8 'up' then this proves that your connection is still on the Fibre 65 contract.

[thenightsurfer]

The speed I'm getting is the same as I was getting with my previous Fibre 35 contract.

Is it possible that my Fibre 65 has been reset to Fibre 35?

[thenightsurfer]

Crashed back to 38mbps today.

 

 

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

Thanks for the update. How has the connection/speed been since your last post?

Thanks

[thenightsurfer]

Things are improving since the resetting the router.

This morning it's up to 47mbps

Still seeing disconnections though:

 

 I'll keep updating each day

[thenightsurfer]

I'm not sure if it helps,  but here is the SamKnows disconnection history for October. 

There were few short disconnects before the switch to Fibre 65 on 19th Oct.

 

[thenightsurfer]

Hi,

I powered the router down between 17:31 and 19:11 (1 hour 40 mins).  Switched it back on 30 minutes ago and have just run a speed test.

38mbps,  same as yesterday.

 

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

Could you try powering down the router for a full 30 minutes and then retest the speeds again please as this will reset the current session and can often increase the throughput speeds.

Thanks