Sluggish broadband

[Gliwmaeden2]

Could you possibly check stability of my line? It's not down to the low speeds of the summer, but sometimes dips considerably. 

I've noticed a very few disconnections since the upheaval in the summer, but one was several minutes, in the past 3 weeks. Got back from holiday on 4th September, so you are looking at records since then.

The Service Centre is showing a marvellous 16, and I usually get 12 - 14 on my smartphone. 

Computer is not now plugged in and will need huge updates if I ever get it installed down in my living room (where it will be a real nuisance).

So I have changed absolutely nothing with the set up since the engineer was here.

The first speed test I did today showed 8Mbps and I ran that because I had noticed slow responses. Therefore it is affecting performance. 

Speed Centre has not shown previous speed test results now for over a year, regardless of which router I was using. 

Am still giving occasional lessons on Skype, and there have been warnings about Poor Connection on there too.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Gliwmaeden2

I booked the 04/09 because when arranging the visit I had no option but to choose a date and time when booking the engineer visit. I provisionally booked this so I could check with you to see if you could be available because the other date and time you provided was not available.

I have now changed the appointment to 12/10/2022 AM.

[Gliwmaeden2]

Thanks.... maybe their systems take 24 hours to update etc.

They have to allow you to cancel eventually.... in time.....! 😊

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Sorry Gliwmaeden2, still can't rearrange the appointment at the moment, I'll try again tomorrow morning

Chris

[Gliwmaeden2]

Any progress, @Chris-TalkTalk......?

I did mention much earlier in the thread that only Wednesdays would be OK, so I don't know why the 4th Oct was thought to be a possibility!

In the past, an engineer has turned up when both I and yourselves have cancelled it, so it's really important to make sure this cancellation happens. 

And I was never going to be at home on the morning of the 4th!

[Chris-TalkTalk]

It's not letting me change the appointment yet, I'll try again later

Chris

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi Gliwmaeden2,

Apologies for the delay, I tried to book the appointment earlier but due to a system issue I couldn't. I'll try again now

Chris

[Gliwmaeden2]

Could you possibly confirm that the appointment has been made?

Thanks!

[Gliwmaeden2]

Yes, please,  @Debbie-TalkTalk, and also confirm that 4th October is cancelled .....! 😊

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Gliwmaeden2

Would you like me to try and arrange the engineer for 12/10 AM?

[Gliwmaeden2]

No, @Debbie-TalkTalk, I'm afraid not!

I simply can't risk someone turning up at the later end of the morning and running over into teaching time, so the only day of the week that gives me a safe margin is Wednesdays!

I won't be able to turn them away, after all, if they arrive at 12.55, as I will be charged!

Pupils are booked in for mostly in person lessons, so can't share space with an engineer. 

This morning I got a clear disconnection at 9.34am. I don't know when it had started, that's just when I spotted it.

It was down till 09.36.

So definitely something going on, which is like we had in May / June, though not yet as frequent or as devastating to the speeds. 

Does the router need to be exchanged, or do you think this is definitely a SNR problem that requires an engineer?

Managed to capture the speed check afterwards, and this was good to my device:

 

The graph is just beginning to reflect a slower daily average (and is c 36 hours out of date ....speed centre doesn't actually update the latest day at midnight!).

So, do we exchange routers or do we book in an engineer for 12th or 19th October, if 5th is not available?

 

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Gliwmaeden2

Apologies, there were no appointments available for 05/10 so I have had to book 04/10 AM (8am - 1pm)

Will this date and time be ok?

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Gliwmaeden2

I will book the engineer visit and confirm once this has been arranged.

Thanks

[Gliwmaeden2]

It's best just to keep this topic for staff to reply to.

I have too many other responsibilities to be anxious about without trying to sort this out myself and possibly getting it wrong! 

Waiting for staff to confirm that they think an appointment is suitable and can book it in for 5th October. 

[ferguson]

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@Gliwmaeden2 wrote:

I think that it often used to be recommended, and then they started telling people not to touch the ring wire!

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Really? Who are "they" and when did you see this? Honestly, it really is the simplest of operations. But anyway, don't get yourself in a tangle. Maybe get a friendly local technician round to have a look for you at far less than TalkTalk/Openreach would charge. 

[Gliwmaeden2]

I think that it often used to be recommended, and then they started telling people not to touch the ring wire!

Maybe people got in a tangle.... Openreach should be setting this up correctly, not the customer. 

Too much on to investigate by myself, especially if I get things wrong! Every minute has to be accounted for at the moment!

[ferguson]

Blimey, that takes me back! We were handing out advice based on that site regularly back when most of us were on ADSL. I know you are averse to accessing your master socket, but can you maybe check if the ring wire is connected? If so carefully detach it from the back of the faceplate and loop it out of the way, that often leads to an improvement. 

[Gliwmaeden2]

I found a useful site that helps explain about low SNR, @Michelle-TalkTalk.

https://kitz.co.uk/adsl/lowSNR.htm

It seems that erratic disconnections (which is what I got more in the summer) are a part of this, but might well be sporadic, so no guarantee that any might happen while the engineer is here.

Presumably he will have some way of "reading" the same information that you have about low SNR, even if speeds seem flawless at the time, so, if that's the case, yes I accept the charges. 

I just don't want to be accused of wasting their time and getting charged for a problem that has to be beyond my control, when the router is plugged into the master socket.

Pages still sometimes sticky to load despite the good speeds.

It has to be Wednesday 5th, morning. 

Please confirm!

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Hi,

Sorry I should have said potential engineer charges, which we always have to confirm when booking an appointed engineer visit.

Engineer charges - TalkTalk Help & Support

Thanks 🙂

[Gliwmaeden2]

I've not heard about "time related" charges before. What's that supposed to entail?

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Hi,

Sorry for the delay. Ok, could you just confirm acceptance of possible time related engineer charges and we will book this in for you.

Thanks