Chronic dropping fibre connection

[subzero]

Hello, this is a long standing issue (since the end of last year) that has been troubling us.

A couple of times a day (sometimes more, sometimes less, it appears quite random) our fibre connection drops. The router light goes from solid blue to flashing orange. After about 3-4 minutes the connection automatically reconnects. To be clear this is not a wifi issue as my desktop, which is connected directly to the router via an ethernet cable, also loses connection.

Things I have tried to resolve this:

- Plugged into the test socket, to rule out that it is a problem with the house wiring: still happens. I'm fairly certain that this is an issue with the infrastructure outside our house.

- Restarted the router multiple times, switching off for 30 minutes: still happens.

We have just been migrated from Shell to Talktalk last month, and I was hoping that the issue might be fixed when we moved to talktalk, but alas no it's the same.

I chatted with onlince support yesterday but they weren't very helpful, kept suggesting it was a wifi signal issue and giving me advice that I'd already followed.

Note: We did troubleshoot this with Shell several months ago. An engineer  home visit was scheduled but the engineer never showed. Upon contacting Shell, they told me that  the engineer claimed to have spoken to me and that the issue was fixed (this did not happen, we had no calls/visist/contact from an open reach engineer). After this, the frequency of the drop outs did decreased but it continued to occur at least several times a week. Now it is happening several times a day.

Any help/assistance would be very much appreciated!

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Hello,

I'm really sorry to hear this. I've asked that this be escalated for you and that you are contacted ASAP.

Thanks

Michelle

[subzero]

To update, as I predicted the engineer came, said everything was fine at home. He said the fault must be external and even recommended that I leave talktalk and try another provider with different infrastructure (which I plan to do).

Of course on my bill that came today I have been charged £75 for the engineer visit.

So to summarise: For months I've had daily drop outs. Spent ~6 hours chating with customer service, had two engineer visits, and now been charged £75 for a fault that is not mine, that has been acknowledged by both engineers is external and not internal. And I still don't have a proper internet connection...!

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Yes, you can be charged if the engineer doesn't find a fault but I think it's unlikely in this case. If you are charged and you think the charge is unfair then you can contest the charge and it can be look at it again

Chris

[subzero]

Spent almost 3 hrs on chat today with some members of the migration team.

Despite last month saying an external fault had been detected, they are now saying that they can find no fault on the line and are sending an engineer to my flat. I'm pretty certain the fault is external but this was all they were offering to do.

I've just received the engineer terms and conditions and they seem unfair:

• The maximum potential TalkTalk engineer charge will be £75  (including VAT) for the visit 
• We'll charge you if our engineer was unable to find a fault with your service during your visit

I fear my issue is poorly understood by talktalk and if the engineer simply can't find any fault with my router or how its connected then then I will have to pay £75. And the problem won't even be fixed!

Am I reading this all correctly? I don't understand why they can't detect the fault externally, I even had a drop out while I was chatting with customer service.

Any advice on this?

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi subzero,

I'm sorry but you would need to speak to the migration team if you are still experiencing problems. If you would like to discuss leaving could you contact our loyalty team, they'll be able to help - Cancel your TalkTalk service - TalkTalk Help & Support

Chris

[subzero]

Unfortunately a month later the issue is still ocurring. Internet has dropped out 3 times just this morning, very disruptive to work.

The engineer did find a fault and apparently fixed it in early september, and the problem did seem to go away for a week or two. But the last week or two it is back. Drop outs several times a day, and they are just the ones we notice when we are home.

I have a feeling that contacting support again is going to be a waste of time and wont lead to the problem actually being solved.

Can I leave my contract early penalty free and switch to another provider? The contract ends at on November 30th anyway.

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Hello again,

I'm glad to hear that and hopefully the engineer can get to the bottom of this fault for you.

Thanks

Michelle 🙂

[subzero]

Thank you, the chat function wasn't working this morning, but when it came back I chatted with someone who was much more helpful.

They ran a test that has detected a fault and have requested an engineer to look into it. Fingers crossed that it can be resolved!

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear that. I'd recommend contacting the team again if the connection is still unstable as they will need to investigate this further.

Michelle

[subzero]

Yesterday. They opened a case but it's now saying "Your fault has been fixed" and the status is "closed" (see below)

We’ve opened a case

Updated: 12:26 on 05/09/2024

We’ve opened a repair case to investigate any potential issue with your connection.

We’re looking into it and should have an update in the next 5 minutes.

Come back to this timeline to see all future updates on your case.

About your case

Description

Your fault has been fixed

Status

Closed

Date reported

05/09/2024

Reference number

REP-14716620

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Hello,

Unfortunately we are unable to look into this via the Community as we've been advised that the dedicated team should be able to help. When did you last contact the team?

Thanks

Michelle

[subzero]

Thankyou for the response but I've spoken to the migration team on chat and they weren't helpful at all.

[Gliwmaeden2]

Start by speaking to the Shell Migration team, @subzero, as they are dealing with legacy issues.

03451 720088