Back Again with a Internet Speed Problem

[C_Dorrian]

So 2 months ago (14-02-2025) I had a very faulty connection, at best my internet fluctuated between the following:  

Average download speed: 21-27mbps, Maximum download speed: 29mbps, minimum download speed: 0mbps

Average upload speed: 0.71mbps, maximum upload speed: 0.71mbps, minimum upload speed: 0mbps.

From this resolved topic: https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Full-Fibre/Need-a-new-Router-but-Tech-Support-doesn-t-understand...

Had an engineer around my flat to fix the connection both at the junction box outside and inside my flat the day prior on a post I made. Turns out the problem was that my router might have been on the tad old side (several years at least) and that I needed a new one. Spent several days trying to arrange a new one but after coming here I did. When it arrived, got it setup, and everything was fine. A slight loss of around 9mbps but was looking at 51mpbs so all was good, not only that but upload speed was around 8mpbs. Now two months in and getting constant, and I do mean constant, disconnects, usually around midday and around 3am. This is when my internet decides to drop a few more Mpbs, eventually leading to 3 days ago when it decided it didn't want to handle any download speeds at all and just remained cut off.

Honestly after spending an entire week 2 months ago going through the same tech support script I was pretty knowledgeable of how to reset my router and make necessary checks, well on my end of course. Eventually got it back to around 12mpbs with almost zero upload. My new router is either faulty or is having tech problems because a day ago I replaced my brand spanking new router with my older one and now I'm on a far more stable 25mpbs download at the best of time, and around 0.6mpbs upload but little to no disconnects thus far. I always use an ethernet cable to my computer (my main source of entertainment) and only run 2-3 wireless devices to my router that's never usually more than a foot or two away from the router so their connection is usually good.

I'm seriously not trying to be a nuisance to anyone and the last thing I want to do is call tech support again, especially within the space of 3 months but my flat, or the close I live in, seems to be a "deadzone" for my TalkTalk connection as it seems my problems keep cropping back more and more over the past couple of years. Anyone else would have swapped providers but I renewed my subscription in January (when it was kind of still working) so don't think I could afford the cancellation fee or the long wait for my new ISP to arrive.

[kanya-TT]

Hey Martin, we've also made an escalation for you, this will be looked at by our senior case experts because of the irregularities in this particular case. Please bear with us Martin. 

Kanya

[kanya-TT]

Okay, I understand totally. Line testing reveals an issue on your line that needs to be fixed by an Openreach Engineer. The engineer will investigate, typically this will be completed within the next 2-3 working days.

Openreach will contact you via a text message with details of the engineer working on your fault on the day the work begins. This includes when they are travelling and when they start working to resolve the fault.

This is a non-appointed visit, which means they'll only be working on the Openreach equipment between your home and the exchange. They will confirm once they have completed their work.

Kanya

[C_Dorrian]

Yes I understand.

But please be aware that even if the engineer is able to find and fix the fault this is just another problem with my connection messing up "somehow" and this will be my 4th engineer call out in 6 months, and have zero doubt that in another 2-4 months it will mess up again! That's not good. I have been looking at other providers available in my area but due to my very slow connection speed it's unable to load the website properly to advance the purchase process so ironically it has bought TalkTalk time to maybe restore my faith in them. 

[kanya-TT]

We're booking an Openreach engineer to investigate any issues within the network that may be affecting your service

The engineer is unlikely to need access to your property, so you don't need to be home and if this is confirmed as a fault in the network by the engineer won't be charged.

If the engineer can't find an issue in the network, they may need access to your home to complete further checks, they will try to call and arrange this on the contact number you have provided.

If they can't reach you, don't worry, you will receive a text from us to arrange for an appointed engineer to visit your home.

Please note that terms and conditions for an appointed engineer differ so please pay attention to this if your engineer type changes.

Do you understand this information?

Kanya

[kanya-TT]

Hi, Chris. I truly apologize for the frustrating situation with your internet, as I understand it’s a significant hassle for you. Please accept my heartfelt apologies for the delay; I realize this is taking longer than expected. The issue stems from the fact that we recently installed a new socket and dispatched a new router, yet you are still experiencing slow speeds. This is quite contradictory, as everything should ideally function properly and even improve after the new equipment is set up. 

Kanya

[C_Dorrian]

Yes we can resume. Recorded speeds last night were around 25mbps until around 2am when it disconnected, reset, and came back with around 12-17mbps depending on which website I was accessing. This morning it cut out again where reset with a measly speed of around 9mpbs. This is where I intervened as I couldn't even load email in Gmail without having to wait for them to load. Manually reset my router and for the rest of the day remained at around 9-12mbps. I left my flat at this point and walked to the local library to use their internet and computers so I could do what I had to do. I'm just tired of having to do this year in year out, or it used to be, but now it's almost every 6 months there's a problem.

I just paid £30 for super fast full fibre broadband but not receiving what I paid for. It's like if you ordered a full english breakfast for an expensive amount but only got the tips of the sausages, the crust of the toast, a few beans, and some strips egg white, but still had to pay full price for but also go through a lengthy process to get what you paid for. I'm not angry, annoyed, or even disappointed anymore, I'm just tired and done!

At this point I'm considering my options. Do I get a non-TalkTalk router and use that instead or do I simply try and switch provider and wait out the days or weeks being internet-less and face a hefty cancellation fee on top of that? 

[kanya-TT]

Hey there, C_Dorrian. I hope you good today. And just want to let you know we are always happy to assist😄, so don't worry. Can we resume?

Kanya

[C_Dorrian]

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy I'm getting a constant 25mbps (or a few mb more) speed again for once and for the moment not seen any disconnects so hopefully that'll remain the case. Won't touch my router for the next 24 hours, no manual resets or restarts, even if the speed drops, will keep it on and hopefully the report will show something. Thanks for continuing to help. My account must be a nightmare for TalkTalk helpdesks 😄 

[kanya-TT]

Definitely not good sorry, I had initially confused 25 mb to your minimum guaranteed speeds of 55mbs. But as I have looked on your line, it does show a major stability issue impacting your speeds. What I have done now is to setup a 24-hour monitoring on the test socket and the speeds of your router. We want to identify what is it exactly that has a 50% dip in speeds with you new router. As for the firmware it's something we can't say is the cause of this at this point. We will have to wait out this 24-hour monitoring and tomorrow we will then have a full report for you. 

Kanya

[C_Dorrian]

It couldn't hurt to rollback the firmware on the router by a month though right? Back then, after getting the socket and wires replaced as well as receiving this current router, my speeds were around double that, around 55mbps. The same speeds I've been getting for years (minus the yearly January tech problems due to the change in weather). Don't see how getting half of that speed is good? I mean I can load this site a lot quicker than before but only because I don't have any devices currently using the WiFi at the moment. 

[kanya-TT]

If they have been around 25mb, this means they improved slightly.

Kanya

[C_Dorrian]

Sadly not that much. Since changing my DNS (or at least that's what I think I've done) an hour or so ago, the internet and router haven't disconnected like it was doing all yesterday and some of this morning. Teetering around 25mpbs which is a lot better than it was earlier. 

[kanya-TT]

From Yesterday to now do you notice any improvements on your speeds, asking for the new router. 

Kanya

[C_Dorrian]

Yes

[kanya-TT]

Are you connected to your new router now?

Kanya

[C_Dorrian]

Just changed my DNS on my router to google and it seems to have stabilised the connection but the speeds are still down. On the new router currently so should be good to go. If you can do the firmware rollback any time from now until you can that would be great. Just to see if it is the router's software.

[kanya-TT]

We can do that for you. Just tell me when you are ready?

Kanya

[C_Dorrian]

Was pretty busy yesterday and with a fraction of the speed I should be getting made things I had to do online an absolute chore. I'm more than happy to resume the diagnostic tests we started. I have the microfilter next to my socket, just need to unplug the internet cable from the new router (which today is at a measly 10mbps) put it into the filter, take off the socket's case, and plug the filter in. Hopefully that can come up with something. However I was thinking it might have been a recent update with my router's firmware? Is there any way of turning off the firmware auto-updates and rolling it back to a version from perhaps 2-3 weeks ago? Back then I was getting decent speeds and can't really think of anything else at this point. 

[kanya-TT]

This is bad, that's no good. The new router has to be working fine. Okay is possible we resume the last step of our Diagnostic checks we did yesterday.

Kanya

[C_Dorrian]

Had an entire day of disconnects. Whenever I need to use the internet the router disconnects, resets, and I maybe, just maybe, have a good 10 minutes before it does it all over again. Still looking at around 19mbps with the filter in. New router it's about 21mpbs, with the old router its 27mbps which I currently have plugged in as its getting far better speeds.