Kitz Forum
Broadband Related => FTTC and FTTP Issues => Topic started by: rbz5416 on October 19, 2022, 09:51:06 AM
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Short Version
How can I get frequent disconnects of my BT FTTC service diagnosed? The drops are completely random as to time of day or night, there's no audible noise on the line & the drops are momentary. Although being a Huawei cab reconnection takes around four minutes. These drops are up to an average of daily over the last month & seem to be getting progressively worse. I had three in the space of nine minutes last night. I don't think it's environmental, either internally or externally, due to random timing & the fact it will happen of a dry, calm, sunny day.
Given the above, any regular line test by BT is going to report NFF due to the intermittent nature of the drops. Is there a specific test that ISPs can run themselves or ask Openreach to run that might shed some light on why this is happening?
Background
I'm around 500m from my local cab & have historically only achieved a max download of 35-40mb. My connection would typically stay up for around three weeks between drops. At the beginning of August I noticed speeds increasing to 50mb & that BT's ADLS checker was now reporting the potential for 60mb. So as I was on Fibre 2 at Fibre 1 price anyway, I asked for the profile to be uplifted from 55/10 to 80/20.
After a period of line training I started getting a consistent 70/12. The router (Fritzbox 7530) reports that G.INP on which I guess explains why the download is nearer max than the upload? But as above, I'm now getting near daily drops of the connection.
During the training process after the regrade, I seemed to get higher speeds in the test socket of the old NTE 5 with the MK3 faceplate removed. So I've replaced the master with a 5C with MK4 faceplate. That's given me fairly stable speeds but made no difference to the drops. There is no extension wiring.
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Do you have any extension wiring / home plugs? Have you got a spare modem/router to swap out?
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Do you have any extension wiring / home plugs? Have you got a spare modem/router to swap out?
No extension wiring or homeplugs.
I actually run two 7530s in a mesh so have swapped them around, including cables & PSUs. So everything internal right up to the incoming pair has been replaced.
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I would contact your ISP as you have carried out all reasonable tests on your side.
It should show up on their equipment as line drops, and run further tests themselves.
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As I said at the outset, unless BT happen to test at very second the line drops they aren't going to see a fault with the basic tests they do. That was the whole purpose of the thread, to find out what other diagnostics are available so I can push for those to be carried out.
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@rbz5416 The only way you can hope to diagnose an intermittent line problem such as yours is to set up line monitoring using for instance DSLstats on a PC or Raspberry Pi running 24/7. You will need a different modem as it has to have a Broadcom chipset, the Fritzbox does not. DSLStats works well with some Zxyel modem/routers and the old Openreach Huawei HG612 VDSL2 modem.
See the Router Monitoring Software Forum Board for more info. The software records the modem line stats so any unusual events such as bursts of noise or other changes will be visible so you should be able to see what is going on when the line drops. Explaining the evidence to your ISP or Openreach can be a challenge, but the first thing to do is gather some data.
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Thanks, I do have an old HG612 kicking around somewhere. Does it need to be unlocked? I think I reset mine back to factory when thinking about selling it at one point.
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Does it need to be unlocked?
Yes.
I think I reset mine back to factory when thinking about selling it at one point.
As long as you did not flash it with the original (BT official) firmware image then it will still be unlocked.
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Although being a Huawei cab reconnection takes around four minutes.
This suggests vectoring to me, though I could be wrong. Doesnt help anything, only adds another possible source of issues with modems.
The Fritzbox 7530 appears to use a lantiq chipset, I have read about people preferring different DSL firmware when using a BT HH5a (lantiq) on openwrt to get more stability with vectoring.
I would try taking that out of the equation with a device with known good vectoring support, which I believe the venerable HG612 is?
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Thanks again guys.
I dug out the 612 last night but can't connect to it at 192.168.1.1, even after another reset. I'll have to do some more reading to refresh my memory later as it's probably getting on for 10 years since I last used it.
The slow authentication has always been present for years on multiple routers, including most recently a Netgear D7000 v1, which I believe is Broadcom? The 7530s have been in place for around a year & these frequent drops only started occurring about a month after the profile was changed from 55/10 to 80/20. No firmware has changed in that time.
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The slow authentication is what makes us think vectoring, and it makes sense that problems are more likely to occur at faster sync rates if vectoring isn't working properly.
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@rbz5416 You need to use LAN2 connection to access the modem GUI. If it doesn't connect the modem is not unlocked unless the IP address has been changed, a full reset should put it back 0n 192.168.1.1
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After a bit of a fight I have the HG612 online & connected to the 7530. The reset doesn't seem to be working so I'm not sure all of the settings are correct for BT FTTC. Download is a bit variable. I can't imagine I'd have dabbled much with it but the inability to reset has me wondering. The HG612 manual suggests setting the PPPoE within the modem rather than the router. Can anyone help with the default settings?
That aside I'll leave it be now for a while & set up monitoring later. Would DSL stats or HG612 stats be best for what I need?
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@rbz5416 You are using the HG612 as a bridge modem so it does not have the PPPoE details in it, they are in the router.
A full reset needs the reset button to be held in for quite a while 25 or 30 seconds maybe. Can you access the GUI to see the config details?
DSLStats would be my choice as it has probably had more development and has the choice of Windows and Linux versions.
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Yes, I have access to the GUI.
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Well a bit too early to call but no drops with the HG612 after a week. So looks like the 7530 modem isn't up to the task.
I don't really want to run the HG612 long term so do you guys have any recommendations for a Broadcom chipset vDSL router with good support for G.INP & vectoring?
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I think Zyxel is a popular choice on here and I believe they support both g.inp and vectoring.
Models such as the VMG3824.
https://kitz.co.uk/routers/zyxel_VMG8324-B10A_review.htm