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Author Topic: Lightning Strike (Oct 2019) - Three Lines Down  (Read 5511 times)

Weaver

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Re: Lightning Strike (Oct 2019) - Three Lines Down
« Reply #15 on: October 09, 2019, 07:31:18 AM »

Looking at the stats for all the lines not just the repaired ones, I see a few ES and SES in the recent 15 min periods. Line 1 with it’s crazy upstream of 666k was achieving this at an upstream SNRM of only 2.5 dB not 6dB, so that explains the silly high figure and suggests my analysis was right: perhaps retraining during an artificially quiet time and then noise rockets up, but anyway a very high noise level now which presumably the modem cannot cope with therefore causing corruption and TCP retx which slows throughput down to a crawl in a TCP throughput based tester. This shows the advantages and disadvantages of such a tester design: it is real-world, but it isn’t measuring the line - it’s measuring the particular protocol and its implementation. Testers should test with both methods and report two numbers, and should also report corruption and packets dropped in transit.

So I forced a retrain on each of the lines and things looked rather a lot more normal; downstream speeds lifted to where they should be. Post forced retrain - Live sync rates:
  #1: down 2990 kbps, up 560 kbps
  #2: down 2880 kbps, up 547 kbps
  #3: down 2998 kbps, up 512 kbps
  #4: down 2949 kbps, up 502 kbps

Note line 3 upstream still very much cured, has not yet gone back to being sickly as before. And the upstream rates are fairly close, which is always good.

Firebrick current upstream rate limiters' IP PDU tx rates (egress speeds), in-force right now ::
  #1: 477948 bps
  #2: 466852 bps
  #3: 436981 bps
  #4: 428446 bps
Total combined rate: 1.810227 Mbps

Fractional speed contributions:
  #1: 26.403%  [████████████ ‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒]
  #2: 25.790%  [████████████ ‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒]
  #3: 24.140%  [███████████ ‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒]
  #4: 23.668%  [███████████ ‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒]


--
Obtained from live-querying the Firebrick.

Unfortunately the speedtest2.aa.net.uk upstream throughput test was still poor at 1.31 Mbps, so nothing seems to make sense. At one time it was 200k better, and so it is not the case that the bonding simply is inherently not that good; also the downstream bonding is very efficient.
« Last Edit: October 09, 2019, 10:22:32 AM by Weaver »
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Weaver

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Re: Lightning Strike (Oct 2019) - Three Lines Down
« Reply #16 on: October 09, 2019, 08:57:35 AM »

AA told me that there was a near nationwide BTW outage at around 01:15 UTC.

Now for some unknown reason line 4 has dropped; went down at 07:18 UTC and is still down now. Don’t know what that’s all about. Reported line 4 to AA.

Who knows, maybe BT broke it while working on another line or in the exchange. It’s perhaps the right kind of time for them to start doing things.
« Last Edit: October 09, 2019, 11:12:09 AM by Weaver »
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Weaver

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Re: Lightning Strike (Oct 2019) - Three Lines Down
« Reply #17 on: October 09, 2019, 10:21:58 AM »

AA has put line 4 back to BTOR as faulty

Today 08:38:05      WLR3Test WLR3_CIDT_Test dys00556app04:467897663: Fail FAULT - Dis One Leg In Network ServiceLevel:2.5, MainFaultLocation:CE, FaultReportAdvised:Y, AppointmentRequired:N, LineStability:, NetworkStability:, StabilityStatement:


Today 10:29:33      Track PSTN Fault 5-7-186085779396 Informational Message: 4058 Notification Only - Fault is assigned to Engineer. Fault status is now PONR.   bt
Today 10:29:33      Track PSTN Fault 5-7-186085779396 Estimated Response Time: 2019-10-09T23:59:59   bt
Today 10:29:33      Track PSTN Fault 5-7-186085779396 Clear: 82.2 In Joint AreaCable (Underground)   bt
Today 10:29:33      Track PSTN Fault 5-7-186085779396 Status: Open - Past PONR   bt
Today 09:33:29      Track PSTN Fault 5-7-186085779396 Informational Message: 4212 Notification Only -Trouble Report Clear Reject Accepted.   bt
Today 09:33:29      Track PSTN Fault 5-7-186085779396 Status: Open - In Progress
« Last Edit: October 09, 2019, 11:10:23 AM by Weaver »
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Weaver

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Re: Lightning Strike (Oct 2019) - Three Lines Down
« Reply #18 on: October 09, 2019, 12:18:57 PM »

Line was fixed really quickly, by a different engineer. Back up at 10:46 UTC. I am unclear from the notes where the problem was, ‘Croft 3’ would be past me, further down the hill as the numbering is #1 = me = the highest / northernmost, so #3 is further away from the exchange. Perhaps it means ‘in Harapul’ not in Heasta, or something ? Or perhaps it is ‘between point x and point y’ and that is point y not the fault location itself.

    -Auto-
Today 11:58:27      Track PSTN Fault 5-7-186085779396 Informational Message: 4150 Response Required - Fault Report Cleared   bt
Today 11:58:27      Track PSTN Fault 5-7-186085779396 Estimated Response Time: 2019-10-09T23:59:59   bt
Today 11:58:27      Track PSTN Fault 5-7-186085779396 Clear: 82.2 In Joint AreaCable (Underground)   bt
Today 11:58:27      Track PSTN Fault 5-7-186085779396 Status: Open - Clear Unconfirmed   bt
Today 11:58:25      Track PSTN Fault 5-7-186085779396 Notes Field: 09/10/2019 11:57:00

===Point Of Intervention notes===

Between this point...
- Location: No. 3 Croft
- Work Point: JB26
And this point...

Plant details...
- Plant affected: JNT100
- Plant type: MC32

Multiple Intervention?: N
===Point Of Intervention notes ends===

(No manually entered closure notes)

=== QBC Summary Start ===Customer Report: End customer advised of no dial tone / voice on the line.\n\n Actions to resolve: Engineer has resolved the fault located at the D-side including aerial cables / lead-in / block terminal.The fault was located outside the end customer's curtilage and shown by soot / blackened wire / cable.The fault was fixed by clearing in joint.\n\n Additional information: Engineer has not visited end customer premises.\n\n Final alternate test results: Final FastTest performed from the customer premise.The test passed on 09/10/2019 11:51:58.=== QBC Summary End ===   bt
Today 11:58:25      Track PSTN Fault 5-7-186085779396 Informational Message: 4465 Please refer to the Notes field for the actual message   bt
Today 11:58:25      Track PSTN Fault 5-7-186085779396 Estimated Response Time: 2019-10-09T23:59:59   bt
Today 11:58:25      Track PSTN Fault 5-7-186085779396 Clear: 82.2 In Joint AreaCable (Underground)   bt
Today 11:58:25      Track PSTN Fault 5-7-186085779396 Status: Open - Implementing Solution
« Last Edit: October 09, 2019, 12:27:05 PM by Weaver »
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Weaver

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Re: Lightning Strike (Oct 2019) - Three Lines Down
« Reply #19 on: October 09, 2019, 12:40:45 PM »

I don’t really understand why it worked for so many hours and then died again just like that. Unless BTOR broke it this morning when they were doing something else really.

They have fixed the speed droops of 20% in the downstream that I was complaining of last week it seems.
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Weaver

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Re: Lightning Strike (Oct 2019) - Three Lines Down
« Reply #20 on: October 09, 2019, 02:17:25 PM »

Could someone jog my failed memory?

A thought - I wonder what the surges did to the NTE5 + the stupid MK4 SSFP that OR fitted in line 2? I should perhaps get a spare. If the SSFP is knackered or were to get damaged some day then I could just plug directly into the test socket anyway of course - with the right cable, old-fashioned dialup modem style RJ11-to-BT-plug cable. It will just look ugly like that, that’s all.

I can’t remember - isn’t there something in the main back part of the NTE5 - some component that can get damaged, without the SSFP ? A surge protector - MOV ? Or a capacitor?

I rather wish I could put an NTE5A in, complete with an AA straight-through trivial front plate, like in the other lines. But that would be rather naughty, I believe.

In favour of the new-style NTE5C + SSFP: there’s the convenience of the easily removable SSFP - which may or may not be loose / wobbly, ease of getting to the test socket; will have to ask Janet to feel the unit and see what she thinks about the quality of the thing. But I don’t need an SSFP anyway and I certainly don’t need any performance loss that may come with it. I have my suspicions that something is just possibly slightly shaving a little bit of performance off line 2 in comparison with the other lines. I could do some with/without SSFP back-to back tests if I can find the energy and bribe my beloved to do the plugging unplugging, a job that she hates. I have ordered a suitable short 1m RJ11-to-BT-plug cable. Such tests would be very difficult to get right though because unplugging the cable obviously forces retrains, and so there are the problems associated with the whims of modems choosing sync rates and even DLM kicking in if you get it wrong and fiddle about plugging and unplugging too often.

So regarding the ugliness of going straight into the test socket, I could maybe get a telephony-only front for an NTE5C ?
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burakkucat

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Re: Lightning Strike (Oct 2019) - Three Lines Down
« Reply #21 on: October 09, 2019, 04:06:47 PM »

Could someone jog my failed memory?

. . .

I can’t remember - isn’t there something in the main back part of the NTE5 - some component that can get damaged, without the SSFP ? A surge protector - MOV ?

The original NTE5, designed and constructed in the early 1980s, did indeed have both an over-voltage gas-discharge doings and an earth connection point on the network side. With the various re-designs over the years (and to eliminate the capacitive effect of the gas-discharge thingy on any possible broadband service) both have been discarded.

Quote
So regarding the ugliness of going straight into the test socket, I could maybe get a telephony-only front for an NTE5C ?

Yes, we reached that conclusion some months back. Ideally have all four NTE5s without any SSFPs and with the standard telephony face-plates fitted. Then your four VMG1312-B10As could be connected with short leads, 6P2C plugs (contacts 3 & 4) at the modem ends and a BS6312, BT431A/BT631A, plug (contacts 2 & 5) at the NTE5 ends.

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Weaver

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Re: Lightning Strike (Oct 2019) - Three Lines Down
« Reply #22 on: October 10, 2019, 05:45:03 AM »

I’m hoping I’ve bought the correct thing on ebay. I couldn’t see just a ‘telephony’ lower front half of an NTE5C alone, so I bought a whole unit, one which, according to the picture, includes the correct front half.
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Weaver

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Re: Lightning Strike (Oct 2019) - Three Lines Down
« Reply #23 on: October 10, 2019, 09:20:40 AM »

It’s odd that the upstream speeds have all been improved, either slightly or greatly. Maybe a lot of cleanup of joints was beneficial. Live sync rates:
  #1: down 2990 kbps, up 560 kbps
  #2: down 2880 kbps, up 547 kbps
  #3: down 2998 kbps, up 512 kbps
  #4: down 2799 kbps, up 502 kbps

Woolly, vague and ill-informed speculation: Is it possible that some unit - a connector or otherwise- exists that might in some circumstances need to be replaced due to the damage and which might have an effect on multiple copper pairs including mine ? I’m just wondering if it makes sense to think about other users’ fault repairs as well as my own, where in order to fix someone else’s problem something needed to be replaced that had a global beneficial effect; something that has to be replaced and requires all connections to be remade. But this speculation isn’t necessary - maybe just my own joint cleanups were enough, of course.
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burakkucat

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Re: Lightning Strike (Oct 2019) - Three Lines Down
« Reply #24 on: October 10, 2019, 04:54:46 PM »

I’m hoping I’ve bought the correct thing on ebay.

That is, indeed, the correct front plate.
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Weaver

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Re: Lightning Strike (Oct 2019) - Three Lines Down
« Reply #25 on: October 17, 2019, 08:57:09 AM »

Four or five of my neighbours have had no internet access service over dsl ever since the strike; eta fix on Friday.
« Last Edit: October 17, 2019, 09:23:18 AM by Weaver »
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Weaver

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Re: Lightning Strike (Oct 2019) - Three Lines Down
« Reply #26 on: October 18, 2019, 10:50:21 PM »

One neighbour got her phone line back today - so what’s that 11 days, since the Monday before last?

There were four BT vans in Harapul at the northern end of the Heasta road and two more vans at the exchange. The chaos that that storm caused is amazing.
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Weaver

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Re: Lightning Strike (Oct 2019) - Three Lines Down
« Reply #27 on: October 21, 2019, 01:50:47 AM »

Other neighbours were still out on Sunday, I believe, so that would be 12 days.



One good thing has come out of this. Maybe some joints were cleaned up or cable replaced, because I’m seeing some small but but significant improvements in performance since the outage

Live sync rates:
  #1: down 2949 kbps, up 547 kbps
  #2: down 2902 kbps, up 499 kbps
  #3: ?, ? (modem is down/coming up) — was 2.87 Mbps downstream, upstream all over the place
  #4: down 2968 kbps, up 512 kbps

These downstream rates are all 100k-200kbps better than they were a week or so earlier. I think however that the rates improved after the outage, not during it. So speculating it could be that a later BTOR repair was in fact effectively an upgrade. Neighbours told Janet that BTOR engineer had told them a cable was to be replaced somewhere between Heasta and the Broadford exchange - maybe in Harapul as that’s where there was a huge amount of activity.

There have also been more BTOR engineers at work in the village itself.
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burakkucat

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Re: Lightning Strike (Oct 2019) - Three Lines Down
« Reply #28 on: October 21, 2019, 03:18:47 PM »

One good thing has come out of this. Maybe some joints were cleaned up or cable replaced, because I’m seeing some small but but significant improvements in performance since the outage

Or could it be that with your neighbours all off-line, when your modems re-synchronised they did so with even less cross-talk? Without a spectrum analyser permanently connected to each of your four circuits, we can only guess.
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Weaver

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Re: Lightning Strike (Oct 2019) - Three Lines Down
« Reply #29 on: October 22, 2019, 03:47:06 AM »

I suppose I should look back at records of attenuation figures more like and compare them?
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