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[blue166]

Hi guys,

14 days on from the first episode and here I am again...

The connection has gone back to interleaving. This time it appears to have shaved around 1mb off the connection speed but latency back to around 14ms.

I don't know what is going on. And this ECI modem I have gives no stats. Don't know what to do next. BT have since sent me a smart hub 6 so am I going to have to plug this in and use it for stats? Can you use it in a modem mode setting in tandem with my ASUS router? - But again at this stage do I even as so much as turn my modem off and mess around or just leave it? Catch 22 it feels to me.

So something upset DLM 14 days ago exactly and something again on a Sunday has triggered it again?

I dunno what to think... Is this crosstalk? But 14 days exactly kicking in again? Is it weather related? Been having some stupid amount of rain but again 14 days exactly after first episode? Uhm... Electrical inside my property? But again 14 days exactly after first episode. - I am mega confused...

I'm at a loss. (Sorry so many questions).

Please help!

[blue166]

Hi Again,

After looking at a GEA report of my VDSL line it has mentioned possible internal wiring issue - possible bridgetap detected. I must add I have never changed/added any cabling since living here. However there has always been a separate blackish cable coming out of the grey junction box outside which runs to my daughters bedroom. This is in no way cabled in to my faceplate filter in my living room (master socket - Installed by OR). This old extention box is a single box with BT on it. Its live because if you plug a phone in you hear modem chatter and of course modem loses sync then. Now usually this point is never in use and in fact I keep tape over it.

So now I could be adding 2 and 2 and getting 5 but something has definitely happened recently to impact my connection (of course it could just be crosstalk) which if it is it is. But if something else has degraded and not helping matters then I'd rather that be addressed anyway.

My Max attainable downstream currently is 77.1mbit/s
Max attainable upstream is 25.0mbit/s

I do have a faint constant noise on landline. You have to concentrate to hear it but it is there. Pressing secrecy/mute you hear it more. Amplify might cause distortion so I guess that cant be trusted?

But I reckon there could be more to this??

Please help

[tubaman]

It does sound like you have a bridge tap in the form of the extra socket going to your daughter's room. This will almost certainly degrade the connection but I doubt it is causing stability issues unless it is faulty in some way.  Ideally it needs to be disconnected if not in use, but the fact that it appears to be on the Openreach side of the master socket means that, if you go by the rules, you should not really be touching it.
Perhaps you could post some photos of the inside of the junction box so we can try and work out how easy it will be to disconnect.
 

[burakkucat]

It does sound like you have a bridge tap in the form of the extra socket going to your daughter's room.

<snip>

Perhaps you could post some photos of the inside of the junction box so we can try and work out how easy it will be to disconnect.
 

Exactly what I would have typed. 

[blue166]

I will get you some pics.

BTW my neighbour told me earlier that they upgraded there BB with TalkTalk and it's much quicker than before (ADSL). So they now have FTTC also 

So as mentioned earlier that's probably the biggest hit on my line. But could a bridgetap be making things even worse? Especially there cable and mine stuffed in a junction box together?

Again I will get pics

[burakkucat]

A bridging tap acts as a tuned stub and will absorb energy at its fundamental and harmonic frequencies. So if it has always been there, it would have been degrading the service from the day the service was first deployed and nobody would have known any better.

If you and your neighbour share a service feed, from the D-side cable, before splitting into individual lead-in cables then, yes, there is a possibility that having upgraded their service from ADSL2(+) to VDSL2, there is more cross-talk originating from their VDSL2 service.

[blue166]

Hi guys,
In the meantime what you think about this? I actually always had the line length down at around 80-100m (How accurate is the GEA one of around 186m?)

Definitely mentions bridgetap. (I will get pics of junction box) Trying to wait until the rain is off not to let water in it.

GEA
GEA Test Detail
Test Outcome   Pass       
Test Outcome Code   GTC_FTTC_SERVICE_0000       
Description   GEA service test completed and no fault found .       
Main Fault Location   OK       
Sync Status   In Sync       
Downstream Speed   77.0 Mbps       
Upstream Speed   20.0 Mbps       
Appointment Required   N       
Fault Report Advised   N       
NTE Power Status   PowerOn       
Voice Line Test Result   Pass       
Bridge Tap   Detected       
Radio Frequency Ingress   Not Detected       
Repetitive Electrical Impulse Noise   Not Detected       
Cross Talk   Not Detected       
Estimated Line Length In Metres   186.2       
Upstream Rate Assessment   Very Good       
Downstream Rate Assessment   Very Good       
Interference Pattern   Not Detected       
Service Impact   No Impact Observed       
Home Wiring Problem   Not Detected       
Technology   VDSL       
DP Type   External       
Profile Name   0.128M-80M Downstream, Error Protection Off - 0.128M-20M Upstream, Error Protection Off       
Time Stamp   2019-10-31T20:00:00       
Parameters   MIN   MAX   AVG
Down Stream Line Rate   76.4 Mbps   77.6 Mbps   77.0 Mbps
Up Stream Line Rate   20.0 Mbps   20.0 Mbps   20.0 Mbps
Up Time   0.0 Sec   900.0 Sec   886.1 Sec
Retrains   0   3   0
Current and Last 15 Minute Bin Performance   
Parameters   Last Traffic Count(Upto 15 mins)   Current Traffic Count(Upto 15 mins)   
Start Time Stamp   2019-11-13T19:30:46.273+00:00   2019-11-13T19:45:46.273+00:00   
Ingress Code Violation   0   0   
Egress Code Violation   0   1   
Errored Seconds   0   0   
Severely Errored Seconds   0   0   
Unavailable Seconds   0   0   

[re0]

I would very much trust the estimate being quite accurate - as accurate as an estimate can be.

80-100m seems like a gross underestimate based purely on best case scenario cable routing. If you had access to stats, you could potentially derive a rough figure from attenuation.

I don't want to make any presumptions about your setup, so I will just wait along with everyone else for pictures.

[blue166]

I do have a Huawei HG612 that I got from ebay a few years ago in stock. Just never swapped over in the end as all was good and left it. I should have really chucked it on the connection and monitored it but never

I believe I can gain lots of line info from it but how does one go about unlocking it? Also it isn't likely to upset the old ECI DSLAM is it?

But yeah I will quite happily take some info on unlocking it and can play.

Thanks,

[re0]

I'm out and about on move but there are resources available under Modem Router Unlocking in the forum, and the wiki should also be of some use. I would do some links if I was at my desk...

And no, it should not make a significant difference. It may even perform better. But remains to be seen.

[roseway]

Here's all you need to know about unlocking the HG612 and associated matters: https://kitz.co.uk/routers/hg612unlock.htm

[blue166]

Many thanks guys,

I will give that a read tonight.

Thanks

[blue166]

Hey guys,

I still need to get in the junction box for pictures.

Can I just ask you experienced peeps if bridgetap/Star wiring always has some kind of bad effect on a VDSL connection? Is it just a no no? I have had this extra live cable since I have lived in the house without any noticable problem
 However could it be a case that it had always the potential to just turn and cause issues. Also would it always have held my max attainable speeds back. So even when I was getting 75mb/19mb this would have always been eating something away and at some point was going to cause issues. (Not saying this is the issue) but perhaps another issue.

Thanks guys

[burakkucat]

Can I just ask you experienced peeps if bridgetap/Star wiring always has some kind of bad effect on a VDSL connection?

Yes. It has a bad effect on any xDSL service. (Where xDSL is any one of ADSL, ADSL2, ADSL2+ and VDSL2.) It would be more noticeable on a VDSL2 service than, say, on an ADSL2 service.

[blue166]

Ok I definitely need to get you guys some pictures from the outside junction box and maybe advice on what to snip and where. Spoke with an Openreach guy who said those ones are always grey area in terms of yes its outside but a lot of the time still chargeable. Obviously will have to see just how messy it is.