Anyone managed to overcome broadband REIN problems?

[pgh13]

About 1 year ago my line was upgraded to FTTC. Initially there were problems of disconnections when the phone rang so had a couple of visits from BT engineers who said 'Oh! They shouldn't have done it like that;' and made some changes.

The ongoing problem is that there are periods where I get random disconnections - usually between 2.00pm and 6.00pm. Obviously, like all random faults, it behaves perfectly when an engineer hoves into view. It seemed to stop happening through the winter but seems to have reappeared with the good weather (so maybe I've got a neighbour with a dodgy aircon! Latest visit was yesterday when the engineer replaced the modem with a different brand as a precaution and in case a different chipset may be more resilliant...... worked fine until he disappeared round the corner .

Last year after all the checks it was suggested that electrical interference may be causing the problem. I had a REIN bloke round last year but he couldn't find anything. I'm keeping an AM radio handy to see if I can spot anything when it happens again.

Has anyone managed to self-diagnose/self-fix this sort of problem? Ferrite beads on the BT line? Wrap head in foil?

 

[Journey]

Hi pgh13, not sure if the service i have is the same as yours, we have bt infinty 2 fibre broadband. For the past few months on the new "home hub 5" we are getting exactly the same drop outs you have mentioned. My internet on the laptop just goes off for a few minutes, or if i am streaming a movie it cuts off half way into it.

It's very annoying and sounds similar to what you have described

 

[Captain Jack]

Fibre.... internet? I am lucky not to still be using a 56k modem around here...

 

[pgh13]

Hi pgh13, not sure if the service i have is the same as yours, we have bt infinty 2 fibre broadband. For the past few months on the new "home hub 5" we are getting exactly the same drop outs you have mentioned. My internet on the laptop just goes off for a few minutes, or if i am streaming a movie it cuts off half way into it.

It's very annoying and sounds similar to what you have described

I'm with Plusnet but the cabling is all BT. The fibre goes as far as the cabinet about 300m away from the house but the connection to the house is the original wet string. I have a BT modem and then a router, but I believe the modem is integrated into the HH5

 

[pgh13]

Fibre.... internet? I am lucky not to still be using a 56k modem around here...

Well, if you will live in these isolated beauty spots

 

[hairybadger]

I'm with Plusnet but the cabling is all BT. The fibre goes as far as the cabinet about 300m away from the house but the connection to the house is the original wet string. I have a BT modem and then a router, but I believe the modem is integrated into the HH5

what does the modem report in the way of noise figures?

 

[Topper]

Hi pgh13, not sure if the service i have is the same as yours, we have bt infinty 2 fibre broadband. For the past few months on the new "home hub 5" we are getting exactly the same drop outs you have mentioned. My internet on the laptop just goes off for a few minutes, or if i am streaming a movie it cuts off half way into it.

It's very annoying and sounds similar to what you have described

Yep that sound exactly like mine, and I have previously posted about my uplink speed often being greater than my downlink. The dropouts are intermittent and even my wife has noticed them when working from home. The wifi to my PC was so bad I had to direct cable.

I can add more to the BT saga, the mail has been dreadful recently swapping from BTYahoo webmail to BT Webmail constant failures, error messages, over the weekend my 9 daily used distribution lists mysteriously lost all their information and on contacting BT (Mumbai) this morning I was informed that they do not backup such things as user distribution lists only contacts and webmail and that it was up to me to maintain them. WTF, I escalated this to level 2 who have since escalated it again, I am still waiting for the results of their investigation. As they do not offer any way of backing these lists up and the info is on their servers, it is illogical to think that I could.

 

[hairybadger]

I can add more to the BT saga, the mail has been dreadful recently swapping from BTYahoo webmail to BT Webmail constant failures, error messages, over the weekend my 9 daily used distribution lists mysteriously lost all their information and on contacting BT (Mumbai) this morning I was informed that they do not backup such things as user distribution lists only contacts and webmail and that it was up to me to maintain them.

Distribution lists are just a function of contacts, surely? They probably gave that answer because they don't have a clue...

 

[PaulR]

The wifi to my PC was so bad I had to direct cable.

If the new modem is 802.11ac then try setting it at a lower spec such as 11n or even 11g. I've read that ac can be a problem sometimes.

 

[pgh13]

what does the modem report in the way of noise figures?

Do you know how I can get to this info? The way I understand it the modem has firewall set to prevent access from LAN side

 

[hairybadger]

Do you know how I can get to this info? The way I understand it the modem has firewall set to prevent access from LAN side

I'm not familiar with your hardware, but generally what you do is point a web browser at the IP address of your router, typically 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 (if you're using Windows run ipconfig in a command window to see what the gateway address is - use this). You'd need the admin username and password (possibly admin/admin) or somesuch, then navigate to the statistics page (or whatever it's called). You're looking for upstream and downstream attenuation figures as well as margin, all measured in dB.

 

[Captain Jack]

I also heard that BT Homehub's connection information isn't available through the router's interface.

 

[smoggy07]

the modem/router will block connections to the webif from the WAN side (internet) but never the LAN side (local net) as you'd never be able to change the wifi password/name/channel or other info

try the ip addresses posted above and if they don't work try 192.168.1.254 to access the webif for the router/modem

[EDIT]
you might need to be connected by hardwire not wifi and if non of the above works, look on the bottom of the router/modem for an IP address with user/pass combo near it and use those details to login

 

[Journey]

fot BT equipment, just pop in

http://bthomehub.home

 

[smoggy07]

fot BT equipment, just pop in

http://bthomehub.home

That's only for the Homehub though and shouldn't work on non-Homehub equipment as far as I am aware

 

[PaulR]

All modems I've looked at also give the http address if it's not a numerical IP address. They also give the login name and password but beware as the PW can be changed by a remote firmware update. My O2 modem had the password changed without my knowledge this way.

 

[smoggy07]

All modems I've looked at also give the http address if it's not a numerical IP address. They also give the login name and password but beware as the PW can be changed by a remote firmware update. My O2 modem had the password changed without my knowledge this way.

They done that at the last place I worked too, they swapped it out to the serial number of the modem and forgot to mention it to bill payer

 

[Topper]

If the new modem is 802.11ac then try setting it at a lower spec such as 11n or even 11g. I've read that ac can be a problem sometimes.

Hi Paul no the BT homehub is a 4 not 5 so wifi is only 802.11 n 40 MHz although all three 802.11 b/g/n are available and the actual modem (white box that feed the router) I do not have access to

 

[Channel Hopper]

If you have a large screen television on the same ring main (or a spur off it) disconnect it and see if things improve.

 

[Topper]

If you have a large screen television on the same ring main (or a spur off it) disconnect it and see if things improve.

It's cabled now CH no point really but is 32" Sony Viera a big screen TV?