BT connection fails at peak times!!

bazpaul

Howdy everyone,

I am loooking for some advice. We've had a BT 2mb line for a year or two now and it has been perfect. I never had any problems and spent a lot of time downloading off bittorrent and http servers.

Now recently the connection fails around 5/6 O'Clock and simply does not work until the next morning. The Green DSL light on the box also starts to flicker on and off, and can stay off for a while sduring the evening. This is qute annoying since most users in our house use the internet at night! The worst thing is, i know its nothin wrong with the computer or its settings. Since we never changed any of them and since the interent works perfectly during the day.

I've been on to that farse of a department they call 'Technical Support' in BT and after waiting 45 mins to get a call back request, i then proceed to wait an hour before i recieve the callback. But wait for it.....the "clever" technician at BT told me to change the user name on the bt login from joe.bloggs@iolbb to joe.bloggs@btbb
And wooop-dee-doo it actually worked, our internet was working again at peak time! only to dissapear again about 10 mins later!

So i have a couple of questions for you guys;

1) Has anyone experienced these same problems
2) My contention ratio is 48/1, could there be too many ppl overlaoding the line at peak times? Surely if there was loads of ppl on, i would still get a connection, a poor one at that.
3) I use utorrent alot, could that in some way have affected the connection??
4) I heard rumours that BB companies were thinking of blocking/disrupting ppl who use port-forwarding and bittorrent programs in general, is this true??

If anyone can help, or even suggest some tests that i might be able to run when the intenet goes down again, that would be great,

cheers,
Bar

Foxwood

It sounds like a problem with your phone line, rather than anything that BT are doing, if the green light on your modem is flickering.

You might want to check the line stats on the modem at the times that this happens.

bazpaul

funny you mention that. the technician said the same thing. so we unplugged all the phones in the house and ran the cable straight to the main phone outlet, but still no dice!!

You have to think though, if there is a problem in the cable, why does the internet work perfectly before 5/6 O'Clock????

How can i go about checking the 'line stats' of the modem?

Does anyone know of any diagnostic i can run on the modem?

At this stage i think its easier to just cancel the BT subscription and maybe move to NTL

Foxwood

bazpaul wrote:

You have to think though, if there is a problem in the cable, why does the internet work perfectly before 5/6 O'Clock????

The problem is more likely to be between your house and the exchange than within your house.

How can i go about checking the 'line stats' of the modem?

It's one of the options in the Admin interface of the modem. If you say what model of modem you have, I'll read the manual for you.

At this stage i think its easier to just cancel the BT subscription and maybe move to NTL

Have you been reading this forum?

Brodie Magenta

I'm experiencing a similar problem with BT except I've got NO connection now. Everything was fine for over a year and then one day - BANG - no service. The line is fine, my router is fine (I can still see my neighbour's Eircom connection) but there is no DSL syn on the line.

After 6 hours (not at one go) on hold with Tech Support I got all the same cr@p from the support guy. Plug everything out, there's nothing wrong at our end, blah blah blah ...

He has now raised a repair call and states that there is something wrong at the exchange. To be honest I don't think anyone knows what the hell is going on over there.

Keep us informed if you get a resolution.

BTW: A friend of mine is having the EXACT same issue you are having. His connection drops in the evening. He's out in Wicklow though.

obrienb

It's a problem with SNR (Signal to Noise Ration). Your modem is picking up more noise than it is signal and hence it looses sync with the exchange. My girlfriend has been having the same problem since she got broadband. The tech support are stupid. They say things like it's an interferance with the wireless signal to the router (then how come I can access the router interface, dumbasses...). It has to do with your Line Attenuation also. LA depends on your distance from the exchange, the speed of your connection and your contention. What is probably happening is that when people come home from work they use the broadband pushing your LA up which then pushes your SNR down. There should be a way to check your SNR and LA in your router. For the eircom Netopia router is says the LA on the main page. Anything above 45 and you are in the grey area where problems sometimes occur. If it's above 55 then it's really bad. You can also check your SNR. When it goes below 0 then your router is recieving as much noise as it is signal and your connections will keep timing out. Once it goes below -3/4 then it will loose sync. My advice is to upgrade to a lower contended connection.

Oh yeah... If your looking for who to blame... It's the governments and eircom's fault for not not investing in proper telecommunications infrastructure in Ireland.

DVD-Lots

Brodie Magenta wrote:

I'm experiencing a similar problem with BT except I've got NO connection now. Everything was fine for over a year and then one day - BANG - no service. The line is fine, my router is fine (I can still see my neighbour's Eircom connection) but there is no DSL syn on the line.

After 6 hours (not at one go) on hold with Tech Support I got all the same cr@p from the support guy. Plug everything out, there's nothing wrong at our end, blah blah blah ...

He has now raised a repair call and states that there is something wrong at the exchange. To be honest I don't think anyone knows what the hell is going on over there.

Keep us informed if you get a resolution.

BTW: A friend of mine is having the EXACT same issue you are having. His connection drops in the evening. He's out in Wicklow though.

In the midlands had the same thing 4 a week just after I switched from eircons, then suddenly after an "engineer" went to check the excahnge it has been (almost) perfect since. I still get the same dropouts every now and again but that is due to the line not being able to hold the 3mb connection. Bear with them as the prices are fantastic but the cust serv is crap. The technician said sumtin about escalating the call to level 2 (meaning he will actually log a fault) so that seemed to do it.

weewoman

>Our saga begins in a Galaxy far far away (well, west of Dublin a
>>bit...may as well be!). We returned from that communications heaven of


>>America in June and a couple of months later find that we had been
>>paying for Option 3 BT Broadband when in fact we were recieving Option
>>2. We called BT (the number now ingrained in my memory...a four digit
>>number that will forever haunt me into the inner reaches of my soul!)
>>and asked for our account to be credited with the money that they owed
>>us from January. We did not want the upgrade, but they said that they
>>would give it to us anyway. Fair enough...
>>
>>...and then the Broadband stopped working and has not worked every
>>since. Turns out in our little Galaxy the lines don't support the
>>upgrade. Now here is the rub! Notice the date on this post! Hee
>>hee...yes for a full nine days now my other half's day has started with


>>a call to the lovely lads and lasses at the BT call center (or perhaps
>>purgatory). Each day he gets another person on the phone who read
>>through the blog and who cannot provide any answers. It took them 36
>>hours to upgrade the line...a downgrade is another matter entirely.
>>
>>AND GUESS WHO IS TO BLAME???? You see, we may be able to "break free"
>>of Eircom, but you can't break the ties that bind in Ireland...as the
>>lines still belong to Eircom so if something goes wrong at the exchange,
>>
>>they have to log their problem with the Eircom lads, who in their parked
>>
>>in a lay-by tea drinking capacity will not pioritise a competitor's
>>problem.
>>
>>..and so here I am...10 miles away from my house on the computer using
>>my friend's wireless as I have none of my own. This morning's call to
>>BT was done by myself, as on Wednesday we were promised that the
>>downgrade was logged and that we could expect our broadband to be
>>switched back on by Thursday. Today Friday, I politely took them to
>>task on this, asked them to elevate me to a supervisor...and guess
>>what...all of them were in a meeting (bless - perhaps with The Dark
>>Lord) and that it would take 24 hours for one to phone me back. I asked
>>
>>for their names...got them and then said I would expect a call by 11.17


>>next day (tomorrow being Saturday...would anybody like to put any bets
>>on???) or I would (and I quote) "Have my lawyer in tow next time I
>>called" - Call center chickie replied "I don't take too kindly to
>>threats, goodbye" - and set the phone down on me.
>>
>>Did I threaten...NO...Did I use language or shout...NO...
>>
>>All I want is this shabby excuse of a company to do their job.
>>
>>...oh and by the way...I did phone back...got another lad...who
>>confirmed that the downgrade was never logged, he said that it only had


>>been logged this morning and that it would take....wait for it...
>>
>>
>>FIVE WORKING DAYS!!!!!

Sponge Bob

obrienb wrote:

It's a problem with SNR (Signal to Noise Ration). Your modem is picking up more noise than it is signal and hence it looses sync with the exchange. My girlfriend has been having the same problem since she got broadband.

Probably , but while its right its not a solution !

Oh yeah... If your looking for who to blame... It's the governments and eircom's fault for not not investing in proper telecommunications infrastructure in Ireland.

LOL . Probably .

Other reasons and comments .

1. BT send out cheap DSL modems here , other brands may be able to handle the interference / noise better. se this other discussion that recommends Netgear DG834G v2 or a D-Link DSL-G604T (not DG834GT) for this situation . also note other posts on that Board by user Kitz and his line stats page here

2. Everybody else uses cheap ****ty modems as well , not just BT , most of the time they get away with it and it does not matter.

3. NO! Eircom will not fix your line unless it evaporates off and even then they will claim its is working perfectly (unless they can hear you chainsawing the base of the pole as you ring repairs to report a pole down )

4. If you live in an area where simply everybody has DSL nowadays you may be suffering CROSSTALK from other DSL users, a flyer through a few doors could help you find others with the same problem but do note point 3 again and then note point 1 again .

5 The modem may be intermittently faulty , this often happens with cheap modems.

HTH

SB

obrienb

There is no guarantee thought that those modems will help and if they don't you've wasted your money...

Sponge Bob

of course not, see if you can borrow one for starters and if it works its a faulty modem.

if not then its the line so you have two strands to explore

1. get a better more resilient modem

and/or

2. get eircom to fix your line and give you the standard of line you should have when you pay the highest line rental in the world, as you do here. Also remember that eircom provided DSL is guaranteed by eircom to run at 256k minimum at all times, meaning that the line should never degrade below that or drop as the OP has found. If you have a 2mbit package when you should have a 1mbit package ..it happens.. eircom wil tell you that both 1mbit and 2mbit are in reality GUARANTEED 256k packages .

BT only resell these eircom packages in most cases.

If eircom are called out to fix the line its in order to ensure it it a 256k line at all times as they themselves guaranteed when you passed the test originally

HTH

obrienb

It might not even be a problem with the lines along the local loop. It could be that your phone wiring in your house has low insulation or just not wired properly.

catdubh

check the bottom paragraph of this web page and you see the most probable reason why bt broadband doesnt work all the time.
http://www.btyahoo.com/broadbandusage_holding
this explains that at peak times your usage is limited. not very unlimited then is it.

dub45

catdubh wrote:

check the bottom paragraph of this web page and you see the most probable reason why bt broadband doesnt work all the time.
http://www.btyahoo.com/broadbandusage_holding
this explains that at peak times your usage is limited. not very unlimited then is it.

The page you link to refers to the British version of BT:rolleyes: not very helpful then is it?

zilog_jones

Sponge Bob wrote:

this other discussion that recommends Netgear DG834G v2 or a D-Link DSL-G604T (not DG834GT) for this situation .

There's modded firmware for the DG834GT here, so it doesn't regularly crash any more. I have one and I'm pretty happy with it, though the "Super G" stuff is useless.

3. NO! Eircom will not fix your line unless it evaporates off

Or you're having problems with actual phone calls. They fixed our line promptly when things went really funky.

Robbo

I have the same problem on my DSL line with noise. 63db attenuation on the downstream! Regular as clockwork, the connect craps out at 6pm and then other times during the evening. Needless to say, Eircom are a pain the hole to deal with on the matter.

philologos

bazpaul wrote:

I've been on to that farse of a department they call 'Technical Support' in BT and after waiting 45 mins to get a call back request, i then proceed to wait an hour before i recieve the callback. But wait for it.....the "clever" technician at BT told me to change the user name on the bt login from joe.bloggs@iolbb to joe.bloggs@btbb
And wooop-dee-doo it actually worked, our internet was working again at peak time! only to dissapear again about 10 mins later!

my router failed this whole weekend due to their servers not accepting the username without @btbb the wierd thing is that it worked the whole time before that.

dogpile

Change your DNS http://www.opendns.com/....I've been using it for a few weeks with no loss or slowdown, actually works like it says it does:)

Aeneas

I connected to BT Broadband last October via a ZyXEL Prestige 600 Router that they sent me. Everything went pretty well until recently. Over the past few weeks I frequently get a "cannot connect to internet" message when I click on Internet Explorer. My DSL light is solid and when I check Network Connections it shows my Lan is connected. Usually I give up after switching the router off and on a few times, unplugging and replugging my ethernet cable, trying the browser ten or fifteen times. Most times when I return later, as I did tonight, I find that I can connect. What is happening? If there were a problem with the line I would expect it to be permanent rather than intermittent. Could it be a loose connection somewhere? A fault in my computer? Or is there something simple I am overlooking that would allow me to get connectivity in these circumstances?

cord

Hello All
Same problem here, my DSL light stays on but my internet light turns from green to red and then no access. This happens at peak times, I have e-mailed, phoned, shouted! but BT have not helped solve the problem

Sam Vimes

there's a problem with their dns server apparently. switch to open dns or eircom's dns server and it should solve your problem

cord

I have switched to openDNS and the internet light still changes from green to red at peak times. I have been advised that the light change is due to a incorrect username/password fault, well I have been using the same username/password for the last year and how is it that they work all the other times

Aeneas

How do you switch dns servers, either open dns or Eircom's dns?

zilog_jones

I get assigned these DNS servers from BT and have absolutely no trouble with them:
194.125.2.240
194.125.2.241

Can anyone else try these and report what DNS they are normally getting assigned (ipconfig /all in Command Prompt will tell you)?

dogpile

Aeneas wrote:

How do you switch dns servers, either open dns or Eircom's dns?

Select "Control Panel" from the Start menu.
Click "Network Connections" from the "Control Panel" choices..
Choose your connection from the "Network Connections" window..
Click "Properties" button.
Select "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and click "Properties."
Click the radio button "Use the following DNS server addresses" and type in OpenDNS addresses in the "Preferred DNS server" and "Alternate DNS server" fields, then click "OK".
Restart your computer.

addresses to put in

208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

simple as that, you must restart pc

Praetor

Hello

Just wanted to explain one thing. When you loose connectivity from 6 oclock until next morning 90% of the cases is a line issue.

If you want to test this just do the following

Check your SNR Margin at different times of the day, lets say 10 am, 12 pm, 2pm, 4 pm and just before it drops.

You will notice that your SNR Margin decreases as approaches to 6pm, it will go from 10, to 8, to 6..

When it goes belows 6 db your connection will drop.

There are few solutions available, if you keep disconnecting even when you are connecting from the main point socket with no extensions then there isnt much you can do but

Downgrade
Install a faceplate (at your own risk)
Get a better modem as spongebob already said

This happens because the more people connected the worst your signal strenght, as probably having high attenuations lines with the weakest signal will be the first to notice this intermittency.

In some cases when you experience noises on the telephone line you might get Eircom to fix it but most of the time there isnt much you can do.

Sorry

dub45

Praetor wrote:

Hello

Just wanted to explain one thing. When you loose connectivity from 6 oclock until next morning 90% of the cases is a line issue.

If you want to test this just do the following

Check your SNR Margin at different times of the day, lets say 10 am, 12 pm, 2pm, 4 pm and just before it drops.

You will notice that your SNR Margin decreases as approaches to 6pm, it will go from 10, to 8, to 6..

When it goes belows 6 db your connection will drop.

There are few solutions available, if you keep disconnecting even when you are connecting from the main point socket with no extensions then there isnt much you can do but

Downgrade
Install a faceplate (at your own risk)
Get a better modem as spongebob already said

This happens because the more people connected the worst your signal strenght, as probably having high attenuations lines with the weakest signal will be the first to notice this intermittency.

In some cases when you experience noises on the telephone line you might get Eircom to fix it but most of the time there isnt much you can do.

Sorry

All grand but why has this apparently just started happening now for so many people? A dodgy line is a dodgy line but this widespread reporting of this issue has only started very recently?

RuggieBear

this is actually occuring to me. I have to reboot the modem to connect again and sometimes "disconnects" every 30mins or so and other times it is fine

Praetor

I know, It happens more now because there are more people using BB than ever before.

Anyhow Eircom is suppose to upgrade his network in the next few months so hopefully that will help

kaizersoze

Praetor wrote:

I know, It happens more now because there are more people using BB than ever before.

Anyhow Eircom is suppose to upgrade his network in the next few months so hopefully that will help

The people having connections in this thread are having problems with losing connection not loosing sync. They still have sync. If their line quality degraded at peak times and SNR dropped below 6db then they would loose sync, wouldn't they?
The problems they seem to be experiencing are log in problems which would point to a problem at BT's end rather than a problem between the customer and the exchange.
It's like they get booted off BT's system at peak times due to lack of capacity or something.

dub45

Praetor wrote:

I know, It happens more now because there are more people using BB than ever before.

Anyhow Eircom is suppose to upgrade his network in the next few months so hopefully that will help

There is no logic to your argument. If this was the cause then there would be a huge number of Eircom customers complaining too along with other isp customers - this does not appear to be happening. (Presuming that bad lines would be spread on a random basis) Again if was the cause as more people were becoming connected then it would have been happening earlier whereas the complaints have suddenly started appearing. And again if it was the issue why is changing dns solving lots of problems apparentlly?

Praetor

bazpaul wrote:

Howdy everyone,
Now recently the connection fails around 5/6 O'Clock and simply does not work until the next morning. The Green DSL light on the box also starts to flicker on and off, and can stay off for a while sduring the evening.

If the DSL flashes is a lack of sync nothing to do with the username and password.

We really need to make sense here, DNS server problem has nothing to do with a flashing DSL light.

If the DSL light flashes is because the signal is lost and thats a fact.

I am not talking about know issues with BTs DNS servers thats not the subject of this post.

Praetor

dub45 wrote:

There is no logic to your argument. If this was the cause then there would be a huge number of Eircom customers complaining too along with other isp customers - this does not appear to be happening. (Presuming that bad lines would be spread on a random basis) Again if was the cause as more people were becoming connected then it would have been happening earlier whereas the complaints have suddenly started appearing. And again if it was the issue why is changing dns solving lots of problems apparentlly?

How in the world do you get a connection when you have no sync by changing the DNS servers?

I think you are talking about something else here.

Praetor

kaizersoze wrote:

The people having connections in this thread are having problems with losing connection not loosing sync. They still have sync. If their line quality degraded at peak times and SNR dropped below 6db then they would loose sync, wouldn't they?
The problems they seem to be experiencing are log in problems which would point to a problem at BT's end rather than a problem between the customer and the exchange.
It's like they get booted off BT's system at peak times due to lack of capacity or something.

That is correct. BTs DNS servers are not very "reliable" lately. Thats why I always have them manually and never had a problem with that.

But it is happening also with Eircoms.

But again, that is not what I was referring to.

Aeneas

In my case the DSL light does not flash, it remains solidly green. And the Lan Connections in Control Panel tells me I am connected. Nonetheless when I try to log on I get a "cannot find server" or "cannot find webpage" message. It happened again this evening around 9pm. I left it for an hour and was connected immediately when I tried again at 10pm. The service was then fine. But its frustrating and irritating that this is happening so often now with BT's service.

Praetor

Aeneas wrote:

In my case the DSL light does not flash, it remains solidly green. And the Lan Connections in Control Panel tells me I am connected. Nonetheless when I try to log on I get a "cannot find server" or "cannot find webpage" message. It happened again this evening around 9pm. I left it for an hour and was connected immediately when I tried again at 10pm. The service was then fine. But its frustrating and irritating that this is happening so often now with BT's service.

Hi!

Now thats different

Try setting up DNS servers manually
192.111.39.1
192.111.39.4

That should do it, otherwise you can use one of the other already mentioned above.

Aeneas

Will changing DNS servers raise complications with BT down the road if I need their technical help?

Praetor

Not at all

Those are BT DNS Servers anyway but you can use whatever you'd like, worst case scenario they might change it back again if you ever call them as part of their troubleshooting.

Give it a go and see if it makes a difference.

quad_red

I've switched to Open DNS but for the last few Saturdays my BT connection has been failing intermittently.

Splinter

im getting DC'd bout 9pm each night and my router says it "failed to bring LCP up" - any ideas?

zilog_jones

Could other people on BT please post what DNS servers they are having problems with? Judging by what Praetor has said and what I'm experiencing, BT seem to have several DNS servers that are working fine.

194.125.2.240 and .241 have the names ns4 and ns5.ns.esat.net
Praetor's are ns1 and ns2, so I guess they're somewhat related?

I've also found these DNS server by following this naming scheme:
ns3.ns.esat.net 192.111.39.100

This post suggests he was getting assigned him totally crazy servers - one of them's in Taiwan! However he didn't say if he was on BT or what.

kaizersoze

zilog, I was having problems with the ones you posted (194.125.2.240 and .241) but since I changed to the opendns servers (208.67.222.222 & 208.67.220.220) I haven't had a problem.
I've also entered them into the router aswell as the network settings on the pc, if that makes any difference.

zilog_jones

kaizersoze wrote:

I've also entered them into the router aswell as the network settings on the pc, if that makes any difference.

Entering them in your router just means it'll give out those addresses if it's serving DHCP so you don't have to add them manually on every device connected to the router. So from a performance point of view it won't really make any difference. The router itself doesn't really need to use DNS.

I still don't understand why I have had no trouble at all with their DNS servers. I'd use my PC nearly daily at home, and my brother and mother use another PC in the house and have had no trouble either. I do remember the internet being very slow one day a few weeks ago, but that may have just been boards before they moved to their new server