Need some support help...very recent BB reliablity problem

Ouijaboard

Hi, Just a quick message hoping I can get some response from some of the admins here and possibly a line/diagnostics check.

I've been on eircom broadband since 2004, didn't have any issues until recently.
I'm currently on NGB 8Mb and in the past 3 weeks since I've been 'upgraded' to 'Unlimited' download from the previous cap of 30Gb, I've experienced horrible reliability on my prior to this very reliable line. Constant disconnections, horribly inconsistent download speeds, at times browsing at 56k modems speeds, then perfectly reliable for a couple of days,....then back to square one! On and on ad infinitum. I though first it might just be a minor issue as eircom were upgrading some NGB speeds and removing caps free of charge but it has continued and now I've had enough.

I'm involved in IT admin support myself so yesterday I did some checks and it looks like it is on your side. My netopia router seems fine. I checked via Ethernet, same issue. Switched out router to another netopia lying around...same issue. Tried replacing filters on line, same issue, tried without filters. Same. Connected to the entry point into the house, plugged out everything else on the phone line. Same issue. Tried different laptop and Pc...same.

On thing I note is that my CRC error on downstream have gone through the roof since the problem occurred, at least 20 new crc errors every second on refresh of modem page. My SN Margin is 12 dB and my Line attenuation is 20 dB so they look pretty good. In fact they've always been the same even back when I first started out in 2004 with a 1 Mb connection and then in 2007 on 3Mb connection. Its the CRC errors are a mystery.

Also note I've been on NGB 8Mb now for a couple of years and it has been perfect until 3 weeks ago...directly after the 'unlimited' cap upgrade. So I don't think my line speed needs a downgrade or anything like that.

Ok, If you need anymore details or checks let me know. Just note that i've been a reliable customer for over 7 years and if my connection isn't sorted to usual reliability I will be forced to go elsewhere.
Thanks for your help.

thefinalstage

cougar1 wrote: »

Hi, Just a quick message hoping I can get some response from some of the admins here and possibly a line/diagnostics check.

I've been on eircom broadband since 2004, didn't have any issues until recently.
I'm currently on NGB 8Mb and in the past 3 weeks since I've been 'upgraded' to 'Unlimited' download from the previous cap of 30Gb, I've experienced horrible reliability on my prior to this very reliable line. Constant disconnections, horribly inconsistent download speeds, at times browsing at 56k modems speeds, then perfectly reliable for a couple of days,....then back to square one! On and on ad infinitum. I though first it might just be a minor issue as eircom were upgrading some NGB speeds and removing caps free of charge but it has continued and now I've had enough.

I'm involved in IT admin support myself so yesterday I did some checks and it looks like it is on your side. My netopia router seems fine. I checked via Ethernet, same issue. Switched out router to another netopia lying around...same issue. Tried replacing filters on line, same issue, tried without filters. Same. Connected to the entry point into the house, plugged out everything else on the phone line. Same issue. Tried different laptop and Pc...same.

On thing I note is that my CRC error on downstream have gone through the roof since the problem occurred, at least 20 new crc errors every second on refresh of modem page. My SN Margin is 12 dB and my Line attenuation is 20 dB so they look pretty good. In fact they've always been the same even back when I first started out in 2004 with a 1 Mb connection and then in 2007 on 3Mb connection. Its the CRC errors are a mystery.

Also note I've been on NGB 8Mb now for a couple of years and it has been perfect until 3 weeks ago...directly after the 'unlimited' cap upgrade. So I don't think my line speed needs a downgrade or anything like that.

Ok, If you need anymore details or checks let me know. Just note that i've been a reliable customer for over 7 years and if my connection isn't sorted to usual reliability I will be forced to go elsewhere.
Thanks for your help.

The SN and attenuation are the same now as when you were on 1Mb? Something is up there....

eircom: Tony

cougar1 wrote: »

Hi, Just a quick message hoping I can get some response from some of the admins here and possibly a line/diagnostics check.

I've been on eircom broadband since 2004, didn't have any issues until recently.
I'm currently on NGB 8Mb and in the past 3 weeks since I've been 'upgraded' to 'Unlimited' download from the previous cap of 30Gb, I've experienced horrible reliability on my prior to this very reliable line. Constant disconnections, horribly inconsistent download speeds, at times browsing at 56k modems speeds, then perfectly reliable for a couple of days,....then back to square one! On and on ad infinitum. I though first it might just be a minor issue as eircom were upgrading some NGB speeds and removing caps free of charge but it has continued and now I've had enough.

I'm involved in IT admin support myself so yesterday I did some checks and it looks like it is on your side. My netopia router seems fine. I checked via Ethernet, same issue. Switched out router to another netopia lying around...same issue. Tried replacing filters on line, same issue, tried without filters. Same. Connected to the entry point into the house, plugged out everything else on the phone line. Same issue. Tried different laptop and Pc...same.

On thing I note is that my CRC error on downstream have gone through the roof since the problem occurred, at least 20 new crc errors every second on refresh of modem page. My SN Margin is 12 dB and my Line attenuation is 20 dB so they look pretty good. In fact they've always been the same even back when I first started out in 2004 with a 1 Mb connection and then in 2007 on 3Mb connection. Its the CRC errors are a mystery.

Also note I've been on NGB 8Mb now for a couple of years and it has been perfect until 3 weeks ago...directly after the 'unlimited' cap upgrade. So I don't think my line speed needs a downgrade or anything like that.

Ok, If you need anymore details or checks let me know. Just note that i've been a reliable customer for over 7 years and if my connection isn't sorted to usual reliability I will be forced to go elsewhere.
Thanks for your help.

Hi cougar1
it is possible your profile needs to be re-set after the upgrade. If you PM me your tel. number I can test this and should be able to help here.
Tony

Ouijaboard

poisonedstream wrote: »

The SN and attenuation are the same now as when you were on 1Mb? Something is up there....

Could you elaborate a little? What I meant was my SNR hasn't lowered significantly since I was first connected to the exchange...so it doesn't throw up any major pointers to me. I always thought that if the SNR ratio lowered significantly then it would point to increased line noise? The line atten remains similar aswell and hasn't increased, which to me means low signal loss from the exchange?

The increase in 20 additional crc errors every second throws up some red flags though?

Ouijaboard

Just PM'd Tony, thanks!

eircom: Tony

cougar1 wrote: »

Just PM'd Tony, thanks!

Thanks Cougar, have PM'd you back, can you monitor for next few hours, see if any improvement.
Thanks
Tony

Ouijaboard

eircom: Tony wrote: »

Thanks Cougar, have PM'd you back, can you monitor for next few hours, see if any improvement.
Thanks
Tony

Will do, thanks again Tony, will let you know how it goes!

Ouijaboard

Hi, I know it's early days yet but just a quick update so far while I keep an eye on the connection. There has been a significant improvement in speed so far, compared to past few weeks. It has disconnected once while browsing over the past hour or so but it's at least an improvement on the disconnections every few minutes over the past few days.

Also crc errors have dropped to just 4 every second compared to 20 errors/ps prior to reset.

I'm offline now for a bit but will keep you posted, but an improvement so far no doubt.

eircom: Tony

cougar1 wrote: »

Hi, I know it's early days yet but just a quick update so far while I keep an eye on the connection. There has been a significant improvement in speed so far, compared to past few weeks. It has disconnected once while browsing over the past hour or so but it's at least an improvement on the disconnections every few minutes over the past few days.

Also crc errors have dropped to just 4 every second compared to 20 errors/ps prior to reset.

I'm offline now for a bit but will keep you posted, but an improvement so far no doubt.

Thanks cougar1
encouraging, but I was hoping we would see no disconnects, can you monitor and post me again tomorrow?
Tony

Ouijaboard

eircom: Tony wrote: »

Thanks cougar1
encouraging, but I was hoping we would see no disconnects, can you monitor and post me again tomorrow?
Tony

Will do, was just giving a quick update above, things looking better than earlier but will need a day or two to know for sure. Thanks again for your help Tony, will keep you posted.

Ouijaboard

Just a quick further update to let you know how things are going since the profile update Tony.

Connection speed has improved greatly, almost back to my previous 8Mb speed although slightly below.

Downstream Upstream
Max Allowed Speed (kbps) 7168 512
SN Margin (dB) 13.00 12.00
Line Attenuation (dB) 20.50 12.00
CRC Errors 0 2

No Crc errors and no disconnects since early yesterday, I restarted the router manually on a couple of occasions to test speed on different IP servers but it has been very stable at about 6Mb. Downloading consistently at about 700-750 KBps which suggests it's stable at about 5.5Mb-6Mb.... Especially on 86.41 address pool, when I can get it

Speed tests shown below:


Will keep an eye on it over the next few days and let you know. One thing that perplexes me a little: prior to this 'unlimited' cap upgrade I was getting a very stable 8192Kbps connection and was downloading consistently at 800KBps-900KBps....and now it looks like I need a downgrade cap in speed to 7168Kbps just to stabilise the connection? Bit strange no??
Not complaining too much...it's good to be back up and running at all, just a bit surprised, happy to keep it at current rates, especially if any tweaking might destabilise the connection again.

Thanks for all your help Tony, will keep you posted!

eircom: Tony

cougar1 wrote: »

Just a quick further update to let you know how things are going since the profile update Tony.

Connection speed has improved greatly, almost back to my previous 8Mb speed although slightly below.

Downstream Upstream
Max Allowed Speed (kbps) 7168 512
SN Margin (dB) 13.00 12.00
Line Attenuation (dB) 20.50 12.00
CRC Errors 0 2

No Crc errors and no disconnects since early yesterday, I restarted the router manually on a couple of occasions to test speed on different IP servers but it has been very stable at about 6Mb. Downloading consistently at about 700-750 KBps which suggests it's stable at about 5.5Mb-6Mb.... Especially on 86.41 address pool, when I can get it

Speed tests shown below:


Will keep an eye on it over the next few days and let you know. One thing that perplexes me a little: prior to this 'unlimited' cap upgrade I was getting a very stable 8192Kbps connection and was downloading consistently at 800KBps-900KBps....and now it looks like I need a downgrade cap in speed to 7168Kbps just to stabilise the connection? Bit strange no??
Not complaining too much...it's good to be back up and running at all, just a bit surprised, happy to keep it at current rates, especially if any tweaking might destabilise the connection again.

Thanks for all your help Tony, will keep you posted!

Thanks cougar1 happy the change providing better speeds this far. Yes let me know if any further drop.
Tony