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-   -   Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/showthread.php?t=45599)

davidsi 05-04-2006 22:31
Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
Since NTL apparently "reoptimized" the UBR that I use last week I've been suffering from connections which most of the time work absolutely fine but every so often appear to glitch perhaps with packet loss but I have been unable to prove that. I've now been onto NTL several times and each call has resulted in a different story and there's been no resolution.

The problem is most noticable when using ssh (or microsoft remote desk top) to another system over my 2Mb NTL connection. Everything works fine, but then the connection will appear to freeze for several seconds - it eventually recovers. This had all been working fine since christmas and had never had a problem up until last week.

Unfortunately when I call support its seems impossible for them to see what the problem could be mainly because I'm clearly able to surf the net and access other systems so as far they can see it works. Anyone got any ideas?

I'm in the luton franchise area and the UBR is the Hatfield one. Although I normally use a linksys wireless router I have also tried directly connecting (wired) to my terrayon cable modem and it is still a problem. I've also tried with both my PC (Win XP) and my MAC.

Chrysalis 05-04-2006 23:27
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
the freezing is caused by contention and will probably not happen at 5am :) I have had this problem for a few months now.

Try power cycling your modem so it goes onto a different upstream it may improve things.

isf 06-04-2006 01:25
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
Me too, the internet has been barely useable since whatever 'upgrades' NTL performed in their Fri 27th maintenence . My SSH connection locks up and webpages freeze or fail to load at all. I'm seeing moderate packet loss but the problem is intermittent which makes it hard to diagnose.

davidsi 08-04-2006 09:37
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
I don't think it can be contention. I've tried at many different times of day/night and the basic problem still exists. At quieter times of the day overall performance is better but I still see connections freezing and like isf webpages failing to load. I've tried powering off/on several times and that too seems to make little difference.

James Henry 08-04-2006 12:50
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by davidsi
I don't think it can be contention. I've tried at many different times of day/night and the basic problem still exists. At quieter times of the day overall performance is better but I still see connections freezing and like isf webpages failing to load. I've tried powering off/on several times and that too seems to make little difference.
Sounds like noise on the upstream or downstream, possibly your area has been optimised for extra bandwidth but you connection isn't a good enough quality to support this optimisation, or you've been moved to an upstream channel that's noisy in your area.

All you can do is try tech support again and perhaps if you can't get though one of the moderators here could assist.

IanGuy 08-04-2006 13:11
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
I have been having the exact same problems as you since about a week ago. Online gaming has become impossible, when ringing CS they just say we can't see any problems sir. And due to both sync and rdy lights being solid they quite simply state it's a problem with my pc, which I know for a fact is not true. When I reboot the modem, it seems to get a better upstream signal but this only lasts an hour or so, then my connection goes back to "normal".

It seems that it's definitely a problem with upstream, packet loss has been as high as 68.4% on some days when tracert'ing www.google.co.uk

isf 08-04-2006 16:14
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
IanGuy,

Traceroute cannot be used to measure packet loss. Once you have done a trace, you need to ping each host after your STB/modem, this is also the only way to determine where the packets are being dropped. So with a trace like this:
Quote:
traceroute to www9.thdo.bbc.co.uk (212.58.224.55), 30 hops max, 52 byte packets
1 ROUTER (x.x.x.x) 1.198 ms 1.265 ms 1.184 ms
2 STB (x.x.x.x) 12.999 ms 22.547 ms 11.266 ms
3 bagu-t2cam1-a-v119.inet.ntl.com (80.5.162.77) 9.134 ms 9.980 ms 13.416 ms
4 bagu-t2core-a-ge-wan63.inet.ntl.com (80.5.161.17) 12.465 ms 9.683 ms 13.291 ms
5 ETC...
first ping the host immediately after your STB/modem and work outwards until you find where the packets are being lost. You also need to make sure you have a decent sample size for a % figure to be meaningful, on windows I would use:
Quote:
ping -n 100 x.x.x.x
My issue was packet loss between STB and the next hop, spoke to customer support earlier, they told me there was a power level issue and booked an engineer for Monday morning. After they ran the diagnostic AGC was down to 47% from 64 and I'm now seeing a consistant 1% packet loss (100 pkts). HTH.

Stuart 08-04-2006 16:27
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by davidsi
Since NTL apparently "reoptimized" the UBR that I use last week I've been suffering from connections which most of the time work absolutely fine but every so often appear to glitch perhaps with packet loss but I have been unable to prove that. I've now been onto NTL several times and each call has resulted in a different story and there's been no resolution.

The problem is most noticable when using ssh (or microsoft remote desk top) to another system over my 2Mb NTL connection. Everything works fine, but then the connection will appear to freeze for several seconds - it eventually recovers. This had all been working fine since christmas and had never had a problem up until last week.

Unfortunately when I call support its seems impossible for them to see what the problem could be mainly because I'm clearly able to surf the net and access other systems so as far they can see it works. Anyone got any ideas?

I'm in the luton franchise area and the UBR is the Hatfield one. Although I normally use a linksys wireless router I have also tried directly connecting (wired) to my terrayon cable modem and it is still a problem. I've also tried with both my PC (Win XP) and my MAC.

Please PM me your name, address, account number and a daytime phone number, and I'll refer this to our contacts.

:welcome: to the forum BTW.

IanGuy 08-04-2006 18:34
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by isf
IanGuy,

Traceroute cannot be used to measure packet loss. Once you have done a trace, you need to ping each host after your STB/modem, this is also the only way to determine where the packets are being dropped. So with a trace like this:

first ping the host immediately after your STB/modem and work outwards until you find where the packets are being lost. You also need to make sure you have a decent sample size for a % figure to be meaningful, on windows I would use:


My issue was packet loss between STB and the next hop, spoke to customer support earlier, they told me there was a power level issue and booked an engineer for Monday morning. After they ran the diagnostic AGC was down to 47% from 64 and I'm now seeing a consistant 1% packet loss (100 pkts). HTH.
This still doesn't explain connection interrupts while gaming, absolutely nothing has changed with my system, i've run virus checks, i have no adware/spyware and my processes are minimal. I get random spikes in all games, on all servers aswell as MSN Messenger getting signed off frequently - simple answer: NTL's problem not mine.

John S 08-04-2006 18:52
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
Ive had something similar to this freezing/contention/whatever for weeks.
Sometimes in the morning and evening it is OK but now its started with Email.
Ive run virus checks adaware and disaabled the firewall changed mice etc etc.
Ive just disconnected the modem cable and everything is fine connect up the modem again and its freezing again.
Any suggestions please.

John.

isf 09-04-2006 15:05
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by IanGuy
This still doesn't explain connection interrupts while gaming, absolutely nothing has changed with my system, i've run virus checks, i have no adware/spyware and my processes are minimal. I get random spikes in all games, on all servers aswell as MSN Messenger getting signed off frequently - simple answer: NTL's problem not mine.
Is your actual connection going down or are you experiencing packet loss?

IanGuy 09-04-2006 16:11
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
I experience packet loss, but also at times the RDY light does actually go off, but then the modem cycles automatically.

davidsi 09-04-2006 16:21
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by IanGuy
I experience packet loss, but also at times the RDY light does actually go off, but then the modem cycles automatically.
That sounds like a slightly different set of symptoms to what I see - my modem light is absolutely always on, and even when one connection may be 'hanging' I can make other connections without any problems.

isf 09-04-2006 16:23
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by IanGuy
I experience packet loss, but also at times the RDY light does actually go off, but then the modem cycles automatically.
Nothing in the error log on your STB?

IanGuy 09-04-2006 16:51
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
I've got this in my modem error log -

1Time Not EstablishedFRI APR 07 13:25:14 2006 19583Critical (3)82000200No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out

Chrysalis 10-04-2006 03:17
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
so your modem is dropping?

you guys need to be sure of whats going on, when it freezes do all the lights flash just before it unfreezes?

IanGuy 10-04-2006 04:36
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
No, the modem doesn't drop at all times. I get packet loss without modem dropping, though sometimes it drops completely then the modem completely cycles (all lights flash as though rebooted).

angi_1 10-04-2006 08:55
anyone help
 
we had the ntl package phone broadband tv etc but after a year got rid of the tv and got the phone very cheap because we had so many probs but since we have got rid of the tv package the broadband is really slow and although ive emailed support twice with no reply suprise suprise its as though they have turned my signal down ??? but too much is this possible???:rolleyes:

davidsi 11-04-2006 22:27
Re: anyone help
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by angi_1
we had the ntl package phone broadband tv etc but after a year got rid of the tv and got the phone very cheap because we had so many probs but since we have got rid of the tv package the broadband is really slow and although ive emailed support twice with no reply suprise suprise its as though they have turned my signal down ??? but too much is this possible???:rolleyes:
No, I don't think it works that way. It might be worth calling support and just checking what kind of broadband service you are on - just in case something happened to your account when you started cancelling options. It would probably also be worth using the tools (see link in the top bar on this page) to try and get a measure of what kind of performance you are getting so that its less subjective and you have some numbers that might help demonstrate to support the problem you've got..

davidsi 14-04-2006 19:20
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
An NTL engineer came this morning any my problem has been fixed :-). Apparently some of the changes they made on the UBR can affect certain Terrayon modems so the fix was to simply switch me over to one of the newer NTL branded cable modems. That was at about 9.30 this morning (pretty impressed the engineers were working on a bank holiday!) and its been perfect ever since.

nopcode 14-04-2006 20:30
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
can someone verify that its the terrayons at fault? ive had a T-210 for 7 years and since latest round of inprovements, its slowly gotten worse. Do they need a firmware upgrade? or maybe mine has just slowly kicked the bucket, 7 years is a long time.

bellarose 14-04-2006 21:27
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
HI THERE
IM ALSO GETTING PROBLEMS IN THE LAST WEEK OR SO WITH PAGES NOT LOADING AND FREEZING BUT STILL BEEN ABLE TO OPEN OTHER PAGES . IT OCCURS ON MY LAPTOP AND IT IS EVEN WORSE ON THE PC I AM ON BROADBAND BUT FEEL IT IS MORE LIKE DIAL UP.I REBOOT THE SYSTEM TO NO AVAIL I REBOOT THE SET TOP BOX AND IT MAY WORK FOR A WHILE THEN IT GOES DOWN AGAIN .THE PC WENT DOWN AGAIN TODAY AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHY ALTHOUGH THE LAPTOP IS STILL GOOD ALTHOUGH VERY SLOW .I HAVE CHECKED BOTH SYSTEMS FOR VIRUSES AND POP UPS BUT THERE ARE NONE BOTH HAVE NORTON ON .IT APPEARS THAT IT MUST BE THE NTL THAT HAVE THE PROBLEM HOPE THEY SORT IT SOON :Yikes:

nopcode 14-04-2006 21:41
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
it seems like NTL are having issues which cant be resolved right now, too many people posting with the same problems. It just sucks that it happens on a bank holiday weekend too.

Lemonzest 14-04-2006 21:53
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
I've noticed this alot today in the NG7 area, both myself and a friend are having dropped connections/lag spikes almost every 5 mins.

hongkonguk 14-04-2006 22:08
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
I get this several times a week. It won't connect to any web pages,email or messenger. Have to reboot the modem to get it back. The lights remain unchanged when it does this.

Is this down to work being done on the network?

greyripper 15-04-2006 13:24
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
I get this several times an hour! Three engineer visits so far, swaps between UBRs all to no avail. I am in RG41 (Wokingham).
Tech Support are absolutley useless, treating each call like a new fault.
Drops are sometimes for 30-40 seconds, sometimes for 40 minutes - or more.
The CM was replaced yesterday (I was on a Terrayon) but has made absolutely no difference.
Getting very fed-up.

Woodgar 15-04-2006 15:32
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by nopcode
can someone verify that its the terrayons at fault? ive had a T-210 for 7 years and since latest round of inprovements, its slowly gotten worse. Do they need a firmware upgrade? or maybe mine has just slowly kicked the bucket, 7 years is a long time.
The engineer that replaced my Terayon told me that they were no longer compatible with the changes NTL had made to the network: something to do with an increase in power levels.

As to the main issue of the thread, I'm still experiencing random connection drops even with my new NTL250. My connection is substantially better than with the Terayon, which couldn't stay connected for more than a few seconds, but the random drops make online gaming almost impossible. In general use I get my full 2Mb speed so I don't see it as a problem with my modem or PC but just the general instability in NTL's network that others are seeing.

davidsi 16-04-2006 23:23
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
The engineer that replaced my Terrayon said that the changes they were making on the UBR's were knocking out some Terrayon's but not all of them - not sure why its only some (he also said some set top boxes had been hit by the changes as well). He'd apparently replaced a fair few this week and his next visit after me was he suspected the same problem. Since the NTL250 has been installed I've seen no problems.

p-code 17-04-2006 00:48
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
I'm having these terribly annoying connection problems at home too - probably for about a week or so now. I've also got a Terayon modem, and live in Welwyn Garden. The Terayon modem explanation sounds plausible, however whatever problems this household is experiencing are definitely in NTL's bit (ie. cable modem or beyond) rather than my network.

I haven't contacted support yet because of the easter thing. Is there a form of words I can use to talk to support that will give me the least grief and save call costs? (I am technically competent).

davidsi 17-04-2006 10:31
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
p-code, its sounds as if you have exactly the same problem (I'm also in welwyn garden). Firstly, when you call support it seems the 0800 number is still active (they send you an email afterwards to remind you to use the 0845 number...). One of the frustrating things with the first line support is that they assume everyone knows nothing, so you may have to play along with them for a while, but I was told by a second/third level support person that you should be able to request access to second level support on that normal number. I'd give it a go and let us all know how you get on!

greyripper 17-04-2006 16:59
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
Finally, I think it is fixed.
One week after the first engineer called, and four visits later, the engineer who came today diagnosed it as a network problem. The network engineer came out about 2 hours later, and replaced a downstream amplifier in the distribution box. Since then, I have been up for nearly three hours! - a record for the past week.
Why it took so long I have no idea. I have absolutely no confidence in NTL from a technical point of view now, seriously considering moving to a BT line with an ISP such as Pipex or Talk-Talk.
Still waiting to hear what compensation they are going to offer for my lack of service and the numerous lengthy calls to 'tech' support.
BTW - the new broadband tech support number is an 0871 which is 10p/minute. And you get an e-mail telling you to use the new number - which you have just used!

matteath 20-04-2006 04:43
Re: Erratic connections - getting nowhere with NTL support
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemonzest
I've noticed this alot today in the NG7 area, both myself and a friend are having dropped connections/lag spikes almost every 5 mins.
I've noticed similar with my NTL250 modem.I'm in the NG5 area. Might ask NTL to let me put my Motorola 4100 in place of my 250!:erm:


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