Cable Forum - 200M Occasional Dropouts

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Damien

02-06-2020 14:19

Occasional Dropouts

I am having an issue where my internet will completely disconnect for a few minutes before coming back on. It's not a Wi-Fi issue, this happens on ethernet as well.

Here is the quality monitor for today for example:

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broad...02-06-2020.png

My router diagnostics seem fine when the internet is working but I cannot connect to the hub when the internet goes down! The only time I can connect is when it starts working again at which point I don't see anything wrong?

Network Log:

Network Log
Time Priority Description
02/06/2020 11:57:28 Warning! RCS Partial Service;
02/06/2020 11:57:28 critical SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;
02/06/2020 11:47:35 Warning! RCS Partial Service;
02/06/2020 11:47:35 critical SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;
02/06/2020 10:42:40 Warning! RCS Partial Service;
02/06/2020 10:42:40 critical SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;

Downstream (as time of writing)

Spoiler:

Any insights/advice before I phone VM? I want to be as prepared as possible (and I have restarted the router multiple times)

General Maximus

02-06-2020 15:29

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Something is terribly wrong and I amazed your connection is working at all. You have got hundreds of thousands of post rs errors on every channel. I don't know whether that is indicative of a fault on VM's end or yours. If it is happening on VMs end everyone is fooked. Tne SNR on the downstream channel is ok, what are your power levels like on the upstream?

Without seeing your upstream power levels I am going to take a stab in the dark and say that there is noise on the line which is causing the shub to ramp up the upstream power and when it is getting too high the shub is resetting itself to try again which is why you are losing your connection for a few mins. I think a tap point change is in order and will improve your downstream power levels as well.

Damien

02-06-2020 15:45

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Eeeek...

Upsteam:

Upstream bonded channels
Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) Symbol Rate (ksps) Modulation Channel ID
1 32599942 3.45 5120 64 qam 3
2 46200000 3.55 5120 64 qam 1
3 25800015 3.425 5120 64 qam 4
4 39400000 3.5 5120 64 qam 2

Upstream bonded channels
Channel Channel Type T1 Timeouts T2 Timeouts T3 Timeouts T4 Timeouts
1 ATDMA 0 0 0 0
2 ATDMA 0 0 0 0
3 ATDMA 0 0 0 0
4 ATDMA 0 0 0 0

General Maximus

02-06-2020 15:56

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Too low. Upstream power is the shub's responsibility but I don't know whether a new shub will fix it or whether your tap point needs moving in the cabinet (or both). You can do one of two things. Normally I would want to get a tech out to see what he thinks and you have got the peace of mind the problem will be resolved. He can give you a new shub or move the tap point. The problem is that in the current climate I don't know what tech visits are like, if they are still doing them and how long a delay there is going to be if they are operating at reduced staffing levels. If they tell you it is going to be 2-3 weeks and you feel the intermittent disruption is intolerable, I would ask for a new shub to be sent out. It will be next day delivery and you can hook it up in a few mins and you'll know instantly whether the problem is fixed or not. If it isn't then you can revert to the tech visit for further investigation.

Damien

02-06-2020 16:02

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Phoned VM and they want me to do a router reset before anything else - said downstream was fine - so I am going to do that tonight as connected to a VPN right now. I hate having to phone VM for this stuff.

Pierre

02-06-2020 20:50

Re: Occasional Dropouts

I loved Occasional Dropouts, I got their 3rd album.

SnoopZ

02-06-2020 22:04

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36038071)

Setup a Think broadband graph, let's see how bad that looks.

Also log into the hub and reset those errors to 0 so we can see how quickly they climb.

General Maximus

02-06-2020 22:14

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36038071)

Phoned VM and they want me to do a router reset before anything else

reboot or a factory reset? It will have rebooted every time you have a drop out and it tries to re-establish the connection. Factory reset would be interesting although I don't see why it would help. I assume it is in modem mode atm if you have got a vpn setup on a proper router? I am still itching towards the shub being at fault. If noise was an issue you would have seen the modulation drop on the upstream channels all the way back down to qam16.

ianch99

02-06-2020 22:22

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36038050)

I am having an issue where my internet will completely disconnect for a few minutes before coming back on. It's not a Wi-Fi issue, this happens on ethernet as well.

Here is the quality monitor for today for example:

[img]Download Failed (1)[/img]

My router diagnostics seem fine when the internet is working but I cannot connect to the hub when the internet goes down! The only time I can connect is when it starts working again at which point I don't see anything wrong?

Network Log:

Network Log
Time Priority Description
02/06/2020 11:57:28 Warning! RCS Partial Service;
02/06/2020 11:57:28 critical SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;
02/06/2020 11:47:35 Warning! RCS Partial Service;
02/06/2020 11:47:35 critical SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;
02/06/2020 10:42:40 Warning! RCS Partial Service;
02/06/2020 10:42:40 critical SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;

Downstream (as time of writing)

Spoiler:

Any insights/advice before I phone VM? I want to be as prepared as possible (and I have restarted the router multiple times)

If you have a inline FPA (Forward Path Attentuator) between the Hub 3.0 and your (white?) coax cable then trying removing it? If it is a 6dB FPA then you would be in the right area for downstream power i.e. -2 to +7dB.

If you do not have a FPA fitted then you would need a Engineer to visit to fix this .. not sure if the upstream settings are ok though :(

BTW, a FPA looks like this:

https://www.cableforum.uk/images/local/2020/06/1.jpg

Damien

02-06-2020 22:23

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnoopZ (Post 36038120)

Setup a Think broadband graph, let's see how bad that looks.

Also log into the hub and reset those errors to 0 so we can see how quickly they climb.

Opps I had one at the start of the thread but it's gone. Here we go, since the factory reset: https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broad...02-06-2020.png

So unsurprisingly the factory reset didn't work.

---------- Post added at 22:23 ---------- Previous post was at 22:22 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Maximus (Post 36038122)

Nah, I meant I connect to a VPN elsewhere and I didn't want to restart my internet and drop off it for a time.

General Maximus

03-06-2020 09:52

Re: Occasional Dropouts

still seeing red, doubt it fared well overnight

SnoopZ

03-06-2020 11:19

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Stick a post on the VM forums then you don't need to phone up, may take a week for a response though.

Damien

03-06-2020 12:02

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Everytime I get though they don't seem to care about that broadband monitor showing dropped packets and say the status on the modern is fine.

---------- Post added at 12:02 ---------- Previous post was at 11:49 ----------

Got through to someone who knew what they were doing. Spotted the dropouts and booked an engineer

ianch99

03-06-2020 13:00

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36038161)

Did you check if you had a FPA fitted and if so, did removing it change anything?

Damien

03-06-2020 19:54

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Nah didn't have anything fitted.

Look at what happened after 2pm!

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broad...03-06-2020.png

General Maximus

03-06-2020 20:04

Re: Occasional Dropouts

looks like a 5 minute disconnect because the shub was constantly rebooting and couldn't establish a connection.

Damien

03-06-2020 20:40

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Maximus (Post 36038232)

looks like a 5 minute disconnect because the shub was constantly rebooting and couldn't establish a connection.

What is a sub? I am assuming the VM Hub - the actual modem - right?

daveeb

03-06-2020 20:55

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36038243)

What is a sub? I am assuming the VM Hub - the actual modem - right?

Superhub (shub). VM probably should have left out the super part of the description in all truth :D

Skie	03-06-2020 21:02

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Looks identical to what I was experiencing a few weeks ago. When the engineer comes, insist he does a line test back to the cabinet in the street. My first engineer visit was just to replace the hub, which 'fixed' the problem for all of a day until it all went downhill again.

Second engineer did a proper test and found a damaged cable underground. Luckily it was easy enough to replace and it's sorted me out apart from a few random errors.

Damien

03-06-2020 21:41

Re: Occasional Dropouts

They said they passed the dropout information to the engineer so hopefully they'll test the line itself?

General Maximus

03-06-2020 21:50

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36038243)

What is a sub? I am assuming the VM Hub - the actual modem - right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveeb (Post 36038246)

Superhub (shub). VM probably should have left out the super part of the description in all truth :D

I thought you was joking. I am amazed you haven't picked up on it before. Many of us have been using that expression since 2009 ish when shub 1 was around. I hate contradictions and I have never been able to, in good conscience, call it a "super"hub. We actually called it the pooperhub to start off with but one of the admins told us off for it so we came up with shub instead. It is an absolute joke given the plethora of problems and bugs there have been with each model plus the fact that pretty much any consumer bought router has more features and out performs the shub. Doesn't make it that super does it? Btw, is there a reason why they haven't fixed the decimal point in the upstream power levels yet? :rolleyes:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36038257)

They said they passed the dropout information to the engineer so hopefully they'll test the line itself?

He'll test the connection in the street cabinet to see what it is reading and make sure it isn't a network fault and if that is ok he'll test the connection from the cabinet to your house to see if the cable is ok and then have a look at the connectors, splitters and isolators within the premises. There is a checklist of stuff he has got to do to make sure everything is mint and he'll get you to sign it before he goes.

ianch99

03-06-2020 21:51

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36038231)

Nah didn't have anything fitted.

Look at what happened after 2pm!

[img]Download Failed (1)[/img]

I was seeing graphs like this when the downstream power levels had drifted out of band (between -3 and -8 db in my case).

https://www.cableforum.uk/images/local/2020/06/4.png

I took out the 6db FPA which brought them back into band:

https://www.cableforum.uk/images/local/2020/06/5.png

If you have no FPA, I think the Engineer is required to do something at the patch panel in the (black) street cabinet to up the power levels. Might be wrong though ..

It will be interesting to see what he (or she) says ..

Damien

03-06-2020 22:17

Re: Occasional Dropouts

I really need to better understand what these things all mean. What is a power level in this context? What is an RS error?

spiderplant

03-06-2020 23:08

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36038267)

What is a power level in this context? What is an RS error?

The power level is the signal strength from the cable into the hub. It should be between -6 and +10 when it is installed. (This does include some margin for signals varying over time, so your signals might drift outside this range but not actually cause a problem).

RS is Reed-Solomon forward error correction. Some extra check bits are appended to each data packet that's transmitted so that if the packet is slightly corrupted by noise on the network, the errors can be corrected (that's known as a correctable error). If the corruption is more severe, it won't be possible to correct the errors, but the receiver will still know that the data was incorrect, so it can discard the packet entirely (an uncorrectable error).

When an uncorrectable error happens on broadband, the high-level protocols generally detect that a packet has been lost, and requests its retranmission, but this takes time so slows down your data transfer. If an uncorrectable error happens on broadcast TV, there is no way to request retransmission, so parts of the picture are simply missed - usually it pixellates.

SnoopZ

03-06-2020 23:09

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36038267)

I really need to better understand what these things all mean. What is a power level in this context? What is an RS error?

I too thought you joking not knowing what the term shub meant with you being on this site all these years but I am sitting here shaking my head at your other questions.... Lol

General Maximus

03-06-2020 23:25

Re: Occasional Dropouts

In your downstream table you have got pre-rs errors and post-rs errors. The pre errors are the bits of dats that arrive to you corrupted before they have had a chance to be fixed. The post errors are the one that have tried and cannot be fixed and these are the ones you need to worry about because it is lost data. Traditionally when there is problem with a particular channel you'll see 0 post rs errors down the list and then a few hundred or thousand on one channel but you have got a ridiculous amount across the board which just doesn't happen unless there was a major problem higher up the network and if that was the case VM would have picked up on it by now. That is why I believe the problem is more your end.

Maggy

04-06-2020 08:20

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnoopZ (Post 36038274)

I too thought you joking not knowing what the term shub meant with you being on this site all these years but I am sitting here shaking my head at your other questions.... Lol

I don't know all that either.My and Damien's skills lie elsewhere..;)

Damien

04-06-2020 09:48

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by spiderplant (Post 36038273)

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Maximus (Post 36038275)

Cheers!

Let's see what the engineer says. Hopefully, they'll be alarmed by the RS and power levels and track it down. My fear is they'll go 'internet's working tho' and leave it.

General Maximus

04-06-2020 10:42

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maggy (Post 36038281)

I don't know all that either.My and Damien's skills lie elsewhere..;)

I hope so because you have got 68,000 posts between you so you have been up to something :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36038287)

My fear is they'll go 'internet's working tho' and leave it.

fret not, the peeps on the phone might be ming mongs but the techs know what they are doing. Intermittent faults are annoying and hard to diagnose but you have done the work for him. Show him your graph, power levels and rs errors and he'll know what is going on.

Damien

06-06-2020 14:22

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Update!

The engineer said the wiring was one of the worst he has ever seen. The worst he has seen and for the internet to still be working anyway. The cable was damaged, the box outside had splitters going off in different directions hurting the power, the cable has been wired up to bend right away and had gone. He basically was confused about how it was working

Replaced everything including the shub.

I still have Post RS errors but in the low thousands. I.E 6648. Is that normal?

General Maximus

06-06-2020 14:47

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Cool. Can you post you post the same screenshots as before (downstream and upstream tabs) for comparison. A new gra0h later this evening will be good as well.so we can see before and after.

SnoopZ

06-06-2020 15:02

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36038604)

Log into you hub and restart it from the GUI this will reset the post rs errors, you shouldn't get hardly any let alone 6000!!!

Damien

06-06-2020 15:05

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Downstream:

Spoiler:

Upstream:

Spoiler:

Thoughts?

I'll post a graph later when it's had longer to build.

---------- Post added at 15:05 ---------- Previous post was at 15:04 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnoopZ (Post 36038611)

Log into you hub and restart it from the GUI this will reset the post rs errors, you shouldn't get hardly any let alone 6000!!!

He placed the hub so it should have been refreshed anyway? That said it's not moved for a while. Let me check.

SnoopZ

06-06-2020 15:09

Re: Occasional Dropouts

You need to reset the post rs errors, post rs are really bad if that high.

---------- Post added at 15:09 ---------- Previous post was at 15:06 ----------

If you're getting post rs errors in the 100s then you still have a big issue, but you're seeing them in 1000s.

Damien

06-06-2020 15:18

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Ok it's been restarted for a few mins:

Downstream bonded channels
Channel Locked Status RxMER (dB) Pre RS Errors Post RS Errors
1 Locked 37.6 5 0
2 Locked 38.6 5 0
3 Locked 38.9 4 0
4 Locked 38.6 0 0
5 Locked 38.6 0 0
6 Locked 38.6 0 0
7 Locked 38.6 19 0
8 Locked 38.6 5 0
9 Locked 38.6 5 0
10 Locked 37.3 4 0
11 Locked 38.6 5 0
12 Locked 37.3 5 0
13 Locked 37.6 5 0
14 Locked 37.6 4 0
15 Locked 37.6 0 0
16 Locked 37.6 6 0
17 Locked 37.6 0 0
18 Locked 37.6 0 0
19 Locked 37.3 6 0
20 Locked 37.6 5 0
21 Locked 37.6 4 0
22 Locked 37.6 6 0
23 Locked 37.3 11 0
24 Locked 37.3 20 0

---------- Post added at 15:18 ---------- Previous post was at 15:15 ----------

The engineer went to go fix the taps or something after the correction here so maybe that accounted for the high rs levels at first?

SnoopZ

06-06-2020 15:25

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Pre rs is normal unless really high, you don't want any post rs really.

spiderplant

06-06-2020 15:39

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Your MER is good. See how it goes over a longer time period, but for now it's all looking fine.

Damien

06-06-2020 15:47

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Still no RS errors

SnoopZ

06-06-2020 15:59

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36038622)

Still no RS errors

Looking good then.

vm_tech

06-06-2020 20:54

Re: Occasional Dropouts

I haven’t worked on a cable modem for quite a while, but they always used to count a few errors in the boot sequence whilst looking to lock to the frequencies so probably that

Damien

06-06-2020 22:19

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Yup, at first hundreds of thousands, then a few thousands, now still 0. Graph is looking better too:

https://www.cableforum.uk/images/local/2020/06/12.png

General Maximus

07-06-2020 09:59

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36038654)

Graph is looking better too:

yeah, it looks a lot cleaner

Damien

07-06-2020 20:58

Re: Occasional Dropouts

https://www.cableforum.uk/images/local/2020/06/13.png

:)

So who knows for sure what was wrong since he redid all the wiring but the wiring inside was bad, the cable was worn to boot, it was bent when set up with pressure on it and all the wiring outside was wrong. The engineer was surprised it ever worked and had a very low opinion of whomever set it all up. Also replaced the hub.

General Maximus

07-06-2020 21:09

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Sweet, i love new everything.

Damien

12-06-2020 13:56

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Should i worry about Post ER errors happening occasionally?

After a week of being fine, I just had a temporary dropout.

Quote:

Downstream bonded channels
Channel Locked Status RxMER (dB) Pre RS Errors Post RS Errors
1 Locked 36.3 35578 1274
2 Locked 36.3 30183 1425
3 Locked 36.6 26597 1644
4 Locked 36.6 23638 1048
5 Locked 36.3 20564 1217
6 Locked 37.3 18212 1167
7 Locked 37.6 15940 1686
8 Locked 37.6 14344 1344
9 Locked 37.6 13070 1187
10 Locked 37.6 12170 1719
11 Locked 37.6 11295 1073
12 Locked 37.3 10465 1077
13 Locked 37.6 9651 1690
14 Locked 37.6 8701 1225
15 Locked 37.6 7941 1233
16 Locked 37.3 7485 1597
17 Locked 37.6 7046 1217
18 Locked 37.6 6394 2052
19 Locked 37.6 5777 1099
20 Locked 37.6 5238 1156
21 Locked 37.3 4882 1119
22 Locked 37.6 4571 1233
23 Locked 37.6 4256 991
24 Locked 37.6 4083 1642

---------- Post added at 13:56 ---------- Previous post was at 13:56 ----------

It might just be a one off but I am obviously paranoid.

General Maximus

12-06-2020 14:26

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36039571)

It might just be a one off but I am obviously paranoid.

and you are right to be, there is still an issue. If there was a problem with noise on VM's end it would manifest as errors on one channels. Post rs errors should be very few and far between. You shouldn't see any at all, absolutely 0, and even when I have had problems in the past it has only been a handful. You have got over 1000 on each channel which means there is something wrong with your line again. I would hazard a guess that when they came out last time and replaced bits that they may not have tightened up some of the connectors in the box on the outside of your house or something and some water has got in over the last couple of days.

It is up to you how long you want to leave this for. You can wait to see if it gets worse but it is going to need sorting out and the sooner the better. If i were you I would ring them up and tell them you are still having the same problem and it hasn't been fixed from the last time they came out. Keep your graphs going (you can look at them historically) so when a tech comes round and says he replaced everything and cant find anything wrong you can show him the graphs, the packet loss and disconnects.

Damien

12-06-2020 15:12

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Doh.

Do I need to a raise a new case with VM? The engineer left a phone number to text if it went wrong in the next 48 hours but this is a week later....

General Maximus

12-06-2020 15:45

Re: Occasional Dropouts

You can try the tech first because you might find he comes out faster (like tonight after work) rather than if you were to arrange through VM. They give you their number so that if there is something wrong they can fix it on the q.t. because if you ring VM and say it still hasn't been fixed it will go down on the tech's record as a faulty repair/installation. There was an intermittent network in my area a few years ago which resulted in frequent random dropouts which were affecting everything. VM got onto toute suite and even though they fixed it on day 1 of me reporting it the tech was very good and rang me everyday for one week to make sure it was fixed and everything was okay. Definitely give him a ring first, the worst thing he can do is say he can't help you/he is too busy bla bla bla and you need to arrange a call centrally. Which ever way you decide to go I would make a call today so you get something arranged because the weekend is just going to be dead time.

SnoopZ

12-06-2020 16:15

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Do you know the drop out was only you?

I wouldn't worry too much unless it happens regularly, but I would reboot the router from the GUI to reset the errors.

Damien

13-06-2020 13:15

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Nah it keeps happened again now. A week of being perfect and then BAM same issue. I am thinking it might be the water too.

I sent a text to the engineer and he said he would get back to me today but haven't heard anything today, wondering how long to give him until I just phone VM.

General Maximus

13-06-2020 14:22

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Tbh i would give him the whole day and only ring VM if you havent heard anything tomorrow. If it is his day off he will want to come round when has done whatever he had planned for today and similarly if he is at work he'll try and get jobs done quickly to give him enough time at the end of his shift to pop round. Either way i dont think you'll hear anything until late afternoon/evening.

Damien

13-06-2020 14:33

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Maximus (Post 36039651)

Well, he said he would contact me this morning as he would be in the area today but I'll give more time. I guess there is no real urgency between today vs tomorrow to phone VM.

General Maximus

14-06-2020 10:24

Re: Occasional Dropouts

any news?

crazyronnie

15-06-2020 13:45

Re: Occasional Dropouts

i've been having really bad dropouts on my VM connection for the last 2 weeks but the service status checker says that there aren't any issues in my area. Called up VM and was told theres a capacity issues in my area which may be causing the dropouts when usage in the area is high. I was told that the capacity issue should be fixed by the 24th of June. Not sure if this is true or im being fobbed off.

General Maximus

15-06-2020 13:57

Re: Occasional Dropouts

You are being fobbed off to get you off the phone for a couple of weeks. When you ring back and say you was told it would be fixed on 24th they'll say it has been put back to xx date dye to unforeseen circumstances and that will be a lie as well. They are just trying to buy time for enough people to get back to work to take some load off the work. It was designed to cope with everyone being at home 24/7.

crazyronnie

15-06-2020 14:01

Re: Occasional Dropouts

The interesting thing is it had been rocked solid up until 2 weeks go.

SnoopZ

15-06-2020 17:08

Re: Occasional Dropouts

I would post it on VM forum then you won't have to speak to anyone, it'll take around a week for a reply though, but they will check your connection and arrange an engineer via pm if they find a fault.

Skie	15-06-2020 22:20

Re: Occasional Dropouts

If your connection is being particularly bad, try using your mobile to run a test on the VM website. https://my.virginmedia.com/faults/service-status

In some cases it will detect that there is an issue and give you the option to book an engineer and choose a slot. But if you run it 3 times and it doesn't find an issue, you're then locked out of running it for a day (which is crazy...)

Damien

17-06-2020 13:33

Re: Occasional Dropouts

2nd engineer come and gone and already the RS errors have started again. Sort of giving up hope at this point.

---------- Post added at 13:33 ---------- Previous post was at 13:17 ----------

Quote:

Downstream bonded channels
Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) SNR (dB) Modulation Channel ID
1 226750000 2.7 38 256 qam 12
2 138750000 2.2 37 256 qam 1
3 146750000 2.2 37 256 qam 2
4 154750000 2.2 37 256 qam 3
5 162750000 2.4 37 256 qam 4
6 170750000 2.7 37 256 qam 5
7 178750000 2.9 37 256 qam 6
8 186750000 3 37 256 qam 7
9 194750000 3 38 256 qam 8
10 202750000 3 38 256 qam 9
11 210750000 3 38 256 qam 10
12 218750000 2.9 38 256 qam 11
13 234750000 2.7 38 256 qam 13
14 242750000 2.7 38 256 qam 14
15 250750000 2.7 38 256 qam 15
16 258750000 2.9 38 256 qam 16
17 266750000 2.7 38 256 qam 17
18 274750000 2.7 38 256 qam 18
19 282750000 2.7 38 256 qam 19
20 290750000 2.7 38 256 qam 20
21 298750000 3 37 256 qam 21
22 306750000 3 38 256 qam 22
23 314750000 3 38 256 qam 23
24 322750000 3 38 256 qam 24

Downstream bonded channels
Channel Locked Status RxMER (dB) Pre RS Errors Post RS Errors
1 Locked 38.6 29441 1790
2 Locked 37.6 130574 2173
3 Locked 37.6 110182 2395
4 Locked 37.6 93503 2654
5 Locked 37.6 80881 1860
6 Locked 37.3 69432 2139
7 Locked 37.6 60381 2843
8 Locked 37.6 51307 2916
9 Locked 38.6 44514 2320
10 Locked 38.6 39831 2600
11 Locked 38.6 36032 2544
12 Locked 38.6 32328 2501
13 Locked 38.6 26080 2264
14 Locked 38.6 23105 1981
15 Locked 38.9 20696 1276
16 Locked 38.6 19187 2070
17 Locked 38.6 17743 2265
18 Locked 38.6 15918 3062
19 Locked 38.6 13908 2164
20 Locked 38.9 12776 2021
21 Locked 37.6 11339 2250
22 Locked 38.6 10244 2035
23 Locked 38.9 9054 2494
24 Locked 38.9 8393 2453

General Maximus

17-06-2020 14:42

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Did the engineer say what he had done or replaced? Ring up and put in a complaint and say you have had 2 engineers out and the fault is still there and you have evidence of it. Afaik on the third call out the principle engineer has to attend. Show him the rs errors and the graph and they will see that something is awry. There must be a damaged cable or something somewhere which they haven't found. They can't keep coming out and leaving saying everything is ok.

Damien

17-06-2020 14:59

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Maximus (Post 36040140)

He said the attenuator the last engineer had put in wasn't needed. Which on reflection and looking at the logs wasn't true at the time and was now, it's just the power levels changed since then. He also changed something in the cabinet.

He had an app that showed everything in red, after he made the changes it was green.

Right now though the power levels look ok so I don't know?

Do you think I should call back today's engineer or just escalate it now to get the principle engineer?

SnoopZ

17-06-2020 16:33

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Yer may require a re pull, those errors are terrible, I'm surprised you have internet.

Damien

17-06-2020 16:43

Re: Occasional Dropouts

What's a re pull?

SnoopZ

17-06-2020 16:46

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36040161)

What's a re pull?

New cable from Cabinet to your house wall.

Damien

17-06-2020 17:31

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnoopZ (Post 36040163)

New cable from Cabinet to your house wall.

Wouldn't that be a massive task?

---------- Post added at 16:50 ---------- Previous post was at 16:50 ----------

I phoned the engineer and he said he needs to pass onto the network guys?

---------- Post added at 17:31 ---------- Previous post was at 16:50 ----------

I think it's worse now than before. ffs.

General Maximus

17-06-2020 19:24

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36040164)

I phoned the engineer and he said he needs to pass onto the network guys?

Once it gets passed onto networks it gets fixed pronto so if you don't hear anything back by the end of tomorrow I would ring up and complain. From a diagnostics and troubleshooting point of view they know that the problem is more your end and not at the cabinet or higher which would affect multiple customers. That means there is a limited number of cables/connectors that can be damaged and if they don't know what is causing the problem then they need to start swapping stuff out to see if it makes any difference.

Damien

17-06-2020 19:27

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Maximus (Post 36040186)

So passing it off to network is actual progression then? He told me to ring him first thing Friday to see but I was worried that, given it's clearly my end, that networks would just go 'lol wot?' and I would lose another day....

General Maximus

17-06-2020 20:01

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36040187)

So passing it off to network is actual progression then?

In a sense, networks aren't going to fix it but they are will rule out a network fault which by process of elimination means it is something your end which we already know. The tech is just covering his bases if he thinks he has done everything he can and there is something going on elsewhere beyond his control. Networks will get back to him tomorrow with a definitive answer so if he says he doesn't know what is causing it ask him if he can start changing cables and connectors. Hopefully he will use his initiative and seek advice from his boss when networks say there can't do anything. After all, all of this reflects badly on him if you ring up and complain. Whatever you do don't let them fob you off saying they are going to monitor it over the weekend bla bla bla. You want any answer on Friday as to what course of action they are going to take.

Skie	17-06-2020 20:01

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Did he visit the cabinet at all?

Engineers can replace damaged cable from your property up to the tap point in the street, so if the damage is there and he didn't bother to check by running a line test from the cabinet....

Damien

17-06-2020 20:42

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Maximus (Post 36040194)

Ok well at least then I am not wasting time by letting them pass it to networks.

---------- Post added at 20:42 ---------- Previous post was at 20:41 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skie (Post 36040195)

Yeah he did that. He had an app that showed the status. When he arrived it was all red, then it turned green, then a few hours after he left it started happening again.

Last week the other engineer replaced everything and it went a week being fine before starting again.

This is part of the problem because the engineer does make it work. When they leave the signal strength/power is fine. All the checks pass. Then it starts again after they leave.

This time it's much worse though.

SnoopZ

17-06-2020 20:56

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36040164)

A re pull is straight forward for the team that do it, but you may not need one.

General Maximus

17-06-2020 21:10

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36040202)

Ok well at least then I am not wasting time by letting them pass it to networks.

nope. Better to get it done and out the way now so they can say it is nothing to do with them and it is something else.

Damien

17-06-2020 21:18

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnoopZ (Post 36040206)

A re pull is straight forward for the team that do it, but you may not need one.

See in my mind that means digging up the whole road. I am guessing they don't need to do that. I think that's the way it's going because the first engineer did seem to know what he was doing. Although it's weird it worked fine for a week.

spiderplant

17-06-2020 21:23

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36040210)

See in my mind that means digging up the whole road.

The cable runs in a conduit so they just pull the new cable through using a flexible rod. But anyway, you don't need a repull. The fault is either in the cabinet or further upstream.

Damien

18-06-2020 11:46

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Unusable now. Have to switch to mobile hotspot

spiderplant

18-06-2020 11:52

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36040246)

Unusable now. Have to switch to mobile hotspot

An amplifier is being replaced in the cabinet. It'll take about an hour.

General Maximus

18-06-2020 11:56

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Water has got in somewhere. What is your graph like?

Damien

18-06-2020 13:02

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by spiderplant (Post 36040249)

An amplifier is being replaced in the cabinet. It'll take about an hour.

:tu: Ooo I'll try a bit later

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Maximus (Post 36040252)

Water has got in somewhere. What is your graph like?

https://www.cableforum.uk/images/local/2020/06/16.png

---------- Post added at 13:02 ---------- Previous post was at 12:14 ----------

Just had a visit from the enginner who was working on the cabinet, says it's all fixed. Was an issue with the amplifier only impacting me? So far so good, no RS errors yet

General Maximus

18-06-2020 13:18

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Keep your graph going. If it is fixed you'll see s stark contrast and it clear up big time over the next couple of hours.

Damien

18-06-2020 13:23

Re: Occasional Dropouts

It's weird. Still don't know what happened.

The initial engineer did seem to fix it. Perfect for a week. Then in the last week it's the worst it's ever been and - for now - cleared up again. Did the first engineer fix the actual issue but then do something to the cabinet that only hit a week later? Is it a coincidence?

spiderplant

18-06-2020 13:23

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36040259)

Just had a visit from the enginner who was working on the cabinet, says it's all fixed. Was an issue with the amplifier only impacting me? So far so good, no RS errors yet

No, it was affecting everyone on your cabinet.

Kushan

18-06-2020 13:47

Re: Occasional Dropouts

You'd be surprised at how few people notice their connection is being flaky. Or just tolerate it instead of calling up and getting it fixed.

General Maximus

18-06-2020 13:53

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Quote:

Originally Posted by spiderplant (Post 36040270)

No, it was affecting everyone on your cabinet.

There you go, you can feel good about yourself now. Your perseverance has paid off and if it wasn't for you it may have gone unnoticed and everyone would have been in their houses embroiled in connection misery.

Damien

18-06-2020 14:18

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Some people might call me a hero......

---------- Post added at 14:18 ---------- Previous post was at 13:58 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kushan (Post 36040272)

You'd be surprised at how few people notice their connection is being flaky. Or just tolerate it instead of calling up and getting it fixed.

Before this week when it was going down often and for longer it wasn't too bad.

It would cut off a few times a day for a few minutes. If I wasn't working from home i may not have noticed it. If you weren't on VPN, video calls or online gaming - something that is making constant use of the connection - you might also not noticed. If YouTube took time buffering or a page failed to load you would think it's just being slow.

So yeah you could easily not notice if you were a casual internet user.

spiderplant

18-06-2020 14:41

Re: Occasional Dropouts

Actually three of your neighbours also reported it - but you got the credit because you were first. The fault would have been really obvious to anybody with the TV service.

Hugh	18-06-2020 15:17

Re: Occasional Dropouts

1 Attachment(s)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien (Post 36040276)

Some people might call me a hero......

---------- Post added at 14:18 ---------- Previous post was at 13:58 ----------

Before this week when it was going down often and for longer it wasn't too bad.

It would cut off a few times a day for a few minutes. If I wasn't working from home i may not have noticed it. If you weren't on VPN, video calls or online gaming - something that is making constant use of the connection - you might also not noticed. If YouTube took time buffering or a page failed to load you would think it's just being slow.

So yeah you could easily not notice if you were a casual internet user.

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...3&d=1592489843

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