BT Connection regularly failing

H

half scot

Registered User
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Hi,
Just got 2MB BT BB installed at home last week but I seem to be having a regular problem.
I'd be on the net for a period of time,say 45 mins, and then it would display 'page cannot be displayed'
I'd notice on their Zyxel modem that the (I think) PPP light,which flashes orange when it has a connection,is no lit up.
The DSL light then flashes to try to re-establish the connection but this can take up to an hour to reconnect.
Is there anything I can do myself to stop this from happening?Or should I escalate it to BT?
Thanks
Half Scot
 
I would say power down then back up the router. Power off for a few minutes then power back on.

I would also say talk to BT.
 
Chances are its a router issue rather than the actual service. What model is the zyxel?
Their tech support is quite reasonable - give them a call. You may have to wait for a good while but at least the machine takes your number if its too long a wait and someone does call you back.
 
I have that zyxel and dont have issues with it, Id def. escalate.. As serotonin says, ring their tech support and leave your name and number when prompted and they will call you back.

when you get page not found, can you access your zyxel config page and see if its got an IP?
 
I've had this problem and strangely only in the past two months, for the first few months everything was perfect but now what you describe has been happening. I rang BT and was told to disconnect modem from socket for a minute or two, it seems a pain in the ar..e to have to do this all the time and reminds me of the photocopier repair man blaming damp paper on the photocopy machine always breaking down.
 
Thnaks for the replies
When it happens,I've turned it off after say 10 minutes of it trying to connect back to the net but its still not happening.
I'm not sure of the model,don't have it to hand,but I only got it last week so I take its a relatively new one.
I think escalating the issue and making BT aware.
 
I have the exact same DSL router and had no broadband from Friday Oct 27th to Friday Nov.3rd. I rang BT every day during that week. It took on average 45 minutes each time to get through to their "Customer Care". Only once was I given the option of a Callback, which in fairness, I received. They said there was a break in the fibre optic cable in Castlebar which afftected the 06 (my) area! It was eventually fixed after 7 days disruption. I expect to have another battle on my hands looking for a week's refund on my bill. Their Customer Service is the worst ever.
 
maebee said:
I have the exact same DSL router
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We don't know this seeing as the OP hasnt confirmed which zyxel router he has.

maebee said:
They said there was a break in the fibre optic cable in Castlebar which afftected the 06 (my) area!
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I had an outage around this time for exactly the same reason (although for me it was only 24 hours). Don't know enough about it to determine if an outage in another region could affect your service - maybe someone else can?
I rang customer service that evening and got through more or less immediately. Problems with the actual telecoms infrastructure are out of BT's hands (eircom control this) - so if your not satisfied with the length of time it took to get your service back up, its them you should be pointing the finger at.

maebee said:
...and had no broadband from Friday Oct 27th to Friday Nov.3rd. I rang BT every day during that week. It took on average 45 minutes each time to get through to their "Customer Care". Only once was I given the option of a Callback, which in fairness, I received.
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Have had waits of half an hour in the past - calls being at peak times but always got a call back.

I expect to have another battle on my hands looking for a week's refund on my bill.
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Probably, but it cant be as tough a challenge as getting it out of eircom (trust me, i've tried twice).
Their Customer Service is the worst ever.
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Good customer service in the telecoms sector is hard to find in general. Their billing is their main problem. But of course you shouldnt have to wait more than ten minutes to get through to customer service.
 
Quick suggestion. Are you the only person using the line when the braodband goes down? My family had a problem whereby one of the family was on the net and another one of them made a phonecall - the broadband connection used to drop (They are also BT customers). Everyone blamed the equipment. When I had a look at the setup last weekend I found that they had installed the broadband incorrectly - the problem was there are 3 extensions to the main phone line. Each phone hanging off the line needed a microfilter which was not in place. Furthermore they had connected a microfilter in front of the DSL modem - a definite no-no. Anyhow I swapped all the filters around and hey presto everything works. May not address your problem but worth checking.
 
Thanks lissard for your view and I think you've got me...it does fail around the time someone makes/receives a call or soon after, not all the time but I did notice it was around the time. I just thought it might have been coincidence.

I'm not too hot on the technology but I think we're set-up ok, our micro-filters are in place.

the problem was there are 3 extensions to the main phone line. Each phone hanging off the line needed a micro filter which was not in place.
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The majority of time its grand but when it does fail, it could in the middle of writing an email which can be slightly annoying. And its never in a rush to connect back either, adding to the frustration!:( Up to an hour!

Btw, I logged a fault with BT last Tuesday via their website, didn’t get a fault number to my email so I re-logged on Friday but again nothing. I haven't had the chance/time to ring them.

Just as I was writing this I luckily noticed that the ‘PPP’ (orange when connected) is now off, I think signalling its lost a connection. The ‘DSL’ light isn’t even lit now so its not even trying to connect. And we have just received a call.

I double checked all connections as per their instruction and to me it looks fine. Micro-filter coming off the main telephone wall socket. There was a line going into another room but I’ve disconnected that totally.

Any ideas please?:confused:

Ps-Phone call over I'm back on-line

Thanks
half scot
 
Just one more thing on the microfilter - (might be clutching at straws here;) ) - is it possible you connected the DSL port to the phone line and the phone port to the modem. If my memory serves me right the broadband kit comes with two types of microfilter - one that has a single output socket and one that had a dual output - one for a phone and one for the modem.
 
Re: BT Connection regularly failing - for me too!

I have the same problem occurring with increasing frequency at home.

I have BT's Broadband 3 Meg package, a Zyxel ADSL modem and (my own) Netgear wireless router.

I get "Page can't be displayed" but can usually still PING the host. If I wait for a while and try again it usually works.

Sometimes, the PING will fail and come back again later...

Sometimes, the PING fails consistently for 10+ mins and I have to reset the Zyxel modem to restore service.

I also rarely use the landline in the evenings so do not think that microfilters or shared phone lines are the issue. Particularly as the phone setup has remained static for some time.

Very frustrating.

I have changed nothing; the same configuration has applied for the last year; it happens if I'm doing "busy" Internet traffic and also when simply doing some low-bandwidth surfing. No consistency at all except for one thing - it is happening with increased frequency.

I am going to log a call with BT Ireland support but am not expecting much.

I am quite interested and not at all surprised to hear that I am not alone in experiencing this behaviour.
 
Re: BT Connection regularly failing - for me too!

MonsieurBond said:
I am going to log a call with BT Ireland support but am not expecting much.
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If it's any comfort, their tech support are usually a lot more 'together' than their billing ops/customer service — once you can get through to them! Crazy that you have to queue for 20-25 mins before you can use their 'Queuebuster' facility! :rolleyes:
Try to pick a time where you're likely to be contactable (ideally by mobile) for the few hours after you log your call...
 
Some things worth considering if you are getting random disconnects.....

there are two criteria that need to be met to keep the connection 'up' on your phone line, Latency and Signal to Noise ratio (SNR). Latency is determined (mostly) by the distance you are from the exchange. SNR is determined by many things, such as wireless phones nearby, temperature, etc.

Can you post the values your modem is reporting for Latency and Signal to Noise? there should be an upload and download rate.

Basically what could be happening is the noise on the line is occasionally getting too high and causing a disconnect.
Or if the latency is too high then your modem won't be able to synchronise at a high enough speed to maintain the connection which really means that your line cannot support 2Mb broadband, you may need to go down to 1 Mb.

Sconsey
 
serotoninsid said:
Problems with the actual telecoms infrastructure are out of BT's hands (eircom control this) - so if your not satisfied with the length of time it took to get your service back up, its them you should be pointing the finger at.
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However, BT are the Retail providers of the eircom Wholesale BB product you have bought.

Just as in high street stores, you have a legitimate cause for complaint against the retailer. They(BT) must take it up with the wholesaler, in this case eircom.

Your complaint is against the Retail provider, BT, who you have a contract with. They are/should be obliged to chase up their provider and compensate you for your loss of service.
 
irishpancake said:
However, BT are the Retail providers of the eircom Wholesale BB product you have bought.

Just as in high street stores, you have a legitimate cause for complaint against the retailer. They(BT) must take it up with the wholesaler, in this case eircom.

Your complaint is against the Retail provider, BT, who you have a contract with. They are/should be obliged to chase up their provider and compensate you for your loss of service.
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Your absolutely right irishpancake. However, €ircon have frustrated every reseller. There are volumes of evidence to this effect. I have relatives with utv - and when the network has been out, they have been the last ones to get their service back (due to not being with eircom retail), and have been told by eircom wholesale field engineers that its not a good idea to be with another company.
It is important that this is understood because I would hate to see people going back to eircom because of their unethical and anticompetitive practices.
 
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