VDSL dropping out

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › VDSL dropping out

sdav

846 posts

Ultimate Geek

#207789 13-Jan-2017 18:39

Hey guys,

I'm super worried about creating this topic as I have tried to read everything I can but worried I'm overlooking something simple.

Long story short is I get regular drop outs which most notably stop me loading pages on my computer or boots me out of online games.Every device loses the internet connection whether wifi or wired. I'm pretty sure it says there is a DNS error. I notice it on my PS4 most as online gaming is now regularly laggy. This has become a problem in the last month.

I have one phone line in the house which runs from the demarc, approx. 4 meters into a room where the jack is. The modem is plugged directly into that. There is no alarm or anything else on this phone line.

I have also tried a second modem. Same issue occurs.

I took some photos from the Fritz, I hope this is what you need:

Thanks guys.

Edit: forgot to add, speeds generally 25-30 kbit/s up and 5-7 kbit/s down. Have had it going pretty slow the other night but I don't know if that is a separate symptom.

Jase2985

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#1702858 13-Jan-2017 19:10

given you are connected at 28/8 i would expect speed tests results close to that

what do the logs in the device say when it happens? is it resyncing or rebooting?

When it happens can you still log into the modems web interface?

sdav

846 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1702884 13-Jan-2017 19:38

Jase2985:

given you are connected at 28/8 i would expect speed tests results close to that

what do the logs in the device say when it happens? is it resyncing or rebooting?

When it happens can you still log into the modems web interface?

Thanks for your reply. Just to clarify, I'm happy with the speeds so I'm not worried about that aspect.

I copied what was a couple of disconnects at 5:40pm from the modem, let me know if you need more of the log. This modem was connected today. I've had 4-5 dropouts/disconnects since 3pm.

17:42:20 Internet connection established successfully. IP address:, DNS server:, gateway:, broadband PoP: SNAP-37

17:42:10 PPPoE error: Unknown error. [2 messages since 13.01.17 17:42:00]

17:41:48 PPPoE error: Timeout. [2 messages since 13.01.17 17:41:35]

17:41:28 DSL is available (DSL synchronization exists with 23312/8199 kbit/s).

17:40:10 DSL not responding (no DSL synchronization).

17:40:07 PPPoE error: Timeout.

17:40:00 DSL is available (DSL synchronization exists with 17560/3949 kbit/s).

17:38:48 Timeout during PPP negotiation.

17:38:48 IPv6 Internet connection was cleared; prefix no longer valid.

17:38:48 Internet connection cleared.

17:38:43 DSL not responding (no DSL synchronization).

I have been logged into the modems web interface during a drop out and have seen it refresh to show the connection is disconnected. That's the connection picture with the red line I posted above. I have not tried logging into the modems web interface during one of these events.

dan

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#1702885 13-Jan-2017 19:38

since you have tried a different modem already and have the same problem, its probably going to be a line fault, could be at your house, on the street or at the cabinet/exchange

call the helpdesk, tell them your DSL and PPP is dropping out constantly, there is no other devices on the line, and you have already changed the modem/cabling and it made no difference

they can see your sync history if thats the case,

Usually 2degrees are pretty good with these kinds of issues.

hio77

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Lizard Networks

#1702886 13-Jan-2017 19:42

call snapdegress, tell them you are having dropouts.

they should take you through troubleshooting steps (which sounds like you have done most of this already) and then run a LQD.

Graph doesnt look to bad though.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

sdav

846 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1702888 13-Jan-2017 19:58

Sorry for missing some information out, I was wanting to know if it was clearly a line fault before calling them back. I have been in contact with 2degrees multiple times and Chorus have been out. Apparently the line is fine, so that costs me money but I'm cool with wearing that if it's indeed my issue!

As a side note, the 2degrees person I spoke to the very first time made some changes which worked fine for 2 days before the issue returned and has never settled since.

So having tried to rule out everything, the only thing I can think of it being at my end that I can't easily check/test is the telephone line from the demarc to the phone jack. Would this cause the issue I am describing or would you expect the issue to be permanent? Is there a way I can easily establish if this phone line is the problem myself or will I need to call an electrician?

sdav

846 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1705017 18-Jan-2017 09:17

I have since had an electrician confirm my phone line is ok. And yesterday rebooted the router. It's been far more stable and not dropped it's connection so that seems to have been fixed, however and this could be a separate issue - I'm still experiencing lag and packet loss gaming. I did a trace route test to Blizzards server from my PS4 and last few lines are like this:

7: TWO-DEGREES.bar1.SanFrancisco1.Level3.net (4.16.192.146) 52.290 ms 52.397 ms 52.405 ms
8: 155.32.69.111.static.snap.net.nz (111.69.32.155) 176.221 ms 176.246 ms 176.244 ms
9: * * *
10: * * *
11: * * *
12: * * *
13: * * *
14: * 59-72-148-118.nzcomms.co.nz (my IP) 185.057 ms 185.209 ms

So I'm picking there is some issue between steps 8 and 14. Anything else I can try?

erik

58 posts

Master Geek

#1705142 18-Jan-2017 11:50

Have you upgraded the firmware to the latest version? I went from 6.30 to 6.50 (or was it 6.51? whichever is the latest).
If that doesn't help, try a factory reset.
If that doesn't help, try a different CAT cable between modem and jack point. Do you have a master filter installed? Maybe the filter has gone bad or may have had a wiring fault.

These are the steps that the 2 Degrees Support person will ask you to try first as logging a fault to Chorus (for no reason) will be expensive for them.
So if you check that before you log a call, you can fast track the process and have them monitor the line for 24 hours to see what is going on and log a fault with Chorus from there.

In my case, my own connection went from 32 Mb/s down and 2 Mb/s up (I'm quite far from the exchange) to rubbish-down and nothing-up. Chorus Tech came by and re-wired the master filter and that appeared to solve that problem but it alerted us to another problem entirely. I should have been getting 5.5 Mb/s up all along but my router refuses to sync at anything over 2.5 Mb/s. When the Chorus tech plugged in a TP-Link VDSL modem he had in his van, it immediately synced at 5.5 Mb/s.

So I'm now waiting for 2 Degrees to courier me a new modem as there is something odd with this one.

Just saying, do not discount the FritzBox as being the culprit. Do you have another VDSL modem at hand that you could try?

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sdav

846 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1705394 18-Jan-2017 18:28

Yeah I tried another modem and experienced the same problems. The firmware is definitely current (I actually saw that in your thread), I've had my wiring checked as good so I don't know what I can try now!

For me the issue has never been about speed, just the connection dropping out regularly along with packet loss when I'm gaming (and therefore most noticeable), I literally can't play online despite speed tests giving me around 30/7.

hio77

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Lizard Networks

#1705407 18-Jan-2017 18:57

sdav:

I have since had an electrician confirm my phone line is ok. And yesterday rebooted the router. It's been far more stable and not dropped it's connection so that seems to have been fixed, however and this could be a separate issue - I'm still experiencing lag and packet loss gaming. I did a trace route test to Blizzards server from my PS4 and last few lines are like this:

So I'm picking there is some issue between steps 8 and 14. Anything else I can try?

the drops you are seeing there is ICMP traffic being dropped or not responded to on those hops. not an indication of an issue.

It does make it a hell of a lot harder to troubleshoot in that situation though.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

erik

58 posts

Master Geek

#1705684 19-Jan-2017 10:31

sdav:

Yeah I tried another modem and experienced the same problems. The firmware is definitely current (I actually saw that in your thread), I've had my wiring checked as good so I don't know what I can try now!

For me the issue has never been about speed, just the connection dropping out regularly along with packet loss when I'm gaming (and therefore most noticeable), I literally can't play online despite speed tests giving me around 30/7.

Now seeing that the VDSL drop seems to be under control after rebooting the router... have you tried taking your PS4 to someone else's place and see what happens there?

You had your line checked out so that's not it. You tried another modem and that didn't help either.... so I'm beginning the wonder if the problem could be not related to your broadband but to what is connecting to it?

I play a lot of BF3 online and even before I had my filter installed (and was getting 18mb / 256 kb/s) I could certainly still play online. Once my connection went up to 32mb/2mb it did got noticeably better though but even with a crappy VDSL connection with lots of interference (bad wiring in the house), I could still play.

What kind of pings do you get when you run speed test against different servers in NZ?

sdav

846 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1705912 19-Jan-2017 16:27

hio77:

sdav:

I have since had an electrician confirm my phone line is ok. And yesterday rebooted the router. It's been far more stable and not dropped it's connection so that seems to have been fixed, however and this could be a separate issue - I'm still experiencing lag and packet loss gaming. I did a trace route test to Blizzards server from my PS4 and last few lines are like this:

So I'm picking there is some issue between steps 8 and 14. Anything else I can try?

the drops you are seeing there is ICMP traffic being dropped or not responded to on those hops. not an indication of an issue.

It does make it a hell of a lot harder to troubleshoot in that situation though.

OK cool, thank you.

sdav

846 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1705915 19-Jan-2017 16:37

erik:

sdav:

Yeah I tried another modem and experienced the same problems. The firmware is definitely current (I actually saw that in your thread), I've had my wiring checked as good so I don't know what I can try now!

For me the issue has never been about speed, just the connection dropping out regularly along with packet loss when I'm gaming (and therefore most noticeable), I literally can't play online despite speed tests giving me around 30/7.

Now seeing that the VDSL drop seems to be under control after rebooting the router... have you tried taking your PS4 to someone else's place and see what happens there?

What kind of pings do you get when you run speed test against different servers in NZ?

Yeah, that's my next plan. Going to take the PS4 somewhere else.