View Full Version : Packet loss - HG5 Harrogate area
Howdy folks!
All has been well here since a major problem was discovered in the street 'box' last week when we lost ALL service and it was rectified by a network engineer. However, last 48hrs has been a very intermittent experience.
About 10.15pm on Tuesday night I was watching TV and noticed the "broadband signal light" on the Samsung starting to blink. It blinked until about 12.30am when I went to bed! On Wednesday morning it was back and so was my 1.5Mb service.
6pm Wednesday and the service dropped out. Then came back. Then dropped out, then came back over a period of about half an hour. Same thing happened yesterday (Thursday).
Today (Friday) all was OK until about 1pm when surfing got very slow. Changed proxies to no avail. Did some ping tests and we're dropping packets about 1 in every 10 goes. Not too severe but enough to make loading full page content and replying to forums like this a PITA as it often takes 5-10 clicks with nothing happening before something finally does.
I'm a bit reticent to ring up again to the "slow surfing" line as I know it'll result in them trying to fault find my PC....... :) Happens exactly the same on another networked PC also. In fact - the last three problems over the last 6 months have all been NTL network faults.
Anybody else noticing this?
TIA
I'm a bit reticent to ring up again to the "slow surfing" line as I know it'll result in them trying to fault find my PC.Try reporting it as a TV fault: failure of Interactive TV service.
Good idea - hadn't thought of that. Of course Sod's Law says its now running OK again....... :rolleyes: :D
Im in HG1 had the same problems for a few days last few times i spoke to customer unhelp line tehy told me it was a power issue tomuch juice getting to my box and that it would take 4 days to get an engineer funnyily i had a call from said engineer 2 hours later asking if i was back on - it came back on 30 mins after it went down.
they really dont know what they are doing at BBCS....
just for kicks i was talking to an actual NTL engineer not a contractor who mentioned that the harrogate system is way under subscribed lots of room for more punters the problem is that its old C&W hardware and lines and it just cant cope with what ntl tried to do with it.
discruntled ntl engineer possibly but it made for interesting thoughts about quality of service lvl's because of couse ntl is the only company in the world that believes downtime is something a customer should pay for !!! :dozey:
swellybro
11-01-2005, 11:04
I am in HG1 too, i get occasional downtime, they recently replaced my STB to a samsung, but i am still getting faults from time to time.
since the new samsung boxes were released the problems are more random than beofre with random drop out and sinking problems seems that these new boxes are just as much problem as the pace.
also the same engineer told me there was no real need to replace the pace boxes to reach 1.5mb they can do it as his one at home was a pace on 1.5mb
the reason for the replcments is because of the deal with samsung says tehy will supply x number of units to ntl.
oviously ntl decided to use the 1.5 as a excuse to replace boxes - not sure what pace box the engineer was running though
have u guys been getting 6 - 8 hr brown outs on your samsungs?
I am in the HG3 area and are having the same problem, as far as I know 3 times since the 4th of Jan. I have a cable modem 'NTL 100'? and that keeps dropping out. If I reset it, the ready light doesn't go to static but continuously flashes. I have been told it is a power problem because it is a heavily over subscribed area. It is becoming seriously frustrating now, especially as dare I say it, the service has been pretty much perfect in the last year or two I have had NTL. Can any body shed any more light on the problem? NTL tech support and cus services are bloody useless.
The services isnt over subscriped at all the harrogate system is split into 3 areas with seperate gear to run each of the 3 areas each system is able to handle 15k punters each at the mo there is only 10K punters across all 3 systems.
thats what i was told by an engineer and lets face it they should know.(i hope)
NTL BBCS tell u what ever they want with very little basis of fact. ADSL has more punters in hgate than NTL has cabel subscribers.
all these problems are being caused by an older fiber system installed by C&W that NTL have pushed to fail over point.
luckily i hope to be moving soon and they dont have NTL on the street so ill be going to ADSL instead - bored of all the problems now.
testcard
14-01-2005, 18:03
Confirmed from CS
Basically more new customers than servers, they are selling something they haven't got!
Been through the usual mill starting late December, logged, Team Leaders et al and still a service in which disconnections are regular.
Offered compo of 3 months free 24/7 telephone, which I refused.
If any you people out there can offer me advice on how to
right this unjustice and get a proper service.
ntl are in the wrong:they must be held accountable for their practises.
Walking away would almost condone their action.
There's something very very wrong here in HG land and it happens at "peak times" normally late afternoon/evening :mad:
After a major outage 10 days ago (circa 9th Jan) when all service was lost between 4pm and midnight things got back to normal when I awoke the following morning. I had, as usual, rang Tech Support and reported the outage at about 6pm when it hadn't come back on (used to the intermittent nature of it) and they had booked an engineer visit.
Due to the fact I'd had three engineers out in January already who had all turned up when it was back on OK (all morning appoointments) I asked for an evening appointment so I could get an engineer here when it was OFF!!! An engineer turned up at 7pm as requested and of course, Sods Law said it was working fine.
He nodded and said "I thought it would be OK" and then went on to explain in some detail how the laser that is situated in Leeds and runs the entire HG area had fallen over completely, causing NTL network engineers to reseat and clean it at midnight and then they had to drive to Harrogate and clean the "head end". Apparently the kit from Leeds to Harrogate is ancient and the laser is always going intermittent and particularly when under stress - which explains the loss of service at peak times.
Said engineer went on to explain how the laser really needed replacing but because of the cost NTL were unlikely to do anything until it completely dies. This was mainly down to "budgets" and the managers being scared of "spending" when "unnecessary". This is not good news. It means that we have to suffer unpredictable service ad infinitum until the thing eventually dies. :(
Anyway, service has been 100% from 9th January until last night, 20th January when it dropped out completely at 6.10pm. As usual I rang tech support and said that the box (Samsung) was getting no signal (light flashing). The tech guy (very nice) said "yep" we'll send an engineer. At this point I reiterated the story above, that tyhe last 5 engineers had arrived and it had never been my PC, the Samsung or the box in the road - it was ALWAYS the network. I said "don't waste money sending an engineer because it will be OK in the morning - report it to network and get that Laser fixed". He put me on hold and asked Senior Tech but the ST said he had to follow "procedure" and send an engineer.
I rang Customer Services to lodge a constructive compliant. i.e. I'm telling NTL each time their network is down but they don't listen. I relayed the whole story and the (now 5) engineer visits and about all the intermittent crap we've had to put up with for the last 2/3 months. He was very nice and logged this and promised to pass it on. Though I fear it will get lost/binned/ not acted upon.
Service was restored 100% at 9.45pm
So, this morning 21st Jan I await yet another engineer to arrive and report no fault. This is just a farce. ADSL is looking more and more appealing... Do you think I should write all this down and email or send a letter to the Northern MD guy as a last chance somebody might recognise that they're at fault?
Yours, seriously hacked off
Lima
So the engineer turned up this morning and of course it was all woking as normal. He said the same as the last 4 engineers, i.e its the dodgy laser in Leeds and the fact that Harrogate doesn't have its own UBR.
A slight improvement was that his team were now allowed to inform network of all calls on this problem in the HG area, even if "no fault found" when they attend - the diags on the box show the outage periods - as they were getting more frequent (he's right there!). A fix is said to be planned for sometime in Feb but its already slipped back from the beggining of Feb to the end of Feb. The team that deal with HG are sick of coming out to these calls but the management will not act fast enough. Left/hand right/hand syndrome.....
HG waits with baited breath :rolleyes:
Like i said old C&W system was never designed for BB of this scale we dont have a UBR because C&W never needed one so we got patched into the leeds system note "patched" as from what i understand of the laser transmitter is that it is a patch solution rather than a long term fix.
Harrogate is one of the wealthiest towns outside london with large bluchips based here why wont they spend a little to make a lot more.
And lower there prices because Adsl is fighting back whilst i like cable i wish telewest had bought harrogate insted of NTL atleast they haev the cash to invest in there network.
i wish telewest had bought harrogate insted of NTL atleast they haev the cash to invest in there network.
If the rumours of an NTL/Telewest merger are true then perhaps we'll finally get a decent solution!
swellybro
24-01-2005, 21:14
Mine went down on Friday night, HG1, i rang Broadband support who said they would send out an engineer, i then rang customer services to register a complaint (i figure if enough people complain they might pull their finger out) They said someone would contact me, but no joy as of yet.
Engineer was supposed to come tonight, i didn't return home form work till 17.10 and someone was in till 16:30 so must have come between then because i haven't seen him. I will have to ring up and make an appointment for saturday.
I am just sick of ringing up NTL and waiting for ages to get through.
We need to keep ringing up and complaining though, both to tech support and then when an engineer is booked to customer services. This isn't going to get any better until they get their finger out and give us a UBR and/or upgrade the Leeds laser that keeps going intermittent.
I can tell you for a fact that ALL the engineers that service HG5 are sick of it too. The last guy that came here said his boss was making waves and had authorised them all to kick all these outtages through to Network Faults. Somebody, somewhere will eventually realise that HG5 has a larger than normal proportion of engineer callouts.......
Last time I rang customer services I asked for the cost of the calls to tech support back as every time it was an NTL inspired outtage - not mine. I've apparently got £6 or so credit on the next bill - have to wait and see.
swellybro
05-02-2005, 10:19
Thursday night i had another outage, i got in at 9pm to find the internet not working, very annoying when i have ebay items to list. Internet was still not working when i went to bed at 00:22, working fine again in the morning. Outages always at the same time.
Going to ring up this morning and try and sort something out this is getting stupid. They have to do somethign about it.
swellybro
05-02-2005, 11:19
Having just spoken to customer service there is a UBR problem in the Harrogate area, but having looked at the results coming back from my box they think it might be a problem with that. Something very funny going on, though, my PACE box not working, then my Samsung Box (which replaced the PACE box in October/November).
Yep that outtage on Thursday night started at 7.15pm and lord knows when it came back on but I was fast asleep by then. I had been writing a letter in Word and went to email it when I realised the router was showing no blinking lights in the right place! Sure enough no signal to the box - flashing light etc. on the Samsung.
Rebooted (always worth a try) and the Samsung froze at "LD20" on the display for about an hour, then it went blank and the TV started working again but the BB light just blinked all night :mad: ...again... :td:
I tried to call at 7.30pm but the first time I tried it was engaged, then I got put straight to piped music i.e. no interactive selection at all. 20 mins later no answer so gave up. I thought that due to the "LD20" message there may be a TV outtage too so everyone and his wife would be calling.
Glad to know CS are now acknowledging the Harrogate UBR (or lack of one) problem. Something the ground engineers have been aware of for a very long time.
Keep posting!
Lima
swellybro
10-02-2005, 22:35
2 Engineers came out today and confirmed what has been discussed on here, that an upgraded is needed between Harrogate and Leeds, the second engineer gave a vague date of March/April time for when this will start/complete. Apparently the money has been allocated and it has been given the go ahead.
Hopefully this will resolve the issue, but if my service continues to mess up then i will ring up and demand a reduction in my broadband payments until it is resolved.
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