Intermittent connection problem [Archive]

Peter_Stanley

24-03-2005, 17:25

I've been having a very similar problem to Mr-B (here (http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=19955)) for the last couple of weeks. Essentially my connection is working perfectly and then intermittently drops. The cable modem still show solid SYNC and RDY lights, but webpages time out or cannot be found and email servers are not reachable. The problem can last for a few seconds or 20+ minutes and then self-rectify.

Talking to NTL on this is VERY frustrating:

Call 1 - Remove your router - that is causing the problem
Call 2 - (Direct connection from CM to PC) - There's definately a problem, Tech Support intermittantly getting 100% loss (not sure what this means?) when interrogating the CM.
Engineer booked to switch out the CM, but actually just changes the power lead/transformer and adds an attenuator to adjust the signal power levels.
Call 3 - Remote test of the connection with PC off shows 0% loss, with PC on this dropped to 100%, "so it must be the PC". (Well, maybe but it is an intermittent connection problem and we certainly haven't done enough testing to conclude this yet!) Next told to disable ZoneAlarm and NAV (which I refuse to do - have you seen the infection rate statistics for unprotected broadband connections?!). Disable ZA and now we have a 10% loss. (Hmm seems to be fluctuating a lot). Follows a confusing conversation where Tech Support trys to tell me that Ad-Aware SE and Spybot S&D are spyware/adware and to disable them because they're maxing out my connection, even though I state that (a) they're not spyware and (b) they're not even running! Finally tech support states that it must be ZoneAlarm hammering my upstream and suggests I contact ZoneLabs - funny how it isn't affecting anyone else then! Just thought - if the problem is spyware, wouldn't the U/S light be continually lit when the problem occurs? (It isn't).

SO, to test the hypothesis that my PC is the problem, I'm typing this on a different PC that doesn't use ZA or NAV. I'm willing to bet a considerable sum that the problem still occurs...!

[I'm not trying to malign the good NTL tech guys, but there are some who talk out of their backsides IMHO.]

Anyone have any suggestions on what the problem might be?

Just for info, here are the SNR levels etc which look okay I think (need to check Robin Walker's site):

Downstream receive power level: fluctuating between -1.84 and -2.01dBmv
Downstream SNR: fluctuating between 30.25 and 31.00 dB
Upstream transmit power level: 40.50dBmv

The error log shows R02.0 No Ranging Response received, T3 time-out with the last occurence about the same time as I last lost the connection.

Any help much appreciated!

hairy_mick

24-03-2005, 19:55

with the sync and ready lights on and stable its not a power level problem so could it be a proxy server problem have you tried setting to a diffrent proxy.

DarkFX

24-03-2005, 20:11

I'm getting similar problems to you.

NTL also tried blaming my router, but I had to put the "technician" right on that and assure him it was not cloning my mac address.

Anyway as I say... Practically same problem as you... connection is fine, then suddenly drops without any reason so it seems. If you find out the solution please post it here... If I find it before you i'll post it :)

Toto

24-03-2005, 21:07

Its always worth disconnecting your router first and trying a direct connection, it will save those frustrating few minutes trying to convince a tech, who is only doing his job, that your router is not at fault. Assuming of course that the problem is not fixed when you DO connect directly to the modem :)

DarkFX

24-03-2005, 21:52

Some problems the average PC user knows isn't caused by the router though, yet NTL techs still blame it. I think a very large percentage of people who are NTL "Technicians" do not actually use the hardware or have any experience with the equiptment anyway. The ones i've found who do (1 so far) - will find your problem very quickly... and it doesn't take them long to cotton on that you are no dummy when it comes to PC and network issues.

Yet to find someone in India with a clue.... btw, outsourcing not a good a idea NTL... I should know, my call centre does it! Our customers hate it.

Peter_Stanley

28-03-2005, 10:46

with the sync and ready lights on and stable its not a power level problem so could it be a proxy server problem have you tried setting to a diffrent proxy.
No I don't think its a proxy server problem as it also affects email retrieval (from NTL and other POP servers) and afaik these don't go via the proxy servers. However, I did try specifying a different proxy when it last hiccuped and no joy.
The test with the alternate pc came back the same, so its definately an NTL issue.
__________________

How much should power levels vary day to day?

Downstream Receive Power Level : -0.74 dBmv today cf -1.84 dBmv on Thursday
Downstream SNR : 31.04 dB cf 31.00 dB on Thursday
Upstream Transmit Power Level :53.50 dBmv cf 40.50 dBmv on Thursday

Graham M

28-03-2005, 12:08

Im having exactly the same problem! BH14 Bournemouth Area, its especially annoying in World of Warcraft, I have a Belkin Wireless Router and a Samsung STB, and yes ive tried taking the router out of the equation.

Peter_Stanley

01-04-2005, 19:24

Well I've had enough. After numerous phone calls to NTL to try and resolve this issue, the last over an hour long, I finally had agreement from a manager at the Indian Call Centre to raise another engineer visit, only to get cut off. I phoned straight back and the tech wanted to start all over again.

Tomorrow I'm going to start looking at ADSL providers.

sollp

01-04-2005, 20:41

No I don't think its a proxy server problem as it also affects email retrieval (from NTL and other POP servers) and afaik these don't go via the proxy servers. However, I did try specifying a different proxy when it last hiccuped and no joy.
The test with the alternate pc came back the same, so its definately an NTL issue.
__________________

How much should power levels vary day to day?

Downstream Receive Power Level : -0.74 dBmv today cf -1.84 dBmv on Thursday
Downstream SNR : 31.04 dB cf 31.00 dB on Thursday
Upstream Transmit Power Level :53.50 dBmv cf 40.50 dBmv on Thursday

Your transmit power levels are fluctuating quite dramatically, this should vary +- 1-2db if at all, what you can do in the mean time is to check all visible connection within the installation of your house with 7/16th spanner. Do not overtighten the connections on back of modem or your STB if you have one. Make sure no cables that run around the floors near carpet grippers are not piercing the cables, also any running around doors are not damaged by cable tacks. This could be your installation or the external drop or the network that is causing this fluctuation to occur. But that said this may not be soley the problem as you say the sync and rdy are solid.

Peter_Stanley

02-04-2005, 12:27

Thanks for the advice sollp, but I've had it with NTL's c**p customer service. I've signed up for Eclipse ADSL and will be cancelling NTL as soon as activation is confirmed. I am SO looking forward to dealing with a decent service company who don't try to blame all the problems on the customer.

Ben

03-04-2005, 13:38

I'm getting this problem recently. I lose my internet even though the modem is still on :( I can ping bbc.co.uk and I will get random time-outs

Phoned NTL about it - they blamed it on my firewall..... (yea my firewall is randomly making websites time out and booting me off messenger :rolleyes: )

I am having to put up with it and hoping it gets resolved.

sollp

03-04-2005, 14:39

Ben

03-04-2005, 15:09

I can't get docdiag working on my terayon modem :( It always says "Cable Modem Not Found"

So I have no way of getting that information :(

Earwig

03-04-2005, 18:21

At least I am not alone in this one.

I ahd the same problems as you back in october last year. It went on for 6 WEEKS until it was sorted.

Now over the last couple of weeks it has returned again.

It only really seems to affect my upstream. Does yours lose all connection?

Last october I was fed all the crap about Norton and spybot by people who knew nothing. For a start Norton was disabled and spybot was not running. I even uninstalled the programme while he was on the line and still he insisted that the problem was MY end. Needless to say 6 Weeks later when it was finally fixed it turned out to be noise on my line from the UBR....... ;)

This time round I was asked if I had made any hardware changes, which I had not. It was then diagnosed that my modem was at fualt and someone would be round THAT SAME DAY to replace it.

Sure enough 2 hours later an engineer turned up saying that he had been told that my modem had been cloned and that was the reason my upload was not working right......He did not think this was the problem though and said it was unlikely to cure the problem. He said that the people at tech have the equipment to check these things and that he was just sent to do what he was told....

Sure enough he changed the modem and called the call centre to register my new mac address with my account. 10 minutes later it had still not updated and so he called again only to be told that the service was running slow and it may take up to 2 hours to send to me. So he left........ :erm:

4 Hours later I still had no internet connection atall. So.......I phoned NTL again to find out what the hell was going on. The girl I spoke to could barely understand what I was saying but we finally got there and she updated my mac addy while I was on the phone and my connection sprung into life again.

But I STILL have a crap connection.... Upstream drops out completely every few seconds before bouncing up to maximum and then dropping out again....

How long will it go on this time I wonder before I finally get someone who knows what they are on about and can actually fix this damsn problem again.....I am in no way going to wait 6 Weeks like last time and will find another supllier in the meantime. The only downfall will be the fall to 2 MB from 3MB..........:(

Ben

03-04-2005, 18:46

I got the info out of docsdiag *i think* First time its ever worked tho heh

System up time = 0 days 00h 00m 54.18s
Downstream channel ID = 51
Downstream channel frequency = 402750000 Hz
Downstream received signal power = -3.8 dBmV
Upstream channel ID = 3
Upstream channel frequency = 28800000 Hz
QoS max upstream bandwidth = 300000 bps
QoS max downstream bandwidth = 3072000 bps
SigQu: Signal to Noise Ratio = 32.1 dB
Cable modem status = Operational
Upstream transmit signal power = 45.5 dBmV
Date and Time = 2005-04-03,17:45:50.0+00:00
Configuration filename = cmreg-tera210x-high.cm

sollp

03-04-2005, 20:24

Ben

03-04-2005, 22:38

That seems ok, down stream ideally should be 0db but thats ok. Check all the connections in the installation in the house, make sure nothing is loose.

Done that not a problem with me connections as far as I'm aware - checked em anyway all looks good.

Still dropping out tonight the cable light goes off on the modem for about 3 or 4 seconds then comes back on. Of course sometimes it drops the connection without dropping the cable light sometimes as well. Very strange....

sollp

05-04-2005, 20:42

Done that not a problem with me connections as far as I'm aware - checked em anyway all looks good.

Still dropping out tonight the cable light goes off on the modem for about 3 or 4 seconds then comes back on. Of course sometimes it drops the connection without dropping the cable light sometimes as well. Very strange....

Ok, the only thing is to ring NTL and get someone to come out. Asi've said the levels seem fine but obviously you don't know if your're upstream and downstream levels are dropping out so difficult to say really..

If you haven't, have you an anti spyware/spyware remover, anti virus etc.
Are you connected via ethernet or USB. Ethernet is the recommended way of connection to PC.

Ben

05-04-2005, 21:39

Ok, the only thing is to ring NTL and get someone to come out. Asi've said the levels seem fine but obviously you don't know if your're upstream and downstream levels are dropping out so difficult to say really..

If you haven't, have you an anti spyware/spyware remover, anti virus etc.
Are you connected via ethernet or USB. Ethernet is the recommended way of connection to PC.

My connection is by ethernet. But may I ask...how would spy-ware cause my cable modem to drop of the NTL network? Thats nothing to do with my PC m8

My PC is clean anyway

slinkyferret

05-04-2005, 22:09

I think I'm having the same problem. I am connected through a linksys router. I have bought a new cable because I thought there was a problem with a cable. I have only two computers at present attached to the router but it feels like every minute the connection is dropping. I've put up with it all day and driven my friends insane by signing into MSN messenger every few seconds.

I don't think there is anything I can do. I'm glad I'm not the only one with a problem but it is slightly annoying. I've only had a 3MB connection for a few weeks and now I can hardly load a webpage without hitting refresh and then selecting repair on the network connection.

I did upgrade the firmware on the router and have restarted both router and cable modem numerous times.

daz300

06-04-2005, 07:30

i get this as well . when i drop out i just unplug the stb then plug it back in then i am back up and working .

Xavier24

06-04-2005, 09:27

Had this problem for about 2 weeks , rang up ntl they said area fault so i left it a day then rang back then indian woman on customer servicesor tech support (cant remember which) agreed with me that i may have gone over my 1gb a month usage allowance cos i was on the 1mb package so i upgraded to 2mb.next day same problem connection dropped out sync and rdy lights on but every now and then all lights flashing left to right like kit out of nightrider. rang ntl they ran some tests while i was on phonesaid something wrong sent out an engineer day after he said something about it was at 60 but he dropped it to 40 frequency or something? put me a new attachment on back on stand alone cable modem.said he had fixed it and a lot of ppl were having same problem then he went i left my stuff downloading on shareaza went out for day came back in afternoon it had droppped out again all night without internet. then it back on this morning same will happen again today im getting REALLY angry with ntl for this dunno what to do.so came here to this site and see other pl are having same problem.havent read all this thread so will do that now hope they sort it.just adding my 2 cents.

slinkyferret

06-04-2005, 16:02

Well I made two phone calls to ntl today and told them what was going on. They did some tests and said that the connection was fine their end. Now, I'm normally a calm laid back person but in the end I got rather annoyed that they were trying to blame zone alarm and my router. I told them there was no problem with my router and that I'd tried it without and the same thing happens.

I'm feeling pretty miserable now. I have to keep hitting repair connection and refresh. I left the cable modem off for well over an hour and then connected the power and then power to the router. I've pinged the router and modem for ages and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I know what the problem is, my cable modem is being clonned. I've told them this and they said oh that doesn't happen. :( I know if I phone them again I'll get the usual fob off about my router and firewalls. I know there must be problems with the 3MB upgrade but having a connection for 2 seconds and then it dying means I cannot get any work done.

Xavier24

06-04-2005, 16:38

Just rang ntl cos the engineer told me if i've been without internet for weeks they will give me a complimentary months free broadband, and they did !

So i dont have to pay my next direct debit ;) but still mad at whats happened.cant check if my broadbands on cos im not at home but i didnt leave anything downloading today so ill see when i get home if my internets on.

If they cant cope with the bandwidth they shouldn't have given ppl 3mb.

sollp

07-04-2005, 17:26

My connection is by ethernet. But may I ask...how would spy-ware cause my cable modem to drop of the NTL network? Thats nothing to do with my PC m8

My PC is clean anyway

getting this problem recently. I lose my internet even though the modem is still on :( I can ping bbc.co.uk and I will get random time-outs

Phoned NTL about it - they blamed it on my firewall..... (yea my firewall is randomly making websites time out and booting me off messenger :rolleyes: )

I am having to put up with it and hoping it gets resolved.

Well you originally said you had a problem, based on the non existent information you gave, other than, "I lose my internet even though the modem is still on". Now the advice i gave you, all be it very simple, but at least it's something. I have come accross problems where someone has complained of the crap service NTL provide only to find that the person,(and this has been more than one) had no firewall, no anti virus, and no spyware or adaware removal tools. Guess what when these were downloaded and used, hey presto COMPUTER will know connect to the internet, after all the trogans spyware adaware etc was removed. So thats why i asked. Also i have used some free firewall applications and had problems with them myself. You've got to remember they can only diagnose a problem on the information you provide most of the time.

Pian

07-04-2005, 22:06

At the (high) risk of me too'ing, me too.Would one of the ntl tech lurkers care to comment?

Xavier24

08-04-2005, 14:30

damnit same again that engineer hasnt fixed anything, been on phone again today for 33 mins to tech support he ran tests said he can connect to my cable modem but not my pc.

He said i should contact my pc vendor which is total crap i know its not my pc the damn broadband just drops and wont come back on till the day after sometimes.no spyware , no viruses , disabled firewall disabled norton worm protection even tried to change from usb to ethernet but still no broadband.!

This is driving me mad im considering cancelling my ntl.

Do they think we are all stupid its obvious from all the people at this site that we are having problems with our isp, not our pc's.

Peter_Stanley

08-04-2005, 15:44

You've got to remember they can only diagnose a problem on the information you provide most of the time.

Fair enough, but the problem is when the information is provided and they still insist on blaming your system!

I'm now happily flying along with Eclipse ADSL (Home Broadband @ ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£14.99 per month, 1 GB per month and additional bandwidth at ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£1.75 per GB - seems a good deal to me). It will have cost me ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£130 to migrate (ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£60 BT installation fee & ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£70 for a new ADSL wireless modem/router) which is money I could have done without spending, but at the end of the day it works and I know that Eclipse technical support is decent.

I sent a copy of my cancellation letter, outlining my view of NTL's customer service, to Simon Duffy - I wonder if he'll have the courtesy to respond...

Ben

08-04-2005, 16:11

I sent a copy of my cancellation letter, outlining my view of NTL's customer service, to Simon Duffy - I wonder if he'll have the courtesy to respond...

I mailed the guy about my issue 2 days ago. Today I have had a helpful person call me (thanks bomber) who has switched my modem to an ambit. Could of possibly been the modem. I was also on the wrong UBR for my area which has also been resolved. No drop of's yet.

Its a shame you have had to move away and spend all the money :( but then again at lease you now have a decent connection.

Pian

10-04-2005, 16:24

Here's an interesting one - I was d/l'ing headers from a newsgroup at the same time as I was making a skype phone call. A drop out occurred (taskman showed a drop in thruput), but I could still hear the other party on my Skype phone. They could not hear me though. Very strange ...

flook

11-04-2005, 13:42

Ah well at least its not just me. I've had the same intermittent problem for months. STB replaced when I upgraded to 2 meg, so its not that, happens with and without the router, so its not that either. 2 PC's both drop at the same time, so its not the PC, who does that leave I wonder :)

Engineer scheduled to call this evening, we'll see what he says

Over the weekend, I spent 1 hour 15 mins on the fone to tech support on friday, and a further hour on sunday. I rebooted my PC so many times the poor git was dizzy, the insulation on the power lead on the router has 2 finger wide thin bits where its worn down from being unplugged so many times (its the easiest way to reboot the router, which usually restores the connection)

Indian tech support is a complete joke, fortunately, each time I called I managed to convince them to bump me to a higher level of support, which thankfully appears still to be UK based

flook

11-04-2005, 15:10

And an update

Engineer called early, about 3 oclock, stayed less than 10 minutes, made a "slight adjustment" to the set top box and suggested we replace it with a SACM

followed it up with, "it could be your PC" and "it could be the router" see above, it isnt.

Unfortunately, because he came early I was still at work, so he spoke to my non techy wife.

Are there any "slight adjustments" he could have made to the STB? Or was he, as I suspect, after an early finish?

Loop

11-04-2005, 17:28

Doofy

11-04-2005, 18:11

i upgraded to the 3mb from the 1.5 and fed up of slow speeds i told ntl by email and on the phone they tell me its my firewall then service pack 2 then they say they cant ping my modem and now say it norton firewall which i dont have i have zone alarm and i turnd it off dont speed test told them now they say its spyware which i check my computer every day i told them i will be going else were for broadband they tell me they is no other broadband provider in my area which they is, this is why i got bt phone line ready to change from this horried usless ntl bull **** i only get speed of 1.2mb some time up to 2.2 when i should be on a 3mb last night i got the super fast speed of a 56k modem speed wow every night my net goes off and it happend to my m8 round corner so they cant blame my computer has an enginner check it last year and now they say no engineer has been, fed up ****d off of lies so if any one not happy with what i put its truth and if not happy bann me cut me net off i dont care no more i am writing a hand writen letter to get it turn off over 7 year on net over 10 year on phone and time to move on has i cant take anymore bull**** from ntl custommers suport if that what they calll them selfs

I actually went to Loops house today and his net is diabolical, he did ring tech support and to be totally honest she wasnt very helpful. Kept repeating the same codswallop over and over parrot fashion, in a very long call the reasons for the appaling service were as varied as they were wonderful the end result being nothing wrong at NTLs end got to be the customers PC. This isnt very helpful to the end user. This problem only started to occur after the speed upgrades more than like people still hameering ther connection impacting on other users. I cant really blame him for going to another ISP the way it was handled today is nothing short of a disgrace, why on earth do some and i do mean some tech support not admit it is a problem with NTL not everything can be blamed on the customer.

Loop

11-04-2005, 23:24

I actually went to Loops house today and his net is diabolical, he did ring tech support and to be totally honest she wasnt very helpful. Kept repeating the same codswallop over and over parrot fashion, in a very long call the reasons for the appaling service were as varied as they were wonderful the end result being nothing wrong at NTLs end got to be the customers PC. This isnt very helpful to the end user. This problem only started to occur after the speed upgrades more than like people still hameering ther connection impacting on other users. I cant really blame him for going to another ISP the way it was handled today is nothing short of a disgrace, why on earth do some and i do mean some tech support not admit it is a problem with NTL not everything can be blamed on the customer.

they dont admit it has yhey think we are all muppits and they just want more customer and our money

flook

12-04-2005, 12:20

well the slight adjustments made bugger all difference, I'll be back on the fone to india tonight. I hope this is a freefone number :(

Sam Sate-Askew

04-01-2006, 00:59

Hi, Well guess what? I have this same problem which I noticed increasing for about a month now. I emailed tech support and called NTL several times. The tech person tried to convince me first that it was a firewall problem. Then I disablled it. Then he said he could not find my PC. Then said it was a router problem (which I do not have). Then he ran some more tests and said my modem needs replacing?! I did not read about the comments on this thread before hand but when he was saying these things I could see that he did not have a clue. He then asked me how many PCs I have (one) but I think the system may complain if it detects changes in computers on the same modem.

Another issue I am not sure about is the modem clonning. What exactly is this and how can this affect my DSL? Does it mean others taking over the MAC address and getting a free service?

I am getting a little cheesed off with NTL, and have only been a customer for about 4 months now. I got the 1 meg package but I only do light surfing, emails and some chatting on SKYPE and messenger. But the quality and speed has been very unreliable and this sucks. Why advertise and offer 1 meg when it is effectively 400-600 kbps and 60% eficiency? Surely this is a con?!

Hope someone figures this out. I am not convinced by the broken modem /power adapter / attenuator bull***t. The first two months it was rock solid. Not even a drop out and now it is all distrotion and dropouts.

Which service provider remains reliable after they become so big?

Good luck to you all with this prob and hope you can also offer some clues.

Thanks

reynolc1

13-11-2006, 17:38

Same issues again for me periodical loss of broadband connection, three phone calls and one engineer's visit later, it's still happening though, it has now been classed as a " network " problem......( this i already knew )
my personal opinion is that it's aproblem with the local exchange, probably
kids messing with the box.

I am a network engineer in my day to day role so i will look forward to what they have to report.

If they find a fix i will post it on for you all, as a lot of members seem to have the same issue and no one has posted a fix......

i did however complain and got one months internet for free...

Venoid

14-11-2006, 18:15

I registered on this forum so I could post on this thread just at the mere hopes that maybe a ntl employee might see this.

Tbh this problems disgusts me immensely, Ive also been looking for a solution to this issue since February, and sadly after trying Pipex they seem to have their own world of problems atm so Im back with ntl until I can find something that can provide a stable connection without any reoccuring issues outside the freak once a year lightning storm.

Ive had my line for 5years, and altho looking around it seems more expensive than most, the connection was I have to say, top notch and perfect...until this February.

Intermittently now, once a month, for 4-5 days, which is gradually becoming longer and longer as time goes on, the connection goes into gimp mode. Basically it just freezes intermittently for 2-3 seconds, then restabilizes at full speed for 10-20seconds, before freezing again. Sometimes it does this for 10mins, most the time it lasts for 5-6 hours, but it makes online gaming almost impossible while it occurs.

I have tried absolutely everything to fix this, I have changed routers, changed modems, updated drivers, reinstalled windows!, but nothing changes this. It is totally unpredictable as to when it will occur, sometimes I can go for 3 weeks without an issue, then for a whole weekend have anything outside browsing made impossible. This randomness makes it very hard to diagnose, as you cant just ring up tech support when the lines working fine, as they talk to you like your an idiot.

Ive pretty much come to the conclusion, that one of 2 things is happening, and Im no tech expert, these are just ideas others have thrown my way,

Either a) and an engineer ironically suggested this, all connections are routed through some card datacenter. Each card in the center apparently connects 100 accounts, but rather than buying a new card when 50-80 accounts get onto the current one, ntl apparently wait until there are 150 accounts running on one card, so they have enough to make a new card worthwhile. IE, they are basically overloading their equipment for economies sake.

or b), they are cheaping on their bandwidth, and it isnt high enough to provide consistently for their growing clientbase.

Both these issues would fit in with the obviousness that this problem occurs in primetime, mostly starting at ~3:30 (schools out anyone?) and persisting through to 10-11PM ironically just when a lot of people go to bed! It also supports the reasoning as to why this was exceptionally bad during the school holidays from July > September, which is what prompted me to start looking for another provider...afterall, after 6months of not getting anywhere, you kinda lose hope.

Even if both these possibilities are way off the mark, and they probably are seeing as again, Im far from a tech support person, the problem which is basically extreme packetloss is pretty obviously ntl's end, and I would appreciate it if somebody maybe got their head out of another managers ass and actually found out wtf is going on, as at least one thing condoles me at this point in time, and thats the fact that at least it appears I am not the only person suffering from this horrendous sporadic intermittent connection atm.

Like I said, I dont really want to change, the connection for the most part is good enough for what I use it for, but if it cant be reliable, then this connection is completely worthless to me. 4 years it was fine and I recommended ntl to others, how quickly things can change when a problem persists for months on end.

Fix it please!

insomniac

15-11-2006, 05:51

I had the same intermittent connection problem you described for about 3 months. Ntl tech support were completely useless. I finally discovered the problem was I was using 8 download threads from giganews. If I cut the number of threads to 4 the connection was perfect. Now I use 3 threads for downloads ( still about 950k/s ) leaving me a thread/connection for web browsing. I'm not sure if this was a hardware/router issue at my end or an Ntl issue. Either way, you might have the same problem.

Cheers,
Ed

vbx

15-11-2006, 18:35

I also have this problem, i first noticed it about about 6 weeks ago :(

I don't have a router, and even when my PC is swiched off i can sit and watch the sync and ready lights die on my modem so its not my computers fault. Also rebooting the modem when it has died does not solve the problem, i just have to wait until it comes back on.

I phoned tech support, after checking my modem he said it had reset itself 36 time in the last 2 months and this was unexceptible and an engineer would come out.

The engineer came, checked a couple of things and found no fault so he changed the modem for a new NTL250 then left.
20 mins latter my connection died and then again latter that day but after that it was fine for about 11 days. Then it all started again but not as often as before, then last week i started getting the connection dropping but the sync and ready lights would still be on, very strange.

I seem to be back to square one now and have lost connection twice in the last 20 mins with the sync and ready lights going out but then a couple of mins latter my connection is back.

Not sure what to do now, don't fancy chatting to tech support today so joined this forum instead :)

alt_guy

15-11-2006, 22:20

I've got exactly the same problem, and as most of you seem to be saying, phoning tech support is like hitting your head against a brick wall.

I tried the broadband medic software first and went via the chat facility there to see if they could be a bit more helpful. So the guy ran some tests, found some packet loss and told me to phone the support line for further help.

So I phoned the number, and as expected, had to go through the entire troubleshooting process all over again (I was also told that the guy via broadband medic wasnÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t to do with NTL as wellÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦) and because I don't currently have a phone near the computer it makes it very hard to follow their stupid, pointless instructions.

So again I was told to unplug my Ethernet cable and let the advisor run a packet loss check again, so she came back and said she needs to call out an engineer, so obviously she saw a problem without the Ethernet cable connected. She then asks me to connect it back up, so I do, directly to my router this time, and she starts complaining to me that IÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢m using a router, and why didnÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t I tell her this at the start etc... (I did tell her at the start, which is why i was told to disconnect my Ethernet cableÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦:rolleyes: ) so as far as she was concerned, my router was the problem and an engineer was no longer needed. But as I said, she just identified my problem without the router connected anyway, where are these people taught????

I swore blind that the problem is nothing to do with my hardware, as it doesn't have the ability to make the RDY and SYNC go on and off intermittently, as far as IÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢m aware! She even had the audacity to tell me to buy a better router and hardware, so at this point I got rather agitated as you could imagine, so she carried on with the ''reboot the router, the modem, then phone back'' bla bla.... I just hung up.

Is anyone ever going to have any luck with these guys? Absolute clowns.

reynolc1

17-11-2006, 16:52

I managed to get a cable engineer out to check my local exchange which i always suspected to be at fault.

it was and the official answer was a loose network connector..??

Don't really care to be honest because it now works fine....

so for all the people on here who are still experiencing issues maybe you could ask for your local exchange to be checked.

fixed it for me.:D

themanthatcan

19-11-2006, 21:18

We've been having the same problems here for just over a month. We randomly lose our net connection during peak periods (from about 2PM weekdays, and most of the weekend). Even if we do have a connection during these times, major packet-loss usually means it's unusable.

We'd been onto tech support god knows how many times and they kept blaming it on our PCs/firewalls. NTL finally agreed to swap out our STB (an ancient old Pace unit) for a Samsung unit. This solved our occasional TV lockup problems but the broadband probs continued.

I then phoned one day and spoke to an englishman who was very helpful. He advised that there was a fault on our UBR which has been ongoing for far too long. He arranged for an engineer to come out and take a look.

The engineer arrived and as soon as I explained the problem he said there wasn't much he could do. Apparently it's a problem which has been ongoing for several months..our UBR is over-subscribed..running at 98% capacity apparently. The local students are responsible for saturating the network. The engineer advised that they ahve no idea when NTL will do anything about the problem (in fact he hinted that due to the takeover by Virgin, there is very little money in the pot). He suggested getting a cable modem installed which wouldn't help with the packetloss but would at least stop the disconnections, but from what others have been saying this may not be the case after all!

We've got to the point where we're going to jump ship over to ADSL. My other half works from home a couple of days a week and she needs a connection which works all day..not just until 2PM! We really don't want to make the move as it's going to cost us Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£125 to get a BT line installed, but someone needs to show NTL that we're not going to sit back and let them get away with it!

Andy

NEONKNIGHT

20-11-2006, 23:19

Having the same problems as everyone else here. Dropped connections since last wednesday. :(

mmm

21-11-2006, 01:57

themanthatcan

21-11-2006, 22:18

:welcome:

What do you mean by 'lose connection', how do you measure 'packet-loss'. It does sound as though the network is overloaded, but this should only slow things down not disconnect you. Packet loss from ping/ traceroute may be deliberate the ubr deprioritizes and drops the probe packets - but real packet loss means a network fault - and lots of retries will overload the ubr.

In my experience the engineers who deal with ubr's do not do house visits. There is a program of network upgrades, someone must be monitoring/ prioritizing the work as well as talking to those that are using more than their share!

When I say 'lose connection' I mean that it becomes impossible to connect to anything on the internet..websites, online poker etc etc. I can tell when the connection has dropped completely because (apart from being unable to connect to anything) a ping won't even resolve a hostname. Other times when things do actually work (albeit very slowly) pings can vary from being dropped completely to taking over 1500ms to come back.

If I power-cycle the STB when we're having these problems the network sync light on the front of the box just constantly flashes. It can sometimes take 2 minutes to become steady but most the time, like last night it just won't stop flashing. It died about 6:30 and I was up until 1:30am and it still wouldn't work. Before all these problems started, the LED would steady up in no more than 20 seconds.

The engineer that came out said he's been dealing with the aftermath of this problem for a couple of months now and he was even verbally threatened by one guy he went to see as he was so fed up of the problem! I honestly can't believe that something hasn't been done by NTL sooner as the situation is ridiculous.

Andy

Fish

26-11-2006, 13:24

I'm in the Portsmouth PO4 area and I'm having exactly the same problems Andy is having.
My connection is totally useless from about 3:30pm to around 1:30 am everyday and sometimes it drops off completely. I get a flashing green light on my STB most evenings as well.
I'm (supposedly) on a 4 Mbit connection but when I run the speed test program that NTL told me to use I usually get 300-500K in the daytime and if I'm lucky I'll get 40K in the evening, which is worse than dial-up. Packet loss is anything from 20% - 95%.
After umpteen phone calls to tech support, who don't seem to know smeg all, and I'm pretty sure they just read out of a book, I managed to get one to book an engineer to come out and have a look.
He checked my box and said that was ok and then did some ping tests and route traces on my PC and the two NTL servers that it went through came back with pings of over 1000. This was at 3pm which is my "good" time.
He then said there was nothing he could do as I'm in a bad area which desperately needs to be upgraded, but they are still waiting for the equipment and even the engineers are starting to get fed up with it all. He also mentioned about too many students here and over-subscription because of all the latest NTL offers for new customers.
He stated that my area is due to be upgraded around 6th December but nothing is confirmed yet, as the components haven't been delivered.

Well, I was disgusted to tell the truth. Surely if you are going to double everyone's speed AND try to get lots more customers then you make sure the system is ready BEFOREHAND.
I have since rang customer services and complained. The woman on the phone was very apologetic and said they will credit my charges for the next three months.
Although that's probably fair, it still doesn't solve the fact that the NTL broadband service here is useless, so at the end of the day, if this problem isn't remedied within the next few weeks, I will be forced to change to ADSL, in which case they would lose me as a TV and phone customer as well.
At least my little bit of bandwidth will be available for everyone else to use and I would wish them the very best of luck with it!

NEONKNIGHT

26-11-2006, 21:01

The woman on the phone was very apologetic and said they will credit my charges for the next three months.
Although that's probably fair, it still doesn't solve the fact that the NTL broadband service here is useless, so at the end of the day, if this problem isn't remedied within the next few weeks, I will be forced to change to ADSL, in which case they would lose me as a TV and phone customer as well.
At least my little bit of bandwidth will be available for everyone else to use and I would wish them the very best of luck with it!

I'd finally had enough of NTL on Friday. Phoned them up to cancel the broadband, tv and phones. Wasn't even offered any kind of 'deal' to stay, in fact I was kept waiting on the phone to talk to someone for 35 minutes! The flip side - phoned BT, put straight through, who were very helpful and booked installation of BT Total Broadband for this coming friday.

Does the 'T' in NTL stand for Turnip, must do, according to their advertising campaign!

Hilary Bates

26-11-2006, 21:34

I'm in Chesham (Buckinghamshire, HP5) and have been seeing the dropout problem and slow speeds for just over 3 weeks. Have had 3 engineer visits, they've changed out the set-top box and various bits of cable, but basically no-one is admitting to there being a problem at the NTL end. On Friday evening, 20 minutes after the engineer left, the light on the STB went out and proceeded to flash on and off, longest time staying on around 5 minutes, for the next 3 1/2 hours. Just as I was going to bed it stayed on for the first time all evening. I've recently been working at home while convalescing from serious illness - fortunately I'm nearly fully recovered now and only working at home 1 day a week, but the last 3 days I've attempted to work from home, I've got virtually nothing done. NTL accounts will be getting a call tomorrow to demand a refund. I may demand recompense for my useless days working at home too, but I don't harbour any illusions that they will pay up on that one. Aargh!:Yikes:

the_wid

26-11-2006, 22:52

I am getting the same problem here, and its a fairly recent problem( last few weeks)

My Sync and Ready lights remain on but my Belkin Wirelss connection light starts flashing.

I have to shut everything down and restart to get my connection back.

Curriously this only happens when downloading!

Venoid

29-11-2006, 18:56

The problem hasnt got anything to do with my automatic feeds insomniac, tho thanks for sharing some of your problems/solutions.

This is 110% something to do with ntls overloaded network. I have gone through every other procedure, I have changed all hardware, formatted drives, run with router and directly and the problem simply doesnt change. Once again I have had this issue for the last 3 days, after it cleared up for over a week since thew last time which was when I last posted on the 14th November.

This is what is so infuriating with this problem...which again, has been occuring since February for me, it is not a consistent problem, it doesnt happen at any particuler time, on any particuler day, it just happens, and it continues to happen for multiple days on the trot making everything bar minor surfing unusable (minor surfing being unnoticable because you cant actually see the problem unless you realize its already there when some pages take 5 seconds to start loading up).

Again this is nothing to do with my hardware, this is to do with ntls line, this is 110% guarnateed, because running traceroutes during the event, you can see that its no particuler area that is timing out, its the line that is going down, not any settings or unliked IPs blocking it or shutting it off.

At anyrate I am also moving over to ADSL, I tried Pipex, and got jerked around something rotten, their connectionw as great when it worked, but their customer support at the time in august was non existent, yay for the actual customer support phoneline cutting ME off. I am getting Sky in the enxt few weeks, they just pumped a crapload of cash into their line, so hopefully it should work for at least a few years...god why cant we get some decent god damn internet connections in this country. I wouldnt mind, many people I play online games with in other countries say that most of their ISP's have to GIVE 25mb connections away, yet we are only just recently going beyond affordable 5mb connections and still I cant find one that is actually stable....