Our internet is rubbish (again)

[MrsRonnie]

Good evening all

I don't frequent these boards anywhere near as often as I did a few years ago, but I know you're always here for me like an old, trusty friend, to help when I hit a brick wall. So here's the story:

We were with PlusNet for internet for years, but it kept dropping out at inconvenient times (MrRonnie works from home and uses the internet a lot). So we changed to Business Broadband with Vodafone a couple of months ago. It seemed to be okay to start with, but now it is, again, dropping out at inconvenient times.

So we're thinking of telling Vodafone to sort themselves out or we're cancelling the contract and going elsewhere. Not that I expect elsewhere to be any better, and I have no clue of who to choose.

However, I'm not entirely convinced that it's the fault of the internet provider. I think there's a possibility that our setup is causing a problem. We have 2 desktops and 1 laptop (along with 2 mobiles and 1 tablet, but they're wireless (last time MrRonnie experienced the internet dropping he out, he tried using his mobile but that also wasn't working - I don't think he tries using his mobile every time, so don't know whether this is consistent)).

My desktop is connected with an ethernet cable. Apart from yesterday morning, when I had to restart the PC to get online, I don't recall having any problems. The laptop and the other desktop are connected with homeplugs.

So this is my question - could the homeplugs be incompatible with the internet we have now (it has got faster over the years, we have fibre now, and I have replaced the homeplugs once, but I don't know what I'm doing really, even after reading loads of guides)? I've read about access points and mesh systems - are these likely to work any better? Could the fact that MrRonnie has a relatively low-spec PC & Laptop be a contributing factor?

Do I need to give any further information?

I will be extremely grateful for any assistance I can get from you guys.

TIA, Ronnie

[GrahamPlatt]

If you’ve no problem with an Ethernet connection, it’s not theISP’s fault. It’ll be your WiFi system. You should read the threads here. Homeplugs - fridges are often a problem, sending noise through the wires. MESH system would be better. Doubtless more advice to follow, but that’s a quick précis.

[MrsRonnie]

It's hard to be sure because I'm not here during the day. Small update though - it dropped out for 10 minutes about an hour ago, it did affect my desktop and the internet light on the hub (router?) was flashing red. It dropped out for a few seconds a couple of minutes ago (as I came back to look at this post), and the internet light was flashing white rather than being constant.

I think we have *less* problems with the ethernet connection, but not *no* problems with it. Interesting to read about fridges - I wasn't aware of that.

Many thanks
Ronnie

[Infrasonic]

https://downdetector.co.uk/archive/

Vodafone generally use the BT (Openreach) infrastructure for FTTC/P , in some areas they partner with another fibre only company Cityfibre.
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/isp_list/IS ... adband.php

If you log into the admin page for your router it should show you the downlink and uplink bandwidth. If it is dropping bandwidth from what you should contractually be getting then it could be a network issue needing maintenance or it could be contention ratio based (loads of people in your area all on the internet).
In the advanced settings of your router there should be logs showing exactly when dropouts are occurring and any other potential issues. The ISP should be able to analyse those logs remotely as well as 'testing' the line.

I'm currently at another property for a week with EE (BT) FTTC ISP and the down/up bandwidth has been dropping daily and there have been internet dropouts. I rebooted the router on Sunday but there are still issues requiring manual reconnects.

[gryffron]

The lights on the front of the router are the first place to look. If that is flashing an error, then the problem is internet side, and your home network is not the issue.

Gryff

[servodude]

Generally the first thing I do if there is a suspected problem is see if I can access my router via a browser
- typically that will be 192.168.0.1, and if I can see it the local network is not the issue
- if you have access to the router settings see if you can turn on any logging inside it
- that will quickly let you know which side of it the problem is, and possibly what the problem is and give you some options for what you might be able to do

Most brands of home plugs have some sort of management app you can run on an attached PC to see what the throughput is
- it will normally be noticeably less than the stated maximum but should be faster than your external connection

By way of example I run a few TPLink home plugs rated at 300mbps
- looking just now(on TP-link PLC utility) I'm seeing connections between them of 105, 135 and 189 mbps
- which is fine for us as the internet link we use can't get more than 44mbps from the router

I will say that if restarting your PC fixed the problem it's not likely to be something fundamental with the network
- it could be a local issue on that PC (we have an old dell laptop that occasionally forgets how its wifi is meant to work - and it takes a "troubleshooter" run or a reboot to recover)
- it or "might" be related to the addresses the router gave out, e.g. if the PC has held on to one that's been re-used
I've tried to avoid this second possibility by "reserving" the address for each of our devices in the router settings, and at the risk of incurring the wrath if the IT fairy it has worked well (so far - touch wood - fingers crossed)


- sd

[Sobraon]

My house suffered with random dropouts for a number of years and also dropped out when the phone rang.

SSE broadband arranged a visit by Open Reach. The Open Reach guy replaced the wiring inside my house, the overhead wire from the house back to the road side, the overhead cable from the roadside to the ‘local box’ and changed the connection route from the ‘box’ to the local exchange and did something in the local exchange. Took them (2 guys) two days but the connection is perfect and fast now. Apparently there were several faults. I was impressed by their tenacity.

I think there is an Open Reach call out ‘fee’ but given that you are unsure if it’s a problem with your set up or with the provider it may be worthwhile considering having the line checked.

[Nocton]

Interesting to read about fridges - I wasn't aware of that.

All sorts of electronic gadgets can cause the problem. See latest incident where an old TV cut out the internet for the whole village:
"Old TV caused village broadband outages for 18 months" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-54239180