[Robert1981]

1. What exchange are you connected to? CRAIGLOCKHART
2. Is your exchange experiencing any outages? NO
3. How many telephone extension sockets do you have? ONE
4. Do you have an NTE5 master socket and if so have you tried connecting your modem directly to the test socket? YES
5. If not is your modem connected to your Master Socket?
6. Are you experiencing any problems with your phone service? NO (But I am not really using it, so I don’t know. When I used it, there was no problem at all – no lost connections and the quality of the line was also OK.)
7. What modem are you using? (Make & Model) Huawei EchoLife HG520b ADSL2+
8. Have you tested with an alternative modem? (Make & Model) NO, I don't have any other.
9. Have you tested with a different microfilter? NO, I don't have any other.
10. Are you using a telephone extension lead? NO
11. What is your modem SNR Margin down and up (From modem status page)** 28.7 / 28.2 (It changes very frequently)
12. What is your bandwidth (Connection or sync speed) down and up (from modem status page) ** 408 / 304 kbps (It changes very frequently too)
13. Are you experiencing the disconnections at any specific time ? Not really. I got them all day any time. But weekends seemed to be even worth – a couple of times I did not have internet for almost the whole day.
14. Which Operating System are you using on your PC / Mac? I have two PCs with Windows XP (on one of PCs, I got Linux too – same problems experienced)

My TalkTalk Broadband went alive on 23/02/2010. I had many disconnections and very slow speed during the first few days. I have seen on the website that you try to optimize the connection during the first 10 days. Apparently, this was not successful, as I still have the same problem. Well, there are very short periods when I get ~6.5MBit/sec download and ~0.7MBit/sec upload speed, but this is quite rare and the connection is VERY unstable. During the weekend it gets even worse usually. There were almost whole days without internet.

I am not familiar with several things I have seen in this forum, but I just tried to follow the instructions and checked the things I could before writing this post. I checked and I think the cables are connected into the Master socket, as it looks exactly as on this picture, and I have not found any other socket with BT sign in the flat:

http://www.talktalkmembers.com/content/view/88/68/

I tried to put the cable in the test socket, but it did not change anything – same problems, disconnections very frequently. I even disconnected my phone from the microfilter with no change in the quality of the broadband.

I checked the router information displayed at http://192.168.1.1 and here is what usually happens all day:

Item Description
Product Name EchoLife HG520b
Physical Address 00:26:b6:cd:63:63
Software Release v2.08
Firmware Release 3.10.21.0-1.0.7.0
Batch Number RTC10P0.028.310210
Release Date 2009/10/17
ADSL Description

ADSL State Show Time
Data Path Interleaved
Operation Mode ADSL2
Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps) 408 / 304
SNR Margin Down/Up(dB) 12.0 / 12.1
Attenuation Down/Up(dB) 31.0 / 18.8
Power Down/Up(dBm) 13.3 / 12.3
CRC Down/Up 0 / 0
FEC Down/Up 0 / 0
HEC Down/Up 0 / 0
System Up Time 0:14:36
DSL Up Time 0:00:05
PVC Select PVC-0
PPP Up Time 0:00:05

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The SNR seems to change quite often, here are some examples recorded during a couple of minutes:

Item Description
Product Name EchoLife HG520b
Physical Address 00:26:b6:cd:63:63
Software Release v2.08
Firmware Release 3.10.21.0-1.0.7.0
Batch Number RTC10P0.028.310210
Release Date 2009/10/17
ADSL Description

ADSL State Show Time
Data Path Interleaved
Operation Mode ADSL2
Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps) 408 / 304
SNR Margin Down/Up(dB) 21.0 / 24.1
Attenuation Down/Up(dB) 31.0 / 18.8
Power Down/Up(dBm) 0.0 / 12.3
CRC Down/Up 983 / 0
FEC Down/Up 14514 / 0
HEC Down/Up 888 / 0
System Up Time 0:15:49
DSL Up Time 0:01:18
PVC Select PVC-0
PPP Up Time 0:01:18

Item Description
Product Name EchoLife HG520b
Physical Address 00:26:b6:cd:63:63
Software Release v2.08
Firmware Release 3.10.21.0-1.0.7.0
Batch Number RTC10P0.028.310210
Release Date 2009/10/17
ADSL Description

ADSL State Show Time
Data Path Interleaved
Operation Mode ADSL2
Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps) 408 / 304
SNR Margin Down/Up(dB) 21.1 / 24.6
Attenuation Down/Up(dB) 31.0 / 18.8
Power Down/Up(dBm) 0.0 / 12.3
CRC Down/Up 1219 / 0
FEC Down/Up 25192 / 0
HEC Down/Up 909 / 0
System Up Time 0:16:11
DSL Up Time 0:01:40
PVC Select PVC-0
PPP Up Time 0:01:40

Item Description
Product Name EchoLife HG520b
Physical Address 00:26:b6:cd:63:63
Software Release v2.08
Firmware Release 3.10.21.0-1.0.7.0
Batch Number RTC10P0.028.310210
Release Date 2009/10/17
ADSL Description

ADSL State Show Time
Data Path Interleaved
Operation Mode ADSL2
Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps) 408 / 304
SNR Margin Down/Up(dB) 24.8 / 28.2
Attenuation Down/Up(dB) 31.0 / 18.8
Power Down/Up(dBm) 0.0 / 12.3
CRC Down/Up 1330 / 65380
FEC Down/Up 30146 / 64794
HEC Down/Up 1151 / 0
System Up Time 0:16:43
DSL Up Time 0:02:12
PVC Select PVC-0
PPP Up Time 0:02:12

Item Description
Product Name EchoLife HG520b
Physical Address 00:26:b6:cd:63:63
Software Release v2.08
Firmware Release 3.10.21.0-1.0.7.0
Batch Number RTC10P0.028.310210
Release Date 2009/10/17
ADSL Description

ADSL State Show Time
Data Path Interleaved
Operation Mode ADSL2
Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps) 408 / 304
SNR Margin Down/Up(dB) 27.3 / 28.1
Attenuation Down/Up(dB) 31.0 / 18.8
Power Down/Up(dBm) 0.0 / 12.3
CRC Down/Up 1330 / 65380
FEC Down/Up 30146 / 64794
HEC Down/Up 1151 / 0
System Up Time 0:17:30
DSL Up Time 0:02:59
PVC Select PVC-0
PPP Up Time 0:02:59

Then I tried to turn off and on the router.

After turning on, it takes ~5-10 minutes to connect and here are the statistics:

Item Description
Product Name EchoLife HG520b
Physical Address 00:26:b6:cd:63:63
Software Release v2.08
Firmware Release 3.10.21.0-1.0.7.0
Batch Number RTC10P0.028.310210
Release Date 2009/10/17
ADSL Description

ADSL State Show Time
Data Path Interleaved
Operation Mode ADSL2+
Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps) 8128 / 897
SNR Margin Down/Up(dB) 11.9 / 13.3
Attenuation Down/Up(dB) 34.0 / 18.8
Power Down/Up(dBm) 0.0 / 12.3
CRC Down/Up 0 / 0
FEC Down/Up 50 / 0
HEC Down/Up 0 / 0
System Up Time 0:04:32
DSL Up Time 0:00:16
PVC Select PVC-0
PPP Up Time 0:00:15

After ~ 10 minutes I get disconnected.

~5 minutes and get connected again:

Item Description
Product Name EchoLife HG520b
Physical Address 00:26:b6:cd:63:63
Software Release v2.08
Firmware Release 3.10.21.0-1.0.7.0
Batch Number RTC10P0.028.310210
Release Date 2009/10/17
ADSL Description

ADSL State Show Time
Data Path Interleaved
Operation Mode ADSL2+
Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps) 6721 / 756
SNR Margin Down/Up(dB) 12.5 / 12.0
Attenuation Down/Up(dB) 34.0 / 18.8
Power Down/Up(dBm) 19.3 / 12.3
CRC Down/Up 163 / 0
FEC Down/Up 227 / 0
HEC Down/Up 2396 / 0
System Up Time 0:20:44
DSL Up Time 0:00:11
PVC Select PVC-0
PPP Up Time 0:00:11

Item Description
Product Name EchoLife HG520b
Physical Address 00:26:b6:cd:63:63
Software Release v2.08
Firmware Release 3.10.21.0-1.0.7.0
Batch Number RTC10P0.028.310210
Release Date 2009/10/17
ADSL Description

ADSL State Show Time
Data Path Interleaved
Operation Mode ADSL2+
Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps) 6721 / 756
SNR Margin Down/Up(dB) 4.1 / 12.0
Attenuation Down/Up(dB) 34.0 / 18.8
Power Down/Up(dBm) 0.0 / 12.3
CRC Down/Up 5742 / 0
FEC Down/Up 2776 / 0
HEC Down/Up 27103 / 0
System Up Time 0:22:36
DSL Up Time 0:02:03
PVC Select PVC-0
PPP Up Time 0:00:00

---------------------------------------
SNR Margin changes quite considerably…

Disconnection again.

After 10-15 minutes it gets back:

Item Description
Product Name EchoLife HG520b
Physical Address 00:26:b6:cd:63:63
Software Release v2.08
Firmware Release 3.10.21.0-1.0.7.0
Batch Number RTC10P0.028.310210
Release Date 2009/10/17
ADSL Description

ADSL State Show Time
Data Path Interleaved
Operation Mode ADSL2+
Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps) 5388 / 595
SNR Margin Down/Up(dB) 8.8 / 11.5
Attenuation Down/Up(dB) 34.0 / 65.0
Power Down/Up(dBm) 0.0 / 12.3
CRC Down/Up 2870 / 32
FEC Down/Up 40714 / 35
HEC Down/Up 54450 / 0
System Up Time 0:30:16
DSL Up Time 0:01:40
PVC Select PVC-0
PPP Up Time 0:01:12

Disconnection again in 3 minutes.


Here are some other statistics I could get from the router:

Traffic Statistics


ATM Statistics
PVC: PVC-0PVC-1PVC-2PVC-3PVC-4PVC-5PVC-6PVC-7 Channel ID 0
Tx Frames count 3192 Rx Frames count 3132
Tx Cells count 12 Rx Cells count 0
Out Discards count 0 In Discards count 2
Out Errors count 0 In Errors count 0
CRC Errors count 1 In Drops count 0
Out Octets count 479521 In Octets count 2560821
LAN Statistics
Align Error count 0 Total Collisn count 0
Out Octets count 6868720 In Octets count 1304293
Out UnicastPkts count 8753 In UnicastPkts count 7044
Late Collisn count 0 Excess Collisn count 0
Out MulticastPkts count 338 In MulticastPkts count 527
Out Errors count 0 In Errors count 0
Tx count 9091 Rx count 7567
WLAN Statistics
Tx Frames Count 323 Rx Frames Count 35749
Tx Errors Count 13 Rx Errors Count 0
Tx Drops Count 13 Rx Drops Count 0

I found that in the WAN settings connection is set to “Connect on Demand: Max Idle Timeout: 30 Minutes”. Some people on this forum suggested to set this to “Nailed-up connection”. Should I try this? Do you think it can help in my case?

One other thing that was suggested in the FAQ: Set MTU to 1432bytes. I checked this one, but it was already set to this value.

I was connected by a cable during recording the statistics and not wirelessly. I used the test socket. The cable is now plugged into the test socket. I reconnected the phone cable to the microfilter as its disconnection did not improved the quality of the broadband.
Please try to adjust something on my profile and fix this asap!! I need this very urgently as I am working from home usually and I need internet. If it helps I could go for the Pro package, but I son’t want to pay any more money for such an unreliable service.

I am using the rooter, microfilter and cables you sent me in the set-up package.

Thanks in advance!

[Robert1981]

One more thing: I was waiting for more than 1 hour to get a stable connection and post the above message. Now as the connection seems to be stable again (well let's see how long...) I get the following data from the router:

Item Description
Product Name EchoLife HG520b
Physical Address 00:26:b6:cd:63:63
Software Release v2.08
Firmware Release 3.10.21.0-1.0.7.0
Batch Number RTC10P0.028.310210
Release Date 2009/10/17
ADSL Description

ADSL State Show Time
Data Path Interleaved
Operation Mode G.dmt
Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps) 2368 / 192
SNR Margin Down/Up(dB) 14.0 / 12.0
Attenuation Down/Up(dB) 34.0 / 18.5
Power Down/Up(dBm) 16.0 / 12.0
CRC Down/Up 0 / 0
FEC Down/Up 0 / 0
HEC Down/Up 0 / 0
System Up Time 0:25:51
DSL Up Time 0:08:36
PVC Select PVC-0
PPP Up Time 0:08:35

[OCE_Ady]

Hi Robert1981,

I think first job should be a new router and then we can continue testing at the test socket. Theres a new one on its way along with a prepaid returns bag for your old one.

[Robert1981]

Hi Ady,

Thanks for the quick reply! I will check with the new router and get back to you!

Cheers,
Robert

[OCE_Debbie]

Hi Robert1981,

Thank you, please let us know how you get on.

Debbie

[Robert1981]

Hi! I have just received the new router, microfilter, cable. I have exchanged everything and will get back to you after monitoring things for a while.

It seems to work well so far , here are the stats:

System Information


Item Description
Product Name EchoLife HG520b
Physical Address b4:82:fe:42:e0:ad
Software Release v2.08
Firmware Release 3.10.21.0-1.0.7.0
Batch Number RTC10P0.028.310210
Release Date 2009/10/17
ADSL Description

ADSL State Show Time
Data Path Interleaved
Operation Mode G.dmt
Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps) 5888 / 608
SNR Margin Down/Up(dB) 13.5 / 14.0
Attenuation Down/Up(dB) 35.5 / 18.5
Power Down/Up(dBm) 19.5 / 11.0
CRC Down/Up 1 / 0
FEC Down/Up 78 / 0
HEC Down/Up 1 / 0
System Up Time 0:16:46
DSL Up Time 0:11:34
PVC Select PVC-0
PPP Up Time 0:11:34


Cheers,
Robert

[OCE_Debbie]

Hi Robert1981,

Please let us know how you get on.

Thanks

Debbie

[Robert1981]

Hi!

Unfortunately I got the same problem. I had disconnections many times throughout the weekend. I could not reconnect for 1-2 hours. When the router could finally connect the connection was really slow about 300/100 kbps. But it disconnected after a while again. I tried both microfilters and the new router with new cable you sent me last week. I checked the router information at http://192.168.1.1. I don't know much about this, but SNR is probably for signal-noise ratio, and when the router tried to reconnect during the weekend this was extremely low. I have seen even negative values. Now, it is working again, so I have the feeling that it gets worse during weekends and usually in the evening of weekdays. Does it has something to do with the fact that more people are using phone/broadband during evenings and weekends?

As said, connection is fine again (Monday morning). Statistics at the moment are as follows:


Item Description
Product Name EchoLife HG520b
Physical Address b4:82:fe:42:e0:ad
Software Release v2.08
Firmware Release 3.10.21.0-1.0.7.0
Batch Number RTC10P0.028.310210
Release Date 2009/10/17
ADSL Description

ADSL State Show Time
Data Path Interleaved
Operation Mode G.dmt
Bandwidth Down/Up(kbps) 5920 / 640
SNR Margin Down/Up(dB) 12.5 / 14.0
Attenuation Down/Up(dB) 36.0 / 18.5
Power Down/Up(dBm) 19.5 / 11.5
CRC Down/Up 14 / 3
FEC Down/Up 2532 / 3
HEC Down/Up 19 / 0
System Up Time 2:41:45
DSL Up Time 2:28:30
PVC Select PVC-0
PPP Up Time 2:28:26

What's next?

Robert

[OCE_Michelle]

Hi Robert1981,

Just to confirm, is the modem still connected to the test socket at the moment?

Thanks

Michelle

[Robert1981]

Hi Michelle,

Yes it is!

Robert