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Seeking Help Diagnosing Line Drop-outs

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10 Nov 2016 13:24 #7 by jedi98
Replied by jedi98 on topic Re: Seeking Help Diagnosing Line Drop-outs
Trying the BT modem would be the thing I would try at this stage, you need to get a base line. After that consider reporting it to draytek support because (presuming BT modem is stable) the 2860 with any recent firmware is absolutely not supposed to keep re-syncing the line and draytek seem no think that there is not a problem.

Is it worth trying firmware 3.8.2.3_VT1 with 566207 modem code?


Doubtful, I have seen no difference in line stability between 3.8.2.3_VT1 and 3.8.4_VT1. It fact I have one running 3.8.2.2_VT1, one on 3.8.2.3_VT1, and one on 3.8.4_VT1. The 3.8.2.3_VT1 is the least stable @1-3 days BUT it's not a fair comparison because it is also on the worst quality line with sync speed 29000/3500. I have no idea if that site would be improved with a BT modem since the user at that end cant work out whether he should stick the modem cable in the BT socket or in his ear so asking him to plug in a BT modem could be disastrous!

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  • sjltech.uk
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10 Nov 2016 13:30 #8 by sjltech.uk
Replied by sjltech.uk on topic Re: Seeking Help Diagnosing Line Drop-outs
Just wanted to back up what jedi98 said about the BT openreach modem.
I have this plugged in to WAN1 on a 2925, with Virgin Hitron (modem mode) on WAN2, and (touch wood !) I've NEVER had a drop on the openreach modem, it's consistently giving me about 50Mb (which is the top spec of the connection here)
I'd bought a Vigor 130 with the intention of replacing the openreach modem, but, well frankly, I can't see any reason too as the line has been so stable !
Cheers
Simon

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  • mark_t
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10 Nov 2016 14:27 #9 by mark_t
Replied by mark_t on topic Re: Seeking Help Diagnosing Line Drop-outs
OK - so I've just setup the BT Modem on WAN2 and it has connected, albeit at a lowish speed. Test results from http://www.speedtest.btwholesale.com are:
Download Speed: 59.42
Upload Speed: 15.41
Ping Latency: 41.63
which, I suppose, is not surpising due to all the recent line drops. I can put up with the lower speed for now - I'm more interested in seeing how long the line stays connected. (Out of interest, is it possible to view the sync speeds and SNR values with this setup, since they don't show up on 'Online Status > Physical Connection'?)

If it disconnects as frequently as the Draytek, I'll get back to BT and give them an ear bending. If it seems stable, I'll raise the issue with Draytek support.
Does that sound like a plan?

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10 Nov 2016 19:59 #10 by jedi98
Replied by jedi98 on topic Re: Seeking Help Diagnosing Line Drop-outs
* I would expect the download speed on BT modem to stabilize to a good rate for the line, eventually.
* Upload speed not certain.
* Latency seems high but I'm not really comparing like for like. It has got interlace on your line at present.
* No, you will not be able to get stats because: -
. .a) BT have it locked down (it is possible to unlock but probably not worth it) and
. .b) There is no universal standard for passing stats to the router so the only way to access is to plug the modem straight into a PC. Some draytek modems achieve the trick because they have an extra (proprietary) protocol for passing info to the router.
* Your plan sounds good to me.

I'm thinking your line must be pretty noisy to get an interleave of 1512 and also to go from Attainable 89820224 but Actual 72120000 I'd expect 80Mbps. Quiet line test phone number is 17070.

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  • mark_t
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11 Nov 2016 10:06 #11 by mark_t
Replied by mark_t on topic Re: Seeking Help Diagnosing Line Drop-outs


* No, you will not be able to get stats because: -
. .a) BT have it locked down (it is possible to unlock but probably not worth it) and
. .b) There is no universal standard for passing stats to the router so the only way to access is to plug the modem straight into a PC. Some draytek modems achieve the trick because they have an extra (proprietary) protocol for passing info to the router.



Didn't think it was possible to get stats, and, yes, I had googled the info about hacking the BT modem, but didn't fancy going down that route since it is presently my only reliable way of connecting and I don't want to risk messing it up.


I'm thinking your line must be pretty noisy to get an interleave of 1512 and also to go from Attainable 89820224 but Actual 72120000 I'd expect 80Mbps. Quiet line test phone number is 17070.



I working on the theory (possibly wrongly) that my line is fine (confirmed last week by the visiting BT engineer) as I was originally syncing at 20/80 - the figures from my post above were taken after multiple disconnections, so hopefully not typical.

Assuming the BT modem maintains the connection over the weekend I'll contact Draytek support next week.

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  • mark_t
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11 Dec 2016 16:14 #12 by mark_t
Replied by mark_t on topic Re: Seeking Help Diagnosing Line Drop-outs
A quick update in case the information is of use to others.

I registered a support call with Draytek on 14 November. I re-enabled WAN1 following the advice given by tech support:


Can you confirm the following settings:
- The [Hardware Acceleration] is disabled
- In [WAN]>>[General Setup]>>[WAN1] the [DSL Mode] is set to auto
- In [WAN]>>[General Setup]>>[WAN1] the [DSL Modem Code] is set to default
- In [WAN]>>[Internet Access]>>[Details Page] th [Protocol] is set to PPPoE and Service Name is blank.


At the time the router was using firmware 3.8.4_VT1 and the line soon dropped/reconnected as I expected it would.

Tech support then suggested the following on 16 November:


The router is using a vector1 version. We would recommend perhaps trying a different firmware which has a different modem code.
The next step would be to change the firmware version from vector1 to non-vector and send another screenshot of the DSL Status page so that we can take a look at that.
After the firmware has been changed check the MTU value and set it to 1492 if there is a different value.
Note that is recommended to perform a configuration backup before changing the firmware

Firmware:
http://www.draytek.co.uk/download/support/v2860_384_nonvector.zip


Using this firmware (which I hadn't got roung to experimenting with previously) the line seems very stable, albeit with slower sync speeds than I optimally achieve.
After 13 days I rebooted the router to see if sync speeds improved, but they remained at about 20000/67000 so I decided to try and get BT to reset my profile again in order to improve matters. I'm not entirely sure, but I think when BT support do this remotely, it's not the same as when a BT Openreach engineer manually resets the line at your home socket. Anyway the scheduled remote resetting of my profile 48hrs later didn't improve matters.

I think I'll try and get an Openreach engineer to visit in due course (I haven't got the strength to call BT again at the moment!) and just be thankful that my connection seems very stable using WAN1, current uptime is 8 days (since BT reset my profile).
I still don't understand why the 3.8.4_BT modem codes cannot work as they should with my BT line?

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