BT broadband constantly tripping

[Shaila Shah]

Hi all,

Need some help please. Our BT broadband (Infinity is what they call it) keep tripping and constantly needs to be reset. BT says it is probably a problem in our house and will charge to come and have a look (?129 plus VAT!). Anyone experiencing anything similar? Or has any tips on how to fix this? Thank you.

[dbboy]

I am with the Post Office via Talk Talk and for the last two weeks have experienced problems, two visits so far from BT Open Reach and a third due this morning, Lots of noise on the phone line and intermittent broadband. PO quote the same Open Reach prices if they find an internal fault. I know the problem is external but they deny this, Will wait and see what teh out come of this third visit will be today.

[beansprout]

I have also had problems for the last two weeks - with EE and have taken the steps to go fibre route to attempt to defuse the problem. Got sent 2 new routers and 2 BT engineers and no success at all. The only other thing you could try is Ethernet cable - a friend Tried this and solved problem. I am no techie so can't comment further however, one my frequent walks around ED coming across more employees at boxes from all companies connecting people to fibre.

[nxjen]

BT saying it's probably a problem inside the house or with customer's equipment seems to be their default response, they've said this to me on the couple of times I've experienced problem on the line. I've persisted and it turned out the problem was with their wiring or equipment but they justified saying it was inside the house so that I'd be prepared to have to pay if it proved to be the case.

I'm on Infinity as well and noticed pauses while watching iplayer over the weekend, I put it down to the snow. Seemed OK yesterday.

[Penguin68]

Several things to check - (1) if you have a number of appliances does it trip at the same time on all? - check to see if it's kit or application specific. If some things (i.e. phones) still have broadband access then it is more likely to be something in your home or set-up. (2) Are you accessing through WiFi? There are numbers of problems with WiFi being interrupted by other things, including 'smart meters'. If you can, access via ethernet and see if your signal isn't interrupted. Again, this would be an internal problem. (3) Is the light on your router indicating a broadband drop-out? If it is, then it may be an external problem. Have you tried re-booting your router? Sometimes this will clear the router cache.

BT is probably right that there are more things that can go wrong in your home than in the external network back through to the line card and rack, particularly if you have fibre where there are fewer flexibility points - most of which can be checked remotely. Intermittent problems are a b*stard of course. I had a machine where the broadband was constantly dropping out (but not on other machines and phones) - but far fewer problems on ethernet than WiFi. So it goes.

[monkeyspanner]

Hi Shaila, ours is doing the same - on the se15 side of peckham rye park. Just the last few days, it seems as soon as I step away from my laptop the connection drops. Multiple times per day.

[Zebedee Tring]

We have had BT problems like this for several months. What I do is remove all the leads from the back of the router, put them back in, remove them again and put them back again. This may be more than is needed but it seems to do the trick.

[DulwichFox]

If you are having trouble with your BT Hub, it could be caused by other devices like Wireless Phones.

Make sure any such devices are not near your BT Hub Router.

Also, where possible, connect your PC to the Hub with a cable. This will also improve your Download/Upload speed.

DulwichFox

[Loz]

If you want to find if your internal wiring is the cause, then you need to find your 'master' socket (i.e. the one the outside wires first run to). If you take the front fascia off of the master socket, you will find the test socket (if it's not there, you've not got the master).

Plus your router into that and if is still failing, then it's not your wiring.

[ianr]

Try some Quiet Line tests, preferably with your phone plugged in the master socket, including some times when the lights on your hub tell you that the connection has dropped: https://support.zen.co.uk/kb/Knowledgebase/Performing-a-Quiet-Line-Test. I don't know if they pick up all instances of corroded wire connections (maybe exacerbated by moisture) but it's well worth a try. It places the problem squarely on the external line if so. Incidentally, I remember from when I had a similar problem on ADSL that the modem log, or maybe some other monitoring software, showed a definite temporary improvemnet in broadband connection quality after the phone rang, probably due to the warming effect of the current.

[beansprout]

anyone on sky?? Totally frustrated with EE now and considering Sky or Virgin or possibly Talk - ..now know even more about fibre and companies than I ever new before. Even fibre as confirmed by BT yesterday works from exchange to box and then God only knows who is responsible from box into home.. EE by all current research is in 10/11 place. As someone mentioned to me, possibly all Zibam getting is a booster at the end of the day. Still buffering and frustratingly now disconnects regularly from server - new problem. Rant over

[Loz]

Just about all of them, Virgin excepted, rely on BT (well, Openreach) for the 'last mile' from the exchange to the house. The differences between them are the equipment in the exchange.

Normal broadband is copper from the exchange to the house. Infinity and other 'fibre' broadband are fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) and then copper to the house. Virgin are fibre all the way to the house (FTTP).

[Sue]

I'm worried now.

I'm changing from Plusnet to BT at the end of the month :(

ETA: I got a really good deal, but that's a bit pointless if the broadband is rubbish!!

[nxjen]

I?ve been with BT broadband for about 12 years and I wouldn?t call them rubbish. The couple of times I had issues it was with the phone, not broadband. I think there was one general outage that affected the whole area for a few hours about 5 years ago but other than that it?s been fine.

[Sue]

Thanks nxjen, that's reassuring! I did check out reviews etc before I went with them.

[Tractorlad]

Absolutely no problems with BT infinity on Barry Road. Crossed Fingers its run seamlessly since installed over 2 yrs ago.

[mima08]

I had a similar issue on and off with BT for 12month. Problem was that it was intermitted - no issue for a few weeks then tripping like crazy for a few days - then fine again.

Eventually, I noticed that it always happened in high winds and strong rain... One Sunday morning a BT engineer turns up at my door (I had not arranged it) and said BT had decided to investigate. Bizarre but ok - turns out the wires coming into my house from outside and going across the street were rusted and too tight. That's why it tripped in heavy rain and wind! He re-strung it and touch wood, no issue since.

Even though it took a while to get sorted, BT was genuinely helpful all the way through.

[Shaila Shah]

Thanks everyone. Lots of tips here so will try what we can. Of course, since I wrote the post, no tripping!