Sky vs Zen vs Plusnet for Fibre Broadband

You've had so many problems with this switch, I don't envy you!
 
Tell me about it! Its so stupid its almost funny. :lol:
 
I unlocked my HG612 modem today, got all the stats and what not.

Also running DSLStats just so I can keep an eye on things for a while and see what its up to.

Only tweak I've done is disable QoS in the modem as that give you a little boost on upload...


Before disabling QoS: (this is the result from the previous page that was run on Wednesday)

148049259919355560023.png



After disabling QoS:

148071971118029320866.png



Telnet data from the modem:
Code: 
xdslcmd info --stats
xdslcmd: ADSL driver and PHY status
Status: Showtime
Retrain Reason:    1
Last initialization procedure status:    0
Max:    Upstream rate = 26686 Kbps, Downstream rate = 73424 Kbps
Bearer:    0, Upstream rate = 19999 Kbps, Downstream rate = 73953 Kbps
Bearer:    1, Upstream rate = 0 Kbps, Downstream rate = 0 Kbps
Link Power State:    L0
Mode:            VDSL2 Annex B
VDSL2 Profile:        Profile 17a
TPS-TC:            PTM Mode(0x0)
Trellis:        U:ON /D:ON
Line Status:        No Defect
Training Status:    Showtime
        Down        Up
SNR (dB):     6.6         16.4
Attn(dB):     11.2         0.0
Pwr(dBm):     13.4        -4.0
            VDSL2 framing
            Bearer 0
MSGc:        -6        26
B:        243        237
M:        1        1
T:        0        42
R:        10        16
S:        0.1051        0.3781
L:        19341        5374
D:        8        1
I:        254        127
N:        254        254
Q:        8        0
V:        0        0
RxQueue:        60        0
TxQueue:        20        0
G.INP Framing:        18        0
G.INP lookback:        20        0
RRC bits:        0        24
            Bearer 1
MSGc:        154        -6
B:        0        0
M:        2        0
T:        2        0
R:        16        0
S:        6.4000        0.0000
L:        40        0
D:        3        0
I:        32        0
N:        32        0
Q:        0        0
V:        0        0
RxQueue:        0        0
TxQueue:        0        0
G.INP Framing:        0        0
G.INP lookback:        0        0
RRC bits:        0        0
            Counters
            Bearer 0
OHF:        0        3017826
OHFErr:        6        28
RS:        454224024        2138654
RSCorr:        76866        525
RSUnCorr:    0        0
            Bearer 1
OHF:        745711        0
OHFErr:        0        0
RS:        7456498        0
RSCorr:        4        0
RSUnCorr:    0        0

            Retransmit Counters
rtx_tx:        567511        0
rtx_c:        111        0
rtx_uc:        100856        0

            G.INP Counters
LEFTRS:        24        0
minEFTR:    73938        0
errFreeBits:    17485877        0

            Bearer 0
HEC:        0        0
OCD:        0        0
LCD:        0        0
Total Cells:    1703427057        0
Data Cells:    24652844        0
Drop Cells:    0
Bit Errors:    0        0

            Bearer 1
HEC:        0        0
OCD:        0        0
LCD:        0        0
Total Cells:    0        0
Data Cells:    0        0
Drop Cells:    0
Bit Errors:    0        0

ES:        23        23
SES:        21        1
UAS:        69        48
AS:        11978

            Bearer 0
INP:        49.00        0.00
INPRein:    0.00        0.00
delay:        0        0
PER:        0.00        3.98
OR:        0.01        64.22
AgR:        74028.99    20063.54

            Bearer 1
INP:        4.50        0.00
INPRein:    4.50        0.00
delay:        3        0
PER:        16.06        0.01
OR:        79.68        0.01
AgR:        79.68    0.01

Bitswap:    6219/6219        40/40

Total time = 3 hours 49 min 54 sec
FEC:        85442        7511
CRC:        1238        72
ES:        23        23
SES:        21        1
UAS:        69        48
LOS:        1        0
LOF:        10        0
LOM:        0        0
Latest 15 minutes time = 4 min 54 sec
FEC:        0        0
CRC:        0        0
ES:        0        0
SES:        0        0
UAS:        0        0
LOS:        0        0
LOF:        0        0
LOM:        0        0
Previous 15 minutes time = 15 min 0 sec
FEC:        0        9
CRC:        0        1
ES:        0        1
SES:        0        0
UAS:        0        0
LOS:        0        0
LOF:        0        0
LOM:        0        0
Latest 1 day time = 3 hours 49 min 54 sec
FEC:        85442        7511
CRC:        1238        72
ES:        23        23
SES:        21        1
UAS:        69        48
LOS:        1        0
LOF:        10        0
LOM:        0        0
Previous 1 day time = 0 sec
FEC:        0        0
CRC:        0        0
ES:        0        0
SES:        0        0
UAS:        0        0
LOS:        0        0
LOF:        0        0
LOM:        0        0
Since Link time = 3 hours 19 min 37 sec
FEC:        76866        525
CRC:        6        28
ES:        1        18
SES:        0        0
UAS:        0        0
LOS:        0        0
LOF:        0        0
LOM:        0        0
#
 
Plusnet are still trying to bill me! :confused:

Everything had been sorted, or so I thought. I'd been refunded about 6 quid for the last part of November after I moved.

Then I got the usual 'Advance notice of your Direct Debit payment' email on the 11th Dec. saying they will take payment for the next month (Dec-Jan) . - so I cancelled my DD.

Now they tell me I need to wait for them to take the payment so they can refund me.

Yeah good luck with that as you have no payment on record now and I ain't paying another month when its all been sorted previously..

Honestly, WTF is going on?

:wall:
 
I'm just going to let them try and take the payment, because they can't. With any luck they will realise that we are all square and jog on.
 
That sounds far too simple to actually happen, V_R :lol:. Fingers crossed :).
 
This is still ongoing. Or rather was. Fingers crossed it is all sorted now, Had to escalate it to get any result though.

They emailed me earlier, even though they have already refunded me £6.something for the remainder of the month after I switched, they are now sending me a cheque for 92p. Yes seriously.

Apparently that will mean we are all square.

Oh what to spend it on!?!
 
That's ridiculous, probably costs them more than 92p to do that.

How are things with Zen now?
 
I know! its so stupid. If they had said that over the phone I'd have said don't bother. I won't even cash it tbh! I mean, who would go and pay in a cheque for 92p, seriously!?

Zen seem ok now the dust has settled.

I've had a couple of random re syncs the last couple of days where its come back a lot slower than normal, and my SNR has risen way up, but forcing a reboot puts it back to normal. I'm assuming line issues and not Zen themselves given the issues I seems to have had of late.

I'm still considering contacting BT and seeing if they'll send an engineer out as I think there is something amiss, but OR engineers are a bit of a lottery, it could go well or I might end up with a bill of £165 or what ever it is if he can't find a fault....

Speeds are holding stable at 70/20. So is ~5Mb worth the worry? Probably not tbh.
 
Yeah, if things get worse then I'll speak to them but for now its not my number one priority.
 
So the other week, one night in the early hours, my BB dropped and reconnected. Now its running at around 75Mb again, with an SNR of about 5.3db. Perfectly stable.

This makes me sure that there is extra noise on the line somewhere as I've seen a few SNR spikes since I've been actively monitoring the line. If only I could find the cause!

Only downside is that if it drops it'll go back to 6db and about 70Mb....
 
Excellent, glad to hear that it's back to 75Mbps now :).

Do you think it's something internal causing the spikes, or somewhere along the line length?
 
Ian said:
Excellent, glad to hear that it's back to 75Mbps now :).

Do you think it's something internal causing the spikes, or somewhere along the line length?
Click to expand...
It must be outside along the line somewhere, I've tried everything here..... :|


BT are or will be adding the option to use a 3, 6 or 9db profile soon so I'll be using the 3db all being well, should put me back to max sync. :)
 
Bump! :)

So, I'm coming to the end of my contract with Zen.... Should I stay or should I go?
 
How have they been more recently - has it been ok since the initial problems?

I've been lucky in that Zen have been really good so far, so I'm just letting it roll over.
 
Tbh I've been having some slight issues and I still think they're too expensive.

The single threaded issues come and go, and I (and others) have been having some strange disconnects, except they're not disconnects per se - I lose connection and no traffic can flow, but it isn't a resync according to the HG612.

Looking at my Zen portal you can see several times where it reconnects at exactly the same speeds etc, but both DSLStats and the modem say the connection hasn't dropped (connection time/uptime). Its odd and I can pin it down.

I know they had some scheduled maintenance over the last few weeks here and there, not sure if that's got anything to do with it.

So far I've tried upping the 'PPP Echo Max Failures' to 15, factory reset the router and a couple of other things. None seem to have helped.

But its a pain as I basically have to wait for it to do it again.

This is from the router logs when it happened one of the times.

Code: 
Aug 29 21:27:20 pppd[329]: No response to 10 echo-requests
Aug 29 21:27:20 pppd[329]: Serial link appears to be disconnected.
Aug 29 21:27:20 pppd[329]: Connect time 13398.5 minutes.
Aug 29 21:27:20 pppd[329]: Sent 2665467926 bytes, received 2952323212 bytes.
Aug 29 21:27:20 dnsmasq[283]: read /etc/hosts - 5 addresses
Aug 29 21:27:20 dnsmasq[283]: read /etc/hosts.dnsmasq - 19 addresses
Aug 29 21:27:20 dnsmasq-dhcp[283]: read /etc/ethers - 19 addresses
Aug 29 21:27:20 dnsmasq[283]: using nameserver 8.8.8.8#53
Aug 29 21:27:20 dnsmasq[283]: using nameserver 8.8.4.4#53
Aug 29 21:27:20 miniupnpd[663]: Failed to get IP for interface ppp0
Aug 29 21:27:20 miniupnpd[663]: SendNATPMPPublicAddressChangeNotification: cannot get public IP address, stopping
Aug 29 21:27:20 WAN_Connection: Fail to connect with some issues.
Aug 29 21:27:20 stop_nat_rules: apply the redirect_rules!
Aug 29 21:27:26 pppd[329]: Connection terminated.
Aug 29 21:27:26 pppd[329]: Sent PADT
Aug 29 21:27:26 pppd[329]: Modem hangup
Aug 29 21:28:11 pppd[329]: Timeout waiting for PADO packets
Aug 29 21:28:46 pppd[329]: PPP session is 1 (0x1)
Aug 29 21:28:46 pppd[329]: Connected to ac:60:b6:5f:4c:01 via interface eth0
Aug 29 21:28:46 pppd[329]: Using interface ppp0
Aug 29 21:28:46 pppd[329]: Connect: ppp0 <--> eth0
Aug 29 21:28:49 pppd[329]: CHAP authentication succeeded: CHAP authentication success, unit 13644
Aug 29 21:28:49 pppd[329]: CHAP authentication succeeded
Aug 29 21:28:49 pppd[329]: peer from calling number AC:60:B6:5F:4C:01 authorized
Aug 29 21:28:49 miniupnpd[663]: Failed to get IP for interface ppp0
Aug 29 21:28:49 miniupnpd[663]: SendNATPMPPublicAddressChangeNotification: cannot get public IP address, stopping
Aug 29 21:28:49 miniupnpd[663]: Failed to get IP for interface ppp0
Aug 29 21:28:49 miniupnpd[663]: SendNATPMPPublicAddressChangeNotification: cannot get public IP address, stopping
Aug 29 21:28:49 miniupnpd[663]: Failed to get IP for interface ppp0
Aug 29 21:28:49 miniupnpd[663]: SendNATPMPPublicAddressChangeNotification: cannot get public IP address, stopping
Aug 29 21:28:50 pppd[329]: local IP address xx.xx.xx.xx
Aug 29 21:28:50 pppd[329]: remote IP address xx.xx.xx.xx
Aug 29 21:28:50 rc_service: ip-up 31758:notify_rc start_firewall
Aug 29 21:28:50 miniupnpd[663]: shutting down MiniUPnPd
Aug 29 21:28:50 start_nat_rules: apply the nat_rules(/tmp/nat_rules_ppp0_eth0)!
Aug 29 21:28:50 dnsmasq[283]: read /etc/hosts - 5 addresses
Aug 29 21:28:50 dnsmasq[283]: read /etc/hosts.dnsmasq - 19 addresses
Aug 29 21:28:50 dnsmasq-dhcp[283]: read /etc/ethers - 19 addresses
Aug 29 21:28:50 dnsmasq[283]: using nameserver 8.8.8.8#53
Aug 29 21:28:50 dnsmasq[283]: using nameserver 8.8.4.4#53
Aug 29 21:28:50 miniupnpd[31795]: HTTP listening on port 35616
Aug 29 21:28:50 miniupnpd[31795]: Listening for NAT-PMP/PCP traffic on port 5351
Aug 29 21:28:50 miniupnpd[31795]: upnp_event_send: send(): Connection reset by peer
Aug 29 21:28:50 rc_service: ip-up 31758:notify_rc stop_upnp
Aug 29 21:28:50 rc_service: ip-up 31758:notify_rc start_upnp
Aug 29 21:28:50 rc_service: waitting "stop_upnp" via ip-up ...
Aug 29 21:28:50 miniupnpd[31795]: shutting down MiniUPnPd
Aug 29 21:28:51 ntp: start NTP update
Aug 29 21:28:51 miniupnpd[31808]: HTTP listening on port 38868
Aug 29 21:28:51 miniupnpd[31808]: Listening for NAT-PMP/PCP traffic on port 5351
Aug 29 21:28:52 miniupnpd[31808]: upnp_event_recv: recv(): Connection reset by peer
Aug 29 21:28:53 WAN_Connection: WAN was restored.
Aug 29 21:37:03 pppd[329]: No response to 10 echo-requests
Aug 29 21:37:03 pppd[329]: Serial link appears to be disconnected.
Aug 29 21:37:03 pppd[329]: Connect time 8.3 minutes.
Aug 29 21:37:03 pppd[329]: Sent 1560595 bytes, received 9555144 bytes.
Aug 29 21:37:03 miniupnpd[31808]: Failed to get IP for interface ppp0
Aug 29 21:37:03 miniupnpd[31808]: SendNATPMPPublicAddressChangeNotification: cannot get public IP address, stopping
Aug 29 21:37:03 dnsmasq[283]: read /etc/hosts - 5 addresses
Aug 29 21:37:03 dnsmasq[283]: read /etc/hosts.dnsmasq - 19 addresses
Aug 29 21:37:03 dnsmasq-dhcp[283]: read /etc/ethers - 19 addresses
Aug 29 21:37:03 dnsmasq[283]: using nameserver 8.8.8.8#53
Aug 29 21:37:03 dnsmasq[283]: using nameserver 8.8.4.4#53
Aug 29 21:37:04 WAN_Connection: Fail to connect with some issues.
Aug 29 21:37:04 stop_nat_rules: apply the redirect_rules!
Aug 29 21:37:09 pppd[329]: Connection terminated.
Aug 29 21:37:09 pppd[329]: Sent PADT
Aug 29 21:37:09 pppd[329]: Modem hangup
Aug 29 21:37:19 pppd[329]: PPP session is 2 (0x2)
Aug 29 21:37:19 pppd[329]: Connected to ac:60:b6:5f:4c:01 via interface eth0
Aug 29 21:37:19 pppd[329]: Using interface ppp0
Aug 29 21:37:19 pppd[329]: Connect: ppp0 <--> eth0
Aug 29 21:37:20 pppd[329]: CHAP authentication succeeded: CHAP authentication success, unit 10408
Aug 29 21:37:20 pppd[329]: CHAP authentication succeeded
Aug 29 21:37:20 pppd[329]: peer from calling number AC:60:B6:5F:4C:01 authorized
Aug 29 21:37:20 miniupnpd[31808]: Failed to get IP for interface ppp0
Aug 29 21:37:20 miniupnpd[31808]: SendNATPMPPublicAddressChangeNotification: cannot get public IP address, stopping
Aug 29 21:37:20 miniupnpd[31808]: Failed to get IP for interface ppp0
Aug 29 21:37:20 miniupnpd[31808]: SendNATPMPPublicAddressChangeNotification: cannot get public IP address, stopping
Aug 29 21:37:20 miniupnpd[31808]: Failed to get IP for interface ppp0
Aug 29 21:37:20 miniupnpd[31808]: SendNATPMPPublicAddressChangeNotification: cannot get public IP address, stopping
Aug 29 21:37:20 pppd[329]: local IP address xx.xx.xx.xx
Aug 29 21:37:20 pppd[329]: remote IP address xx.xx.xx.xx
Aug 29 21:37:20 rc_service: ip-up 32032:notify_rc start_firewall
Aug 29 21:37:20 dnsmasq[283]: read /etc/hosts - 5 addresses
Aug 29 21:37:20 dnsmasq[283]: read /etc/hosts.dnsmasq - 19 addresses
Aug 29 21:37:20 dnsmasq-dhcp[283]: read /etc/ethers - 19 addresses
Aug 29 21:37:20 dnsmasq[283]: using nameserver 8.8.8.8#53
Aug 29 21:37:20 dnsmasq[283]: using nameserver 8.8.4.4#53
Aug 29 21:37:20 miniupnpd[31808]: shutting down MiniUPnPd
Aug 29 21:37:20 start_nat_rules: apply the nat_rules(/tmp/nat_rules_ppp0_eth0)!
Aug 29 21:37:20 miniupnpd[32064]: HTTP listening on port 54165
Aug 29 21:37:20 miniupnpd[32064]: Listening for NAT-PMP/PCP traffic on port 5351
Aug 29 21:37:20 rc_service: ip-up 32032:notify_rc stop_upnp
Aug 29 21:37:20 rc_service: ip-up 32032:notify_rc start_upnp
Aug 29 21:37:20 rc_service: waitting "stop_upnp" via ip-up ...
Aug 29 21:37:20 miniupnpd[32064]: shutting down MiniUPnPd
Aug 29 21:37:22 ntp: start NTP update
Aug 29 21:37:22 miniupnpd[32075]: HTTP listening on port 44997
Aug 29 21:37:22 miniupnpd[32075]: Listening for NAT-PMP/PCP traffic on port 5351
Aug 29 21:37:25 WAN_Connection: WAN was restored.
Aug 29 21:38:27 dnsmasq-dhcp[283]: DHCPDISCOVER(br0) 90:8d:6c:b0:e1:46
Aug 29 21:38:27 dnsmasq-dhcp[283]: DHCPOFFER(br0) 192.168.1.16 90:8d:6c:b0:e1:46
Aug 29 21:38:28 dnsmasq-dhcp[283]: DHCPREQUEST(br0) 192.168.1.16 90:8d:6c:b0:e1:46
Aug 29 21:38:28 dnsmasq-dhcp[283]: DHCPACK(br0) 192.168.1.16 90:8d:6c:b0:e1:46
Aug 29 21:40:14 pppd[329]: No response to 10 echo-requests
Aug 29 21:40:14 pppd[329]: Serial link appears to be disconnected.
Aug 29 21:40:14 pppd[329]: Connect time 2.9 minutes.
Aug 29 21:40:14 pppd[329]: Sent 3054704 bytes, received 14792207 bytes.
Aug 29 21:40:14 miniupnpd[32075]: Failed to get IP for interface ppp0
Aug 29 21:40:14 miniupnpd[32075]: SendNATPMPPublicAddressChangeNotification: cannot get public IP address, stopping
Aug 29 21:40:14 dnsmasq[283]: read /etc/hosts - 5 addresses
Aug 29 21:40:14 dnsmasq[283]: read /etc/hosts.dnsmasq - 19 addresses
Aug 29 21:40:14 dnsmasq-dhcp[283]: read /etc/ethers - 19 addresses
Aug 29 21:40:14 dnsmasq[283]: using nameserver 8.8.8.8#53
Aug 29 21:40:14 dnsmasq[283]: using nameserver 8.8.4.4#53
Aug 29 21:40:16 WAN_Connection: Fail to connect with some issues.
Aug 29 21:40:16 stop_nat_rules: apply the redirect_rules!
Aug 29 21:40:20 pppd[329]: Connection terminated.
Aug 29 21:40:20 pppd[329]: Sent PADT
Aug 29 21:40:20 pppd[329]: Modem hangup
Aug 29 21:41:05 pppd[329]: Timeout waiting for PADO packets
Aug 29 21:41:34 miniupnpd[32075]: Failed to get ip address for interface ppp0
Aug 29 21:42:01 rc_service: httpd 284:notify_rc start_autodet
Aug 29 21:42:01 kernel: autodet uses obsolete (PF_INET,SOCK_PACKET)
Aug 29 21:42:03 rc_service: httpd 284:notify_rc start_autodet
Aug 29 21:42:20 pppd[329]: Timeout waiting for PADO packets
Aug 29 21:43:35 pppd[329]: Timeout waiting for PADO packets
Aug 29 21:44:50 pppd[329]: Timeout waiting for PADO packets
Aug 29 21:45:06 pppd[329]: PPP session is 1 (0x1)
Aug 29 21:45:06 pppd[329]: Connected to 00:02:3b:10:93:ab via interface eth0
Aug 29 21:45:06 pppd[329]: Using interface ppp0
Aug 29 21:45:06 pppd[329]: Connect: ppp0 <--> eth0
Aug 29 21:45:06 pppd[329]: CHAP authentication succeeded: CHAP authentication success, unit 12765
Aug 29 21:45:06 pppd[329]: CHAP authentication succeeded
Aug 29 21:45:06 pppd[329]: peer from calling number 00:02:3B:10:93:AB authorized
Aug 29 21:45:06 miniupnpd[32075]: Failed to get IP for interface ppp0
Aug 29 21:45:06 miniupnpd[32075]: SendNATPMPPublicAddressChangeNotification: cannot get public IP address, stopping
Aug 29 21:45:06 miniupnpd[32075]: Failed to get IP for interface ppp0
Aug 29 21:45:06 miniupnpd[32075]: SendNATPMPPublicAddressChangeNotification: cannot get public IP address, stopping
Aug 29 21:45:06 miniupnpd[32075]: Failed to get IP for interface ppp0
Aug 29 21:45:06 miniupnpd[32075]: SendNATPMPPublicAddressChangeNotification: cannot get public IP address, stopping
Aug 29 21:45:06 pppd[329]: local IP address xx.xx.xx.xx
Aug 29 21:45:06 pppd[329]: remote IP address xx.xx.xx.xx
Aug 29 21:45:06 rc_service: ip-up 32294:notify_rc start_firewall
Aug 29 21:45:06 dnsmasq[283]: read /etc/hosts - 5 addresses
Aug 29 21:45:06 dnsmasq[283]: read /etc/hosts.dnsmasq - 19 addresses
Aug 29 21:45:06 dnsmasq-dhcp[283]: read /etc/ethers - 19 addresses
Aug 29 21:45:06 dnsmasq[283]: using nameserver 8.8.8.8#53
Aug 29 21:45:06 dnsmasq[283]: using nameserver 8.8.4.4#53
Aug 29 21:45:06 miniupnpd[32075]: shutting down MiniUPnPd
Aug 29 21:45:06 start_nat_rules: apply the nat_rules(/tmp/nat_rules_ppp0_eth0)!
Aug 29 21:45:06 miniupnpd[32327]: HTTP listening on port 43734
Aug 29 21:45:06 miniupnpd[32327]: Listening for NAT-PMP/PCP traffic on port 5351
Aug 29 21:45:07 rc_service: ip-up 32294:notify_rc stop_upnp
Aug 29 21:45:07 miniupnpd[32327]: shutting down MiniUPnPd
Aug 29 21:45:07 rc_service: ip-up 32294:notify_rc start_upnp
Aug 29 21:45:07 ntp: start NTP update
Aug 29 21:45:07 miniupnpd[32337]: HTTP listening on port 35047
Aug 29 21:45:07 miniupnpd[32337]: Listening for NAT-PMP/PCP traffic on port 5351
Aug 29 21:45:11 WAN_Connection: WAN was restored.
 
Looks like it may be worth jumping ship then - a bit of a pain, but you've not had great experiences. It's such a shame as they've been really good at this end.

Who are your current alternatives?
 
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