Discussion topic: Line 0: VDSL2 link down then WAN link reconnects

This message was authored by: dave+smith123 · ‎13 Jan 2021

Hi Sky Community,

I've been been using Sky services for 13 years. My problem currently is with the Internet link recent intermittenly dropping but then reconnecting itself between 30 - 60 seconds.

I've reported the fault to Sky who carried out a line test which picked up an external fault. Openreach entered the home, installed the new Openreach master filtered socket, did some cripping and testing. The results of the test confirmed a dial tone on the phone, and an 80mb broadband download speed. Anyone I thought that was it, problem resolved. However next day say the drop out again in the early hours. Called Sky again and they sent another engineer in the afternoon. He came indoors performed a line test from the master socket and found an issue down at the exchange. Of he went, found the issue at the Exchange then when to the green cabinet to ensure the issue did not follow this route. He confirmed back to me that eveything is was now reconneted and working. However an hours after the fix the internet still continued to intermittenly drop. In fact looking at the router logs the internet drops approx. every 1 and half, 2 hrs for 30-60 seconds and reconnects.

I've done some reseach online and in the forum and some people who have had similiar problems refer to the phone line being a cause. I have another engineer coming out on Friday so will see what they say. In the meantime I'd like to perform my own troubleshooting if I may to see if in this time the drop outs stop.

My current setup consists of ethernet 1 on the sky hub being connected to a unmanaged netgear switch. The switch has 16 ports which are all used but not all deviced active or used simultaneously.

This switch is also link to another unmanaged 8 port switch in another location which again which not all ports active or running simultaneously.

Now I do not think this is at all the cause of the ntermitten drop outs i've been experiencing since around December. If anything would then be somekind of conflict going on with the ports or mix of cat5 or cat6 cables plugged into various devices which may be causing the drop outs?

One interesting thing I noticed though despite the dropout happening on their own, when I pick up the home phone and dial out, 8 out of 10 times i ring out or ring the home phone using my mobile phone the internet drops. Does that help anyone with any advise.

The problem is I am confident that the work both engineers carried out were a success. They performed internal and external tests and the positive results were shared with Sky. Now the results were taken after the work was carried out and the drop outs were not seen until they left where the same symptoms were experienced. There is no change whatsoever in the symptoms in the drops out prior to the engineers carrying out their works. If anything they have got more frequent and annoying.

I am posting a couple of time stamps of the hub logs below.

Jan 13 08:18:00 syslog: [41307.647000] Line 0: VDSL2 link down
Jan 13 08:18:01 syslog: Clear IP addresses. IP connection DOWN.
Jan 13 08:18:02 syslog: [41309.431000] Line 0: xDSL G.994 training
Jan 13 08:18:17 syslog: [41324.438000] Line 0: VDSL G.993 started
Jan 13 08:18:29 syslog: [41337.143000] Line 0: VDSL2 link up, Bearer 0, us=20000, ds=73962
Jan 13 08:19:03 syslog: ptm0.1 - WAN link UP.
Jan 13 08:19:03 syslog: Received valid DHCP lease from server. Connection UP.

Jan 13 10:05:31 syslog: [47759.019000] Line 0: VDSL2 link down
Jan 13 10:05:33 syslog: [47760.499000] Line 0: xDSL G.994 training
Jan 13 10:05:34 syslog: Clear IP addresses. IP connection DOWN.
Jan 13 10:05:49 syslog: [47776.509000] Line 0: VDSL G.993 started
Jan 13 10:06:00 syslog: [47788.332000] Line 0: VDSL2 link up, Bearer 0, us=20000, ds=70934
Jan 13 10:06:34 syslog: ptm0.1 - WAN link UP.
Jan 13 10:06:34 syslog: Received valid DHCP lease from server. Connection UP.

Jan 13 10:14:14 syslog: [48281.398000] Line 0: VDSL2 link down
Jan 13 10:14:15 syslog: Clear IP addresses. IP connection DOWN.
Jan 13 10:14:16 syslog: [48283.607000] Line 0: xDSL G.994 training
Jan 13 10:14:31 syslog: [48298.612000] Line 0: VDSL G.993 started
Jan 13 10:14:43 syslog: [48310.685000] Line 0: VDSL2 link up, Bearer 0, us=20000, ds=71969
Jan 13 10:15:24 syslog: ptm0.1 - WAN link UP.
Jan 13 10:15:24 syslog: Received valid DHCP lease from server. Connection UP.

Jan 13 12:29:50 syslog: [56418.797000] Line 0: VDSL2 link down
Jan 13 12:29:53 syslog: Clear IP addresses. IP connection DOWN.
Jan 13 12:29:53 syslog: [56421.072000] Line 0: xDSL G.994 training
Jan 13 12:30:08 syslog: [56436.077000] Line 0: VDSL G.993 started
Jan 13 12:30:20 syslog: [56448.095000] Line 0: VDSL2 link up, Bearer 0, us=20000, ds=63662
Jan 13 12:31:06 syslog: ptm0.1 - WAN link UP.
Jan 13 12:31:06 syslog: Received valid DHCP lease from server. Connection UP

Appreciate any help and support. Given the works carried out, the issue I think could be:

- The unmanaged netgear switch causing conflicts either with the switch itself or the various connected devices

- The hubs ethernet port

- The internal phone line / dial tone - ringing in or ring out

- The external overhead cable between green cabinet and my home (this is probably a very likely cause from what I've read elsewhere). However I would have thought this would have been flagged on the engineers report.

- As I've said nothing within the property has changed or introduced (devices) which may have caused the dropouts.

Thank you for your support.

This message was authored by: dave+smith123 · ‎15 Jan 2021

Thank you to those who were able to respond.

So engineer came out this morning. I explained what the previous engineers did this week. He came and tested the line with his equipment. He say errors related to a distance of 29 metres away. Said it was possibly the line at the telegraph pole. He went up on his ladder, and from what he told me was the cable at the pole end was damaged / spliced or something. Basically after 2 or 3 weeks the cable would have eventually come of completely. As result of the spliced cable this is why the telephone and broadband was dropping out. He repaired / replaced the part and said something like that he had fitted to parts to it for resilience. So if in future one failed then other part will take over the load.

Came back into the house and tested again from his end. Everything was fine, no errors etc.

I tested myself by ringing the home phone, no drop outs! Checked the speed test and started to see more of what I should be expected. I suspect like it will still take days for the connection to settle and adjust following the fix.

What a stressful week its been. I dont know why the previous engineers at the time couldnt find the exact fault with the cable.

I hope this helps others in future that if you experience VDSL2 drop outs with you sky hub and everything is confirmed working on the internal wiring, it may be likely a problem with the overhead line connections. The engineer was confident that with the problems I had, the problem is never to be with the Exchange or Green box which he has just proven.

Thanks Open Reach engineer.

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This message was authored by: dave+smith123 · ‎13 Jan 2021

Update: definitely when I ring the house phone the internet connection drops.

whether this is a symptom / reason for why the internet connection drops intermittenly is another thing.

This message was authored by: dave+smith123 · ‎14 Jan 2021

Update: I disconnected the unmanaged netgear switch from the Sky Hub Router on ethernet port 1 and then dialed the home phone line using my mobile. After 5 rings the internet dropped and then came back up after 30 seconds.

So to me this discounts the switch being a conflicting issue.

This message was authored by: Chrisee · ‎15 Jan 2021

@dave+smith123 the VDSL signal dropping when a phone is picked up is often caused by lack of a line filter. You mention that Openreach installed a filtered master socket which should avoid that problem but see if a line filter on the phone stops the issue.

Otherwise just keep referring the fault back to Sky to get Openreach to dig a bit deeper as it looks like theybhave no got tomthe bottom of the problem.

=========================================================
65inch Sky Glass, 3 Sky Streaming Pucks, Sky Ultrafast + and Sky SR213(white Wifi Max hub) main Wifi from 3 TP-Link Deco M4 units in access point mode

This message was authored by: dave+smith123 · ‎15 Jan 2021

Thank you so much Chrisee.

Further update as I await the engineer this morning.

Update: Took the new master socket face plate off last night and plugged a filter into the test connection by passing the filter in the built in master socket. I then plugged the ADSL router into the filter and carried out some tests.

When rang the home phone the internet did not drop this time. Tried several times but internet connection remained stable. I then performed a speed test through a browser on a wired connection and also used the sky connection test webpage and both showed about 30-35mb download. So nowhere near the minimum of 54mb or the 70-80 which are showing on my history chart. The 70-80 mb only appear on the days when Openreach came to the house to try and repair the fault but the test they perform are on the own devices and not through the router itself.

Yesterday is the latest history and this is showing back to 35mb.

I put the faceplate back on and put everything back how it was. Ran the same tests, internet drops when i ring the home phone and broadband speeds are still nowhere near where they should be.

When the engineer arrives I will show them the 14 day stats, 13 of them being below 30mb and 2 days above 70mb which were taken on the day of both engineers carrying out work. I will also show them that the sky connection test page is showing a fault on the broadband, and none of my physical connected devices are showing, and when sky performed a line test over the phone yesterday a fault was found.

One surprisingly thing to note is the internet did not drop at all for around 14 hrs yesterday which is different to what has been happening the previous weeks and days. However during this time the speeds were still low.

Will update you all later on my findings. Having read someone else on the internet starting to think the problem is with the overhead line between green cab and house but im no engineer.

This message was authored by: APM42 · ‎15 Jan 2021

It sounds like you've identified the main issue which was the filtering (i.e. dropping out when calls come in). Your speed however has probably been capped automatically by DLM due to all the disconnections. If you get the engineer back, get the filtering sorted out (new VDSL face plate perhaps?) and ask him to do a DLM reset. If that reset doesn't occur you'll have to wait for DLM to gradually increase your speed back to top whack which could take days, weeks, longer.

This message was authored by: dave+smith123 · ‎15 Jan 2021

Thank you to those who were able to respond.

So engineer came out this morning. I explained what the previous engineers did this week. He came and tested the line with his equipment. He say errors related to a distance of 29 metres away. Said it was possibly the line at the telegraph pole. He went up on his ladder, and from what he told me was the cable at the pole end was damaged / spliced or something. Basically after 2 or 3 weeks the cable would have eventually come of completely. As result of the spliced cable this is why the telephone and broadband was dropping out. He repaired / replaced the part and said something like that he had fitted to parts to it for resilience. So if in future one failed then other part will take over the load.

Came back into the house and tested again from his end. Everything was fine, no errors etc.

I tested myself by ringing the home phone, no drop outs! Checked the speed test and started to see more of what I should be expected. I suspect like it will still take days for the connection to settle and adjust following the fix.

What a stressful week its been. I dont know why the previous engineers at the time couldnt find the exact fault with the cable.

I hope this helps others in future that if you experience VDSL2 drop outs with you sky hub and everything is confirmed working on the internal wiring, it may be likely a problem with the overhead line connections. The engineer was confident that with the problems I had, the problem is never to be with the Exchange or Green box which he has just proven.

Thanks Open Reach engineer.

This message was authored by: THX1138 · ‎03 Apr 2021

Hello All

I posted the exact same issue on another thread, but thought I’d chime in on this running thread of the same topic.

Like everyone else here, my Sky internet was rock solid, for years and years, with never any dropouts, until January 2021 (had one blip back in April 2020, but probably not connected – but could be).

Then in January 2021 the dropouts begun… Below is my diary account:

At that time I was on Sky ADSL, using my own TP-Link router. Yes my ADSL was only 8mb, but it was rock solid and never ever dropped out. Then out of the blue woke up on the 29th Jan to find my internet down. I rebooted the TP-Link and all was good.

Then on the 4th March, same thing again, woke up to find no internet. Rebooted and all was good for a couple of days.

7th March, woke to find no internet, so I swapped out my TP-Link router for my old original Sky SR102 router, just to see if the TP-Link was maybe at fault.

From the 8th to the 10th March same wake up in the morning with no internet issue, rebooted the Sky SR102 router and all was good until the next morning.

Then on the 11th March things got much worse. At 3pm internet went down for 3 hours and rebooting the router made no difference. I was truly hacked off and called Sky VIP Diamond support, who were very friendly. I explained everything and they quickly booked a Sky Eng, who came around that evening and handed me a new Sky Q Hub router. I installed the new Sky Q Hub router. Then at 20:00, internet went down for the rest of the evening. Not good…

12th March called Sky back and this time they booked an Openreach Eng. Openreach Eng came to our house for the 15th March. Strange thing is that within an hour of Sky booking Openreach, the dropouts improved to only happening for a few minutes each time – Openreach must have done something at the exchange?

15th March Openreach came to the house and tested the line between our house and the cabinet – this checked out fine and the internet was then stable for a few days.

Then on the 18th March the 1 minute dropouts begun happening throughout the day. Called Sky again, who were beginning to scratch their heads. One thing I did decide to do at this time was to upgrade from my basic Sky ADSL to Sky Superfast FTTC – it would be cheaper and it would also eliminate any copper cable issue between the Exchange and the Cabinet.

Upgrade happened on the 25th March successfully and I now get 24mb instead of 8mb, which is nice.

BUT, I am still getting these 1 minute dropouts at least once every day mainly around 02:00am. But these dropouts can happen at other times in the day and on some days may not happen at all – so very random. Since the upgrade to Sky Superfast FTTC these random dropouts are always 1 minute in duration.

Obviously, these dropouts of any duration or any frequency are not normal. Broadband should be ‘fit and forget’!

My feeling is that something is happening at the Exchange causing these dropouts. Based on now having used different routers, having had the line checked and having now moved from ADSL to FTTC, the only place left is the Exchange.

That blip issue I had back in April 2020 was found to be an Exchange issue, due to some equipment issues. There was mention of ports becoming unstable and needing resetting or cables being physically swapped around from intermitted ports to better ones. Before April 2020 I never had to call Sky for 10 years!

Another thought is that with everyone staying/working at home due to C19, maybe the Exchanges are unable to deal with the unprecedented required level of throughput, hence internet IP address connections are dropping out and reconnecting due to this.

What would be very interesting to know is if any Sky FTTP customers are also experiencing these dropouts or if it’s only ADSL and VDSL (FTTC) customers?

Cheers

This message was authored by: THX1138 · ‎03 Apr 2021

Hello All

I posted the exact same issue on another thread, but thought I’d chime in on this running thread of the same topic.

Like everyone else here, my Sky ADSL internet was rock solid, for years and years, with never any dropouts, until January 2021 (had one blip back in April 2020, but probably not connected – but could be).