Nightly internet connection drops due to known VOIP orange light issue.

[KP13]

Seems there are plenty of threads in relation to this issue yet no resolution. 

Like others internet connection drops altogether usually around midnight-2am. Incredibly frustrating as security systems all start beeping. 

Sky technical team are apparently claiming there are no issues and are unaware of ALL these threads! They claim that the issue lies with my devices as they are "third party". Except that every single device appears offline (various third parties) including phones and tablets etc all at the same time! 

@Sky.Sky @Sky please urgently advise. 

[peter-marlow+1966]

And like  all the other threads you mention, it is probably  when sky, open reach  carry out  maintenance, as there will  be less disruption  to people

[Chrisee]

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@peter-marlow+1966 wrote:

And like  all the other threads you mention, it is probably  when sky, open reach  carry out  maintenance, as there will  be less disruption  to people

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@KP13 sounds highly likely it was maintenance work if your service is baxk to normal this morning. It is an irritating part of.life unfortunately every network operator has to do work sometime.

[Twinklethecat]

My internet drops out once the VOIP light goes orange. This happens every few days. Not sure why VOIP access cuts off the internet access. This is resolved by restarting the router, except when I am away out of the country and all my security goes off line. Any ideas.?

[Twinklethecat]

If it's down to maintaiance surely the service should resume afterwards, mine has been down now for 3 days and I am out of the country so can not restart.

[Twinklethecat]

This issue is all over the Sky BB forums so it is nice to know I am far from alone. It looks like no fix is coming soon so let me offer a sticking plaster. When I return to the UK I will insert a timer switch on the router's mains plug socket which will switch off the router every 24 hours in the early morning for 5 minutes forcing a router restart, effectively power cycling it. It won't be ideal but as I am out of the country a lot I can see no other alternative. 

A bigger worry is for those who rely on the internet for safety reasons could be left ignored and in danger. Which then becomes an OFCOM issue.

[Chrisee]

@Twinklethecat a hub restart woulld probably clear the fault but if you are out of the country and dont have anyone local to do that for you you are stuck so a time switch while being overkill might help in your case but 5 minutes msy not be long enough especially at night. However. I agree the issue is super annoying. 

Regarding frequency of the fault in the forum it appears to be related to an issue one of Sky's servers which manage connections. So while it gets reported quite frequently given there are probably more than a hundred of these units around the country and only some ports on each one seem to be affected at anyone time the % of customers affected is tiny but when you have 5 million customers even 0.1% is 5,000.  Most people will go years without seeing an issue and once Sky fix the dodgy unit in your area hopefully that will be your experience

No isp can ever promise 24/7 uptime and Ofcom would never expect that which is why anyone with a safety need for internet connectivity with a serious need to remain connected will have a back up system usually using a mobile sim. Remember the SLA offered on domestic lines is 2 working days from report which Ofcom reports Openreach meet 85% of the time. 

[Twinklethecat]

Thanks for the reply, very informative. I certainly don't expect 24/7 uptime, what I am surprised by is that Sky don't detect the outage and reboot my router remotely or the router itself auto restarts on detecting a fault. That would seem the obvious thing to do to me.

I suppose what also cheeses me off is that I invested 100s of pounds on security cameras and home automation so I can operate the house remotely when abroad. The whole of this infrastructure was rendered useless within 2 days of me leaving home, and will remain so until I return.

Cheers.

[Chrisee]

@Twinklethecat Sky cannot communicate with the hub if it isnt receiving data. There are multiple reasons why hubs go down your fault is only one and a lot of people turn the kit off overnight. 

There is a law of the universe that things always go down at the most inconvenient time. I also had remote sensing systems but my own experience was a faulty leak detector going off when I had just flown overseas and was in a place with very poor mobile connectivity and no flights home, my neighbour, who holds keys, was also away.  Fortunately my daughter was willing to drive 100 miles each way to check that it was indeed a faulty sensor not an all out flood.