Intermittent disconnections from broadband service, common failures on BQMs with other customers

[Jimbof]

We fairly often see our broadband disconnect or become poor performing for a period of a few minutes - maybe happens a couple of times a day.  At first we thought this might be related to our line.  We set up thinkbroadband BQM to constantly monitor the line via ping, which showed some issues.  But then on searching the internet I found another Sky Max user's BQM chart and see that they also have issues at exactly the same time, which would indicate this is a service-wide (or at least some portion of the service).  Our service is in Norwich, UK, I don't know where in the UK the other customer is.

Any idea what is going on here and how to resolve?  We did just swap out the router to see if that made any difference at all (in case they all have some timed event or similar) but of course it made no difference, so this really does seem to be service-side.  

Any help welcomed, as I'm getting tired of being told the connection is down / slow...

This is ours:

This is a Sky Max service customer's.  Note the spikes at the same point in time between the charts:

[gavs82008]

@Jimbof 

See this thread.

https://community.nowtv.com/t5/Off-Topic-Chat/Terrible-packet-loss/m-p/596115#M21557

[Jimbof]

Thanks, I'm not sure which bit you think is particularly relevant. See the two BQMs from different customers both showing the same interruptions to the service - the other customer's is generally worse than mine, but the main vertical "spikes" are the same.  This discounts all customer premise equipment and so the only point left there of any use really is to call NowTV.  I thought I'd reach out here in the hope others might also have BQM setup or similar and would be able to share what they see and their experiences.

[gavs82008]

@Jimbof 

My experience of the forum is many users complain about the hardware from NOW being of very poor quality. Often posters have either given up with the router and replaced it with a third party one, or used it as an excuse to leave and switch providers. 

@chilli2 @Jayach not sure if you both are able to pitch in as you seem more tech minded on the broadband side than myself?

[Jimbof]

Thanks, as I say I have tried switching the router for some pretty high-end gear (Ubiquiti) and while it makes the general performance a bit better and allows more configuration, it hasn't had any effect on these periodic spikes that it looks like at least one other customer sees a couple of times a day.  

[chilli2]

If you have tried another router/modem and had the same issues , then this could point to an issue elsewhere causing the disconnects.

 One such issue could be interference , known as REIN and SHINE which stands for Repetitive Electrical Impulse noise ( or sometimes Random Electrical impulse noise)  this can disrupt the VDSL signal causing a disconect, followed by slow speeds unitl it picks up again then drops again

SHINE is similar but is just a one off occurance.

 A few things can cause this from automatic switches such as the central heating/boiler kicking in at a certain time, being in close proximity to an airport/airport infrastructure , radio transmitters fairy lights ( usually at Christmas) or any other electrical items

 A quick youtube search throws up this good description : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5pWaeLJW88 

 I would also advise that you take a look at a few other forums such as think broadband, ISP review and Kitz https://forum.kitz.co.uk/

[Jimbof]

@chilli2- both of those issues would affect my line but not someone else's.  You can see on the BQM charts that the issue in question affects both mine and someone else's line at exactly the same time.  See the two vertical spikes with red tips.  One just before 6am, one just before 6pm.  

[JohnnyMo]

See this thread 

https://community.nowtv.com/t5/Setup-Performance/Intermittent-Broadband-Issues/m-p/596601#M16269

I seem to be having a similar issue what does your router stats say 

NOW sent a new router but it made no difference 

[Jimbof]

@JohnnyMo - I've disconnected the Now router now in favour of a separate modem (Vigor 130) plus router (Ubiquiti UDR).  The DSL connection itself is solid though, we are at 80/20 and close to the cab.  I do think we have seen similar "no lease renewed" messages though when it has dropped out, which might imply an issue with Sky's DHCP servers not keeping track or having to be rebooted.

Have you got a BQM set up on your connection?  It is very suspicious that I see the glitches happen at the exact same time as at least one other user.  I wonder if you would also see them at the same time.

[JohnnyMo]

No, but I'll install it & see if it adds any new information