COMPUTERS, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

[Pluggy]

The presence of a router log is router dependent , some of them just don't have them. They probably work on the assumption that almost nobody ever logs into a router, particularly with ISP supplied ones. Its geek territory.......

[Tripps]

They probably work on the assumption that almost nobody ever logs into a router, particularly with ISP supplied ones. Its geek territory.......

Thanks for that - I was starting to feel slightly inadequate.

[Tizer]

I took the risk and wandered into geek territory! I found my way into the router from advice on a Plusnet page using the IP address they give in my browser and then the password from the router details. After drilling down through the various levels I found a log but it's all gobbledegook to me, but no mention of faults, errors etc. The only understandable bits were simply entries relating to switching devices on or off. I'll connect my PC directly to the BT socket tomorrow and try the speed test again.

[PanBiker]

Your router should tell you the bandwidth it is receiving from the exchange, look for DSL details or system properties etc.

[Stanley]

I'm almost tempted..... But no! I shall be strong and ignore the siren call of the router log. Some things are better managed by faith alone.

[PanBiker]

If you have connectivity issues, it's the first port of call if you have the facility in your router. No need to look for errors if you are lucky enough not to have any.

For my problem it was very useful as it showed the correlation between the fault condition and the weather. Knowing now where the problem was it would seem that there is water ingress into the underground ducting somewhere between Commercial Street and Park Road. Looks like it is sorted for now. It has only took eight different (never had the same one twice) Open Reach engineers and seven visits over eight months to sort it out. Daft thing is, I think it was engineer number two in January that mooted swapping my line to another pair in the cabinet for a test but he said that there wasn't the capacity to do it. No problem for the guy on Monday.

[Tizer]

My router shows DSL as 39.99Mbps down but I don't know if this is a real measure of the speed to my BT socket or simply the maximum that should be available under my Plusnet package.

Another problem arises, this time not with the broadband but with my Pure Evoke digital bluetooth radio bought last October. I might have mentioned before I went on holiday that it had started losing sound. I'd switch it on and couldn't get any sound in any of the modes (digital, FM, aux, bluetooth) and the mute button didn't have any effect. Switching on and off, no effect. Later in the day, or next day it might work but would later revert to failing again. I was going to take it back to Argos and had contacted them on a chat line about it. But then it started working OK so I didn't return it. Now it's happening again so I will take it back. Things don't last long these days!

[PanBiker]

If you look at my readout earlier Tiz you will see the actual connection speed via DSL and the maximum that the line can give. Online speed test will rarely give you the same results as they vary greatly in the way they run the tests and interpret the data. Your router actually shows the negotiated speed with the local exchange which is completely different to testing probably via multiple router hops to a distant server. The connection speed to the exchange is what your contract bandwidth is based on not what you get whizzing stuff around the internet as there is a huge range of variables in every connection.

[Tizer]

I've started following the Plusnet advice for checking a connection but didn't have to go far with it. The phone line sounds fine so no problem with that. I did speed tests on 4 different web services and got 26 +/- 1 Mbps download speed on all of them as I expected from my earlier checks (compared with the 36 that I used to get). The next step was to connect the PC direct to the master socket using my long cable. But before doing that I decided to insert a prior, simpler check - I connected the router direct to the PC with the cable instead of the Powerline set up. Bingo! All four sites now gave 37 +/- 1 Mbps, my original speed since the service was first set up 2 years ago until recently. So it looked like the Powerline adapters or their cables might be at fault - although our two PCs were both slow, suggesting it was the adapter connected to the router.

However I do like to take a belt and braces approach so before doing anything with the Powerlines I removed the long cable and set everything back as it was before, i.e. PCs connected to router via Powerline. Did the tests...and again got 37 +/- 1 Mbps! I'm happy about that but I don't know why we were getting slow speeds for the last week or so. The master socket and router are set away in a corner of the spare bedroom where they don't get disturbed but perhaps something got loose? As far as I know we don't have any mice!

[PanBiker]

Powerline adaptors in the main are OK but you have to accept losses through "interference" on the mains circuit. Your ring main circuit may be a solid copper connection between points A and B but the myriad of stuff you have plugged into it at the same time just for its main purpose as a power supply will introduce losses. Chinese made switched mode power supplies in your computers, chargers for various devices which again can be high frequency sources of noise. Microprocessors themselves not limited to the ones in your PC's but all those in domestic appliances, washing machines, dishwashers etc, lets not forget the thermostats switching on and off and the microwave oven and the kettle. You could unplug everything of course apart from the router and the computer but you would still inherit the RFI (radio frequency interference) from pylons motor vehicles and all your neighbours kit. If you can use a direct cable to connect kit it is always the best course of action.

[Tizer]

I'm very happy with the 37Mbps that I normally get with the Powerline and could easily tell the difference when it was going at only 26. I knew before signing up to the fibre package that I woudn't get the full 40Mbps. We're better served than a lot of other people!

[Stanley]

When I last had an issue with speed due to a faulty BT master socket the BT engineer installed a new one at cable entry and made the socket immediately next to the computer the Master Socket and labelled it as such. He said then that my policy of hard wiring the router to the computer was the best route and that in future, any problems that arose would almost certainly be external.....

[Tizer]

I started the new contract today, £32.98 a month on an 18 month contract for fibre up to 39Mbps, line rental and phone calls. I could possibly get cheaper elsewhere but Plusnet give me good service. I usually don't need to contact them except at contract renewal. When I sorted this contract I had several online chats with them and the chat line responded in less than a minute each time. And I know I'm corresponding with people in Sheffield (you can tell from the sense of humour ).

[Tripps]

I was going to suggest that you spoke to them before thinking of leaving, but decided you could look after yourself. I have had similar experiences at renewal time, and stayed with them for a long time now. I thought of going to high speed, but I can do all that I want to at my current speed of about 10 Mbs which is a rate that my head can cope with. However, I only pay £4 per month less than you - so maybe I'll be tempted to try it.

[Wendyf]

Double post deleted at request of Tripps.

[Stanley]

My Talktalk contract costs slightly more than Tiz's Plusnet but includes free international calls to US and Oz. As you know, my policy has always been leave it alone and don't mess with it. It seems to work..... (crossing my fingers as I write that!)
Canonical have been very busy with security and other updates of late.... Another 67mb this morning.

[Tizer]

...However, I only pay £4 per month less than you - so maybe I'll be tempted to try it.

My package is Plusnet Unlimited Fibre (up to 39Mbps). There are plenty of sites where you can check what speed is possible at your address, so it would be worth a look.

[Stanley]

Speed used to be a major factor in the days of dial-up. I well remember the time it took to send 100,000 word text files to Lulu when I was publishing my books. The miracle was that it worked! Now I have a steady 35mps average service I am content and have looked for speed advantage inside my box. My best recent move was to go over to solid state hard drives, a great improvement!
On reflection, the people who bang on about speed are the sales departments of the providers. They are aiming at the consumers like Gloria used to be coping with sub-standard connections.

[Gloria]

My connection has greatly improved Stanley after going over to fibre. Now my iPad has decided it's getting old and on some sites will only load parts, on other sites it's fine. Tried clearing everything, I don't think it's that old, but time goes on, it's probably about eight years old by now.

[Stanley]

Good Gloria, I'm glad you got sorted. Re. the iPad, do you ever wonder if they build obsolescence into their products?

[Gloria]

I do wonder that Stanley.

[PanBiker]

Early generation Panasonic (LED) laser printers use to have what was called in the trade a kamikaze chip in them. The printers had a two year warranty and usually lasted longer than that. Many failed though with and error code that represented "printer worn out". This was very strange as it was vertically arranged printer with fold out feed and output trays. It had a drum mechanism which also contained 90% of the paper transport mechanism and a separate toner cartridge. Effectively when you changed the drum (10,000) sheets you more or less replaced most of the insides of the printer apart from the small control panel on the front. This was the one with the plain black spider like IC with no type number or information on it. The whole machine had nylon gears that would not wear. At an arbitrary time after the warranty was up, maybe three years or five it would announce that it was worn out and inhibit all other functions rendering it bin fodder. You could not buy a replacement control panel. They were belting little printers and ideal for a desktop office. I had two of them when I ran my own business despite their self destruct nature, they were both bread winners.

[Stanley]

I think I've come across that in the days when I used to refresh my own tapes on dot matrix printers. The last one I had, a big Epson was OK and I only bought one spare ribbon all the time I had it.

[Tizer]

`Facebook may be 'pivoting' to something worse' LINK
Note the closing sentences to this article:
“This vision could backfire terribly,” warned French journalism professor, Frederick Pilloux, in 2018. “An increase in the weight of 'groups' means reinforcement of Facebook’s worst features -  cognitive bubbles -  where users are kept in silos fueled by a torrent of fake news and extremism.” Make no mistake: few, if any, of the problems Facebook is “working hard” on at the moment would have come to light were it not for external pressure from journalists, lawmakers, academics and civil rights groups. The examples I’ve raised here pose a question: is Facebook fixing itself, or merely making it harder for us to see it's broken?'

[Wendyf]

Must admit that I don't see any extremism or fake news on Facebook, just my friends, local animal rescue charities and a bit of local history.