Plusnet

[gemma10]

I have one of those routers from Plusnet that starts of with a green light, after some time switches to amber then flashing amber then finally blue when the internet is connected. Nearly every night somewhere between 21.30 and 23.30 the blue light turns to flashing amber and the net drops out for about 2 or 3 minutes. This has been going on now for about 4 weeks. Are Plusnet downloading or uploading something or am I just being paranoid? I`m served with fibre to the box in the street then overhead twisted pairs. Seems odd. Should I purchase a better router myself?

[Shandy52]

I have one of those routers from Plusnet that starts of with a green light, after some time switches to amber then flashing amber then finally blue when the internet is connected. Nearly every night somewhere between 21.30 and 23.30 the blue light turns to flashing amber and the net drops out for about 2 or 3 minutes. This has been going on now for about 4 weeks. Are Plusnet downloading or uploading something or am I just being paranoid? I`m served with fibre to the box in the street then overhead twisted pairs. Seems odd. Should I purchase a better router myself?

I use Plusnet, and on the whole it seems very reliable. What I'm wondering is whether your problem might be caused by an external influence, specifically some electromagnetic interference generated close by. Do you perhaps have a neighbour who does some hoovering around these times, close to a party wall? Is there TV interference at the same times?
I don't know whether the standard Plusnet router is particularly vulnerable to such interference - others may have an opinion on this.

[gemma10]

Shandy52 The answer is no to all your questions but thanks. Still baffled.

[crewmeal]

It may not be Plusnet's problem. Everytime I've had a fault it's BT (who own the line) who sort it out usually at the big green box somewhere in a road. I have to say Plusnet have been excellent in my area and the speeds are constant.

[chevvron]

I used to have Plusnet with their supplied 'Technicolour' router. One day, a friend mentioned he had been trying to phone and got 'unobtainable'. I checked our line and sure enough it was dead, however I was still getting broadband, so I checked the strength and found it was down to just under 2 mb/s.
How long the phone was out for I don't know but from checking it to it being restored was 5 days.
I switched to BT after this.

[Ancient Observer]

In my experience of BT Openreach, who manage the cables, they are most unlikely to respond when you have a problem at those times. I would suggest that you get some visual evidence, with timing, so that when they deny the existence of a problem, you have visual proof.
Daughter has plusnet, and so far their responses have been timely. However, as ever with call centres, be prepared to HUACA if you get a moron on the line when you complain.

[gemma10]

Some good points there. Thanks. Video evidence it is.

[mabmac]

I wonder if the problem could be to do with the DHCP lease management. What you may be seeing is the lease expiring after 24 hours and then renewing. You may like to try 2 things. Turn the router off and then unplug it for about 5 minutes. Then restart it and see if the problem persists in the next say 30 hours (may be 24 hours after the restart rather than at 21:30 or so). If you are still getting the problem and if you haven't played around with the router settings, do a hard restart of the router to reset the factory settings and then wait again. If the problem persists a call to the Plusnet helpdesk may help sort out the router settings.

[KelvinD]

Isn't Plusnet also BT?

[gemma10]

mabmac I don`t profess to understand what DHCP is but I`ll try what you suggest. The only settings I did to the router was to change the brightness to dim. The last time [last night at 10pm] I had flashing amber I pulled out the power plug. [low voltage], and after 20 mins. I rebooted and all was well. Yes I believe Plusnet is part of BT as is EE.