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High FEC Corrections and CRC errors on upstream

willink
2: Seeker
2: Seeker

Can anyone advise if FEC upstream corrections increasing 3000 every 3 seconds is normal...  Just about to clock 100 million in 2 days.

 

I'have had dropouts of IM clients (not broadband connection though) since my line moved from BT to Vodafone.. BT on Fibre has been stable for years before the move.

 

Even disabling wireless on the router, connecting only 1 laptop to the physical port and having no internet activity there is still a 200 per 3 second increase...

 

This says to me something is wrong somewhere... CRC error count is 8775 after 2 days as well, downstream looks good 6 corrections and no CRC errors...

 

I woudl prefer to use my HG612 and synology router rather than this connect piece of crap. or at least for a test to rule out hardware fault. Was told it would go in modem mode by vodafone store when I agreed to move over and that's not available either.

Spoke to VF support, as much use as a chocolate teapot... so hoping someone in the community has seen these high errors before, or maybe someoen from vodafone but I won't hold my breath...

 

 

 

305 REPLIES 305

Just go on the live chat and ask for the login and password and they give it to you there and then! I dont know what router you have spare but if its from a previous isp it may not be as good as a shop bought one and I know bt are definitely locked and possibly others.

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the PM - however there was no link embedded with the 'click here' option.

Thanks

I do wonder if this is as has been suggested a VF router issue and is actually much bigger than has been discussed on this post, I wonder how many users have any idea how to / or need to / or bother to log on to the router management and look at such parameters as FEC & CRC.

 

I moved to VF 2 weeks ago and have fairly patiently waited for my service to settle down, I can't say it's as bad as some on this forum report, the speed (38Mbps service) shown has varied up and down but currently is 39994 / 9999, the link has changed from Fast path to Interleaved, and the Upstream FEC's continue to clock, currently climbing at about 100,000 every couple of seconds.

 

The link has reset a few times but I've assumed this is VF automated equipment making adjustments, but the FEC's are still clocking, perhaps surprisingly the CRC's are low, currently Downstream FEC 773, CRC 92 and Upstream FEC 1391403689 CRC 675, PPP uptime 1 day 42 minutes

 

I'm currently running firmware 5.4.8.1.291.1.30.1.29 and have checked for updates (reports I'm running latest).

 

So perhaps the questions to VF should be :-

Do you have a real world setup running which you monitor and can confirm your router is not suffering these FEC issues.

Do you have any means by which you can interrogate & record errors remotely (from many users) which you then technically assess.

Do you have any other approved routers which you are willing to send out to participants in this forum to see if they perform better than their current unit.

 

I'm sure we would all welcome an update on what VF are doing to investigate the issue of High FEC's.

 

Thankyou

An update on where I am ...

VF sent me a new router but this did not fix the problem - same high number of FEC errors on upload.

After I notified them that the new router did not fix the error, VF arranged for another (3rd) OpenReach engineer to investigate the problem. He didn't come to the property this time but checked something at the cabinet. I already told VF about the high FEC errors but I think the ignored me and said there must be a line error. If that was the case then why didn't the 1st 2 OpenReach engineers find the problem?

Anyway, after the 3rd engineer did something at the cabinet, my connection was at 37.6/10. He did NOT reset any connection. Errors seemed fine too. Next day, 37.5/10 connection.

However, now at 33.3/9.7.

SNR margin previously kept on increasing from a starting point of 6 to round about 10 but, since the last engineer's visit, it varies between 6 and 6.4, never goes above that.

However, the FEC upstream errors are back with a vengeance.

Last night I looked they were at 3.1 BILLION, yes, 3,100 MILLION and increasing at around 150,000 per second.

This morning the errors are sitting at 1.3 BILLION so I'm guessing the router reset the count overnight but did NOT reset the router (PPP session uptime and Uptime since last reboot are at 2 days and 3 hours). The errors are currently increasing at a rate of 175,000 per second.

So, there are several differences here - it seems that high FEC errors do NOT reboot/reset the router. But why did my speed drop from 37 to 33 if there was no problem with the line? Remember, I was previously on 49Mb with BT, no problem. Finally, why is the SNR margin not increasing this time around, when it did before?

I do not see why VF customers should have to buy their own router to fix connection issues. I'm not even convinced that a different router would solve my problem, but the replacement router VF sent me did NOT fix the issue.

I think VF should send us a different router for free. How much would it cost? Not that much compared to continually calling out OpenReach engineers.

Come on VF, sort it out ASAP or I will have no alternative to ditch your service in favour of a more reliable ISP.

I had crc errors increasing by thousands every second and put on interleaved. Bought a router and only getting 5 or 6 a DAY was back on fastpath within a few days. Its not just vodafone routers other isp routers are just as bad. My friend is with talktalk and there router is as bad if not worse than vodafones!

Thanks for that info, could you share with us some details of router, perhaps VF could then trial it.

It's likely the firmware that's the issue.  That's why no matter how many replacement routers are sent out, the issue will persist.  The only current option is to use your own router.

I'm sure most people won't notice any difference.  FEC are corrected errors so it won't manifest itself as 'the internet isn't working'.  Where you will see a difference is gamers (as you'll be on interleaved rather than fastpath) and lines that are longer/less stable as the reduction in speed may be more pronounced and/or may mean disconnections.

 

Regardless, it's pretty horrendous that Vodafone still have this issue and can't seem to fix it.

Pretty much my scenario....FEC corrections on upload horrendous. Not getting guaranteed minimum speed. Router disconnecting from WAN a lot, we are up to 9 times already today.  Speed drops ridiculously in evening, lucky to get 7mps in evening via Ethernet.

 

support not helping, telling me too many WiFi  devices connected and that’s why the router keeps disconnecting, couldn’t give me an answer as to why it happens at 3 & 4 in the morning when nothing is connected.

 

Just waiting for a response to my official complaint as had this issue since 9th September when it went live. Ridiculous how something like a broadband issue can consume so much of my time but had enough now and just want out as all support do is mock me and ask me about my WiFi connections. Ok i’m not brilliantly tech minded but I know the basics and it’s just insulting every time. 

 

Getting the board games out tonight as no doubt we won’t be able to stream Netflix later 😔

My understanding is that between 3-4 in the morning, DLM will make a decision whether or not to adapt your line, so that could be a contributory factor, but no, not a chance the number of WiFi connections will make a difference as it’s different bits of the hardware that control WiFi vs those that control the VDSL. If they’re saying that it does... then it’s very sloppy coding indeed and an admission there’s a problem with the router. 

What ive noticed is that the FECs on the up seem to climb very high, and then just before it collapses, the CRCs start going up. This is only anecdotal however because I never know when it’s going to go. Sometimes I get days, sometimes hours. VF don’t pay for call outs if openreach can make a line better after it falls below the minimum allowed speed, so it’s not a cost to them. I wonder how long it’ll be before someone from openreach reads this forum and starts to wonder where all their engineers time is going at zero cost.. or perhaps, how long it’ll be until someone informs openreach and pressure is put on the developers. 

Having the same trouble as everyone else.

From what I can fathom there are 2 problems - drop outs and slow speed. The 1st problem being an issue with the VF router; this I believe to be causing the drop outs (of which I'm getting at least twice an hour, both wired and wireless devices - even when on the managemnet page of the router ironically).

The 2nd problem being below min guarenteed internet speeds. I'm on the 74Mb package and got a mean average of 58.6Mbps across 5 individual tests on speedtest.net. My min guarenteed should be 63Mbps. I believe this is due to the errors (FEC) generated by the router resulting in a forced change to my link type to interleaved path instead of fast path by BT. This again I believe to be caused by a software problem with the router.

I managed to get escalated to VF's tech 2 team - who never contacted me - at all!

So in summery I believe the problem to be with the router and like others here I feel VF should be providing alternative (not replacement) routers of the same spec free of charge. Vodafone - please can you make this happen?