PPPoe uptime

[Dave_strava]

Hi Guys,

after months and failed attempts to resolve I’ve stumbled across the PPPoe uptime which appears to correlate with interruptions in internet service.

1/ what is a typical figure

2/ should this cattle truck the internet radio?

kind regards dave 

[Anonymous]

PPPoE is the network protocol that creates a session between your device and the Vodafone Data Centre.  If the session drops, you lose your internet.

The default in the UK over connections provided by OpenReach (such as VFs FTTC products) is that the session does not drop unless there is a fault.

So if you are seeing the PPPoE uptime indicate that the session was dropped, it's more likely to be a symptom than a cause! 

[Dave_strava]

Thanks Keith,

the ppp session uptime correlates exactly to when the internet drops out.

The router does not see this as a failure !

ive read elsewhere that the pppoe connection is used to manage the network and so is subject to being bumped off the balance the servers.

i am sensitive to loss of internet as I listen to internet radio more than watch telly.

i have had this problem unresolved for about a year and only just found this pp session time correlation.

my question is 

should this be happening?

any guidance is appreciated as Vodafone seem incapable of resolving 

[Evie]

Hey there @Dave_strava - I understand how important it is to have a stable connection, especially at a time like this.

When you say the 'router doesn't see this as a failure', do you mean that the lights all stay the same on the router as if it was working properly?

If you're frequently experiencing drops with your Vodafone router: WiFi connection and Wired Connection, could you drop us a message on social media so that we can look into this for you and run some test on your line?

[Dave_strava]

Thanks Evie,

the indicators on the router say the internet is good.

my question remains, what is a typical uptime?

i dont do social media.

users need to be aware of this fault as it is typically dismissed as a WiFi dropout which it is patently not

[Anonymous]

Hi Dave,

It used to be that in the not too distant past if there was no data going back and forth then modems would drop the session and the connection.  I'm not aware of any ISP in the UK that still does this on fixed-line broadband, though it is still common on mobile-network based broadband.

Should this be happening - no!  Even if you were on mobile-network based broadband, the session should not be closed if there is a data flow!

[Dave_strava]

Thanks Keith, the uptime this evening is detailed below, the log files don't show that far back in time, but i was informed earlier from my nest camera that "it was offline" .Previously I have corrolated the camera failures with the PPPoe uptime. I have also corrolated the internet radio failures with the PPPoe uptime.

Given that vodafone have investigated this twice over and concluded that there was no fault found, where do i go from here?

The only new piece of information is the corrolation, so if you believe the PPPoe uptime should be days, weeks, months? then perhaps vodafone will be motivated to consider this a failure.

The router is an (copy pasted)

System

Hardware type and version

Huawei 963168_HUAWEIVOX25

PPP session uptime

3 hours and 44 minutes

could a new router solve the problem?

[Jayach]

@Dave_strava

I don't know what your actual problem is, however I suspect it is unique to you and not general on the Vodafone network.

Since my line was fixed by Openreach (I was getting lots of line drops like you) my line has been rock solid.

Here are my system details. I have the THG3000 router.

System

Serial Number

CP2005RA4xx

Firmware version

19.2.0203-3261005-20191217122049-2861ba0dea80e3c1bd5a2e7c5fb0527a1550a0a2

Bootloader Version

19.02.1146-0000000-20190110090550-897d2844f012557134a272eb8a8a90f85e9a7a8d

Hardware Type & Version

Vox3.0v

Uptime since last reboot

6 days, 9 hours, 29 minutes and 13 seconds

CPU Usage

0%

Memory Usage

69%

Reboot Cause

User Initiated

And that reboot was me "mucking about".

When mine was failing I could see that the SNR was dropping to zero causing the reconnect, perhaps watch to see if yours is doing the same.

[Dave_strava]

Thanks Keith,

We need voadfone to tell us what the expected PPP session uptime should be.

These are facts:-

The installation has been tested on two seperate ocassions in the last 12 months by openreach and they have found no faults with the line from my house to the exchange.

I can collelate the failed time given for the nest camera by email to the PPP session time.

I have not seen the router show the failure, by changing its status lamps.

Question for everyone, or anyone who knows (i.e. vodafone) can you loose your PPP session and not your connection?

I think the anwser is yes as the router hasn't actually failed and most of the time clients (i.e. you and me) dont need to know, I am sensitive as I listen to internet radio more or less all the time when at home and the new session requires me to "retune" the internet radio station.

The emails from the nest camara are a mere anoyance but have highlighted the problem.

route forward anyone?

[Jayach]

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@Dave_strava wrote:

I have not seen the router show the failure, by changing its status lamps.

---

You probably wouldn't as by the time you have noticed the problem it would have reconnected. For instance streaming radio would continue for some time after the drop because of it's buffer and the camera couldn't send the email until the connection came back.

A couple of questions:

How often does this happen?

Are you still in a contract with Vodafone?

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@Dave_strava wrote:

We need voadfone to tell us what the expected PPP session uptime should be.

---

You will never get a definitive statement from Vodafone, mainly because they haven't got a clue. However I believe it is basically forever, unless a problem occurs, as it would probably result in getting a new I.P. address and if that was happening I would know pretty quickly.

As @KeithAlger says it's probably a symptom not a cause.