DCC causing broadband interference

[96RAF]

Unfortunately if I switch it off I lose my internet connection in that room and any data I am collecting from the router and they are not that noisy (comparatively against the other plugged in stuff) on that frequency.

Rob

[gilbo2]

@RAF96, thanks for all your efforts.

 

For DSLstats to work the router needs to allow Telnet connections and unfortunately a number of ISP provided routers do not allow this. The key does seem to be the noise you hear on the radio test. Your broadband looks to be ADSL whereas mine is VDSL (fibre to cabinet - FTTC) which also means they behave differently depending on the noise type/frequency etc, however I'm at the edge of my understanding on that one.

 

FYI, my eLink does use the Hornby 4 Amp power supply after I upgraded it some years ago.

 

I feel that from your radio test and my graphs, it does show an issue but I'm not sure now how to move forward to find a resolution. I guess to be quite frank, that for many users this is simply a hidden issue.

[Triumph Owner]

I am not surprised that ISPs block Telnet. It could be a hackers paradise.

 

Paul

[gilbo2]

I remembered our music system downstairs has an AM radio which whilst not practical to move upstairs to the layout, I tried listening to.

 

At 612kHz AM - nothing could be heard between DCC being on or off.

BUT

666 kHz AM - completely swamped by very loud buzz when DCC switched on.

 

I assume anyone with DCC would hear this?

[gilbo2]

Apologies! Upon further investigation the 666 kHz noise is coming from the layout lighting PSU and is not causing the Broadband errors. Blind ally 😮

[96RAF]

@dg2

I tried the telnet hack as described in the app help pages but couldn’t get it to stream data direct, hence I can’t apply any extra command string to the app configuration to make it record live data from my ADSL line.

 

The radio frequency was gleaned from the internet, but the actual frequency used was around the specific as my old radio has a twiddle knob and a string operated pointer on an analogue scale, so who knows what I was listening to, but it was definitely affect by DCC kit being on or off.

 

A good investigative exercise nevertheless.

Rob

[gilbo2]

@RAF96

 

Looks like you were spot on 😀

 

Upon a deeper investigation, most of my noise is coming from the switch mode power supplies as you originally suspected. All are making a contribution to greater or lesser extent which contributes to the overall problem. (One for elink, one for lighting, one for points)

 

HOWEVER, with me having the layout switched on more over the last few days, it has caused the broadband DLM system to take action. To deal with the noise G.INP and Interleave have now been applied. Error correction is now dealing with the noise successfully and my line speed is higher than before thanks to the way G.INP works.

 

I guess therefore there is nothing more I can do, as it does not warrant investing in expensive power supplies which may be more EMC friendly.

 

For now, with the DLM actions, I'm "relaxed" again 😀

 

Thanks again for all your own testing and advice.

[Chrissaf]

Some supporting background information about G.INP

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2017/12/openreach-pause-uk-trial-g-inp-fix-eci-fttc-broadband-cabs.html

.

Maybe this accounts for why my FTTC service connection speed has suddenly jumped (last week) from 42MB to 50MB.

.

However, that said. This other article infers that G.INP isn't fully compatible with the HH5A (download side only has support), subject to who makes the kit in the street cabinet for BT.

https://www.increasebroadbandspeed.co.uk/g.inp

.

[gilbo2]

Another link on G.INP information if interested;

 

https://kitz.co.uk/adsl/retransmission.htm

[gilbo2]

The other factor that may have caused your speed to rise to 50Mbps is a 3dB profile. Your router stats will tell you if that is the case.

[Chrissaf]

Prior to this sudden speed increase last week, my SNR profile was 9dB, it is now 6dB. It went to 9dB from 6dB when I had a line fault exactly 12 months ago in May 2017. After the line fault was fixed, it never dropped back down to 6db and remained at 9dB until last week. So yes, the 3db SNR change will undoubtedly have been a factor in the improved connection speed. Note: that I am only contracted for the up to 55MB speed on my BT Infinity BB service.

.

However, prior to the 2017 fault when I was on my original 6dB SNR profile, my connection speed was about 46MB. So even with the current change of my SNR profile back to 6dB from 9dB, the speed improvement (now 50MB+) is still better than the 46MB max I used to get. At the time of writing this reply, my router stats show that I am connected at 52.5MB. My conclusion is therefore that something else has changed in my service configuration other than just a reversion back to a 6dB SNR. Prior to this sudden unexpected speed increase, I would connect with a rock solid stable connection speed of 39MB, that is to say during the period when my SNR profile was 9dB between May 2017 and May 2018.

[96RAF]

At least we seem to have found a sort of fix for the problem.

With my third workd broadband I am happy if it stays connected.

Rob