Broadband going down

[Anon2024]

Hey all,

Been having some issues with my EE fibre broadband (fibre to the property). Have a smart hub plus with 308mbps speed package.

My WiFi suddenly stops working on all devices. When I go check the router, light is still aqua for a while, then after some time it goes green, flashes white once, flashing green and then back to aqua. Once the light switches back to aqua, WiFi back to normal. This happened every few days, maybe 1-2 times a week at completely random times and durations.

The 'LAN' light on the openreach ONT box also turns off during this time, with the other two lights still green. 

When I go on the app after the WiFi is back, the network and system uptime reset after this.

Ethernet also doesn't work during the outage (tried plugging in laptop via ethernet during outage while light was still aqua and didn't work)

I have no knowledge on internet stuff, but the log doesn't show anything that stands out apart from DSL connection lost some time before I notice the WiFi cut. On a previous thread, someone said this is due to the fact that logs erase after router restart, which I assume the router does itself when green light is on.

I've had the hub replaced, and a technician on live chat said it's a configuration issue and sorted it, but it's still happening.

Any ideas on what's going on?

[JimM11]

@Anon2024 Is this the same fault that you reported back in August?

[Anon2024]

Potentially.

Now the hub fixes itself after a few mins, and the light actually changes now, so not as bad as before but still not convenient.

Previously the only solution was restarting the hub myself, and the lights would always remain aqua.

[JimM11]

@Anon2024 Went back to have a quick re-read of you original post, so what has happened during the period since your last post, information is needed and anything that you have tried since then until now.

[Anon2024]

Here's a quick summary of what has been done since I first contacted EE about this issue:

- unplugged ONT and Hub, and plugged back in a specific order as instructed by live chat

- reset hub to factory settings

- new hub

- agent said it's a signal issue and promoted their smart WiFi package or something along those lines. I refused as it is obviously not a signal issue and I already have a range extender that does the job just as well

- noticed fibre cable outside property was exposed so had this fixed hoping this might have been the issue. Unfortunately it was not the issue

Now what has been done since my last post:

- agent on live chat said it looks like the issue is primarily "co-related to a hub configuration issue" so I assume they did stuff on their end as they had me restart hub a few times during that chat.Issue has happened twice since that chat on 2nd October so I guess it didn't work.

Fed up trying to solve this as they can't figure out what's wrong and I don't know enough about broadband to figure it out myself. So far 6 months of just back and forth with them and no solution.

[JimM11]

@Anon2024 As long as you keep power on the router and do not do a restart yourself, then the router log will be maintained and it should be accessible, the events log in the advanced section is really what is required to be looked at, your light description that you say points to the router losing the wan connection to the ONT, and if you have had the EE Router changed hope that this is eliminated. If you have time http://192.168.1.254 to the hub manager vis web and laptop/PC if you have one, get to advanced, logs, and event, you can export this to a file which can be looked at, once you have it power off the router at a specific time/date as a reference starting point, then the log can be checked when you have an issue.

If i remember correctly, when you connect to the router, you said no connection, it does take 20 seconds when you apply the ethernet cable for the device/router to connect and establish each other, would be interesting to also know when you loose the connection, does it show you no wireless wifi connection also, ie your mobile drops back to online data...

[Anon2024]

I have checked the logs multiple times, and nothing stands out. I don't restart the hub myself, it does it automatically when the issue occurs which I assume wipes the logs, so there is no possible way I can see the logs before it restarts itself.

Every time I check the logs, all I see is:

- :DSL connection lost'

- 'Network interface eth0 up'

- 'Network interface eth0 down'

- a bunch of 'Device XXXXX connected over Wi-Fi'

That's it. Nothing else comes up and you have already explained what these mean so doesn't seem like logs are useful in this case.

Again, the router restarts on its own so I can't do anything about the logs wiping. I also asked EE to have a look for me and they said it all seems ok on their end.

Ethernet doesn't work no matter how long you wait. It just says unidentified network and no internet until the router restarts on its own and fixes it.

Devices show they are on data, i.e. the WiFi symbol switches to 4g symbol, and if you go on settings and try to connect to the WiFi, it just says "connecting" but never connects.

[JimM11]

@Anon2024 If you are 100% sure that the logs are being wiped out, and that is not a normal case for the router to do that, it is easily proved, by just removing the WAN ethernet cable from the router or the ONT, router would then go to a lost BB state, the log records eth0 down then up when connected BUT the log should stay 100% intact, and always grow, it should NOT be reset, unless, power off or a reset router command, so if you can please pull the cable off do at a specific time, put it back on say 1 minute later then have a look, do again 30 mins later same procedure, and lets establish the log functions as expected.

Once we know this is all working then it is possible to tackle the rest to see what is causing your system to green light which looks like it is re-booting, if it is doing that THEN the log will go back to the start, with a minimal set of entries once everything reconnects.

[Anon2024]

Hi again @JimM11, 

I checked that the logs are working by unplugging just the WAN cable and confirmed the log remains after plugging it back in. Did everything you suggested and it all works fine.

I then restarted the router and that wiped the logs as you said it would, and have since been waiting for the issue to happen again when I'm not busy since that refresh.

The issue just happened again, so I ran and got my ethernet cable and laptop, plugged it in, and I could not access the hub manager. The ethernet just says unidentified network. Waited 5+ mins and no change. EE app just says something went wrong.

I then took out the WAN cable and waited for the light to flash orange as it did when I was testing the logs. The light did not change at all and remained at aqua. Left WAN unplugged for 5+ mins and light still stayed on aqua. Plugged back in, and light still on aqua and still couldn't access hub manager and WiFi still down.

I then switched off ONT at the socket hoping that would fix the WiFi without switching router off so I can still have access to the logs. Still aqua light and no change after 5+ mins so switched ONT back on which didn't change anything (WiFi still down, light still aqua).

After some more waiting, maybe another 5-10 mins after I switched ONT back on, the hub light suddenly started flashing green, then after a couple mins switched back to aqua and everything was working as normal again.

Now the logs have been wiped yet again since the hub decided to restart itself (flashing green light) - I did not do anything to restart the hub myself, it was automatic. 

I have attached pictures of my attempts.

So I'm still stuck with seriously unreliable WiFi since I switched to EE back in April, and looks like I'll be dealing with this issue until April 2026 - yikes.

Reminder that last time I contacted EE, the guy on chat said it was a configuration issue so did some stuff on his end and said it would be fixed. Clearly didn't work!

^light aqua, all ONT lights normal, ethernet on laptop says unidentified network

^WAN unplugged, light still aqua

^ONT off, light still aqua

[JimM11]

@Anon2024 Will take a look at your posted pics when they are cleared, is this your first issue of the condition since the October time?