Frequently Asked Questions...

My broadband is intermittent at regular times and/or when I use some equipment, what is that?

From time to time, we see customers reporting Broadband Connectivity issues which when we review the line data shows a "pattern" of failure which can help point towards issues known as "REIN" and "SHINE".

Whilst a catchy sounding name, they stand for "Repetitive Electrical Impulse Noise" and "Single Isolated Impulse Noise") - forms of interference that can affect your broadband services.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

REIN is generally where intereference caused happens during use of an electrical device and results in disconnections and errors whilst it is in use. In extreme cases it can cause issues that stop the line working at all.

SHINE tends to be where inteference comes just as a burst - when something is turned on or off, but fades whilst the equipment is in use. In these cases, otherwise stable lines have issues that coincide with equipment being turned on or off.

ISSUES CAUSED BY REIN AND SHINE:

These issues can cause:

(a) Long Term reductions in your broadband speed as the automated systems that are designed to give you a stable connection reduce speeds to improve the noise margins that give you effectively a buffer that can stop the disconnections. This isn't always desirable as you lose overall speed to gain stability.

(b) Disconnections, Loss of Connectivity and Reliability Issues - dropped links, inability to use your connection, and for some latency and jitter sensitive services a loss of usability.

WHAT TYPE OF THINGS CAUSE THESE ISSUES:

We've seen these issues with all kinds of equipment and other people have put together some lists of items - such as below:

- Faulty power adapters (4-way strips etc, especially cheap "surge" protectors)

- Timed devices, such as central heating, boilers and so on

Christmas tree lights (especially on ‘flash’ setting).

EPOS and PDQ devices - card readers, barcode readers and so on

Railway power lines - if you, or your phone line goes near them

Street lights - especially if the timings coincide with these lights

Roadworks - which tend to disappear once they've finished.

Faulty set-top boxes, televisions and other appliances - if you have Sky boxes, consider "double filtering" them as all kinds of issues have been seen with them.

Power cables running close to telephone wiring - try and keep power and data separated.

WHAT CAN BE DONE:

We recommend you think about the time of day you're seeing issues (our Support Team can help with information on this), and see if you can identify what you've got that happens around those times - this normally gives you a clue as to the cause.

Our team can help you by attending your premises to work with you, but we would charge for our involvement in this so we encourage you to self-help on these matters where possible. If you can't find the cause, we can also ask BT to work with us on the issue - they'll also charge a considerable sum for this, so please do work to try and find the cause yourself.

It's also worth in these situations asking neighbouring properties, homes and businesses if others are seeing issues - if they are, there can be a possibility that the issue is with the common section of your lines - most phone lines travel through the same ducting and paths back to the phone exchange from nearby properties save for the final section that goes to your individual premises so it can be worth asking.

Unfortunately simply logging the fault with us repeatedly won't help when we can't show a general fault on the line, and since REIN/SHINE issues tend to show up with a particular pattern it's normally fairly obvious the cause is internal to your premises - unless we can demonstrate otherwise. If we do ask BT to look at the issue and it is identified that the issue was caused by your equipment, you'll be charged for the full cost of BT's investigation - from experience this can be in excess of £500.00 + VAT so please think about the advice in this FAQ before asking for us to do this.

Our Support Team are happy to try and give assistance within reason remotely - for example by reviewing connection reliability data held by us and help provide information on dates and times of issues.