PlusNet Hub (HH5A) xRX200 - VDSL Drops

Have recently refreshed PlusNet HH5A with OpenWrt. Struggled with sync speeds, documented in this thread and ended up with vectoring firmware 5.9.1.4.0.7.

However, the connection seems to drop every 24-48 hours.

I have observed that the attainable rate starts at 100Mbps+, sync rate 76Mbps, and the attainable rate slowly drops over the period down to about 93Mbps, then the disconnect happens.

Any assistance greatly appreciated.

To add, some not very helpful log output:

Thu Jul  9 06:47:08 2020 kern.warn kernel: [432349.646980] leave showtime
Thu Jul  9 06:47:08 2020 kern.err kernel: [432349.649287] /builder/shared-workdir/build/build_dir/target-mips_24kc_musl/linux-lantiq_xrx200/ltq-ptm-vr9/ltq-ptm/ifxmips_ptm_vdsl.c:297:ptm_hard_start_xmit: not in showtime
Thu Jul  9 06:47:08 2020 kern.err kernel: [432349.669643] /builder/shared-workdir/build/build_dir/target-mips_24kc_musl/linux-lantiq_xrx200/ltq-ptm-vr9/ltq-ptm/ifxmips_ptm_vdsl.c:297:ptm_hard_start_xmit: not in showtime
Thu Jul  9 06:47:08 2020 daemon.notice netifd: Network device 'dsl0' link is down
Thu Jul  9 06:47:08 2020 daemon.notice netifd: VLAN 'dsl0.101' link is down
Thu Jul  9 06:47:08 2020 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'wan' has link connectivity loss
Thu Jul  9 06:47:09 2020 daemon.info pppd[17249]: Terminating on signal 15
Thu Jul  9 06:47:09 2020 daemon.info pppd[17249]: Connect time 3302.4 minutes.
Thu Jul  9 06:47:09 2020 daemon.info pppd[17249]: Sent 2039066158 bytes, received 1419022283 bytes.

And, dsl info on fresh connection:

# /etc/init.d/dsl_control status
ATU-C Vendor ID:                          Broadcom 164.154
ATU-C System Vendor ID:                   Broadcom
Chipset:                                  Lantiq-VRX200
Firmware Version:                         5.9.1.4.0.7
API Version:                              4.17.18.6
XTSE Capabilities:                        0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x2
Annex:                                    B
Line Mode:                                G.993.5 (VDSL2 with down- and upstream vectoring)
Profile:                                  17a
Line State:                               UP [0x801: showtime_tc_sync]
Forward Error Correction Seconds (FECS):  Near: 0 / Far: 9
Errored seconds (ES):                     Near: 2 / Far: 67648
Severely Errored Seconds (SES):           Near: 0 / Far: 0
Loss of Signal Seconds (LOSS):            Near: 0 / Far: 0
Unavailable Seconds (UAS):                Near: 638 / Far: 638
Header Error Code Errors (HEC):           Near: 0 / Far: 0
Non Pre-emtive CRC errors (CRC_P):        Near: 1 / Far: 0
Pre-emtive CRC errors (CRCP_P):           Near: 0 / Far: 0
Power Management Mode:                    L0 - Synchronized
Latency [Interleave Delay]:               0.16 ms [Fast]   0.0 ms [Fast]
Data Rate:                                Down: 76.344 Mb/s / Up: 19.955 Mb/s
Line Attenuation (LATN):                  Down: 16.4 dB / Up: 19.7 dB
Signal Attenuation (SATN):                Down: 16.4 dB / Up: 19.3 dB
Noise Margin (SNR):                       Down: 10.2 dB / Up: 6.0 dB
Aggregate Transmit Power (ACTATP):        Down: 7.1 dB / Up: 12.4 dB
Max. Attainable Data Rate (ATTNDR):       Down: 103.055 Mb/s / Up: 19.955 Mb/s
Line Uptime Seconds:                      831
Line Uptime:                              13m 51s

Some providers reset all connections periodically (sometimes once per day), and this might cause issues. The simplest practical solution is perhaps to have a one-line crontab command which pings the connection every now and then and reboots the router when the connection is dropped.

I would go back to the original firmware to check if the disconnect happens on that as well.

I have switched a few of these devices for Plusnet users over to OpenWRT (mainly due to poor WiFi stability of the stock image) all have seen massive stability improvement. But one did see a possible drop in sync speeds of about 5-10mbps.

Thanks. In the end I've gone back to the trusty EdgeRouter-X and an unlocked HG612 modem, which syncs at 80Mbps and seems very stable.

It has been the general recommendation in the community for almost a decade that matching modem and cabinet chipsets usually results in the most stable syncs.

A Lantiq modem with a Broadcom cabinet is rarely ideal. Your current HG612 (Broadcom) will invariably produce better results, and coupled with the EdgeRouter X running OpenWrt is a perfect combination :+1:

That is an exaggeration, yes in corner cases (very long lines) it might hold a little truth, but it's nevertheless supposed to work, and to work well. My ISPs cabinet has been using Broadcom line cards (currently b5004244 434dc01a [BDCM]) 'forever', but all of my ADSL/ VDSL modems since day one were lantiq based (the first ones by accident, using the OEM firmware, the later/ current ones intentionally picked).

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