ADSL Router Woes

T

TarnAlcock

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Plettenberg Bay
Hi All,

Until recently we had a netgear DG834 router which has been slowly giving up the ghost on us. Losing it's settings, disconnecting randomly, dropping wifi connections until being rebooted etc. We tried another (same model and it was just as advanced in years with as many issues.)

I read a review for the TP-Link TD-W8960N which seemed pretty good. We got a new one off Takealot.

Since installing it, things have not really improved all that much. However, I think the modulation and such may have something to do with it as this is actually an ADSL2+ router. My SNR and attenuation figures do not look all that good as well (using this as a reference: http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/186156-Understanding-SNR-and-Attenuation-Rates)

Please could someone take a look at the attached screen shots and tell me whether I should be changing anything.

I just used the wizard to set the connection up and it does get connected but we frequently still drop connectivity even though the line shows that it is synchronized fine and the ppp connection is still up as well.

We are using Afrihost as our ISP but still have the DSL line through telkom. I have installed a new splitter and cables throughout to ensure that none of those were the problem. The big green telkom box where our lines come from is literally across the road from us and the post office (and hence main telkom exchange or whatever you call it) is less than a kilometer away.

uiqiOE5.png


mCxW1o6.png


krsy2Mb.png
 

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Last edited:
Best bet is to do ping -t routerip and ping -t 8.8.8.8 and see what's happening,is the adsl connection actually dropping or is this an internal network issue
 
PsyWulf said:
Best bet is to do ping -t routerip and ping -t 8.8.8.8 and see what's happening,is the adsl connection actually dropping or is this an internal network issue
Click to expand...

Thank you for the prompt response, PsyWulf.

I can confirm that internal connectivity is all fine, as proved by constant and snappy access to the router. However, when connectivity goes down I get 100% loss pinging any external IP. This is usually resolved by rebooting the router.

I initially thought it may be a DNS issue but I see that the router is getting the correct DNS entries from Afrihost and overriding with Google DNS (on my laptop, not the router) yields no results.

I have attempted forcing the modulation down to G.Dmt and this seems to yield a more stable albeit slower connection. Speed test gives 1mb down whereas previously I got 4mb down.

If I do a tracert to ANY external address, the second hop ALWAYS times out. Could this be indicative of an issue?

C:\Windows\System32>tracert 196.7.7.7

Tracing route to 196.7.7.7 over a maximum of 30 hops

1 2 ms 1 ms 1 ms TP-LINK.Home [10.0.0.2]
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 74 ms 37 ms 45 ms 41.181.53.149
4 33 ms 29 ms 30 ms ipc-recieve-tb-1a.mtnbusiness.net [41.181.53.150
]
5 30 ms 36 ms 30 ms tb-dca-2.za--qux-c.za.mtnbusiness.net [41.181.19
8.188]
6 29 ms 29 ms 29 ms 196.7.7.7

Trace complete.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
rBjqdKV.png
Note the tests above, as well. The LAN fails are just because there are no cables on those ports.

The 'Ping default gateway' fail recommends restarting the router, or ignoring the error if internet is still up (which it is).
The 'Ping primary Domain Name Server' fail recommends resetting and reconfiguring the router (done this at least 3 times already).

As a side note, internet has not gone down since I forced G.Dmt modulation and has remained fairly snappy. Which is a first. Although it is now a lot slower than usual.
 
Last edited:
TarnAlcock said:
Thank you for the prompt response, PsyWulf.

I can confirm that internal connectivity is all fine, as proved by constant and snappy access to the router. However, when connectivity goes down I get 100% loss pinging any external IP. This is usually resolved by rebooting the router.

I initially thought it may be a DNS issue but I see that the router is getting the correct DNS entries from Afrihost and overriding with Google DNS (on my laptop, not the router) yields no results.

I have attempted forcing the modulation down to G.Dmt and this seems to yield a more stable albeit slower connection. Speed test gives 1mb down whereas previously I got 4mb down.

If I do a tracert to ANY external address, the second hop ALWAYS times out. Could this be indicative of an issue?
Click to expand...
The 2nd hop timeout is as a result of a software change Telkom made on all exchanges.

It is causing no end of grief for support teams on every ISP.
 
UPDATE** Line still remains stable yet slow with G.Dmt modulation. Could this mean there is an issue with my exchange? Considering the proximity to the post office, I should think this should not be the case yet my attenuation still remains very high. Would logging a fault with Telkom be a feasible option? Are there any other tools I could use to check this from my side?
 
The attachment in your first post is way too small, when adding a file from a URL untick the box.
 
Rickster said:
The attachment in your first post is way too small, when adding a file from a URL untick the box.
Click to expand...

I am adding from a local file on my pc, which is readable locally. will try upload to imgur or something.

***I have updated the images. Please check now. Thanks

*****For some reason, despite un-ticking the box it still attaches locally, just ignore the attachments and use the direct links..
 
Last edited:
TarnAlcock said:
My SNR and attenuation figures do not look all that good as well
Click to expand...

6dB or below is very bad and will experience no synch or intermittent synch problems
7dB-10dB is fair but does not leave much room for variances in conditions
11dB-20dB is good with little or no sync problems
20dB-28dB is excellent -Yours
29dB or above is outstanding

Attenuation:

20dB and below is outstanding -Yours
20dB-30dB is excellent
30dB-40dB is very good
40dB-50dB is good
50dB-60dB is poor and may experience connectivity issues
60dB or above is bad and will experience connectivity issues
Click to expand...


What line speed are you meant to be on? (package)
 
6dB or below is very bad and will experience no synch or intermittent synch problems
7dB-10dB is fair but does not leave much room for variances in conditions
11dB-20dB is good with little or no sync problems
20dB-28dB is excellent -Yours
29dB or above is outstanding

Attenuation:

20dB and below is outstanding -Yours
20dB-30dB is excellent
30dB-40dB is very good
40dB-50dB is good
50dB-60dB is poor and may experience connectivity issues
60dB or above is bad and will experience connectivity issues
Click to expand...
Do I need to do some kind of conversion on the figures shown to get whatever you are seeing? SNR 209/136 ATT 135/80 as per my screen shot? Am I misunderstanding something here?

Rickster said:
What line speed are you meant to be on? (package)
Click to expand...
I am on a 4mbps package with afrihost and according to telkom :
ADSL Availability
Service Available
Maximum speed available in your area 10Mbps (Copper)
Your Current Service speed 10 Mbps
Click to expand...
 
Ok I did a speed test with Ookla to CPT and I get near 4mb. http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4285797453
But using mybb sped test to CPT I get 1mb http://speedtest.ookla.com/result/2855773675.png (also ookla though so WTF?)

So reporting 1mb may have been misleading although my download speed does not appear to be proper 4mb. Pages load fine but downloads are not as snappy as usual.

Downloading from afrihost servers I am getting ~46 KB/s. Busy downloading their network testing app to see if that sheds some light.
 
Last edited:
TarnAlcock said:
Do I need to do some kind of conversion on the figures shown to get whatever you are seeing? SNR 209/136 ATT 135/80 as per my screen shot? Am I misunderstanding something here?
Click to expand...

Yes, because they are 0.1dB, so 209 is 20.9 and 135 is 13.5


I am on a 4mbps package with afrihost and according to telkom
Click to expand...

You are syncing at 6Meg but telkom says you are at 10Meg, thats a mismatch problem, it needs to be sorted.

Phone telkom and tell them to put your sync profile on 4meg.
 
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