ADSL Speed and rain

Heksmeester

Heksmeester

Senior Member
Joined
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Location
Pretoria
Hello all,

I was wondering if it's at all possible for heavy rains to affect my DSL line speed? I've found that whenever it rains (especially the last week with all the rain Pretoria has been getting), that my line speed suffers.

Is this possible or could it be another problem masking itself? :erm:
 
Nah had the same problem and when a techie came out it was some wiring joint in the Telkom line. He done something and now even after about an hours rain the line is still perfect.
 
When I lived in Durban (La Lucia Exchange) my ADSL would slow down during heavy rains and if a storm broke out I would loose connection altogether.
As soon as the storm was over my connection would came back and after a short while my speeds would go back to normal.
It had Telkom totally fooled.
They replaced my line but still the problem persisted.
They then replaced the whole system, pole, box, new line running a different route this time underground rather than overhead and that solved the problem but still, no one could figure out what was actually causing the problem.
 
ProAsm said:
When I lived in Durban (La Lucia Exchange) my ADSL would slow down during heavy rains and if a storm broke out I would loose connection altogether.
As soon as the storm was over my connection would came back and after a short while my speeds would go back to normal.
It had Telkom totally fooled.
They replaced my line but still the problem persisted.
They then replaced the whole system, pole, box, new line running a different route this time underground rather than overhead and that solved the problem but still, no one could figure out what was actually causing the problem.
Click to expand...

Whoah Telkom went through all that trouble just cause you would lose your connection for a couple of hours? Damn dude you are sooo lucky. Just for interests sake why would you complain about it cos if it'sraining wouldn't you unplug your modem and all other appliances?
 
SirSlothXCI said:
Is this possible or could it be another problem masking itself? :erm:
Click to expand...

Copper that is exposed to the elements will do that. That said it's a biatch to find as they have to trace the entire cable path.

I had a issue where tree branches chafed a cable and stripped the insulation, they had to replace an entire span of cable.
 
Maybe everyone on your exchange are preparing for a pancake night and downloading a HD movie so long :P
 
ProAsm said:
When I lived in Durban (La Lucia Exchange) my ADSL would slow down during heavy rains and if a storm broke out I would loose connection altogether.
As soon as the storm was over my connection would came back and after a short while my speeds would go back to normal.
It had Telkom totally fooled.
They replaced my line but still the problem persisted.
They then replaced the whole system, pole, box, new line running a different route this time underground rather than overhead and that solved the problem but still, no one could figure out what was actually causing the problem.
Click to expand...

PLEASE tell me how you got them to do that, i'm also in la lucia and my line dies every few months because the line is so corroded. I can't even get a tech to come look in 2 weeks, and 2 escalations. I swear they must flip a coin on what issues they feel like resolving.
 
50 to 60 Volts DC outstanding on all telephone lines does not play nicely with any moisture .
A telephone line exposed to moisture will cause a partial short and if you add trees to the mix you end up with partial short and earth.
And when the sun comes out the fault goes away , that is a problem because a faultsman will test the line and find no fault and he is out of there.
 
lilggg said:
PLEASE tell me how you got them to do that, i'm also in la lucia and my line dies every few months because the line is so corroded. I can't even get a tech to come look in 2 weeks, and 2 escalations. I swear they must flip a coin on what issues they feel like resolving.
Click to expand...
LOL, back then in 2003/4 Telkom were on the ball.
The ADSL Technical Division then had it's head quarters in Durban and was run by a guy called Preggie.
I remember one night around 11 pm my son had his line struck by lightning and the whole line to his house burnt out.
He called Telkom and that same morning at 2 am they came out in the pouring rain and replaced his line to the house.
By 2:30 am he was gaming again :)

The problem in La Lucia and Glen Anil is there is only a 1 Gbit line connecting the La Lucia exchange to the main Durban North exchange in Broadway.
This line was put in around 2004 and I remember laughing at them at the time as they had to dig up the trench all along Umhlanga Rocks drive to replace the then 10 Mbit line.
If you live near Umhlanga Ridge area, ask Telkom if they can re-route you via the Phoenix exchange which is connected to the Kloof exchange.
Most people in Umhlanga, Phoenix and Verulam area have great connections :)
 
I am having a similar problem in La Montagne, Pretoria East. When its raining, the connection is very unstable, but it would get back to normal after the rain. But yesterday, after the rain the speed reduced by 75% after the rain and up to this morning when i left the house, the speed still hadn't improved.

What can i do to solve this one?

Thank you
 
Hmm, that sounds like service from my dreams, it probably explains why i never used to have issues in 2003/4.
My issue currently is not related to exchange or links from it, although i did have 1 year of congestion which telkomZA resolved for me in a few weeks, back when charl was more prominent.
I think the issue is between the neighbours pole and the line running from there to my house, lots of trees and probably been struck by lightning quite a few times, the last tech that came said the line is badly corroded and needs replacing and would put in a request, 6 months ago that was, line died again 2 weeks ago.
When the line is working i have no complaints with my 4mb speeds or latency.
 
Telkom also seems to be puzzled by this one. (Go figure...)

According to their tests all is fine and dandy but there's clearly an issue when the rain creeps up... :/
 
My line becomes intermittent, so it's on & off.
I've logged the problem for telkom to investigate, I upgraded my line to 4mb from 2mb today and it's only been intermittent for 5 minutes instead of throughout the rain tonight in Randburg.
 
It's interesting to note though. I'm sure not all of us are experiencing faulty insulation on our lines here. Can it be that coincidental? Or are Telkom's lines just that horribly implemented. :erm:
 
No problems here. Same speed all along. But when we have some of those massive Centurion thunder storms which get really close to the home, like less than 1km, it tends to cut out my connection for some reason. Every time I need to restart my router to get it back.
 
My speed took a nosedive this week since all the rain.

I think there is a definite connection between the two
 
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