Flaky ADSL connection

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SpottyGekko

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I have been experiencing continuous problems with my modem holding sync with my local exchange.

The problems started around October 2006 (the previous 12 months were relatively OK). I suspect that it may have coincided with the 4Mbps trial. As part of the "fault finding" process, Telkom downgraded the line speed to 2Mbps around mid-November. This made things more stable, but did not stop my random disconnects.

In the first week of January, after returning from holidays, I noticed that the random drops had become worse again. It seems that Telkom had decided to up my line speed to 4Mbps again ! Filed a fault report (again) and 5 days later the line speed was dropped to 2Mbps as requested in my fault report. I'm now back to a semi-usable DSL line with fewer random drops.

However, I'm still waiting for a technician to attend to the problem, as I was told that "there are a lot of faults in the Johannesburg area".

The random sync drops are definately worst between 5:00pm and 8:00pm.

Anyone have an educated guess as to what the problem is ?
 
The problem is Teklom's inability to comonover, inspect your setup and the line, identify the problem, and provide the solution. DUH! :p

But .. you should:

Follow the line as it enters into your house, and check each connection point. The connection points must be good and strong, held together by a physical device like a crimp or an unrusted screw. Redo any joints that are suspect.

Unfortunately .. you may not check the connection point at the teklom pole.

Make sure that every other connection to that telephone line uses a filter. The only connection that does not use a filter is the ADSL modem itself.

As an absolute last resort, try removing any lightning surge arrestors from the circuit to your ADSL modem. Some of these arrestors use filtering technology which causes carp. [PLEASE UNPLUG YOUR EQUIPMENT IF IT EVEN SMELLS LIKE RAIN!]
 
The modem is directly connected to the only wall socket, and I'm not using a surge protection device (0.o)...

The voice line has a filter. Voice calls are usually subject to a huge amount of line noise for the first few minutes, then the line seems to clear.

Modem: Linksys WAG354G

Modem stats:
Downstream margin: 27 db
Upstream margin: 15 db
Downstream Line Attenuation: 41
Upstream Line Attenuation: 23
 
Gecko I have had the same problem. I am also using a 4mb line and live in Jo'burg (Connected to the Linden Exchange) and the line often drops and reconnects and i have noticed it does so a lot more between 5-6pm to around 10pm at night.

I have checked my login history using the Stats Analyser and sometimes my router disconnects 30+ times a day. That can't be right. The weirdest thing is when you do get a stable connection for a long time (My highest is 9hrs online without a disconnect) and then all of a sudden I get about 10 drops in an hour after that.

I have also been told by friends to look at dropping line speed to get a more stable sync but if the problem persists whats the point?

I also want to ask you how badly does rain affect your line syncing. I notice when it rains I can hardly get online at all. I'm an avid gamer so have a stable connection is a must to be able to enjoy playing online.

Sigh, hope telkom will eventually sometime in lets say the next 10 years get the problem sorted :( . Wish I couldve helped more but I'm stuck in the same boat.
 
Wild Cat, I don't seem to see any correlation between weather and my random disconnects.

I asked Telkom to drop my line speed to 1Mbps today, so in about a week's time when they get around to it, I'll see if that makes a diff.

And yeah, I'm trying to play EVE-Online, lol, these disconnects are costing me ships !
 
At 11:48am today my modem reported the following:

Modem stats:
Downstream margin: 27 db
Upstream margin: 15 db
Downstream Line Attenuation: 41
Upstream Line Attenuation: 23

It's now 8:05pm and I'm getting:
Modem stats:
Downstream margin: 21 db
Upstream margin: 9 db
Downstream Line Attenuation: 46
Upstream Line Attenuation: 28

The line is up and down faster than ho's knickers atm....

Just b4 it drops, the "dowstream margin" starts reducing: from 21 to around 15-17, then to 11, then death...
It was actually up for about 60secs at 3db once :)

I'm so desperate now that I'll be buying a new router (Billion) tomorrow to see if that helps.
 
If it does please would you let me know. I am also desperate to fix the problem.


Connection Status Connected
Us Rate (Kbps) 384
Ds Rate (Kbps) 4096
US Margin 14
DS Margin 10
DS Line Attenuation 35
US Line Attenuation 19
 
Does this sound like Telkom abusing their ICASA-mandated contention ratio?
Line is good during the day, but degrades to unusable when we get home and connect?

For what it's worth, I have the same problem. Upgraded from 384 to 1024, but Telkom tries to connect me at 4096. Lines in Bryanston are probably 50 years old. If I'm lucky, I get around 6dB noise margin at around 2.5-3Mbps, and a totally unstable connection. And yes, when it rains, it gets worse...

My router is a Netgear DG834GT. Let's hope Telkom gets around to commercialising the 4096 service soon, so I can get a semi-stable 1024.

Any ideas on how to measure contention ratio from the subscriber end?
 
Why not ask them to downgrade you to 1024? Don't think you can measure contention ratio
 
Connection Status Connected
Us Rate (Kbps) 0
Ds Rate (Kbps) 0
US Margin 13
DS Margin 2147483646

Time 10:20pm Rofl....somethings definately not right. It had just disconected me.
 
Log a fault and ask them to monitor your line continuesly for a few days and take it from there.

Had the same issue suddenly a few months ago and they made some adjustments from their side and no drops since then.
 
I have the same problem here in CT. My connection drops randomly with no connection to the weather. My DSL speed is the low 384!! Sometimes my modem will reconnect eventually or what I sometimes do is take out the phone cable that goes from modem to the wall socket for about 10 seconds and plug it back in. That clears the noise 90% of the time. I'm also suspicious that it may be my cordless phone causing interference.
 
I also found this...

The cord between the DSL modem and the wall jack may be a standard flat telephone cord. In these cords, one line acts as a broadcast antenna and the other acts as a receiving antenna, picking up noise. This is known as cross talk. We recommend replacing the standard flat cord with a twisted pair telephone cable (model CDPT-25, CSPT-14 or CSPT-7).

Cross talk may be occurring in the standard flat cord that connects a telephone, fax machine, or other device to the wall jack. By placing a Z-BLOCKER® filter at the jack where an analog device plugs into the wall, the device and flat cord will be isolated from modem activity.

Homes with twisted pair cable are protected from cross talk. Homes using standard flat cord or quad twisted cable have little or no protection against cross talk. The only solution for those homes is to have the DSL provider install a splitter where the line comes into the house to put the modem on its own isolated line.
 
Will look into it. Anyone know where you can buy these "special" telephone cables and what they are called in the shops? Like could I find them at Game or Telkom Shop?
 
There are so many things that can interfere with the ADSL signal. You have to perform an isolation test to see what the cause is.

Everything must be filtered.

Any device connected to the same telephone number or telephone line must
have a filter between the device and the phone line. (Exception: the
dslmodem itself does not require a filter.

Or maybe it's a bad filter.

alarm/security system: active or not
does the utility meter report by phone?

other phones

I've also heard of RFI (Radio Frequency Interference). There is someone at the end of my road who had a 30 foot aerial mast in his garden - don't know what it's for but it could send out RFI.

Is there a radio station near your house?

http://www.cedmagazine.com/article/CA319226.html
 
I get this as well on my 384kbps line to the Rivonia exchange 011234XXXX.

When it rains its unusable, and "eish" at Telkom cant understand that it usually thunder and rains at night, and they dont come out at night, so they will never find the problem.

I will try the "log a call for continuous monitoring" slant and see if that helps.

Eish.
 
paint_by_numbers said:
I've also heard of RFI (Radio Frequency Interference). There is someone at the end of my road who had a 30 foot aerial mast in his garden - don't know what it's for but it could send out RFI.
Click to expand...

Chances are he is a Radio Ham - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_ham - which I am, and it has absolutely no effect on my ADSL line.

The RF that my antennas produce do buzz the TV a bit, but the ADSL line is solid while I operate my radios...
 
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