Line Attenuation (Problem with telkom)

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Dwelm

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Hi everyone.

About 4 weeks ago, I phoned Telkom in regards to my LA (63.5db) and S/N (8.5 db) margin. About a week later a technician came out to my house to "see what he can do about the problem". He stayed for a little while and then left. A few hours later, I received a sms saying that my issue has been resolved. Then nothing happened for a few weeks and I had to phone again. Apparently nothing had been done regarding the fault in 3 weeks. Telkom then sent another technician out yesterday. Who again said the issue has been resolved. It still hasn't. It would appear that Telkom doesn't know what LA is. Since they keep referring to "line speed" when I report my LA.

So now for my question : Is there anyway I could speak with a senior technician who would know what I am talking about and actually resolve the issue, or is there somewhere I could email Telkom where I describe my issue in detail and explain to them what LA and S/N ratio actually is.

Any help would be appreciated.

//Dwelm
 
I'm having exact the same issue. The funny thing is the technicians mark you as being seen to even when they don't show up.

It's happened multiple times now. I'm battling to get someone to arrive.
 
Haha... good luck mate :)
When I first got Adsl in 2003 it was shocking and then there was only 512k and I was only getting about 256k.
It was discovered that my attenuation was 72dB because the line to the distribution hut was 5 odd kilometers.
They just said tough luck and thats the best they can do.
So I looked at this situation and saw my line goes to a pole then goes around the neighbourhood and passes right by the house again (corner house) on the other side and goes to the box.
I figured if my line ran the opposite way I would only be 200 meters from the box.
Anyway at the time I was in a position of some clout and made a hell of a noise through the correct channels and behold... a few weeks later 2 Telkom trucks pulled up at my place with GP registration and I was told they never had Adsl construction workers based in KZN.
Anyway we had about 20 guys here, they trampled the garden flat, my bull terrier wanted to shred them alive and my wife wanted to kill them, they then errected 2 new poles and ran a new cable across my yard out the back way short circuiting the route it ran before.
After 2 days of distruction they said all was well now and my attenuation is way down, well if you call 52 dB way down and they left back to GP land.
I'm now too scared to complain about this 52 dB :)
 
Wow.. I've got 15 DB downstream and 4.8 up.. And I thought my line sucks.

That said, I have many many other issues with it, so I probably shouldn't be boasting :p
 
The thing is, even though the numbers are toll free, I can't hear what people say if I phone from my land line. I need to phone from my cell phone every time. My previous cell phone bill was R900 because of me spending over an hour on the phone with Telkom every day.
 
Hey my line keeps dying and I have to restart my modem everytime to re-establish the connection. My line attenuation is 49.00dB downstream and the margin is 10.00dB... Is this what is causing the problem?
 
yip...10 is a bit close to 6

utilize a program called routerstats and post your graph on the web..

a variation of 3-5 SNR both + and - is a good indication of a line problem.
 
Thanks man will do... and thanks for the quick response!!!:D
 
webyep said:
See this: http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=3503001&postcount=14

Remember phoning the relevant telkom numbers are toll free, so don't be afraid to phone over and over again :)
Click to expand...

Also thanks for the link, but ping or ms isn't my issue, I have a VERY unstable line. It can't be because of my distance to the exchange since I'm in range for a 4mb connection.

Line Attenuation 63.5 db 31.5 db
Noise Margin 5.8 db 9.0 db

That is my problem, but Telkom doesn't seem to comprehend that. I'm not too sure they even know what the issue is. That's why I would like to send an e-mail, where I explain to them exactly WHAT Line Attenuation is, possible reasons for high and low values, what the acceptable parameters are and how to resolve the issue. Or I would just like to speak to a technician who would understand what I'm talking about.
 
Fr3n2y said:
Hey my line keeps dying and I have to restart my modem everytime to re-establish the connection. My line attenuation is 49.00dB downstream and the margin is 10.00dB... Is this what is causing the problem?
Click to expand...

Those values aren't too bad. What I would recommend is :

Phone Telkom, tell then your line is intermittent. Have them test your dslam port. If an issue is found, they will either replace the port, or they will move you to a new port.
 
10 a good value? Put some bad line variation on that 10 and u get the "blinking light".

You need more like 20+ SNR with a bad line to stand any chance.
 
webyep said:
Remember phoning the relevant telkom numbers are toll free, so don't be afraid to phone over and over again
Click to expand...

Well to be honest, I actually would pay to phone telkom, if that means I wouldnt have to wait for 2 hours to let a tech answer the phone....


Ok.

My SNR is 15.6 Down and 11.7 Up
Line Attenuation is 35 Down and 21 Up.
Data Rate 4096kbps Down and 512kbps Up

Now, every few hours, sometimes less, my line drops then reconnects again, in other words its not very stable.

Would telkom be able to do something about this, if I phone them? Its really annoying, when my line drops, especially when Im in the middle of a game (online), in a skype call or something like that.

Thanks


Would there be anything telkom should be
 
Last edited:
Well to be honest, I actually would pay to phone telkom, if that means I wouldnt have to wait for 2 hours to let a tech answer the phone....
Click to expand...

If you phone at around 8am, you're usually put through straight away.

I've heard that if you phone the voice call centre on 10 212 and complain about audible noise on your landline, they're more likely to fix it than if you make it out to be an ADSL performance issue, which they're not keen to do anything about unless you essentially have no internet at all. Fixing the audible noise on the line should sort out your DSL problem, since they probably have the same cause.
 
Dwelm said:
Also thanks for the link, but ping or ms isn't my issue, I have a VERY unstable line. It can't be because of my distance to the exchange since I'm in range for a 4mb connection.

Line Attenuation 63.5 db 31.5 db
Noise Margin 5.8 db 9.0 db

That is my problem, but Telkom doesn't seem to comprehend that. I'm not too sure they even know what the issue is. That's why I would like to send an e-mail, where I explain to them exactly WHAT Line Attenuation is, possible reasons for high and low values, what the acceptable parameters are and how to resolve the issue. Or I would just like to speak to a technician who would understand what I'm talking about.
Click to expand...

How far are you from exchange?

Your line Attenuation and Noise Margin's are poor... see http://www.botskool.com/forum/computer-programming/networking-and-ethical-hacking/snr-margin-and-line-attenuation-what-do-th


Give telkom a call early, explain your issue of disconnecting all the time. When a techie comes out, show him you line stats and ask him to sort it out. If you are not far from exchange it might be a problem with equipment at exchange or your line is faulty.
 
I'm not 100% sure how far I am, but I am in range for a 4mbit line. So it has to be the condition of my line. And I have phoned Telkom and explained the problem multiple times and explained multiple times. But they don't really seem to comprehend the issue.
 
You could always unplug your router when you call them and tell them that your internet has given up the ghost altogether. All they can see from their end is whether you're synced up at a given moment, and what speed you have.
 
general_koffi said:
If you phone at around 8am, you're usually put through straight away.

I've heard that if you phone the voice call centre on 10 212 and complain about audible noise on your landline, they're more likely to fix it than if you make it out to be an ADSL performance issue, which they're not keen to do anything about unless you essentially have no internet at all. Fixing the audible noise on the line should sort out your DSL problem, since they probably have the same cause.
Click to expand...

Just spoke to the most STUPID telkom technician EVER! They phoned me to ask if the noise on my line has been fixed, but omg, there have been more line drops in the last 2 days than ever before....
 
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