If you are having problems with your ADSL account occasionally dropping the connection, you might be using it at more than one location.
We have started noticing this trend lately as store owners use one ADSL account between two or three or more locations.
In some cases this will work just fine. In other cases this will appear to work, but the connection will work intermittently and in other cases it will not work at all.
It all depends on your service provider and adsl package.
Most service providers, like Afrihost, will require you to notify them of all of the ADSL phone numbers you want to use the package on. As long as you do this, then all locations will be able to stay connected permanently. This will only work on limited bandwidth packages (bundles). If you have an uncapped account, the second location will not work at all and the service provider will usually not allow you to use an uncapped package from multiple locations.
Sometimes your service provider will allow more than one location to share an ADSL account regardless of whether you tell them or not and regardless of whether you have a limited bandwidth package or an uncapped package. This can cause you headaches because they will simply protect themselves by only allowing one location to use the account at a time. So if you are downloading a menu at store 1, then that location will be granted a connection by the service provider, but the service provider will stop the internet connection at store 2 without notice. Then when store 2 wants to send an email or download an update, the service provider will connect them and stop internet to store 1. Basically they only allow one location to use the account at a time.
This can be very frustrating because you might not understand what the problem really is. The internet just seems to be unreliable.
So the safest thing to do is to tell your service provider which locations you plan to use the adsl from. They will advise you of what options they have and usually you will not pay any more to have two separate ADSL accounts. (except if you want uncapped packages).
