Serious Line Problems Unresolved for over 4 Months

[mikeyKNVB11]

So when Mweb released their 4mb uncapped internet for only R899 all inclusive I immediately went for the deal. But to my demise, there were serious problems from day 1.

Everything from the speed not reaching anywhere near 4mb, to the line constantly dropping was happening and is still happening to this day.

I have reported countless faults to both Telkom and Mweb and every single time they tell me it is fixed, but it never was.

I have tried multiple modems, unplugged my alarm system, unplugged my phone, unplugged my POT filters, tried multiple LAN and phone cables, believe me when I say I have tried EVERYTHING on my premises to debug the problem and I can safely and confidently say the problem does NOT lie at my house, but with the cables OUTSIDE my house. This is even proven in my internet stats:

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 1760 kbps 256 kbps
Line Attenuation 27.0 db 14.0 db
Noise Margin 6.0 db 7 db

Clearly my noise margin is way too low (and my speed too), but Telkom has never addressed it.

Telkom does not want to believe me about this and just keep flat out ignoring my faults by sending me sms's saying that the problem is resolved, even though here I am months later with my speed sitting at 1mb and connectivity lasting about 5min.

I have gone to the closet Telkom branch in my area to speak with a manager, but that got me no where. When I reported a fault I asked to speak to the manager, and the guy did not let me speak with his manager because "anything the manager can do, he could do".

My internet did work for a time. It was at 3mb for the first 3 weeks, then randomised between 1 and 2 CONSTANTLY and it even reached 4mb after the one fault I reported and a "broken cable leading to my neighbours house" was supposedly replaced.

What I have also noticed a few times when I reported a fault, is that the problem "resolved itself" BEFORE the Telkom technician came to my house, which makes me believe that they are somehow trying to scam me, but that is just a conspiracy theory.

By the way I understand this nonsense about "up to 4mb", but this is not the case at all.

So for the love of all things holy, can someone PLEASE TELL ME WHAT I CAN DO? I am at a loss here. I am paying for a service that I am not getting. I am really pissed off and I have run out of patience. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Michael

PS: I probably forgot to mention something, but I will post it in the comments if I remember something important.

 

[Pada]

What ADSL modems did you try?

I'd suggest that you unplug all your other telephonic devices (alarm, POTS filter & telephones) and plug the ADSL modem in directly. Also try to keep the ADSL modem as close as possible to the telephone socket on the wall. The longer the telephone cable runs open in your home, the more susceptible it is to interference - which seems to be your case. So try to keep other electrical appliances away from the ADSL/telephone cable.
You should also try switching off your lights - especially if they are neon lights/CCFL's.

Your line attenuation values are low enough to get like a stable 8Mbps ADSL connection, but your SNR margins are horrible!

So once you've done as I mentioned above, go to the ADSL modem's statistics page again and check if your line speed is higher and also if your SNR margins are higher.
If they are higher, then you can start to switch things back on one by one and plugging in your telephones, filters, etc. - until the SNR margin & line speed drops again...

Also take note that in most cases ADSL modems with Broadcom chipsets works better than ones with Trendnet or other chipsets.
The newer Netgear DGN2xxx series modems are pretty good, as well as most D-Link and the Broadcom chipset TP-Link ones.

There's a definitely a chance that your problem is inside your home...

 

[mikeyKNVB11]

Firstly, is this forum monitored by Telkom? Because my internet has been dropping for the passed 2 weeks and suddenly about 30min after I made this post my internet has stopped dropping (i.e. it is working at 2mb with SNR of 12 now). This has happened countless times by the way.

I don't want to sound rude, but you did not read my post properly.

I clearly wrote that I have tried EVERYTHING, including the things you have just mentioned. I have used my netgear modem and the new netgear with the 2 antennas. I even did it now, just to quadruple check. There was no change in the statistics. But why would there be anyway?

Think about it: My internet HAS worked in the past and for long periods of time, at speeds of 1,2,3 AND 4 mb. It drops during the day and night, so there are no appliances in my house that are constantly in use that could be causing the problem. It almost works when it feels like it. I have done NOTHING differently in the passed 4 months that would make my internet work or not work (besides trying to fix the problem of course).

When I started this thread, my noise margin was 6, and now it is at 12, COINCIDENCE?! I HAVE DONE NOTHING FOR THIS CHANGE TO OCCUR. You must understand that the only options that are left are that there is a problem with the cables outside my house OR telkom is screwing me over. There ARE NO OTHER POSSIBLE problems. I keep asking telkom to let me escort a technician to the cables outside my house so I can see for myself that they are either working or broken, they agree everytime but never do it in the end. Also, very suspicious.

I apologise again for being so sarcastic, just know it is not directed at you but at telkom. I am very pissed off and really do not know what else to do.

I really appreciate your help!

 

[Pada]

No. There aren't any active Telkom reps here on myBB. I think it is purely a coincidence that your ADSL signal improved since you made the post.

I have read your post properly.

I know you said you have tried "everything", but there are often things (like lights and other electrical appliances) that could influence your ADSL connection that you perhaps didn't think of. For that reason I mentioned pretty much everything that I could think of.

Secondly, keep a close eye on your ADSL stats while making changes.

You can also give ADSL2+ mode a shot if your modem is currently using G.DMT modulation. If it is currently using ADSL2+, then try forcing your ADSL modem to use G.DMT instead.

Also, I clearly asked you for the brand & model ADSL modems that you used, because some ADSL modems are really poor in terms of line speed & stability on Telkom's ADSL infrastructure.

Lastly, try using a short as possible cable between the ADSL modem and the Telkom telephone socket, to minimize interference with other electrical appliances.

Oh, and could you perhaps go to http://broadbandstats.co.za/search/phone/
Then enter your land-line phone number and tell us through what Exchange it says you're going, because there is a chance that other users in your area that is using the same Exchange is also having the same kind of issues...

 

[mikeyKNVB11]

This "coincidence" has happened very often, that's why I mentioned it.

Can you please explain how to set up ADSL2+ mode and what G.DMT modulation is?

I currently use a Netgear DG834G and I also tried what I think was a Netgear N300 Wireless ADSL2+ Modem (it had the telkom logo on it)

I currently use a 30m telephone cable, and NO that is NOT the problem, because I used a 1m cable which I plugged directly into the telephone jack and it had the EXACT same modem statistics. Both cables do not run passed any appliances or lights.

My exchange is the "CAMPS BAY (WCSB01) Exchange".

Thanks again.

 

[Pada]

The Netgear DG834xx modems are pretty useless ADSL modems to be honest. Some people are lucky with theirs and others aren't. Like I had to downgrade my church's ADSL from 6Mbps to 2Mbps to get it stable, and even then it was unstable with the Netgear DG834GUv5 and I finally fixed it by replacing it with a D-Link DSL-2500U modem. The stats on the Netgear wasn't bad, but not as good as that of the D-Link.
The Netgear N300 uses a Broadcom chipset as far as I know, so it should typically provide better signal quality, unless something is really wrong.

ADSL2+ and G.DMT are both modulations for transmitting & receiving data across the telephone line.

Your modem should have that option under its WAN/DSL settings - or at least that is where it is on most ADSL modems. At this moment the mode would probably be set to auto.
Just take note that when you switch from G.DMT to ADSL2+ that it might not work at all, which would be the case if your DSLAM does not support ADSL2 yet.

Do you have a working telephone (landline) without any static noise on it? If you don't have a phone, I would suggest that you borrow one and test with that. If you do have static or no dial tone, report that as the issue, instead of reporting the ADSL problem. Usually this solves the ADSL problems faster.

If you don't have any static noise and a dial tone, then I'm not really sure how to proceed. The typical way to proceed would be to try to escalate the problem. It would perhaps be the best to take all the problem reference numbers that you've accumulated and take them to the Telkom Direct shop and then escalate it from there.

Perhaps other members might have something to say about your situation...

 

[cpu.]

Downgrade to 1Mb and save.

 

[Pada]

Downgrade to 1Mb and save.

That is a poor solution, because he's not even getting the full upload speed of a 1Mbps ADSL line!

Secondly, downgrading won't solve the problem, it would only hide it somewhat.

 

[ZAP_Tech]

I had that problem once, it ended up being something that was connected the landline to my house outside that needed to be replaced. Maybe you can get a techie to check it out. Not sure if it helps, but could be the solution you were looking for since you check everything else besides the hard lines.

 

[mikeyKNVB11]

I guess I will have to buy (waste money on) a new modem simply to further prove that it's nothing to do with my house. A few times when I was talking to telkom and mweb support they did mention that THEY could hear static, but on my side it was clear, so I will look into calling them about the phone line itself.

Downgrading is in no way an option, I need at least 4mb for my current job and of course for the entertainment factor.

I already went to a Direct Shop AND the problem has been escalated more than once but still no luck.

What ZAP_Tech said seems to be exactly my problem, but the thing is that telkom just does not want to come out to look at the cables out side my house.

 

[Chevron]

I am currently having the EXACT same issues with mine.

Also at a lost as to what the next step is. I'm in the south of joburg though.

 

[JonesY]

I had that problem once, it ended up being something that was connected the landline to my house outside that needed to be replaced. Maybe you can get a techie to check it out. Not sure if it helps, but could be the solution you were looking for since you check everything else besides the hard lines.

What ZAP_Tech said seems to be exactly my problem, but the thing is that telkom just does not want to come out to look at the cables out side my house.

Issue in your home = Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) = internal cabling (among many others)
Internal cabling being, all cables from the Network Boundary Point (Main Distribution Frame - outside your home) to your first telephone socket.

You haven't done 'everything'.
If the call quality on your land line is crystal clear after isolating a telephone handset and testing, I have some bad news for you - this is NOT a Telkom issue.

If this is the case..
Take deep breaths, calm down.
Get a third party private technician / Electrician (not Telkom) to check your internal cabling.

 

[mikeyKNVB11]

Telkom installed all the cables in and around my house, and if my internet is not working and they have ruled everything else out, then surely they should checke the internal cabling in my house? Hence it is a Telkom issue.

 

[mikeyKNVB11]

Well it seems that all mweb did was "recreate my port" and now my line is at 4mb speeds AND my SNR noise margin is at 20db! All I can say is WHY DID IT TAKE 5 MONTHS TO DO THIS!? I am happy none the less, still need to monitor the connection to see if it drops, but because this is the first time ever that my SNR is so high I don't think it will drop \/