I'm having a really weird problem, and Telkom seem unable to figure it out. I'm using wired ADSL Internet, 4mbps download speed and 512kbps upload speed, uncapped, with Telkom as my ISP. The modem is a Netgear modem. Everything was working completely fine up until three weeks ago. Anyway, about three weeks ago I started experiencing this problem. Here are the details:
Sometimes everything works perfectly fine, and sometimes my telephone line will just disconnect for no reason and then there is no dial tone on my telephone line, and instead of a dial tone there is this weird clicking noise on the line. (I don't know how else to describe it). When this occurs my Internet connection cuts out and disconnects every few minutes. As you can imagine this makes downloading large files, as well as online gaming, impossible. Not only that but I can't use my telephone at all. Like I said, the weird thing is one moment this problem will be there, and the next moment it will be gone and everything will be working fine again. It's completely random when this occurs. Sometimes everything will be fine for a few hours before this problem occurs, and sometimes it will happen every few minutes, and sometimes there will be no dial tone and just the clicking noise for several hours. And yet at other times everything will be working fine for a day or two before the problem comes back. It is also completely random what time of day this occurs. Sometimes it happens in the morning, sometimes during the day and sometimes at night. I've had this telephone line for many years now, and never had this problem before. Nothing has changed in regards to my telephone or my modem or my cables. So I really don't understand where this problem is coming from all of a sudden. The one thing that I can think of is that right before this problem started there was a heavy thunder storm and heavy rain in the area where I live. It rained heavily for about 4 days. I don't know if that has anything to do with it.
I've logged several faults on the Telkom website, (both ISP faults as well as telephone line faults). I've sent several SMS's to that number where you send the word "SERVICE" followed by your phone number. I've posted a complaint on www.hellopeter.com. I've phoned Telkom and spoken to them directly, where I've spoken to two different people already. They already sent out two technicians to my house, who have checked my phone lines, modem, telephones, wall jacks, cables, ADSL filters, wiring, you name it. And still the problem is still there. Neither of the two technicians nor the people I spoke to over the phone (cellphone) can figure out what the problem is. And it just won't go away. To make matters worse I received several SMS's and e-mails from Telkom informing me that they have fixed the problem, and yet the problem is still there. They have not fixed anything, but they claim that they have.
Like I said, the problem seems to be random. Sometimes everything will be working fine, and sometimes this problem kicks in of there being no dial tone and just some clicking noise on the phone line, while my Internet connection keeps disconnecting every few minutes as a result of this. What is even more strange is that sometimes my Internet is able to connect even while the telephone is down (no dial tone and just some strange clicking noise), but when my Internet is connected when this happens then my connection is much slower than usual and it still disconnects at random intervals.
If anyone could shed some light on what could be causing this please let me know. I can't use my Internet for downloading or online gaming because of this problem, and Telkom seem unable to figure out what exactly the problem is. I don't know, is it possible that someone is jacking in to my phone line or something? Could that be what the clicking noise means? And why would the phone be working sometimes but be down at other times?
Sometimes everything works perfectly fine, and sometimes my telephone line will just disconnect for no reason and then there is no dial tone on my telephone line, and instead of a dial tone there is this weird clicking noise on the line. (I don't know how else to describe it). When this occurs my Internet connection cuts out and disconnects every few minutes. As you can imagine this makes downloading large files, as well as online gaming, impossible. Not only that but I can't use my telephone at all. Like I said, the weird thing is one moment this problem will be there, and the next moment it will be gone and everything will be working fine again. It's completely random when this occurs. Sometimes everything will be fine for a few hours before this problem occurs, and sometimes it will happen every few minutes, and sometimes there will be no dial tone and just the clicking noise for several hours. And yet at other times everything will be working fine for a day or two before the problem comes back. It is also completely random what time of day this occurs. Sometimes it happens in the morning, sometimes during the day and sometimes at night. I've had this telephone line for many years now, and never had this problem before. Nothing has changed in regards to my telephone or my modem or my cables. So I really don't understand where this problem is coming from all of a sudden. The one thing that I can think of is that right before this problem started there was a heavy thunder storm and heavy rain in the area where I live. It rained heavily for about 4 days. I don't know if that has anything to do with it.
I've logged several faults on the Telkom website, (both ISP faults as well as telephone line faults). I've sent several SMS's to that number where you send the word "SERVICE" followed by your phone number. I've posted a complaint on www.hellopeter.com. I've phoned Telkom and spoken to them directly, where I've spoken to two different people already. They already sent out two technicians to my house, who have checked my phone lines, modem, telephones, wall jacks, cables, ADSL filters, wiring, you name it. And still the problem is still there. Neither of the two technicians nor the people I spoke to over the phone (cellphone) can figure out what the problem is. And it just won't go away. To make matters worse I received several SMS's and e-mails from Telkom informing me that they have fixed the problem, and yet the problem is still there. They have not fixed anything, but they claim that they have.
Like I said, the problem seems to be random. Sometimes everything will be working fine, and sometimes this problem kicks in of there being no dial tone and just some clicking noise on the phone line, while my Internet connection keeps disconnecting every few minutes as a result of this. What is even more strange is that sometimes my Internet is able to connect even while the telephone is down (no dial tone and just some strange clicking noise), but when my Internet is connected when this happens then my connection is much slower than usual and it still disconnects at random intervals.
If anyone could shed some light on what could be causing this please let me know. I can't use my Internet for downloading or online gaming because of this problem, and Telkom seem unable to figure out what exactly the problem is. I don't know, is it possible that someone is jacking in to my phone line or something? Could that be what the clicking noise means? And why would the phone be working sometimes but be down at other times?
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