Upgraded to 4mb line- Getting packet loss

bokka1

bokka1

Executive Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2006
Messages
5,692
Reaction score
12,635
Location
Cape Town
Hi

I today upgraded my 384 line to a 4Mb line. I had problems connecting and had to change my DNS to a static DNS(196.43.42.190) before the router(Telkom 200) would connect.

I am getting intermittent packet loss which affects my online gaming. I am very frustrated.

Is there anybody that can help me?

Thanks.
 
Suspect you either have a dodgy copper cable, or you are to far from the DSLAM to get a good 4 meg connection, you might need to ask Telkom to lower your speed a little and see where its stable, then lock it at that.

What is your Signal to noise ratio, and line attenuation on your link running at?
 
This is what I am getting:

SNR Margin 16.5 dB 12 dB
Line Attenuation 37.5 dB 24.0 dB
 
I have also experienced a degradation of ADSL when I upgraded to 4mbps. But in my case, it happens mostly between 19:00 and 20:00 at night. This includeds packet loss and the modem just loosing sync continuously. For the most part it's fine the rest of the day, and I'm talking 420KBps constant.

After speaking to a technician, with him coming out to our place on two occasions, we moved it over to 2mbps, and it was fine, except for one or two days where the same thing happened. According to him, we are too far from the exchange to have a 4mbps line, but I don't buy this.

At the moment it's back on 4mbps, and we have learnt to just watch a movie or something during the troubled periods of the day. Very, very frustrating >.<

PS. 2mbps sucks balls when you are used to 4mbps speeds and when you are on the MWEB uncapped local trial ;)
 
I have swapped out the Telkom router for a Netgear router. It seems better now but the acid test will be tonight when I play on Xbox live.
 
In my case, I can see my character in game (World of Warcraft) stop for a few secs and then everything speeds up as the game resumes to make up for the missing time. Sometimes this effect can be hilarious :P
 
Well, there is also server lag sometimes. But I know for sure there is packet loss on our line during certain times of the day due to the Telkom technician actually running tests on it.

Maybe someone more informed than I can point you in the direction of a program that will monitor your packet loss if you want to know for sure.
 
Cloud said:
I have also experienced a degradation of ADSL when I upgraded to 4mbps. This includeds packet loss and the modem just loosing sync continuously.
Click to expand...

We've also just upgraded to 4mbps and have been experiencing exactly the same problems as described above. The modem syncs and looses sync continuously on 4mbps. We've logged a fault--but after a technician tested it out, it appears to only gain stability at 1mbps which is what we're on at the moment (which has been proving worse than our previous 512kbps line).

We are about 2.3 km from the exchange and have a DS margin of 17 and a line attenuation of 38. Telkom are working on the problem supposedly. We have a Mega 105wr router.

Will let you guys know if there is anything Telkom tell us/do for us that may help you.
 
Distance form exchange, attenuation and noise are within limits for optimal 4 meg. Suspect line conditions, or poor connection point. If adjacent pairs in cable bundle are ISDN or another high speed DSL, influence can cause link to drop. Speed test ur link by transferring file from http://www.telkom.co.za/athome/products/dsl/speed.html ; ur transfer rate must stabilise around 10% of 4 megs, i.e after 10 seconds average transfer rate should be 400K+ but less than 500K, if not, then suspect line conditions. If modem drops link continuously during peak download, suspect adjacent pair influences. Higher frequencies used to transfer data from exchange to customer, hence 4 meg more prone to influence than 512k. NB some exchanges have Line test system, if available, request they check line balance (100%) and metallic noise must be less than 2 db, anything higher will cause link to drop.
 
Last edited:
Sastri_Munsamy said:
How do you check for packet loss? I have a mega 105wr
Click to expand...
Mega 105 WR will not display packet loss/jitter etc. Be careful Anti virus scanning can slow speed of transfer. and/or network related fault. easy test is to perform file transfer from http://www.telkom.co.za/athome/products/dsl/speed.html based on 384k offering, transfer rate must average 38k after 10 seconds of transfer progress. If not, then suspect line condition first. cancel transfer and redo simultaneously, do not have to transfer entire file and monitor average. Then suspect port/ISP throttling (TelkomSA does not). U can also ping local DNS 196.43.1.11 and check roundtrip time (average 29ms) suspect bandwidth or network activity intermittent failure. Mega 105 WR have a poor image because of PSu, two types the heavy old bricks work best, the new light weight ones cause link drops, ISP connection loss, Wireless connection loss, no DSL/PPP, whilst it starts up. Sometimes all LAN LEDs are on with no LAN cables connected.
 
Dosti said:
If adjacent pairs in cable bundle are ISDN or another high speed DSL, influence can cause link to drop.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the helpful info, Dosti :) You wouldn't happen to work for Telkom would you? ;)

Just a question on the above quoted text: does this refer to ISDN and/or DSL along the same line (toward the exchange) (e.g.: my neighbour/someone down the street) or if there is another ISDN/DSL connection in my house?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X