ADSL sync issues that happen at exactly the same times nightly.

N

Neverwhere

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Basically, every night for the past 4 nights my adsl loses sync at 7pm. Then it re-syncs and is unstable all night. When it re-syncs, the SNR is way lower than before, and sometimes syncs at lower speeds. It's a 4MB line.
Then weirdly, every morning, at exactly 7AM, it loses sync for a longish period (3 or so minutes), and then re-syncs at full speed with normal SNR.

So during the day, my line works perfectly with:

SNR Margin(Upstream) 12 dB
SNR Margin(Downstream) 21.0 dB
Line Attenuation(Upstream) 14.0 dB
Line Attenuation(Downstream) 26.5 dB

Then at night:

SNR Margin(Upstream) 11 dB
SNR Margin(Downstream) 10.0 dB
Line Attenuation(Upstream) 23.5 dB
Line Attenuation(Downstream) 34.5 dB

The SNR drops and the attenuation goes up? Also, I get noise on the line, and sometimes there's no dial tone at all (but the adsl still syncs with the bad snr - and keeps dropping every few minutes)

At first I thought maybe they're doing some repairs/upgrades or something, because it always comes back perfectly at 7AM, but I called to log a fault and the uy knew nothing about it. They said they'd have someone from the test centre call me at night to test the line.

The reason I'm posting is to ask if anyone has any idea what this could be? Anyone had a similar experience? Is it possible someone is fiddling with the line at night? Like connecting into the box on the pole in the neighbourhood, and then unplugging at 7AM? I don't know if that's even possible, I'm just curious as to why everything just resets to normal at the same time in the mornings.
 
I think there is actually something wrong with your cable, because the Line Attenuation values MUST remain the same, even if some kind of interference is present.

I have no idea what might be the cause of this though.
 
Hmmm,

It just happened now, I had a look at the values and it was all good, now this:

SNR Margin(Upstream) 6 dB
SNR Margin(Downstream) 8.0 dB
Line Attenuation(Upstream) 19.5 dB
Line Attenuation(Downstream) 31.5 dB

Upstream 448000
Downstream 2496000

During the day, downloads get full 450kb/s, but now, if I try a download manager that does multiple threads, it seems to "stress" the connection and cause it to lose sync. It can't be weather related, because not much changes in the morning between 6:59 and 7:00 (and it comes back to normal at exactly 7AM - I've observed this 3 days in a row now) - though it loses sync and the problem begins at roughly the 6pm - 7pm area. Thats why I was wondering if its not someone interfering with the connection at night? Like what ever it is, they turn it off before going to work in the mornings? Hopefully its just Telkom doing something, but then why would they mess with the line at 7pm, its like a peak internet time.
 
Just report the error and state that it only happens between 7pm and 7am.
You can log faults online on Telkom's website.

It took me about 1 1/2 weeks to get my intermittent ADSL line issues resolved. I think it was sped up after I found numerous other people suffering from the exact same issue.
It might be worth while to ask your neighbours if they're experiencing the same issue.
 
There is definitely something wrong with your line. The noisy you mention that you hear on the line most probably mean you have an open connection on your line some where. At night it gets wet from the dew and in the morning the sun bakes the line and so the noise goes away. This noise also interferes with your adsl. I would report to Telkom until they send someone to repair. Had the same problem and eventually a tech came that understood the problem. Since then no problems.
 
Thanks Pada and Ronnie, that sounds plausible. I have reported it, and stated the times.. I'm waiting on a call back from the test centre. Then hopefully I can get a tech guy out here. :)
 
I have the EXACT same problem. Telkom are so useless, they "resolve" the issue by putting me down to 2mbps.
 
Needs a lot of patience. Can also ask for an appointment with tech. If they pitch and find no fault, they clear the complaint. Happens a lot but if you can explain the problem to tech they will know what to look for.
 
Very strange that those problems occur at those exact times, consistently for 4 days in a row. It can't be weather related or dew. It's probably related to some event that happens like clockwork everyday. A few things I can think off:
- Could be Eskom or your municipality switching on the street lights at 7pm and switching off at 7am, which is causing interference, due to the lines touching/being too close, or electromagnetic interference?
- Could be a local power issue in your house causing interference with the telephone line. Like electric fencing, alarm system, geyser time-switch, underfloor heating, etc.
- Could also be your modem. Borrow one from a friend/colleague, and test it on your line.

Usually when things go wrong consistently like clockwork, there's a computer or micro-chip/controller somewhere to blame for it. Be sure to ask your neighbours if they're experiencing anything similar, so that you can narrow down the culprit.
 
Thanks :) I'm gonna keep an eye out on the street lights - and see if it happens at the same time, I did notice that the power box for the street has been left open. There was a power outage not too long ago, and who ever fixed it left the box open (a meter high grey box on the street corner).

Weirdly..I've been losing sync for a while tonight, and now I notice its actually got good stats:

SNR Margin(Upstream) 12 dB
SNR Margin(Downstream) 20.5 dB
Line Attenuation(Upstream) 14.5 dB
Line Attenuation(Downstream) 26.5 dB

Torrents are running well too. I hope it stays this way. Normally these past few nights the SNR has been between 6-10 for the downstream. And I work all night, so I've been monitoring it quite closely.

If it starts happening again I'll try a friends modem, and look into the geyser timing :)
 
ADSL losing sync every night

Neverwhere said:
Basically, every night for the past 4 nights my adsl loses sync at 7pm. Then it re-syncs and is unstable all night. When it re-syncs, the SNR is way lower than before, and sometimes syncs at lower speeds. It's a 4MB line.
Then weirdly, every morning, at exactly 7AM, it loses sync for a longish period (3 or so minutes), and then re-syncs at full speed with normal SNR.

So during the day, my line works perfectly with:

SNR Margin(Upstream) 12 dB
SNR Margin(Downstream) 21.0 dB
Line Attenuation(Upstream) 14.0 dB
Line Attenuation(Downstream) 26.5 dB

Then at night:

SNR Margin(Upstream) 11 dB
SNR Margin(Downstream) 10.0 dB
Line Attenuation(Upstream) 23.5 dB
Line Attenuation(Downstream) 34.5 dB

The SNR drops and the attenuation goes up? Also, I get noise on the line, and sometimes there's no dial tone at all (but the adsl still syncs with the bad snr - and keeps dropping every few minutes)

At first I thought maybe they're doing some repairs/upgrades or something, because it always comes back perfectly at 7AM, but I called to log a fault and the uy knew nothing about it. They said they'd have someone from the test centre call me at night to test the line.

The reason I'm posting is to ask if anyone has any idea what this could be? Anyone had a similar experience? Is it possible someone is fiddling with the line at night? Like connecting into the box on the pole in the neighbourhood, and then unplugging at 7AM? I don't know if that's even possible, I'm just curious as to why everything just resets to normal at the same time in the mornings.
Click to expand...

I experience the same problems from 6pm till 12pm (varies some days) every day for the past 3 months now, and Telkom has done nothing I've logged 27 complaints, all they do is test the line during the day when it works, and send me an sms saying "we have resolved the problem". Once the person at the tech support said I'm imagining the problem and there is not problem so i should just put the phone down.... seriously wtf. They say they going to send a tech out but never do.
My SNR Margin values go to -7dB (Downstream)
Line attenuation values go to 70dB+ (Downstream)

I've tried new cables, router, formatted PC, changed filters , I have no electric fencing, no geyser switch, no alarm on the line, no pool cleaner
I've monitored street lights and things in my area nothing seems to fit into those times.
If anyone can advise me what to do next would be great.
 
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Meridian said:
I experience the same problems from 6pm till 12pm (varies some days) every day for the past 3 months now, and Telkom has done nothing I've logged 27 complaints, all they do is test the line during the day when it works, and send me an sms saying "we have resolved the problem". Once the person at the tech support said I'm imagining the problem and there is not problem so i should just put the phone down.... seriously wtf. They say they going to send a tech out but never do.
My SNR Margin values go to -7dB (Downstream)
Line attenuation values go to 70dB+ (Downstream)

I've tried new cables, router, formatted PC, changed filters , I have no electric fencing, no geyser switch, no alarm on the line, no pool cleaner
I've monitored street lights and things in my area nothing seems to fit into those times.
If anyone can advise me what to do next would be great.
Click to expand...

What I would do is apply for a completely new line - new telephone number + new wiring. Don't cancel your existing line. That way Telkom will be forced to lay new wiring, and your ADSL/telephone line will be connected to different ports at the exchange/DSLAM, and might take a (slightly) different route to your house.

Then check if this new line is more stable, and if it is cancel the old line. Worst case it will still be unstable and all you've wasted is 1 month's line + ADSL rental. Take out the entry level Telkom Closer package and you won't have to pay any installation fees. You are also billed pro-rate as far as I know, so if you can complete the whole exercise in 1 or 2 weeks, and it still fails, you won't lose too much money.

I think it's definitely worth a try. I've done this once before and it worked out for me.

EDIT: The above applies to the OP as well.
 
Where are you guys located?

I'm in Arcadia, Pta, and have been having the same issues since the start of June. With my SNR eventually sitting around 3.9 :(

Every night round 18:00 it just starts dropping every couple of minutes. Logged a fault round the 8th, spoke directly with a tech, who said the same ol "well it tests fine from here" nonsense. Apparently he also came out to have a look, but yeah, not convinced. I even asked him to lower the speed at which my line synchs, but it wasn't done.

So eventually I force my own modem to connect at 8mb, and my SNR sits round 9... I got less disconnects, but still way too many, and now I have horrible lag spikes to deal with.

So today, I logged another fault to see if they can look at it again. Usually during the day it's ok'ish, but today I stopped counting when it dropped more than 12 times :(
 
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I'm in JHB Kensington close to Eastgate I've reported it like 20 times now, and still reporting it every time they send me an sms saying they fixed it when i DC my SNR values sometime disappear today it started at 4:25 and DC's every 2 mins. I feel like ripping my eyes out I cant do anything that requires a stable connection, I even went to a Telkom Direct store today the made me speak to a tech and she said she's going to escalate it for me but they still going to do nothing to fix it FML
 
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