Losing Internet connection.

[Cranfield]

For the last couple of weeks, I have been losing my Internet connection.

It started as once in the evening and then increased to 2 , or 3 times an evening.

In the last day or so, it has become 5 or 6 times an evening.

 

Sometimes when I reconnect it takes a while and I get the message, "cannot detect a dial tone", or something similar.

 

Today I turned the PC on at 9am and remained connected until about 5pm, when it disconnected itself, since then I have had to reconnect about 6 times.

 

I have done all the right things;

Checked all the leads and filters.

Turned the PC off, unplugged the modem, waited 5 minutes, turned the PC on and replugged in the modem.

Reloaded the modem CD.

 

Still it happens, but mostly in the evenings.

 

Before I contact Orange Technical Service and speak to an 11 year old from the Indian sub continent, reading from a prepared script, does anyone have a DIY solution ?

[pin]

At the exact time it happens pick up a phone connected to the same line and listen carefully. If you get a dial tone perhaps you can hear some crackles or pops on the line.

 

My best guess at this stage is that you have a telephone line which is going faulty, they can just do that at the drop of a hat, moisture, heat, changes in temperature, winds etc will all have an effect and might influence the quality of the line.

 

If you hear cracks or pops, dial 150 and report it as a line quality fault. When you speak to the bod on the phone ask if you have automatic gain set on the line, if you do get them to set it to something middle of the road and try that for a few days.

 

AVG (auto gain) on a phone line attempts to boost amplitude of the signal if it becomes weak, but just like a booster on a **** TV signal won't make the picture better, gain on a crackly or otherwise faulty phone line will just make the problem worse.

 

All of this is assuming you don't have broadband, but given you were talking about dial tones I assumed If its not, line quality is still a big issue for broadband and would be causing the same headaches.

[Graham M]

Cranfield, this happened to me a few years ago when I was on dial-up.

It was worse when it rained and turned out to be a damaged cable out in the road.

G.M.

[pin]

Water will increase capacitance of the line, capacitors are extremely good audio filters

[steve_k]

most modems have a reset button on the back press it! then wait a few seconds and it should be fine

[Cranfield]

I do have 4.2 mbps broadband, but I connect through "Speedtouch Connection" which must dial somewhere, my details are authenticated and I am connected, usually takes about 3-4 seconds.

 

I will contact BT anyway, as I feel there might be some local line problem.

 

Strangely, we are having no phone problems.

 

My modem (which looks like Stingray) doesn't have a button on the back.

[steve_k]

1 other thing you can try

 

in the bottom right of the screen where it tells you your conection speed, right click it and then click on repair! maybe that will help

 

good luck

[pin]

You have a connection known as PPPoA, your computer thinks it is dialling a telephone number, but the dialogue box will have something in it like "*0" or similar.

 

When used with actual analogue phone lines, modems can present error codes which relate to conditions on the network you dialled (engaged, no dial tone, no answer). This very same technology is used for "dial on demand" broadband (like you have).

 

Basically any error message relating to dialtone, answer from the remote end or anything to do with ports you should ignore, its total nonsense and doesn't relate to your issue.

 

Errors to do with wrong username / password may be genuine, however.

 

If your connection drops then it is still likely to be a line quality issue. ADSL uses non-audible frequencies as well as those that can be heard (which is why you need a microfilter which is essentially a capacitor, to stop screeching on your telephone line) - line quality is going to make more of a difference than a plain modem.

 

Being unable to connect for periods of time, which don't follow a disconnection would seem to indicate authentication problems with your ISP and should be followed up with them.

[Cranfield]

If I right click on the two monitor symbols (which show my speeds), I do not get a "Repair" option.

All I get is Disconnect, Status, Change Window Firewall Settings, Open Network Connections.

 

If I right click on the Modem symbol and go into Diagnostics, there is loads of techie information, but no Repair option.

It does confirm 7 "loss of link" occurrences.

[pin]

1 other thing you can try

 

in the bottom right of the screen where it tells you your conection speed, right click it and then click on repair! maybe that will help

 

good luck

 

Just to have it right, all this does is drop and re-establish the connection as well as attempt to refresh your IP from DHCP if appropriate, flush the NBNT cache, DNS cache and some other stuff which won't help.

[Markio]

Cranfield,

I have a speedtouch ADSL modem too. And when my connection drops out i get the same 'no dial tone' message. During that period you will probably notice the right hand LED on the modem will flash on and off and the speedtouch icon in your system tray turns from green to orange. If this is the case then you can tell your ISP that the ADSL line is 'out of sync'. It's a start. Why it happens, **** knows. I'm in the middle of sorting the same problem out myself.

[pin]

One of the things this could be is changeover to ADSL Maxx

 

BT used to provide 512/1024/2048 adsl connections, some of which were called rADSL (rate adaptive) which meant that you would get something between the min and max speed specified depending on your line quality, capacitance and distance from the exchange.

 

Some time back BT came up with a new type of ADSL called, you guessed it "Max". This new fangled ADSL type offered up to 8mb ADSL, adaptive to the quality of line and etc as above.

 

When your line is moved from what you had, to this new type, it will go through extreme periods of unavailability, disconnections and speed changes. The BT kit and your modem/router are trying to find the best reliable speed your telephone line can support.

 

Once determined (and the clue was the odd 4.2 speed which isn't a standard product speed BT wholesale provide) your connection will be nailed to that speed.

 

The ISP which forms part of the business I work for are going through this process now, as will other ISP's - it could very well be that causing the issues.

[Cranfield]

Markio, we obviously have the same problem , as I recognise the symptoms you refer to.

 

The only thing that has happened recently is that I have moved from 2 mbps up to 4.2 mbps.

Interestingly, I notice that a lot of the time my "official" connection speed is shown as either 3.8, or 3.9 mbps.

 

A call to BT in the morning.

 

Thanks for all the help, much appreciated, I will not be troubling some small child in India tonight.

[pin]

Cranfield, take it from me your ISP is mid Max upgrade.

 

The process takes about 10 days during which connections will drop and be sporadic, reported connection speeds will change and either drop, rise or both as the remote end tries to find out what speed your telephone line can reliably support.

 

Once out of the max re-grade process you should have a reliable connection, something more than 2mb but hopefully a lot higher. BT tech guidelines suggest once into the process you should disconnect and reset your connection equipment once per day to force the process

[Gully]

I had this problem. Is the phone socket you use an extension? If so, find the master phone socket in your house , take off the bottom half of the panel and underneath you'll find the real master socket. Plug into there and try it. It is possible the problem is with the line inside your house. I now have to have my router plugged into the master socket in one of my kids bedrooms all the time. (because I'm too lazy/cheap to track down and cure the real problem!)

[Markio]

Markio, we obviously have the same problem , as I recognise the symptoms you refer to.

 

The only thing that has happened recently is that I have moved from 2 mbps up to 4.2 mbps.

Interestingly, I notice that a lot of the time my "official" connection speed is shown as either 3.8, or 3.9 mbps.

 

A call to BT in the morning.

 

Thanks for all the help, much appreciated, I will not be troubling some small child in India tonight.

 

You also mention 7 loss of links in the Speedtouch diagnostics system tray app. Also you'll find under one of the tabs details on CRC errors and SDU length errors (From memory as i'm not at home at mo). Could be useful info to throw at your ISP if needs be.

 

As Pin said if you've just moved to a MAXadsl line then wait until the 10 days are up and a stable connection speed has been found. If like me it's been going on for months then i've been informed by my ISP to plug the modem directly into the master test socket (this way you can eliminate any crappy cabling or excess extension cables). Everything after the master socket is down to BT.

[SNAKEBITE]

It's all the time you spend on here, you have worn the bloody line out!